Tamil Cinema is taking a new step every day in terms of Cinematography, Lighting, Technology, Promotion and lots more. 2012 was the year in which film makers have focused on the innovation milieu and taking a retrospective look gives us a brief idea as to what was in store:

Cinematography:

Beauty onscreen is always proportional to the visualization and today’s cinematography is a very big asset in both mega and shoestring budget movies. The extensive usage of REDONE camera in movies like “Muppozhuthum un Karpanaigal”, and even Ajith’s opulent sequel “Billa2” had Rajasekar using REDEPIC camera totally shot at 5k resolution.” Aarohanam” considered by critics as the best Tamil film of the year was shot with a Canon EOS 5D digital camera, a first for any sort of cinema.

Vijay’s Magnum Opus “Thuppaki” had the ace cinematographer Santhosh Sivan introducing the cutting-edge Arri Alexa camera into Indian Cinema. This state of art Camera was also used to shoot Hollywood Blockbuster “The Avengers”.

“Ambuli” was the first ever Stereoscopic 3-D film in Tamil Cinema, it picked its pace slow and steadily during its run.”Adhisiya Ulagam 3D” an entertaining movie for kids was also released in 3D format. AVM also took its time in developing the 2007 Blockbuster “Shivaji” into the 3D format. Though its length was substantially reduced, the movie is still running in packed houses and Director Shankar himself expressed the awe in which the film was converted in par with Hollywood standards. Superstar in 3D, at a stretch away is what every fan would’ve wanted. Also confirmed in 3D is Superstar’s, “Kochadaiyaan”, much awaited in 2013.

Technology & VFX:

When the movie has a powerful storyline, using Technology and Visual Effects at the right time adds strength to the plot and gives a rich and delightful experience in theatres. 2012 had so many movies using variety of innovation in terms of technicality. Surya playing as conjoint twins in KV Anand’s “Maattrraan” projected dual role in a never seen aspect before. This was the first film in India to introduce the same formula of “Avatar” – Performance Capture Technology. And yet again our Superstar will sport the new look in “Kochadaiyaan” with Performance Capture Technology.

The Little Housefly which crept into our hearts is the brainchild of Rajamouli. His “Naan Ee” was one of the movies in Indian Cinema with heavy usage of VFX & CGI. The film was shot with more than 2000 VFX shots under the supervision of Makuta Effects. The movie was also shot with the help of Scorpio Crane, a first timer in South Indian cinema.

Sound Effects:

As much as importance the visualisation is in a movie, so is the Audio. Jeyam Ravi’s “Adhi Bagavan” will be the first Tamil movie to be recorded with 7.1 Surround; however “Pizza” released earlier with 7.1. Kamal Hassan’s Vishwaroopam will be first movie with Aura-3D sound effects, followed by Rajinikanth’ s “Kochadaiyaan”. Aura-3D, will provide an immersive Sound experience and as of now only two Hollywood movies have used this technology.

Marketing and Promotion:

In the stone age of Kollywood, there was no promotion, ads or teasers to build up hype for a movie. Those days are long gone and now even nano budget movies depend on advertising and creating promo. Ever since the “Kolaveri” became a rage, it has become a routine to release single tracks and the number of hits on “YouTube” shows the hype before the movie is released. The recent sleeper hit “Naduvula Konjam Pakatha Kanam” promotion was totally one of a kind, where lyrics of one song was taken from phrases sent by more than 1800 people through Facebook. The movie website even had an online game to charm the youngsters. Lingusamy’s “Vettai” was also the first movie to be reviewed by NY times and again a first timer!

Most of the audio launches are done overseas to entice the International Market which is growing rapidly. A few movies like Billa2, Thuppakki and Maattrraan’s marketing was done with a large intent of targeting the overseas market as well.

“Change is the only constant factor”, Our Tamil Cinema has always embraced change and the year 2012 gave everything a movie goer would have asked for. 2013 will be no short of any creativity and let’s wait and watch!