Gone in 15 seconds: Instagram launched its first 28-part film series titled Shield 5
Photo-sharing social media platform Instagram has just launched its first 28-part film series titled Shield 5. The Anthony Wilcox-directed thriller is the first of its kind, where each series plays for 15 seconds.
The new format seems to be creating waves across the world, having already drawn 33,000 followers in its six instalments released so far. In India, the past couple of years have seen the short format of filmmaking catch on in a big way. The success of Permanent Roommates and Bang Baaja Baaraat, is evidence of the web-series format catching on here.
The shortening of screen time is definitely a result of gradually diminishing attention spans, feels screenwriter and director Rensil D’Silva. “It’s all a mater of time. People have less time these days and everything is getting compressed,” he says.
Deepak Mishra, the director of the popular TVF series Permanent Roommates, says the transformation of filmmaking has a lot to do with the money factor. “The evolution of the short form of filmmaking has happened over a period of time.
These days people are no longer dependent on production houses to finance their films. Now that the audience is available on the Internet, people can shoot their films, put them up online.
But with short attention spans and the wide variety of content available online, it’s both interesting and challenging to come up with something gripping. On the Internet every second counts and if you are not engaging the audience, they have other options available,” he adds.
For director and ad filmmaker Vinil Mathew, ultimately it is about breaking clutter. “The Internet as a medium is very chaotic and standing out often becomes difficult. In cinema and television, the content is distilled and reaches the audience through filters. But while working with the Internet, people have to keep in mind the time formats. You must keep them hooke,” he says.
Whodunits can make for an excellent choice while working with such micro-formats, points out Juhi Chaturvedi. However, she adds that if the story is good, the genre is immaterial. Juhi, who wrote the screenplay of films such as Piku and Vicky Donor, says, “The shorter the format, the more difficult it gets to write, as you have to hook the audience in those few seconds only. The core of writing is the story. The story needs to be worth telling and the genre will automatically fall in place.”
With the constant evolution of modes of communication, modes of entertainment will keep evolving too, points out actor and director Anand Tiwari, “This is not an example from films but I remember for Narendra Modi’s election campaign, the creators made a hologram, which when scanned would give speeches. With the advent of technology everything is getting compressed. The form of short storytelling is getting exciting by the day and is constantly evolving.”
Rensil says that he would love to make a thriller-drama if given a chance to make a 15-seconder, keeping the revenue model apart. He says, “A thriller-drama is a fantastic genre to experiment with as there are many layers to it. I’m not sure how their revenue model works abroad, but in India this might work well if we get clients on board and do it for the corporate firms,” he says.
