[Reader-list] khetro broadsheet02 article

[Arijit Paul]

Dear friends,
I have got of the khetro broadsheet02. This issue focuses on the ongoing debate about the changing shape of cinema and theatre with the intervention of newer  technologies. It also carries articles on Bengali desktop on Linux platform, and the development of interactive identification keys for monitoring biodiversity. I think the articles will be of interest to many of you. So I am posting them for open reading and discussion.
Arijit.  
 
FIRST POSTING: 
Editorial

 

Capital is like water, it flows wherever it finds gap. Wherever it can sniff some growth it runs towards that. Thus the cities are.  While the city encroaches on the rural landscape, pace of livelihood becomes unnerving and quick fix commodities gets doorstep identities; multitasking and multiplexes grab our everyday life.

 

The intervention of digital technology in the field of cinema making as well as viewing - have set a new trend in our entertainment culture. Last few decades have seen considerable amount of closure of cinema halls. As a survival strategy Multiplexes are sprouting fast. Films are on offer, along with cafes, gift shops, video games parlours, music shops, fast food arcades - all under the same roof. Low budget cinema and films without stars are being produced almost specifically for multiplex audiences. High quality but inexpensive digital video cameras and digital editing have democratised filmmaking. Shooting on videotape and getting the final film on celluloid (the reverse telecine process) for projection in cinema halls, is now being implemented. New age High Definition (HD) technology has already entered the field. With available and cheap copying facilities, film viewing is more widespread now.

 

In theatre, too, newer forms are constantly being tried out. Improved technical facilities and the introduction of newer technologies are influencing today's theatre makings. Laser and video projections on stage or even on performers bodies, or the incorporation of digital sound and signs are part of theatre language now. Apart from regular proscenium

theatre, experimental, interpretative performances centering around events like a book release at a bookstore, exhibitions or live art at a gallery, or inside a caf� on a sultry evening, have enhanced the options for viewing various kind of 'theatres'. By using everyday living spaces and characters, theatre productions sometimes take a shape which one may call 'documentary theatre'. These activities have initiated a process which moves towards redefining the existing forms of theatre as well as its performance spaces.

 

In Calcutta, an old theatre hall is going to reopen as a multiplex. It might be an indication that, like cinema, the theatre will also have to enter into a process of justifying its marketability as an entertainment product soon. It is quite a possibility that the multiplex phenomenon, is going to redefine several aspects of our urban living. 

 

In broadsheet 01 we have tried to draw the outline of our contemporary urban existence by examining and analysing city�s ecological dimensions and introducing different new media technologies and forms. 

 

This issue has focuses on certain topics - the ongoing debate on the changing shape of 'cinema' and 'theatre' in the context of the fast growth of multiplexes in Indian metros, the possibility of the Internet being used as a cheaper and widespread option for viewing full length films, the concept of open content / creative commons licenses for documentaries, 

the creation of localized desktops on free software platforms like Linux,  and the development of interactive identification keys for monitoring biodiversity. 

By discussing these issues the broadsheet 02 also initiates an exploration of possibilities all these forming spaces and technologies throw up, especially in the context of India�s tradition of coexistence of various cultures both ancient and contemporary.

 

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khetro, an open space for interaction, innovation, and implementation in the field of community culture, media, and ecology. 

 


		
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