As Instagram’s 15-second series Shield 5 continues to make waves, we ask filmmakers what they think of this micro format
How short can a short film get 15 seconds seems to be the right answer these days. Photo-sharing social media platform Instagram has just launched its first 28-part film series titled Shield 5. The Anthony Wilcox-directed thriller about a man on the run 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. Filmmakers feel that the audience is warming up to the more experimental style of storytelling. The success of Permanent Roommates and Bang Baaja Baaraat, to name a few, 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. I have had clients who have wanted five-second ads and we had to convey the message in that span of time,” he says.
While short video sharing platform like Vine gave users the opportunity to share six-second long looping videos way back in 2012, this dramatic series on Instagram is being labelled as “social cinema”. Deepak Mishra, the director of the popular TVF series Permanent Roommates, points out that 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. This is definitely is a very interesting format. I’m really interested in knowing how creative people use this platform. With Vine people had an option of bringing their message across in six seconds. 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 and come up in ways of playing with the narrative to grab attention and sustain it. You must keep them hooked,” he says.
Shield 5 is set against the backdrop of present-day London and follows the journey of a security driver who is on the run from the police after a diamond heist. 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 — be it in advertisements, print or theatre. When I start writing I don’t think of the genre. 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. I won’t be surprised to see a writer, write a Twitter novel in 140-characters and tweet it over a year. The form of short storytelling is getting exciting by the day and is constantly evolving. Earlier the genre of short story telling was restricted only to comedy — over time people realised the significance of the medium and started experimenting with other subjects too. My next film could be on Twitter, who knows ”
Rensil says that he would love to make a thriller drama if given a chance to make a 15-seconder, however, he is not so sure about the revenue models. He says, “A thriller-drama is a fantastic genre to work and 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. Vinil too is doubtful about raking in the numbers. “Such kind of content may be gaining popularity abroad but won’t gain momentum in India due to slow Internet speeds and lesser Internet penetration as compared to abroad. Having something of this sort on a mass scale would be difficult, but if it does few years down the line, it will have a big impact. One will need to figure out the revenue model or else the novelty of the medium will slowly wear off.”
