Behind the Scenes: Rise of OTT

Films are born in the cradles of Technology. Therefore, it is no surprise that every advancement in technology reflects in the way Films find their presence and relevance in the World.

Similarly, Films are born in the cradles of human imagination. Therefore, it is no surprise that they impact the shape of the World because they carry the Power to shape the imagination of us humans who have the power to shape the World.

Here, I would like to share some of my views and concerns about that Power learning from my experiences “Behind the Scenes” under the topic of the “Rise of OTT".

Having a history of just about 130 years, Film is a creative audio-visual medium of mass communication. Whereas OTT or ‘Over The Top’ in short, is a fairly recent development. OTTs are technology enabled platforms of mass distribution of audio-visual content delivering media assets within the comfort and confines of infinitely many individuals spread across boundaries of Geography and Time.

Here, I would like to use the term “Film” generically for a wide range of audio-visual content, irrespective of their format, structure or grammar. Including the content distributed on OTTs.

I feel truly fortunate that I got the opportunity to shoot both seasons of Web Series “Panchayat” – a recent remarkable success story in the Indian OTT space. When we started to prepare for Panchayat in 2018, little did we know that such a simplistic, slice of life story from rural North India will find such a massive resonance in the audiences spread all across the World – across different regions, languages and cultures.

I must admit that the term “Behind the Scenes” has intrigued me a lot. Treating OTTs as neutral distribution channels, my thoughts will be equally analytical of the content they are designed to carry. So, let’s begin with two vital insights that are “Behind” in our Body. One is coming from the field of Biology: called “Mirror Neurons”.

Although I am not a subject expert, yet in my simple understanding, mirror neurons are found in our brains and naturally influence our behaviour by making us imitate an action when we watch it being performed by another individual.

The second comes from the field of psychology; it is called “Suspension of Disbelief”.

Again, in my simple understanding, this term implies that for the sake of enjoying a work of fiction, humans are highly likely to avoid logical thinking and believe in things, actions and events which may be unreal.

With the Rise of OTTs, we may find ourselves surrounded by screens which seamlessly display life-like content that is complex, synthetic and manufactured. Then I would logically expect a rise in instances of human behaviour in the real world influenced by “mirror neurons” as well as “suspension of disbelief”. In simple terms, I would expect more and more people to imitate actions that they have watched on-screen under a state of suspension of disbelief.

Moving on, now let’s go “Behind” in Time. To me, the next Behind The Scene insight comes from a slice of our ancient history.

Long long time ago, there ruled a king called “Amarshakti” who had three uncultured, ill mannered sons. As a worried parent, the king approached a wise Guru to educate his sons - especially towards their moral values and duties. After understanding the scope of the challenge, the Guru adopted a rather unusual method to educate the children. He framed a series of fictional stories with talking Animals and engaged with the three Princes in an entertaining story-telling way. In just about six months, enjoying the stories, all the three Princes transformed into noble Men. The Guru is very well known “Vishnusharma” and the stories are the famous - “Panchtantra”. Panchtantra is one of the most translated work of literature from India.

So, borrowing from this chapter of our history, I would say that we need to be rather aware about how we entertain ourselves. Because, under that entertainment, actually, some solid education is getting passed-on. Especially of the Moral kind.

Now through the framework of OTTs, our stories are reaching innumerable people directly, without moderation. They are bound to carry not just entertainment but also the critical element of ‘education’, which will slip invariably under the surface of entertainment. With the rise of OTT, then, naturally, I would expect an exponential rise in masses of people who are drawing their share of education through what they may perceive to be entertainment.

Finally, let's go “Behind” in Space. As an example, around us, there are many many electromagnetic waves and radiations that are surrounding us. But we can not see them. Although they are present in the scene, they can not be readily seen through our eyes.

With that understanding, now let's look at "Behind the Scene" for those factors which are very much present in the Scene but exist behind a certain curtain of invisibility.

For our survival, we are surrounded by air all the time which carries oxygen. In their natural state, they remain invisible. Our entire geography is interconnected with numerous wind channels that help in a sustainable circulation of air and, thus, oxygen. If the air gets polluted and the quality of oxygen turns bad, and the wind channels circulate that polluted air around us, there are high chances that we will feel breathless.

Transporting this thought onto our cultural Geography, I would say that Media is like air, content is like oxygen and OTTs are like wind channels. So, in an effective way, the OTTs will distribute the oxygen we produce.

A rise in the OTTs then would mean a wider spreading of the quality of cultural air that surrounds us. Dispassionately, OTTs will distribute the “Oxygen” of our Content to people far and wide - both in Space and Time. Since OTTs preserve content in the Digital domain, they are designed to keep it ‘Loss Less’ over many many centuries. At the push of an icon, what we see and hear today, will be exactly what someone else sees or hears hundreds of years later.

Once the life-span of any content covers such a vast expanse of Space and Time, it becomes very difficult for a human or group of humans to objectively understand whether the creative content that is the ‘Oxygen’ content being distributed over the OTT framework is indeed breathable or not.

I feel a responsible and reasonable understanding of this behind the scene, which is actually present invisible within the scene is rather crucial for the health of our society. Because our culture is an important aspect of our overall social health.

To my mind, it takes thousands of years, and humongous efforts continued over numerous generations to develop a culture. But derailing a thriving culture into unwanted directions could be comparatively quick and effortless.

Today, when this stream of OTT is acquiring its size and proportion passing through our hands, I would like to close my piece by sounding my concerns and questions for your deliberation about the path which the rise in OTT is likely to pave for the future of our civilization.

In India, we have been entrusted with a profoundly beautiful ancient ‘Living’ civilization.

And that's some responsibility. And I don't have the answers.

#panchayat #ott #webseries #cinematography