Technological Impact on the Art of Moviemaking

Ahmad Bilal examines the decline in Pakistani cinema during the last two decades, and explores its history to expose the causes of that deterioration. Bilal introduces the concept of established and emergent cinema, building on the work of Williams (1977) in discussing the ideas of dominant, residual and emergent culture. Bilal's research asks "Can new and convergent media be helpful in reviving the Pakistani cinema?" The exploration reveals two gaps in Pakistani film industry: first, the lack of training in the making of films; and, second, the change in possible production methods allowed by new and emergent technologies. These gaps are addressed by suggesting new production paradigms which incorporate the new technology and by producing and examining the production of two new films to develop methodologies for teaching. A prequel to his research, he produced an economic and political historic description of the industry as well as a series of interviews with contemporary practitioners that summarised both the academic background and the current state of the industry. This book can be a part of curriculum in the film institutes.