Location-based entertainment—small is beautiful!

Abstract

In the information age, computers have pervaded just about every aspect of our lives, from education to business, medicine to entertainment. Computers have also become an integral part of the film world. Though the film industry was initially skeptical and slow to incorporate the potential of computer graphics imaging, CGI certainly gained universal acceptance with the special effects used in Steven Spielberg's monumental Jurassic Park. The impact of CGI on the film and television industry goes way beyond the replacement of old special effects technologies with new ones. Computer technology has done far more than provoke a rethinking in the way films could be technically created. It is revolutionizing the entire industry, from the backlot to the front office, in more ways than meet the eye.A computer workstation is nothing less than a mini Hollywood studio on a desktop, with its camera and lighting department, its set construction workshop, its prop and wardrobe department, its special effects unit and an entire post-production department. Until recently, only the large Hollywood studios had access to pools of talented specialists and the range of technical facilities and service companies required to create high tech productions and sophisticated visual effects. The advent of computer-generated imagery and digital effects has changed all that. Now anyone can have access to the technology used to create Jurassic Park, regardless of whether they are based in Los Angeles, in the South Pacific, on a Greek Island or in Brussels.The digital technologies have shaken up the sacrosanct position of Hollywood as being the only place where state of the art special effects and high end visuals can be created. But while it is interesting to realize that computers are creating a new universal form of visual communication, the true nature of the digital revolution lies in the fact that for the first time in the history of film and television, the tools used to create the content will soon also be used to distribute the products to the marketplace and to display them to audiences.The best way to take full advantage of the power of digital tools is to set up a fully integrated digital studio capable of controlling the entire development process, the production and post-production phases, the financing and the sales and distribution of the finished products. This is precisely what New Wave International is trying to achieve in the specialised market of location based entertainment.