Amateur film
Amateur Film is the low-budget hobbyist art of film practiced for passion and enjoyment and not for business purposes.
Organizations
The international organization for amateur film makers is UNICA (Union International du Cinema Non Professionel); in the United States the American Motion Picture Society (AMPS), in Canada the Society of Canadian Cine Amateurs (SCCA), in the UK it is the Film & Video Institute. These organizations arrange annual festivals and conventions. There are several Amateur Film festivals held annually in the United States, Canada, and in Europe.
Creation
Amateur films were usually shot on 16 mm film or on 8 mm film (Either Double-8 or Super-8) until the advent of cheap video cameras or digital equipment. The advent of digital video and computer based editing programs greatly expanded the technical quality achievable by the amateur and low budget film maker. Amateur video has now become the choice for the low budget film maker and has boomed into a very watched and even produced industry with the usage of VHS and DVD Digital Video camcorders.
In 1987 a United States Patent was put forth on improving the process for transferring film to video or film previously transferred to video for the treatment thereof and the transfer thereof to a master at a real time play rate, the process comprising the steps of: (a) transferring film to video or transferring video carrying the film previously transferred to it to video in a 1:1 frame of film to frame of video ratio where one frame of film, or one frame of film previously transferred to video as the case may be, corresponds to one frame (two sequential fields) of video--(thus each frame of film now occupies only two sequential fields of video). The process has been developed to allow transfer from 8mm and 16mm to VHS and DVD also made creating amateur film footage much more professional wile adding more of a smooth watchability element. The process allows for unwanted footage to be effectively removed and unique brightness to show as well as color correction during the film transfer conversion process.
In March 1989 the ability to transfer motion picture images of 3-D to videotape was patented. More particularly for film to video transfer methods adapted for 3-D television viewing.
Amateur film Industry (Bangalore-India)
The amateur film industry in India is a Bangalore-based junior film industry started for the youngsters who are passionate about film making. This industry is the smallest and the most underdeveloped compared to the other major film industries in India as these films are made in English.They are relatively small budget films and have very small audience. This industry was first established as a drama society, but with time it has evolved into a film industry. This is basically done for students, by students and of students. This first started in Christ College and thereafter it was started in many schools and colleges across the state.
These films are basically to be screened in colleges-schools and the income received from that is given to charity. The industry has seen a lot of highs and lows and once it was almost in the verge of collapsing but at 2003 Arun Adith an amateur superstar emerged and his films started doing very well. It went on to create sensation among the youth and made him very very popular and till today, he is considered as the father of amateur film industry. It was during his days, where films were made for film festivals and won a lot of prizes. However in 2006 he left the industry as he graduated and went ahead to try his luck in the Tamil-Telugu film industry.
Today amateur films are quite prominent and are considered the easiest way to reach the students and youth. Now the industry has a lot of superstars like Abhishek Venkteshwar, Shashank, Anjana, Tasneem, Rithika, Puneeth, Ganesh, Charan, Richa, Rajshree, Ruchika, Rajatha and over the last few years the industry has been doing extremely well with blockbusters - the first one being Karthik-Anjana starer RIP, the film was a superduper hit and broke records in over 45 colleges across the state. The next one being Abhishek Venkteshwar-Rithika starer Twist of Fate, the film with its popular theme became a blockbuster establishing the lead pair as superstars in the industry and the film earned amounts that were unheard of in the amateur industry. Paa staring Abhishek Venkteshwar, Richa and Aravinth has been declared a major success throughout the state as well.
The AFI lacks good technicians however Deepak proved to be an exception and has earned a good name for himself and deepakfilms are the most prominent film circuit in this industry. The industry has always lacked a big budget film, But AAL ISS WELL starring Abhishek and Tasneem Sheikh created history releasing in 0ver 100 institutions across the state,earning an amount that is equal to a kannada film's revenue and gave a big boast to the AFI,this changed people's notions towards amateur cinema in the south.The Bang starring Shashank and Richa crossed Aal iss well and collected huge collections.In 2011 Entangle starring Abhishek and Rajshree became the highest grosser ever.Pooja a well known Sinhala-Tamil Star did an AFI film with Abhishek called Mirage and this is again a big boost as finally South Indian Stars have started noticing AFI .
The Highest paid Hero in AFI is Abhishek Venkteshwar who charges Rs 1 lakh fpr a film,he hiked up his salary after the success of Paa , Aal iss well and Entangle .However amongst the leading ladies,Rajshree remains the highest paid heroine charging Rs 20,000 per film .AFI is currently gaining a lot of momentum and only few people have a fan base here like Shashank,Abhishek,Karan,Rajshree and Tasneem