In the world of metaverse films with filmmaker Kartikye Gupta

Los Angeles-based Indian Filmmaker Kartikye Gupta, known for his award-winning productions like Dr Elevator (2016) and Please Don’t Call The Cops (2017), is taking his decades of experience in film production, editing, and visual storytelling to the metaverse, with his latest project being the VFX and visuals for the film that announced Facebook as part of the Meta universe, at the recent milestone event for the global giant. Born in India and based in the US, where he also studied the nuances of filmmaking at New York Film Academy, Gupta has strong roots in the world of cinema, as his grandfather made a movie in Bollywood in 1975 with iconic actor, Dharmendra Deol. Kartikye’s father also, being a successful television producer, gave Kartikye a chance to be a part of his production meetings at the age of nine. Coming from a South Asian background, his films revolve around the immigrant experience of South Asians in the United States. His upcoming projects include Time’s Studios documentary series, Right To Offend, and Showtime’s documentary series, Supreme Team, premiering at the prestigious Tribeca film festival next month. In an interview with Firstpost, he talks about his idea of creating a metaverse film, how technology is defining the filmmaking business, and getting a qualification in BAFTA and an award from Oscar-winning actress, Viola Davis. The idea behind making a metaverse film.  Since my childhood, I had always been intrigued by the concept of storytelling through the means of technology. We have come a long way year-on-year in experiencing content around us with the advent of newer technologies coming to fruition. New talents are emerging and there are novel platforms for them to reach out to millions through the means of cinema, podcasts, or the current hot topic across the world – the virtual reality. Virtual Reality made its way into the market back in 2018. I always kept exploring everything about modern tech from 2014. At that time I used to follow Google Earth to explore, when I learned that Facebook acquired Oculus. With scarcely any content made for a tech that is gaining such quick momentum now, the experience, even back then, was terrifically immersive. I was stunned to witness something like it and felt that the traditional movie viewing setup will never be able to put forth that experience. With barely any barrier between the viewers and the characters could be besides each other in the scene and not just that but be able to interact with each other too. That was the moment when I felt that I must dive deeper into the realms of understanding VR better and ways to plug in my story on the platform. I could see my dream gaining traction when a celebrated commercial agency based out of Los Angeles hired me to bring together visuals for a futuristic VR experience showcase. We started humbly by picturizing the futuristic themes with a hint of retro elements plugged into the set up. Something as simple as a couple sitting on a promenade bench and talking while finding themselves on the moon. Little did I know that I was working on a platform that gained fandom in the world over and something that even Facebook was eyeing to present virtual reality, dubbed as Metaverse. The complete project had many visual effects and immersive experiences in a bid to let the viewer witness the futuristic journey from the comfort of their living room. I am spellbound to share the experience about contributing by designing and editing visual effects for the project and it Is an honour to see the commercial being successful and witnessing it on Meta’s website. What do you want the audience to take away from this film?  The film above presents the viewer with infinite possibilities of what virtual reality can be, in the same way we use mobile phones every day. It wants to put the viewer into a second world which can be exactly opposite of the real world. The film wants the viewer to understand how we are shaping the future — from operating surgeries in New Zealand, sitting from Edinburgh to sitting on the moon with your loved ones are only few to name. It also pushes the viewer to be open and explore new ways that metaverse is opening for every industry right now. You said you wanted to discover cinematic techniques in a new film-making medium and look at it as a possible way to bring real-life emotions to digital environments. Do you think the audience has matured to enjoy films in such a format?  Now with so many platforms around, it’s very important to understand what’s the best medium to tell the story you want to tell in the best way possible. Filmmakers shouldn’t box their story or try to fit it in a 2D screen every time, when there are better ways to explore and present it to the viewer. As aforementioned, I trust that storytelling and technology go hand in hand. Several young minds shooting content on their phones and editing the rough content on laptops and putting forth to a large audience tells us how further we have advanced with tech aiding the resources. Similarly, The Matrix in 1999, was a film that showcased how creativity can lead to tech advancement as it made us believe in virtual travelling innovations. As cited earlier too, films have come a long way in transforming the viewer’s experience. Predominantly 2 dimensional screens or 2D screens were a standard at any multiplex. However, 3D and even 4D have taken the movie experience a notch higher and people are upgrading themselves to get a taste of the modern tech. Previously we were used to watching movies televised by the cable network, but now the tables have turned and we can watch content that pleases us at any given time of the day. As an editor, I’ve sliced episodes of major Vice TV show, Big Rad Wolf, to render them for streaming platfrom Quibi for ease of accessibility of viewers watching it on their phones, hence also creating an intimacy between the viewer and the characters. Storytellers are always looking for ways to engage their audience and tell it the most humane way possible. Virtual reality has opened many doors. If done well, it can take the viewer in an immersive experience where the user can be very close to actually feel the conflict, or what the character is going through. Rather than the audience watching their hero chase a cop, they can sit with them and enjoy the ride, and that’s just a starting point. You can create investigative content where you make your viewer attentive to each and every image and audio to find out more about the story further. Directing the eye of the viewer to the right subject is the key element in VR content creation and content developers are constantly working to create as much realistic world to make the viewer fully immerse in the content. While it’s a great opportunity for the filmmakers to explore storytelling, it also has its cons. One of the current developments is to make the headset much accessible and smaller so it’s comfortable for a longer period of time. Long form content is very hard to enjoy on the headset, and makes us realize we aren’t transported fully to the film world. There are many encouraging checkpoints for VR to popularize in the modern day. The more concurrent ones are the major festivals that are encouraging VR content by dedicating a section for the viewers to experience. I had designed a VR experience wherein the viewer can witness a historic museum right from their living room. VR is gaining traction and many major brands are looking at the lucrative space to present their virtual world to the large audience wherein the visitor can also interact. It is where I step in – to help brands by understanding their goals and presenting them with an immersive customer experience. For example, a person can virtually experience a preferred apparel by visiting the shop virtually and then the exact same product delivers to them, etc.  Coming from a South Asian background, your films revolve around the immigrant experience of South Asians in the United States. Would you like to talk about some of your personal experiences where you had to accept the fact Indians still have to go a long way in getting acceptability in the western world? We all have witnessed the stigmatization of minorities through history and how they are put forth in mass media. Asia, particularly, South Asians, for decades, have majorly been presented as comic relief or sidekick in several Hollywood movies until recently. Though diversity and inclusion have been a hot topic across industries for some years now, in cinema, representation of South Asians remained a bombastic void for many years in the past. The narrative is slowly changing now as more and more discussions on showcasing diversity have taken the limelight for many filmmakers. Hailing from South Asia, as a filmmaker, I believe in making convincing stories which not only serve as souvenirs of diversity but bring to the surface the actual South Asian experience both native and non-residents by underscoring the age-old South Asian cultural experiences. I am elated to witness my films Dr Elevator and Please Don’t Call the Cops showcasing Asian characters and the stories being aired at the celebrated South Asian Film Festival of Canada and the US. Furthermore, being recognized by Oscar winning actress Viola Davis, paves way for South Asian filmmakers to showcase their story on the big screen. In a nutshell, the mold of stereotyping in now cracked. From Hollywood to everyone across the world are now keen on presenting unbiased stories and multicultural experiences as is. Involving many checkpoints behind the scenes right from directing to shooting to editing, etc., showcasing cultural experience transparently is a task. However, my roots being from South Asia, I am able to understand and craft their stories by representing their real-life experiences as a South Asian within their native country or on foreign soil. Your upcoming projects include Time’s Studios documentary series, Right To Offend, and Showtime’s documentary series, Supreme Team, premiering at the prestigious Tribeca film festival next month. Though the name suggests a lot about the plot you could elaborate a little more? Yes, I keep looking forward to witness Tribeca as it showcases some of the finest creations from around the globe and makes it available to the audience in the most convenient way. Interestingly, three films that I have worked on are going to be premiered at Tribeca. Time’s Studios’ Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution focusses on the progression of Black comedy. It presents comedians who have used sharp humor to test and mock society’s injustices and to put forth Black experience in America, on which I worked with the editorial team for almost a year. Supreme Team highlights the deeper realms of infamous Queens, New York gang. It is a real story coming straight from the mouths of its two leaders and family members, Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff and Gerald “Prince’’ Miller. Details of the graphics of period documentaries is very fragile and one needs to have an eye for detail. I spearheaded the team on creating graphics to bring out the immersive experience. It is indeed a pleasure to see projects that are showcased on such renowned platforms. Getting qualification in BAFTA and an award from Oscar winning actress, Viola Davis has also been a career-defining moment. How has your life as a filmmaker changed after that and does you now feel settled in America? I’ve worked on so many projects from short form content to big-budget features but putting together a film and watching the audience react to each and every decision you made while making it is a joy is what I’m very grateful for. Getting the laughs from a full packed audience is quite a filmmaker’s dream. Although you can never settle and satisfy yourself in filmmaking, the craft is constantly evolving, but qualification in BAFTA and getting acclaimed by Viola Davis is just ice on the cake which not only has opened my films to a bigger audience but also keeps motivating me to take more risks and pursue our dreams further. Tell us about your other future projects I had an editing stint for Arjun Kanungo’s music videos recently which bagged a whopping 3Mn views in just 10 days. I am currently also working at an Oscar-winning post facility, Rock Paper Scissors in LA. In the VR space, I am engaging with several global brands by developing games and experiences to aid their showcase on the metaverse platform. Nivedita Sharma’s work experience includes covering fashion weeks in Milan, Pakistan, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Dubai, and award functions like IIFA, and TOIFA.  Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News,  India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.