MUMBAI: A long journey of sound and picture came alive in the master class by Dolby Laboratories senior vice-president Ioan Allen on the second day of Ficci Frames 2013.

Allen went back in the history of Dolby with respect to the changing nature of the image— from traditional film to the digital revoultion.

He said,"It was in late 1990's, when digital cinema became a reality. In 1992, Dolby Digital gained success with the film 'Batman Returns'."  The advent of digital projection in theatres and the movement from film reel to hard drive was a huge move for Dolby and motion pictures.

Allen joined Dolby Laboratories in 1969 and was in large part responsible for the origination and development of all the major audio advancements emanating from the Dolby film program.He has also received several Academy Awards for scientific and engineering achievement. In 1989, Ioan and Ray Dolby were awarded Oscars for continuous contributions to motion picture sound through the research and development programs at Dolby Laboratories.

He predicted that by the end of 2013, most theatres of United States and Europe will be converted into digital projection. "Digital Cinema is always better as its low on cost compared to film reels."

He further highlighted that soundtrack is a language that is constantly adjusted. Dolby introduced radical thinking in the sound
of cinema. "We as company keep striving to make picture and sound work together and are still struggling to capture it in the best way."

The theme of the master class was 'Sound and Picture- Together Telling the Story'.

After the session, filmmaker Rohan Sippy joined him for a discussion on the role of technology in Indian cinema. Sippy noted that the future of 3D in India is still at a nascent stage. He took the opportunity to mention about the 3D dance film ABCD that crossed 40 crores in spite of having a niche audience. He added that there is a need to study the nature of Indian audience to understand that whether they are open to accept the pricing of 3D. They discussed how the premium pricing of 3D has made it difficult to sustain the format in the US. He said India has more scope to grow in the coming years and there are few 3D films which have been successful in the country. .

Allen said he doesn’t necessarily want to see an upsurge of Dolby Atmos (a surround sound technology that was introduced by Dolby Laboratories last year) in theatres in the US. He’d prefer that they had higher collections via more seat occupancy (Dolby Atmos tickets are more expensive).

Allen will conduct a workshop on 14 March at PVR Juhu, Mumbai  on 'Sound and Picture- Together Telling the Story'.