WSU Vancouver Professor Researches Culture of Filmmaking in India

VANCOUVER, Wash. — In terms of viewership and sheer cultural impact, “Bollywood” easily rivals Hollywood as the most influential cinema on the globe. Washington State University Vancouver anthropology assistant professor Clare Wilkinson-Weber’s research focuses on the local production systems that prop up this global cinematic phenomenon.  

Indian production companies are trying to become more streamlined, efficient and competitive in a global market. At the same time, large media companies like Sony are trying to get their own piece of the Indian media pie. Nevertheless, many technicians and craftspeople in the industry continue to use labor-intensive methods, low technology and “traditional” skills. Indeed, despite Indian films being part of a global marketplace, the local culture of filmmaking has remained distinct. 

On a recent visit to India, Wilkinson-Weber spent most of her time in Mumbai (the city formerly known as Bombay). Renewing friendships with filmmakers and technicians that she met previously during a research trip in 2002 -a four month research study on a senior scholarship funded by the American Institute of Indian studies- she also made new contacts in the industry, including make-up artists, wardrobe personnel and assistant directors. 

In December 2005, Wilkinson-Weber gave an invited seminar presentation at the Research Centre for Women’s Studies at SNDT Women’s University in Mumbai.  The Research Centre is one of the best known and respected centers for the study of women and women’s affairs in the country. Her talk, titled, “Researching Women in the Mumbai Film Industry: Prospects and Proposals,” focused on opportunities for women in filmmaking, as well as the problems faced by women in the lower levels of the business.

Wilkinson-Weber’s experiences in theater as an undergraduate student in England originally spurred her interest in this research area. Spending time with lighting crews, sound people, stage managers, costumers, make up, etc. gave her the opportunity to meet many people who were professional or semi-professional in the theater line, and generated her interest in how they expressed their own artistic or creative visions. For example, what they tended to notice when they critically evaluated a piece of theater was different from what actors or directors noticed, and she thought their viewpoint was equally valid, if not always widely known or understood.  There is quite a lot written in trade and popular culture publications about the technical side of filmmaking, but not much in the academic world, at least nothing that really examines the social and cultural aspects of filmmaking from the craft or technical point of view.

“I think that anthropologists, as a group, are more drawn to the quirky and idiosyncratic parts of social life, by which I mean those parts of everyday life that so many people simply take for granted or don’t notice. What I love about what I do is hearing and then re-telling the wonderful, rich stories that film crew members have to tell” said Wilkinson-Weber.

Wilkinson-Weber can be reached at (360) 546-9663 or at weberc@vancouver.wsu.edu.