In this new era, OTT platforms are the most sought-after source of entertainment. Some OTT series have made revolutionary VFX shots that are equivalent to Hollywood standards. Often famous Hollywood VFX production companies became a part of these series. And giants in OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime don’t hesitate to spend the required amount of funding for the production of these Billion dollar projects.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a huge uprise in demand for fresh content as people got locked inside their houses. And quite naturally the only source of entertainment is limited to mobile and television. So the entertainment industry was forced to produce bulk content despite having a difficult situation to produce such amount of projects within a short span of time. Even though it put them in a really difficult situation of peer pressure. In the long run, it benefitted the OTT industry on a huge scale to the point that it even went up to the level of surpassing the graph of the film industry.

Once the Pandemic had settled, the film industry made its comeback but still, the popularity of OTT remained the same. OTT started to take over television view time and the membership count went over the top pressurizing the executives to invent even more quality content.

With a spike of 50% in digital subscriptions in the year 2020, the top content providers have progressively paved their way into the OTT media and entertainment market. According to a FICCI assessment, there could be up to four million OTT consumers by 2024.

As far as we are aware, such intricacy and complexity require a considerable amount of financial support in order to make this possible. OTT giant Netflix had foreseen this future much before all this kerfuffle had happened. Moreover, they never had any plans to cut costs on any production expenses.

VFX and OTT Released Series

There are a few series released via OTT platforms that gained more hype than some movies. The VFX shots used in these famous series are no less than that of a big-budget movie. Let’s look into some of the OTT series that captured worldwide attention with their unique content and amazing VFX shots. And became trend-setters in their respective times.

STRANGER THINGS

The Rodeo VFX Company employed almost 200+ VFX artists to accomplish the 400+ VFX shots of Stranger Things and the computer-generated creatures. VFX Supervisor Martin Pelletier led the VFX team.

GAMES OF THRONES

Game of Thrones changed the norms of VFX forever and it raised the standards of mini-screen series forever almost to the level that it’s not possible anymore to go back to the usual practice.
The visual effects for Game of Thrones done throughout numerous nations over the years.

MONEY HEIST

Money Heist, which is seen by millions of people in more than 190 nations, has won multiple honours. Including the International Emmy for Best Drama Series. Most of the action occurs in the Royal Mint of Spain, which is located in Madrid.

WEDNESDAY

Within a short period of time, the brand-new trend-setter series Wednesday gained appeal on a global scale. In addition to the show’s general praise, the visual effects created by the MARZ VFX team merit deserve special mention.
The VFX work done to create ‘The thing’ is especially worth mentioning.

DARK

The series that took out-of-the-box thinking to the next level and completely blew away the audience with its unique content set its mark as one of the best Netflix series ever aired. Visual effects  accomplished by the RISE VFX team headed by Sean Stranks.

SQUID GAME

Gulliver Studios, one of South Korea’s best VFX studios, collaborated with Netflix and the show’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk. They used 1,960 VFX shots in total on all 9 seasons to bring this drama series to life that became a massive success.

WESTWORLD

CoSA VFX has been one of the primary visual effects suppliers for HBO’s Westworld. The legendary VFX Company Double Negative (DNEG) also did the VFX works of an entire season (season 3).

RINGS OF POWER

Amazon Studios did the VFX works of this eight-hour series led by VFX producer Ron Ames. The show has won seven Primetime Emmy Awards. Including one for Outstanding Special Visual Effects, and became a worldwide hit for its forward outlook and breathtaking visuals.

BREAKING BAD

Entity FX given several important VFX shots for the TV show Breaking Bad in order to depict the tale of high school teacher Walter White as he gradually immerses himself in a suburban drug culture.

FUTURE OF OTT

The average amount of OTT watching time increased from 180 to 200 Billion minutes in the year 2022. It is anticipated to increase even more within a short period. The entry of 5G changed the pace of the game much faster than expected.

This trend is being fueled by a number of such factors including expanding broadband availability that lowers the cost of the service, cheaper smartphones, tablets, and computers, particularly in developing economies, increased access to new streaming technologies, the availability of video on large, connected TVs, new apps, and streaming services, and an increase in the amount and a variety of high-quality content.

OTT businesses are eager to create localized content to appeal to rural consumers. Because of the rising internet penetration in rural areas which is anticipated to hit more than 500 million by the end of 2023. The absence of other entertainment options has caused people, primarily from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, who had not previously heard of OTT viewing. To evoke curiosity about these platforms which in fact could be said as the power of word-of-mouth. Platform owners are attempting to boost consumer stickiness by bringing in a pool of content. To make the audience never get bored and satisfy their increasing demand for content viewing, even though the majority of them are first-time samplers due to the lockout.

Additionally, the top 8 cities in India accounted for 70% of Alt Balaji’s overall audience prior to the outbreak. After April 2020, though, the ratio has shifted to 30-50, with 65% of traffic coming from locations other the top 8 cities.

FUTURE OF VFX

The emergence and development of VFX technology have changed the storytelling paradigm, forcing the entertainment industry to experience a boom.

The media and entertainment industries have been intensely competitive, with animation and visual effects giving the content makers an edge, despite the economic downturn and the production halt experienced during the early pandemic months. The animation sector alone projects a growth of 12% in domestic television programming in 2020, reflecting the sharp rise in demand for domestic programming in recent years. The market was worth 25 billion dollars despite the pandemic’s initial phase causing huge losses. Various visual effects students employed right after the completion of their VFX course . During this period due to a rise in demand for exciting content.

India has the world’s second-largest entertainment market. India’s animation and visual effects industry has the potential to capture 20 to 25% of the worldwide AVGC market. Due to the growing demand for high-quality material in advertisements, web series, movies, and OTT, directors and producers favour using cinematic and VFX effects over live-action scenes. Creators are increasingly using VFX and animation techniques to create the appearance of authenticity and a blend of imagination and reality. In order to maintain the momentum, creators may produce or compose material that is rich in fantasy and visual appeal.

Conclusion

In just a few years, the OTT business has undergone a great deal of growth and evolution.

In the upcoming years, experts predict that the sector will grow even more. By 2027, it is anticipated that the OTT market will be valued $1.039 trillion. This is a considerable increase from the industry’s worth in 2019 of $121.61 billion.

As more OTT streaming services hit the market and more users continue to “cut the cord” on cable. The rise will certainly continue.

Incidentally, the Digital media industry has established itself as the second-largest sector in the media. And entertainment business after VFX, in terms of absolute growth, amounting to almost 68 billion dollars.