Upon handing students their first bow and arrow, Archery In Motion instructor Dan Bolduc takes them through a five-step process to introduce proper form in archery.

Step 1, get the bow ready. Step 2, get in shooting position and pull back slightly. Step 3, draw back. Step 4, get into an anchor, which is the point of holding form. And finally, Step 5, release.

It appears simple, but those five steps are a shortened version of a nearly 200-step procedure performed by Olympic archers, with appropriate technique necessary for a successful shot.

Whether that sounds easy or difficult is open for interpretation, but what can’t be denied is the global phenomenon that archery is quickly becoming.

According to NBC, archery had the highest cable ratings of any sport in this year’s London Games, averaging 1.5 million daytime viewers, with the United States taking silver in the team events.

This rise in popularity has also become apparent closer to home. The 20-year-old Bolduc and his father Mike’s mobile company based out of Concord is seeing its highest rate of requests since opening the business in 2010.

“August used to be our quiet month,” Mike Bolduc said, “but this year we’re booked all the way through October.”

The Bolducs have become so backed up to the point where they are now looking into getting more trucks to house equipment and more instructors to take trips all over New England to give lessons.

Manchester-based Art of Archery owner and instructor Dana White has also been a major beneficiary of this rise in popularity, almost to a fault.

The 66-year-old White may be retired from any typical full-time career, but this recent archery craze has turned his hobby and passion into a seven-day-a-week job.

When summer begins to approach in May and June, the amount of students White teaches in a seven-week program usually dies down to about 35 people. However, this year’s program had an astounding 71-student turnout.

“I can’t do anymore classes,” White said. “It’s incredible.

“The last time it was this big was back when the United States took the individual and team gold (in the 1996 Atlanta Games).”

However, archery’s rise began well before the Olympics with a significant amount of interest being drawn early in the summer months. With that presents the burning question.

What has caused such a meteoric rise in the popularity of archery?

Hollywood appears to be the popular answer.

The recent release of films such as the Hunger Games, Brave and the Avengers has inspired young audiences to introduce themselves to the sport in hopes to be just like their favorite movie characters.

“I ask all my students why they want to get into archery,” Dan Bolduc said. “For some of them it’s because they want to connect with the outdoors and it’s a very traditional thing. But recently, I’ve heard ‘I want to be Merida (Brave). I want to be Katniss (Hunger Games). I want to be Hawkeye (Avengers).’

“They see all these characters in the movies now and they’re very excited about it. The movies are generating a spark.”

Bolduc went on to compare this recent spark to the one that began when he first started out in archery during the release of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Although the desire to be just like Legolas was not Bolduc’s inspiration to learn to shoot a bow and arrow, it was a common theme among many of his peers.

Ryan Beretta, 18, whose interest in shooting archery came from reading a newspaper ad eight years ago, also recognizes the similarities.

“When I joined it was when the Lord of the Rings movies were released,” Beretta said, “and everyone was like ‘It’s because I saw Lord of the Rings.’

“I was the only one there for actual archery.”

Beretta sees a similar increase in interest with many of the newer students constantly talking about being inspired by movies.

However, this phenomenon has reached a whole new level, which makes White a firm believer that the Hunger Games’ release in March and the influx in requests for his summer programs is no coincidence.

He said has never seen anything more astounding in his 51 years in archery, and thinks it’s great to see Hollywood capitalizing on his lifelong passion, which is something he has passed down to his students.

“It shows so much potential,” Liz O’Connor, a 19-year-old archer of five years and student of White’s, said. “I feel like it deserves that popularity.”

And with the Hunger Games consisting of a trilogy in print that is expected to make its way through the big screen, the chances of this phenomenon being put to rest any time soon is looking quite unlikely.