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It’s a 3D Revolution
Once the domain of schlocky 1950s horror movies, 3D movies will once again be leaping off the screen at a theater near you
Angelina Jolie and Ray Winstone star in Beowulf.
Hollywood moviemakers have been fascinated by 3D features for more than five decades now. If it can leap off the screen and land in your lap it has probably been shot, whether in a sci-fi shocker of the 1950s like It Came From Outer Space, an experimental film of the 1970s like Flesh for Frankenstein, a tacky sequel of the 1980s like Friday the 13th Part 3 or a popular CG release of the new millennium like Meet the Robinsons. Over the past few years, however, there has been a huge increase in the production of 3D films. More than a half-dozen live-action and a dozen computer animated 3D films are currently in the studio pipelines—with more to come.
One reason for this surge in development is the availability of state-of-the-art digital technology. “It was always possible to show 3D, but never possible to show it in a reliable manner,” says Eric Brevig, an Oscar-nominated visual effects artist and director of this summer’s Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, the first live-action narrative feature to be shot and released in digital stereoscopic 3D. “It’s a convergence of technology,” he says. The problems of former 3D imaging simply no longer exist.
Originally, 3D movies used anaglyph color filters: Projected images were made up of two color layers, superimposed on the screen, but offset. The audience wore glasses containing a red lens and a blue lens to see a three-dimensional perception of these images. Though moderately successful, this technique caused severe eye strain after short periods of time as viewers’ eyes needed to adjust to each shot.
Polarized technology came next: Two different linearly-polarized images were projected onto a specially designed silver screen. The light that reached the viewer’s eyes was then filtered by linearly-polarized eyeglass lenses. Each eye would see only one of the two images, creating a 3D effect. The problem here is that if the head was tilted, double-imaging would result as the correct viewing angle was thrown off.
Today, however, digital projectors have revolutionized modern day stereoscopic 3D cinema. Two adjacent cameras shoot a left eye and a right eye. With Real D Cinema, these images are shown using a single projector that alternately projects the right-eye frame and left-eye frame, circularly polarizing them through a liquid crystal screen placed in front of the projector lens. Circularly-polarized eyeglasses make sure each of the viewer’s eyes sees only its own image, even if the head is tilted. A high frame rate makes the image look seamless.
Lately, “resistance by theater owners is not there,” says Chris Condon, cinematographer, producer and renowned 3D pioneer who has been developing products for 3D technology since the early 1950s. “Projection is so simple.” Plus, in the early days of 3D movies, theaters were obligated to buy large quantities of non-reusable glasses to show their films. Even at less than $.10 a pair, costs added up. Today, glasses are reusable and much more comfortable. Condon remembers a time, however, when he visited Russia years ago to view a new 3D technology that didn’t require glasses at all. “The problem was, you had to hold your head completely still. Half an inch one way or the other, the picture went in reverse.”
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- Comment by shaikmohammadali on 7/14/08 at 11:32 pm
Hi All Thank You So Super Hit Films
This story was published in the Future of Moviemaking 2008 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
It's Not Your Daddy's 3D
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