Stereo Artist – blog

(This was the feature article in Film & Festivals Magazine, which printed in 2007, it is an analysis on the revival of 3D Cinema and its ties to digital projection)

With upcoming releases Beowulf (motion capture) by Robert Zemeckis, U2 3D (live action) by Catherine Owens and Marc Pellington and Coraline (stop motion) by Henry Selick, the next year promises to see 3D cinema return to the big screen, and it’s directly tied in with the digital cinema revolution. Those in the know compare it to the switch from silent black and white movies to sound and colour, and with a healthy influx of state-of-the-art digital solutions, it may just be the magic ingredient that will drive us out of our homes and back into the movie theatres. The 3D evangelists (Lucas et al.) tout it as a serious creative tool for filmmakers to bring their visions to life. But we’ve heard this all before, right? Since its inception in the late 19th Century, 3D has had a fantastically chequered and fascinating past. So, the coming months are crucial: will the industry embrace 3D and digital cinema as a serious medium and overcome their hesitancy? Rest assured, the quality of these new releases will surpass anything we’ve ever seen before and be an amazing digital cinematic experience – We detect the seeds of a film revolution…

THE BIG NAMES

Rewind back three years to the ShoWest 2005 exhibition, the longest running event for cinema exhibition and distribution in the US, where George Lucas, James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis, Randal Kleiser, Robert Rodriguez and Peter Jackson were in attendance, promoting 3D to the industry and the world. This impressive host of directors, in collaboration with a company called In-Three, had tested clips from their films including Star Wars, Ghosts of the Abyss, Top Gun, The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl, Spy Kids 3D: Game Over, The Lord of the Rings and The Polar Express, remastered in 3D, converted with In-Three’s revolutionary conversion software (IN3D). This software offers an entirely digital workflow and enables huge creative control in the depth and recreation of original material, in 3D space.

The showcase wowed attending press and directors, and the ‘big six’ made an exciting calling for cinema to adopt a digital future. George Lucas was so impressed he made a bold announcement that he intends to release each of his Star Wars movies in 3D: a statement which proved to fire up a lot of people. Whose imagination wouldn’t run wild at the possibilities – The Matrix, The Wizard Of Oz, even Casablanca in 3D?

However, roll on 2007 and Lucas’ Star Wars 3D conversions are meant to have been released by now, so what’s become of them? Was this all just hype to push a digital cinema agenda or is George strategically waiting in the wings? To get the present picture, it seems the industry is in a confused state about the digital rollout of films and what future costs this will have for exhibitors. Standards are being set, however, and digital cinema is growing, but without wider adoption and a more global saturation of 3D enabled Digital Cinema screens, Lucasfilm are not likely to be to releasing anything in 3D, for the next few years.

3D: THE EARLY DAYS

In 1952, director Arch Oboler, eager to use a new cinematography system involving camera rigs and dual projectors called ‘Natural Vision 3D’, gave us Bwana Devil, the movie that lit a 3D fuse across America. Earlier that year all the major studios had dismissed ‘Natural Vision 3D’ technology but as 3D attendance soared night after night for Bwana Devil, it sparked a mass production of 3D films, followed by House of Wax in 1953 starring Vincent Price. So in a sharp turnaround, studios, seeing the medium’s financial potential, embraced these new ‘depthies’ but unfortunately set off an unhealthy over-production of 3D gimmick-laden movies. A paradigm shift in movie technology had seemed to be taking place but at a price. Out of the 53 released 3D films between 1952 and 1955, there were only a handful of good ones (of which Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Dial M For Murder was one of the best.

Like Hitchcock, leading filmmakers today are manifesting the same passion to adopt new formats – but in a safer arena than ever before. Cinema has experimented with 3D for over a 100 years now: a great deal was learnt from the 50s and the last two decades and modern technology is helping to unify the 3D process into a seamless art. It’s so safe now in fact, that James Cameron has publicly stated his intent to create only 3D movies from now on. His next two big feature films Avatar, schedhuled for a 2009 release with Battle Angel (based on the Japanese graphic novels) hot on its heels, both blend live action and CGI and are set to be released exclusively in Digital 3D.

IMAX: THE FORGOTTEN EXPONENT

A little known fact is that James Cameron has collaborated with Vince Pace on the development of a unique 3D camera system (Cameron/Pace Fusion 3-D), which is now being used by Cameron and many others for future 3D productions. Cameron begun work on creating the camera system whilst filming Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep for the IMAX network: the educational and immersive experience that has quietly been bringing us 3D cinema for over 20 years.

There are currently over 100 IMAX 3D(R) theatres worldwide, providing a range of educational and entertaining large format 3D presentations, which are evocatively stunning. As Ray Zone (Film Historian and 3D expert) explains, “IMAX 3D(R) is still unsurpassed for the 3D movie-going experience”. IMAX is the only 3D system that uses its own projection and film format. It was their proprietary DMR(R) (Digital Re-Mastering) process, and in-house 2D to 3D conversion process, that gave us the unique opportunity to experience Harry Potter battling Voldermort in 3D in Harry Potter and The Order Of the Phoenix, IMAX’s highest grossing live-action Hollywood release to date. With a return of $35,000,000 across the IMAX network globally, it even surpassed Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns, released last year. Nonetheless, Superman Returns (DMR(R)) was itself a landmark as the very first Hollywood live action movie to be given both treatments (DMR(R) and 3D conversion), with a simultaneous release in IMAX and standard theatres. Granted, the technical aspects of the 3D conversion could have done with a lot more work and patience, but it was a spectacular event nevertheless and one that the studios could not fail to notice. So, conversions of regular 35mm releases to IMAX will continue as they basically translate as renewed revenue on existing intellectual property; or, as Lucas sees it, allowing new life to be breathed into old material. Directors are starting to think ahead: Christopher Nolan has filmed specific sequences of the The Dark Knight, (sequel to Batman Begins) using an IMAX camera, which suggests that a DMR print is planned, although no news as yet as to whether it will be converted to 3D.

OUTSIDE OF IMAX

Up to now, non-IMAX Digital 3D titles have all been animation-based. Disney led the way with the first ever 3D title Chicken Little in 2005. Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas was released last year in Disney Digital 3D and is due back on 19 October for a limited run with one of his earlier claymation shorts Vincent possibly opening the presentation. cover storycover story

Even Dreamworks Studio recently announced that it intends to release all its future titles in 3D only and are working on a 2009 release Monsters vs. Aliens – a modern day take on 50s style monster movies.

SO WHY IS IT GOING TO WORK THIS TIME?

Since Bwana Devil and the failed 50s 3D boom, technology has moved on so much that studios now have a choice of 3D systems. The digital 3D systems that exist around the world currently utilise one of three delivery mechanisms: Real-D (adopted by most screens across the globe), NuVision (focused in Germany) and Dolby Digital 3D. All three involve minor modifications of an existing digital cinema (d-cinema) or, like Dolby, have their own dci compliant cinema server, all of which work beautifully with a digital booth. And what they share is that they will work with current 3D Digital releases. Therefore, as long as content production increases, with more varied titles aimed cover story cover story at a wider demographic, healthy adoption of d-cinema systems and acceptance of 3D seems imminent.

Even public funding bodies are getting in on the act. Initiatives like the UK Film Council’s Digital Screen Network (DSN) have helped exhibitors with the costs of their d-cinema setup, and should start a 3D rollout programme in the UK soon. Of course, worldwide, America is currently driving 3D with over 640 enabled screens (that’s over 86% of the global reach). Europe has come in as a shady second with just 7% of the reach, most of which are being installed in Germany. At present, the UK only has 5 screens capable of delivering 3D to audiences but it looks as though the mainstream releases of 2008 will see that figure rise. With reassurances that there will be more movies to show on these systems, cinemas should finally be persuaded that it’s worth it to go digital and explore 3D at the same time.

IS IT WORTH IT?

Steve Schklair, CEO and founder of 3ality Digital, started his company on the idea that 3D was the most logical extension of digital television and digital cinema. Their years of development have landed them a milestone production, U2 3D, a film following U2 on their Vertigo tour, which was previewed at the Cannes Film Festival in Digital 3D. U2 3D is the first live action Digital 3D movie to be shot in Stereoscopic HD and is the kind of production required for the studios, exhibitors and the public to accept and invest in a 3D future. U2 3D also looks as if it will be first live action Digital 3D movie to be released in both large format and Digital formats, meaning a wider reach which could also act as a decision factor for exhibitors to upgrade their d-cinema setup to enable 3D presentations. 3ality Digital Systems provides a complete production and post-production toolset and the expertise to use it. Beowulf has already gone down this route and will open in IMAX and Digital 3D cinemas on November 16th 2007, so the future looks bright for 3D. As Steve Schklair predicts, “if a movie were to start shooting tomorrow, there would be somewhere between 1,000 and 5,000 3D theatres open by the time it would be released to the public.”

SO IS 3D IS THE NEXT BIG THING?

Recently, everything seems to have gone 3D crazy and everyone’s talking about it. In September we saw the ‘3D Biz-Ex, SMPTE D-Cinema and 3D Stereoscopic International Forum’ at the Venice Film Festival, and this October SMPTE is hosting a Pre-Conference Symposium on stereoscopic production. Screen International also recently hosted “Digital Cinema 2007, where 3D and Digital Cinema were discussed amongst industry specialists, proving a big buzz around 3D. At the annual Stereoscopic Displays and Applications Conference, happening again in 2008, innovators and manufacturers gather to present the latest technology to their peers. It is events like this that bring the arcane knowledge to the masses for practical and entertaining applications. The motion picture industry is very serious about 3D and ensuring quality throughout the entire process. Of course, quality productions (something sorely lacking in the original 50s craze) will be one of the key ingredients that will make 3D stick, as will sizeable budgets, big name champions, improved technology and a rapidly increasing number of 3D exhibitors. Just as widescreen, surround sound and colour transformed the industry, the time seems right for a revolution: the stage is set for 3D and this time round, it’s hard to see how it will fail this time.

© Ketan Majmudar 2007