3-D film
Categories: Cleanup from October 2005 | Film formats | 3-D films | 3D imaging
- For 3D computer graphics and related software, see 3D computer graphics. For technical information, see stereoscopy.
The term 3-D (or 3D) is used to describe any visual presentation system that attempts to maintain or recreate the third dimension, the illusion of depth as seen by the viewer.
The basic principle involves taking two pictures, either still or moving, with cameras positioned side by side, and with identical technical characteristics. When viewed in such a way that each eye sees only the image taken on the same side as itself, the viewer's visual cortex will interpret the pair of images as a single three-dimensional image. See stereoscopy for a more detailed description.
Contents |
History
As early as 1853 the Englishman Sir Charles Wheatstone experimented with a modified stereoscope to show 3-D paper strips (the perforated film had not yet been invented) with scenes filmed in Hyde Park, London.
The very first publicly shown short 3-D movie (lasting only about a minute) was made by the Brothers Lumiére in 1903 (L'Arrivée du Train), showing the arrival of a train in a railway station. It was presented at the World's Fair of 1903 in Paris. It could only be viewed by one person at a time on a modified stereoscope, as a proper screening-process to divide the left and right pictures for viewing had not been invented.
The first screening of 3-D short motion pictures, for a paying audience, dates back to June 10th 1915, when the short Jim, the Penman was shown at the Astor Theatre New York, starring John Mason and Marie Doro along with some scenes from rural America and the Niagara Falls. They were also the very first 3-D movies in which the audience had to wear red/green anaglyph spectacles.
Experimental or novelty 3-D films continued to be produced sporadically through the early days of cinema. The 3-D fad began in 1952 with the release of the exploitation film Bwana Devil, produced by Sidney W. Pink. The film was projected with two interlocked projectors and film prints, using polarizing filters and glasses, as were most the 3-D films of this period. The familiar disposable, two-color (anaglyph) cardboard glasses were mainly used for comic books and only a few black-and-white 3D films. Bwana Devil was followed the next year by the first full-color 3-D movie, House of Wax. Disney waded into 3-D with its May 28, 1952 release of Melody, the first 3-D cartoon. It was later shown at Disneyland's Fantasyland Theater, and appears on the Fantasia 2000 DVD.
The theatrical 3D craze continued until the middle 1950s. The limiting factors were: 1. Two prints had to be projected. 2. They prints had to remain exactly alike after repair, or synchronization would be lost. 3. It sometimes required two projectionists to keep it working properly. 4. When prints did become unsynchronized, the picture became virtually unwatchable. 5. The silver screen needed were very directional and caused sideline seating to be unusable with both 3D and regular films due to the darkness caused by these screens. With few exceptions, the 3D movies made poor use of the medium.
Competing with 3D as a novel theater experience as widescreen, utilized by Fox with Cinemascope and such films as Around the World in 80 Days in a similar format, 70mm Todd-AO. Widescreen features needed only a single print, so synchronization was not an issue.
Among 3D films, critics consider the musical Kiss Me, Kate as one of the more notable productions. It was shot with the cameras closer together, which reduced eyestrain. Unfortunately, there was no single instance of combining Cinemascope widescreen with 3D stereo until the boom had disapated in the early 60s, with a film called September Storm.
Producer Arch Oboler released an inovative 3D film, The Bubble, in 1966. Using a new technology, Space-Vision 3D, the film was printed with two images "over and under" on a single strip and needed only one projector fitted with a special lens.
Four years later, another company, Stereovision developed a different single-strip format, which used an anamorphic lens to widen the picture. With producer-distributor Louis Sher, Stereovision released the soft-sex comedy The Stewardesses (originally self-rated X, but lated re-rated R by the MPAA) that cost $100,000 to produce, and earned approx. $27 million in less than 800 play dates. It was later released in 70mm 3D. Some 36 films were made with Stereovision over 25 years,using either a widescreen (above-below) or the anamorphic (side by side) format.
In the early 1980s, IMAX (Large format 70mm) began offering non-fiction films in 3D, and fiction starting with the 45-minute Wings of Courage (1995), by director Jean-Jacques Annaud, about the author and pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. In Nov. 2004, Polar Express was released as the first full-length 3D IMAX 90 minute animation feature. It was released in over 3550 theaters in 2D, and only 62 IMAX locations. The return from those few 3D theaters was about 25% of the total. The 3D version earned about 14 times as much per screen than the 2D version. This has prompted a greatly intensified interest in 3D and 3D presentation of animated films. At least six animation films are sheduled for release prior to December 2006. Both IMAX 3D film, and new digital 3D will be used for these films.
Scientific, education & military uses
Besides entertainment, 3-D does have serious uses. For instance, examining stereoscopic aerial images can provide insights into topography which can have scientific and military applications.
3D stereo is used in computer displays primarily for technical and scientific data,while color and historical black & white images are posted on line in anaglyph. The US Geological Survey has posted over 1500 color 3D images, illustrating the landscape of the US National Parks and Monuments. Several community colleges are now offering for credit courses, illustrated in anaglyph 3D. Several hundred gallery websites exist on-line with collections of museum objects, classic cars, historical 3d images, science and world travel. Full motion video clips and animations are begining to appear in the anaglyph format on the internet.
Techniques
There are several ways to create projected 3-D images.
Most of the computer-games or so-called 3D computer graphics claiming to be "3-D" are actually two-dimensional renditions of a three-dimensional scene. For a stereoscopic 3-D game at least two pictures, one for each eye, are needed.
New developments
New technologies are coming that will allow current 2-D films to be remastered into 3-D using proprietary procedures. George Lucas has announced that he will re-release his Star Wars films in 3-D based on a conversion process from the company In-Three. James Cameron (Titanic) will shoot his new film Battle Angel 2007 in digital 3-D. The following animation films are scheduled for upcoming release: "Chicken Little" Nov 4, 2005, followed in a few months by "Monster House" "The Ant Bully" and "Happy Feet". These are all animation based and will either release in digital in a few hundred theaters along with a 2D release or in IMAX 3D along with regular 2D 35mm. Both digital and IMAX are quite costly ways of showing 3D. Another approach being proposed is the upgrading of existing 35mm to show 3D with a six perf pull-down in the projector. Advocates of this, CINE 160 3D, point to 10 to 1 cost savings and proven results with film. (The film image is 1.6 times the conventional frame size.)
In late 2005 Steven Spielberg told the press he was involved in patenting a 3-D cinema system that does not need glasses, and is based on plasma screens. A computer splits each film-frame, and then projects the two split images onto the screen at differing angles, to be picked up by tiny angled ridges on the screen. (Spielberg is co-producer of the film "Monster House".) Even episodic TV series are embracing 3D, as NBCs "Medium" hits the home HD screens in 3D in late November 2005.