|
You’re sitting in a movie theater, clutching your popcorn and soda as a slimy, dripping claw reaches out of the screen. Your eyes widen behind your cardboard glasses. Trapped in your seat, nausea sweeps over you as the reptilian fin inches closer to your neck. Sound like a blast from the past? The movie? Creature from the Black Lagoon. The year? 1954.
Hollywood had introduced popular thrillers and sci-fi flicks such as Creature from the Black Lagoon in 3-D to audiences in the 1950s. With James Cameron’s hit film, Avatar, in 3-D raking in $2.5 billion in ticket sales (www.boxofficemojo.com), this generation is rediscovering the excitement of 3-D. Although the recent three-dimensional movie craze may seem like a sudden phenomenon, the concept hasn’t changed since 1890 — it is the constant innovations in special effects that have made the technology popular.
The Evolution of 3-D
The earliest form of 3-D imagery dates back to1890, using stereoscopy, the process that allows humans to perceive depth when viewing a two-dimensional image. In the early 20th century, photographers took advantage of stereoscopy and sold “virtual” postcards, where two almost identical photos are aligned side by side. Using a stereoscopic viewer, individuals could see realistic depictions of natural landscapes and popular destinations.
People today continue to appreciate three-dimensional art. Recently in San Francisco, 3-D photographer Stan Heller noted how stereoscopic viewers and cards became a common pastime back in the early 1900s. “I think of 3-D stills as places to visit,” he said. Currently, he is creating 3-D photographs of street scenes and people, a modern take on historic photos.
Decades after the introduction of stereoscopic imagery, filmmakers transferred the concept to motion pictures by projecting two overlapping images at the same time. These processes are known as anaglyph and polarization. 3-D glasses separate these images until your brain processes them, creating an image that appears to jump out at you.
Until the early ’50s, most movie theaters ran 3-D productions using the anaglyph method. Remember those cheesy red and cyan cardboard glasses? Audiences watched debut 3-D films such as Power of Love (1922) and Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) using glasses that color-filtered different images from the movie screen. Though anaglyphic 3-D movies struck awe at the time, the poor quality often caused viewers to experience nausea and headaches, according to www.physorg.com.
In 1952, polarization was introduced to 3-D filmmaking. Polarized glasses separate light rays, instead of color rays, for the viewer’s eyes, improving the color quality of 3-D movies. Thus the launch of 3-D glasses resembling sunglasses (or those “nerd glasses” in systems such as RealD) hit theaters.
3-D Draws Eyes
Originally, 3-D film was a gimmick filmmakers launched to draw viewers away from television. Over time, 3-D film dipped in and out of the entertainment industry depending on the ups and downs of the market. Over the last four decades, successful 3-D blockbusters were limited to Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein (1974), Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982), Jaws 3-D (1983) and Amityville 3-D (1983). The connection? All were mediocre horror films with 3-D effects to potentially boost interest, as though the sudden thrust of a bloody axe would strengthen a dismal plot. Similarly, The Stewardesses (1969) became a hit since it was an adult film — in 3-D.
By the end of the century, 3-D entertainment was most prevalent at amusement park attractions, including Honey I Shrunk the Kids at Disneyland or the Terminator 2: 3-D ride at Universal Studios.
Eventually, in 1995, digital film revolutionized the filmmaking industry when Disney Pixar’s Toy Story (1995) brought life-like animation and computer graphics to the big screen. The movie’s animation embodied the latest technology in computer animation until the release of Oscar-winning Up (2009), which featured pop-out 3-D effects. Other attempts at digital 3-D such as Spy Kids’ 3-D: Game Over (2004), Bolt (2008) and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) received fewer plaudits.
Finally, in December 2009, Avatar changed the lush landscape of 3-D film. Featuring state-of-the-art Fusion High-Definition video cameras and computer-generated technology, Avatar boasts exceptional special effects. Cameron began developing Avatar in 1995 and applied new techniques such as motion-captured footage in 2006, where actors’ physical movements are transferred to animated characters on the computer screen. In movie theaters, Cameron showcased his final product in RealD Cinema, the world’s most popular digital 3-D projection system. Using circular polarization, a process where light is bent in circular waves, audiences enjoyed Avatar with the freedom to tilt their heads without experiencing a loss of 3-D perception, nausea or a stiff neck. In a review, blogger Ben Patterson (www.tech.yahoo.com/blogs.com) was blown away by the overall presentation of Avatar. “…I have to say, it was pretty much impossible to tell what was a digital effect and what was live action,” he said. “Avatar has just set the digital effects bar sky-high.”
3-D on Every Screen
Building on Avatar’s proven success, 3-D entertainment is on the brink of a renaissance. Currently, electronic manufacturers such as Sony, LG, Panasonic, Samsung and Vizio race to launch 3-D-capable televisions onto the market. Using active shutter technology, televisions will be able to display live-action in a process similar to a cartoon flipbook. The more rapidly images are flashed each second on the television screen (known as its “refresh rate”), the sharper the transition between image sets. Viewers must wear LCD shutter glasses, whose liquid crystal filters enable the perception of depth.
Another key feature of 3-D television is Blu-ray DVD players. On Feb. 10, Sony released its first Blu-ray 3D™-ready DVD player. Selling for $150- $600, the models offer full HD active shutter 3-D display and built-in WiFi, unleashing movie, video and music streaming from the Web.
Switching to active shutter devices — which would include a new television set, a new cable or satellite box, a new DVD player and 3-D glasses for the whole family — is a hefty investment for the average household. With 47-inch sets alone starting at $2,000, the early market for the enhanced home entertainment system may start off slow. The majority of 3-D movies on DVD sold today use the older anaglyphic method to bring the 3-D experience home. Movies such as Coraline (2009), My Bloody Valentine 3-D (2009) or even dated titles like Jaws 3-D (1983) all offer 3-D versions when customers purchase magenta and green or red and blue glasses available at a DVD rental store.
Sophomore Devin Shiang, a computer programming sudent, views the potential of introducing 3-D into entertainment fields as a possible career choice. “I would use 3-D technology to enhance the gaming, movie and advertising industries,” Shiang said.
In a process Heller calls “slow information”, which he links with having a sufficient amount of time to appreciate 3-D, he noted the difference between 3-D in photography and motion pictures. “3-D movies are constrained by time and motion,” Heller said. He explained how anaglyph photographs allow viewers to fully view and unfold the complexity of the effect in a leisurely manner. Heller is currently diving into the adventure of anaglyph by creating a four-volume graphic novel.
Heller plans on teaching the “old school” art of anaglyph photography in workshops to the curious. “I’m interested in creating a community where people can use 3-D as a storytelling medium,” Heller said.
For now, 3-D movies at the cinema have come to stay. Tim Burton’s release of Alice in Wonderland in 3-D on March 5 uses computer effects to enhance its “eerie and creepy” aspects, grabbing the attention of many teens such as Shiang. Other predicted hits include Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Toy Story 3, Despicable Me and Piranhas, which will enter theaters in 3-D this year.
Which leads back to the ultimate goal of the 3-D filmmaking industry since the ’50s: to draw customers back into movie theaters. With Avatar acting as a 3-D movie milestone, many will find themselves clinging to their seats, popcorn at hand and 3-D nerd glasses on once again.
All illustrations by Monica Zhang
|
