Immersion: 3D

"What the hell is 2D?"

If you find yourself asking this question when you go to the movies and looking at the options flashing on that sign, don't worry, you're not alone.

I should however, take this time to welcome you to the year 2012.

There are an array of different ways to experience a film now.
As opposed to the way it used to be.
Which was just:

You go to the movies.
The end.

Well now when you go to the movies, after hearing all those people who used to do the mentioned description above complain for ten minutes about the prices of everything,

You can see (certain) movies in:
-3D 
-IMAX
-IMAX 3D 
-D-BOX (Motion Seats)
and of course, good old 2D (which is just a regular film, i.e. two dimensions (sight and sound)).


So what are these formats exactly?


They're not entirely just a brilliantly concocted scheme by the Hollywood studios and directors to get more money out of you, although I know we'd all like to think that.
And because sometimes it's true.
But note the sometimes.
Not all the time.

So where to begin?

Well instead of talking about every possible avenue of immersion in modern cinema,
I'll break the experiences down into the two most popular categories.

3D and IMAX.


3D

The origin of 3D goes all the way back to 1915.
Back then, its existence was limited to little more than a rarity however, due to the fact that the technology and the hardware was very expensive at that time.
The interesting technology would be temporarily abandoned until the middle of the 20th century.
It wouldn't be until the 1950's that the popularity of 3D movies really began to surge.
Back then, the technology was still primitive, and it was largely used as a gimmick in horror movies and whatnot. I'm sure you've seen this "older" technology a few times or at least seen those cheesy blue and red glasses.

If you don't know what 3D is exactly, basically it's a system that uses technology to trick the eye to make an image on a flat surface appear as though it has depth.

Although it's been around for ages, in 2006 the world was formally introduced to a more advanced form of 3D known as the Polarization System. This is now the standard for all 3D films.

Since I don't want to bore you with every possible detail, check out a brief history of 3D HERE.

In 2009, everything we knew about what 3D could be changed.

With the creation of "Avatar", director James Cameron wanted the audience to feel immersed in the world that he meticulously crafted. With this aspiration came the Fusion Camera System that Cameron himself along with Vince Pace created specifically for Avatar.

The technology allowed the viewer to feel as though they were actually visiting the world of Pandora, just as the characters in the film were. Instead of throwing things at the audience and using the 3D technology as a pure gimmick, viewers felt immersed in the film, helping to allow the film to feel like a spectacular event when seen in 3D. It was an experience literally unlike any other that had come before it.

Now since Avatar was filmed in 2007, (it took two years for all of the special effects and post-production to be completed) James Cameron lent the technology that he created to other studios that had seen what the system could do. So before Avatar was released in December of 2009, films like The Final Destination (2009) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) were filmed using Cameron's Fusion System.

Both of these films were praised for the 3D effects, however like so many 3D films that come before them, these directors and filmmakers were using the 3D as more of a gimmick than anything else.

Since Avatar, 3D has exploded in popularity, and for a while it seemed that 3D had the ability to change movies forever, or at least that's what the ambition and technical accomplishment of Avatar would tell us.

But then, a mere three months later, the world would be introduced to the fiend that would part the film-going community right in half.

With Avatar, audiences saw an amazing experience unlike any they had seen before.
But for a lot of the studios, all they saw was that people were going to pay more for 3D,
so that's what they were going to give the masses...by any means necessary.

Big Mistake. 


Enter: Clash of the Titans (2010).


With the release of Clash, audiences were introduced to the process (*cough* abomination *cough*) known now as the post-conversion. Essentially what this means is that the film is not filmed with 3D cameras, and most be converted to 3D afterwards using computers and many meticulous hours of labor.

Alright, so not all post-conversions are terrible.

But this one was.

It sucked.

Like, imagine writing a twenty-five page paper on the subject of carrots
and their effects on modern day society, whilst in hell.

SUCKED.

Warner Brothers just didn't know what they were doing.
It was as simple as that.

All they knew was that Avatar made 2.7 billion dollars and they wanted a piece of that.
So what they did was have the film hastily post-converted as fast as humanly possible in order to make its planned release date and be able to boast that it was in 3D.
The process of post-conversion can take anywhere from six months to almost a full year to be done right (i.e. Titanic 3D, The Green Hornet).

Clash of the Titans was done in a little less than one month.

The result was a film that had virtually no extra depth and was not immersible at all.
It wasn't even gimmicky.
It was just bad...and blurry.

The reactions were incredibly negative.
So negative in fact, that a lot of people were convinced that this is what 3D was, completely putting Avatar out of their minds, and the experience that it brought to the table.

But it made money. 500 million dollars.

So the studios didn't stop there.
And neither did the audience backlash against 3D.

Two years later, and here we are.
A mixed bag of movies that are properly filmed in 3D like:
Tron:Legacy
Hugo
Coraline
How To Train Your Dragon
Pirates of the Caribbean:On Stranger Tides
Transformers:Dark of the Moon
Prometheus

hidden in a sea of films that are post-converted to save money like:
Thor
Captain America
Green Lantern
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
The Last Airbender
Men in Black 3
John Carter
The Chronicles of Narnia 3
Wrath of the Titans
Priest
Alice in Wonderland
.
...And a whole bunch of people who have yet to experience what 3D has the ability to truly do
because they have been so put off by the post-conversions that do little more than give them a headache.

To be fair, the studios know a little more what they're doing now.
They take their time post-converting, learning from the massive mistake that was Clash of the Titans.
But I agree with James Cameron.
3D is not just a gimmick, it has the ability to make us feel more connected and immersed in the experience.

Is it worth the extra $2 to $4?
Absolutely.

Just as long as you pick the film that you're planning on seeing in 3D well.
Do a little research before you decide to see it.
The following list HERE will show you all the 3D films to date and the future releases.
As well as whether it was filmed in 2D, or 3D.

Now that you know the history of this fascinating technology,
Please understand that the future of 3D is still uncertain.
And its reputation and capabilities have been shaken.
But you can make a difference in its fate.

Choose well.

Stay Tuned for Part 2!