2008 Woodie Awards
3-D productions make comeback as bankable industry trend
U2, Hannah Montana newest acts to embrace potential of technology
Jim Gilmore
Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: The Mix
Back in the early 1950s, Hollywood was under attack from television. Facing decreasing business in the wake of more easily accessible entertainment, producers started churning out 3-D movies to get people back in the theaters.
It worked for about a year, and ever since then 3-D has been looked upon as a kind of strange gimmick. Now, with the rise of new digital technology, studios are trying to breathe life into an old idea.
California-based company 3ality Digital has developed new technology for filming in 3-D. Two separate digital cameras are placed side-by-side to operate as the left eye and right eye. In post-production, these two images come together to create a seamless image and correct problems with image depth throughout the movie so that, as 3ality Digital CEO Steve Schklair said in a CNet interview, "your eyes won't even notice."
Another California-based company, Real D, takes over when it comes to showing the film up on a screen. Specially designed screens reflect polarized images back at the audience.
Although you still have to wear special glasses, they are sleek, black and plastic, as opposed to the cardboard red and blue glasses from 50 years ago.
The biggest problem facing the 3-D market right now is that only about 1,000 screens across the country carry the capacity to show 3-D, but Real D plans to expand to over 3,000 screens by the end of this year.
Earlier this month, the "Hannah Montana Concert," marketed by Walt Disney Pictures as an exclusive two-week 3-D event, made $31 million in its opening week, a record for 3-D films.
This weekend, Irish band U2 will release their concert film "U2 3D."
This July, Walt Disney Pictures will also release a kid-friendly 3-D remake of "Journey to the Center of the Earth."
It remains to be seen whether this new 3-D wave will be a lasting trend or a brief fad, but Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks Animation, seems optimistic. In a recent interview, he announced plans to release all films from 2009 onward in 3-D.
Real D CEO Michael Lewis told CNet that "once you see something in this new format, it's kind of hard to go back."
The idea of advertising 3-D as "a major event," as with the Hannah Montana concert, is probably the right way to go. Part of the appeal of 3-D film is that it is something new and fresh and provides a kind of entertainment rarely available. As the studios found out back in the 1950s, over-saturating one idea can only make it less appealing over time.
I, like many others, will be flocking to the theater this weekend to see how cool Bono looks in 3-D. On the other hand, I can't imagine wanting to see every new movie in 3-D.
Even if 3-D never moves past being anything more than an amusing gimmick, this new technology makes it become even more of a spectacle, and one that's well worth the price of a movie ticket.
It worked for about a year, and ever since then 3-D has been looked upon as a kind of strange gimmick. Now, with the rise of new digital technology, studios are trying to breathe life into an old idea.
California-based company 3ality Digital has developed new technology for filming in 3-D. Two separate digital cameras are placed side-by-side to operate as the left eye and right eye. In post-production, these two images come together to create a seamless image and correct problems with image depth throughout the movie so that, as 3ality Digital CEO Steve Schklair said in a CNet interview, "your eyes won't even notice."
Another California-based company, Real D, takes over when it comes to showing the film up on a screen. Specially designed screens reflect polarized images back at the audience.
Although you still have to wear special glasses, they are sleek, black and plastic, as opposed to the cardboard red and blue glasses from 50 years ago.
The biggest problem facing the 3-D market right now is that only about 1,000 screens across the country carry the capacity to show 3-D, but Real D plans to expand to over 3,000 screens by the end of this year.
Earlier this month, the "Hannah Montana Concert," marketed by Walt Disney Pictures as an exclusive two-week 3-D event, made $31 million in its opening week, a record for 3-D films.
This weekend, Irish band U2 will release their concert film "U2 3D."
This July, Walt Disney Pictures will also release a kid-friendly 3-D remake of "Journey to the Center of the Earth."
It remains to be seen whether this new 3-D wave will be a lasting trend or a brief fad, but Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks Animation, seems optimistic. In a recent interview, he announced plans to release all films from 2009 onward in 3-D.
Real D CEO Michael Lewis told CNet that "once you see something in this new format, it's kind of hard to go back."
The idea of advertising 3-D as "a major event," as with the Hannah Montana concert, is probably the right way to go. Part of the appeal of 3-D film is that it is something new and fresh and provides a kind of entertainment rarely available. As the studios found out back in the 1950s, over-saturating one idea can only make it less appealing over time.
I, like many others, will be flocking to the theater this weekend to see how cool Bono looks in 3-D. On the other hand, I can't imagine wanting to see every new movie in 3-D.
Even if 3-D never moves past being anything more than an amusing gimmick, this new technology makes it become even more of a spectacle, and one that's well worth the price of a movie ticket.
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