One way to think about the development of movies is to imagine a history of how filmmakers have tried to make motion pictures more real. Early movies not only lacked sound and color (live musical accompaniment and hand tinting aside), they tended to rely on theatrical conventions. They looked staged in artificial environments. Often they were.
Talking pictures were a step toward naturalism. So were color processing and more mobile cameras allowing greater flexibility to film on location. Some directors have experimented with using nonprofessional actors to “get real.” In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley imagined “feelies,” tactile movies. Fortunately, no one has figured out how to do that effectively.
But the desire to erase the line between reality and imagination by making everything more vivid, an arm’s reach away, is only one factor spurring the development of 3D movies. It’s being called the next big thing, but 3D has come and gone before. The new wave of films shot in that format, including Monsters vs. Aliens and a Jonas Brothers concert film, are only the latest attempt to drive audiences into theaters by adding another dimension to moviegoing. On tap in 3D for later this year are Robert Zemeckis’ adaptation of A ChristmasCarol, Jerry Bruckheimer’s comedy G-Force, James Cameron’s sci-fi adventure Avatar and Steven Spielberg’s Tintin. Marcus Theaters recently announced the installation of digital 3D projection systems at 13 multiplexes in Wisconsin and elsewhere, including Milwaukee’s North Shore and South Shore cinemas.
Like most everything else nowadays, 3D has gone digital, but the idea has been around almost as long as movies themselves. The pioneering French directors Auguste and Louis Lumiere, credited with the first science fiction movie, projected in 3D as early as 1903. During the Roaring Twenties various 3D methods were introduced and forgotten as the public gawked and then tired of the novelty. The 1950s resurgence shared the same factor motivating Hollywood today: fear. In those years movie audiences were shrinking under pressure from a new medium, television. In the ‘00s moviegoing faces similar challenges from Netflicks, premium cable and a host of newer time-wasting technologies. 3D was and is an effort to give audiences something that can’t be enjoyed as well outside a movie theater.
One problem in the ‘50s was that most 3D movies were trashy and the public soon soured on the concept. Another was that 3D was headache inducing if not projected properly. The new digital projectors have probably erased that difficulty. As for the realism of the new 3D, well, reports are mixed as to whether seeing Monsters vs. Aliens in three as opposed to two dimensions is a great improvement.
