3D cinema was once a rare novelty, something used to attract people to a worn out franchise with nothing new left to offer. Older 3D films such as Freddy’s Dead (Nightmare on Elm Street 6) and Jaws 3D are usually cited as examples of films using 3D as a cheap gimmick. However attitudes have changed, 3D is now looked on with awe and people see the idea of 3D films as generally exciting. This is proved by Avatar making £1.15 billion at the box office and becoming the biggest-grossing film to date, and the release schedule being dominated by 3D films.
When you say 3D most people immediately think of the red and blue paper glasses. This is known as the anaglyph system. This was invented in 1850 and first used in a cinema in 1915. The system relies on one red and one blue image being shown at the same time but 2 and a half inches apart horizontally. The filters on the glasses mean each eye picks up one image and the brain forms this into 3D. This system does have its issues: it can make the images hard to see, especially during fast sections, and many people experience headaches from it.
Now, however, the technology has changed to “digital” 3D. In this method two projectors are used and each displays its own image. These are run through a polarising filter (like the coloured film in the glasses but transparent in this case) which is mounted in front of the projector, the brain then stitches these images together to create the 3D image. This has many advantages: it does not distort the original image and it does not cause headaches. However its disadvantage is that the system requires an expensive specialist projector and thus is only available in certain large systems. Also this form of 3D cannot be carried onto the DVD version, forcing the film to be recoloured to use the anaglyph system for the home release.
The new technology coupled with the general advance in special effects means 3D is becoming easier and cheaper and thus studios are using it more, especially in animation where its bright colours make the imaging easy.
3D continues to develop and many see the next milestone as being 3D television. So far Sony, LG and Panasonic have announced 3D screens and some are commercially available in Japan. Content will be arriving soon with some saying the first 3D channel will be available in June 2010.
In the end 3D will live and die on its content, the reason for the recent success is more to do with the films themselves; directors are using the format in ways that help the audience to immerse themselves in the plot and 3D is now seen as a helpful tool rather than a simple gimmick. While this attitude prevails we will see many, many more 3D films in the coming years.
Jonathon Greenall
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