For the past two centuries the film community has been adapting the 3D world to the 2D medium of still and moving photography, according to Sony’s 3D executive producer Buzz Hays. Now filmmakers have “the chance to explore a visual medium more congruent with our natural way of seeing”.
Hays describes 3D as giving storytelling an inherent truth and power. “When [3D is] done well, it is like the transformation from black and white to colour,” he says.
The fantasy film Avatar, as the publicists at Fox like to keep reminding us, is the biggest 3D feature film ever made. But this year Hollywood is expected to produce more than 30 big-budget 3D films – a massive leap from the handful made in 2009. In addition, live action films such as Alice in Wonderland and Clash of the Titans are being converted from 2D to 3D for event showings.
Emerging markets
Not everyone is convinced that 3D films are any less of a fad than they were in 1983 when Jaws 3D bombed in the cinema. But there are signs that 3D might be here for good: Martin Scorsese recently announced that his next film was to be made in 3D. Cinemas also seem to be on board, with most multiplexes in the UK having at least one 3D-enabled screen.
So does this mean we are likely to see 3D become almost the norm for producers? Is the film industry preparing for a 3D future? Among those who argue that filmmakers should be embracing 3D wholeheartedly is Sky’s director of product development, Brian Lenz. With Sky’s launch of its first 3D television channel in October, and Discovery snapping up a 3D licence in the UK, film professionals now have a TV distribution platform for their 3D work. This, combined with the clear cinematic demand for 3D movies should, Lenz says, encourage a far larger number of prospective 3D-feature filmmakers to “go after a new and emerging market”.
Others, however, say the potential of 3D television for feature Filmmakers is being overstated. “Filmmakers have to firmly decide early on in the process whether their 3D project is for cinema or television,” says the BBC’s head of HD and 3D, Danielle Nagler. “A programme made for TV may not look right on a bigger screen and vice versa, so there is less flexibility than you might at first imagine.”
In addition, the experience of home viewing in 3D may be compromised by the technical difficulties. “A viewing cinema will place the seats in the right place but it is a technical issue which perhaps not everybody viewing at home will be able to achieve,” Nagler says. Early adopters will be careful to set up their 3D kit to ensure the right effects but it may “be an issue for people coming after them”.
And then there’s the question of cost. Making a feature film in 3D remains very expensive, though creativity and forward planning can make a big difference. Then there’s the additional expertise and support required, a separate edit and, for recorded programmes, more shooting time.
Hays acknowledges the issue of cost but says that this can be managed by filmmakers. “The ability to be creative and take risks is still inherent to the creative process,” he says.
And for Lenz, when it comes to making films in 3D, filmmakers must be prepared to experiment to get the best results. “A lot of things you do instinctively, but these have to be re-learned. For example lighting, which may create mood with 2D – does that work with the depth of 3D?” he says. “It is not something someone can get on top of immediately.”
Planning is key: “You cannot fly by the seat of your pants with a 3D because you will burn money,” Lenz says. “But if you plan effectively, there is no reason why you cannot produce good stuff for a reasonable sum.”
One team of programme makers who have joined the 3D revolution are wildlife film specialists Vicky Stone and Mark Deeble of Deeble and Stone Productions, a wildlife filming team of 25 years standing. They have finished filming a 10-minute pilot of what is thought to be the first 3D wildlife feature film. Distant Thunder follows a family of elephants and marks the couple’s first major 3D project after eight years of experimentation in the medium.
Breaking new ground
“Before, much 3D film-making was for ballet or opera where you know where your subjects are going to be,” says Deeble. “Only in the last year have cameras become small enough to be used in the field.”
However, 3D is still most suitable for larger animals which move slowly, he says. Filming creatures which can only be filmed with a telephoto lens, which doesn’t work well for 3D, is difficult.
Stone adds: “3D was traditionally associated with porn or horror from the 1980s onwards; now it’s managing to branch out.” She believes that 3D works best in the cinema when it creates an event.
Both are insistent that 3D technology, while exciting, is merely an additional aspect to the filming process and shouldn’t be an end in its own right. “Like colour or sound, it will be a tool that is used to enhance the story,” Stone says, “but its power is that it has the ability to immerse the audience in the scene like nothing else can – and I find that very exciting.”
Working in 3D The performers’ view
Lysette Anthony, Actress
Anthony has finished filming her first 3D project, a horror film called Bak2Hell. Written and directed by Richard Driscoll and made by his production company House of Fear, it also stars Reservoir Dogs actor Michael Madsen and the actress Bai Ling. “Some things just lend themselves to 3D – and horror certainly does,” says Anthony. “The smashed windows and, yes, some of the gore in this shoot really do come alive, but this film is about animation, and the possibilities of animation in 3D are blended perfectly with the real-life action.”
The workload was heavy and Anthony says she did not have time to become self-conscious about the filming, but she did notice one detail. “My eyelashes seem to have a life of their own – quite a good effect, actually.”
Having a six-year-old son means Anthony is “switched on to 3D – we seem to spend our lives at the Imax. It really is extraordinary – some of the things I’ve seen have blown me away.”
James Streeter, Dancer
Streeter filmed an as-yet-untitled dance piece in 3D for the launch of Sky’s 3D channel in October. The effects, he says, are “breathtaking”.
“Nothing can beat live performance but this comes close. I was privileged to watch the rushes and you could look around the whole theatre from the front of the stage to the back,” he explains.
“When I watched 3D before, I though it could be a bit gimmicky and in your face.” But, he explains, watching this was different.
“At one moment a dancer’s leg seemed to stretch out towards me and it was such a realistic image,” he says. “Watching dance in 3D also gives a very strong sense of the movement as well as the strength and the power involved in the performance, particularly for the men who are doing the lifting.”
Streeter also hopes 3D will encourage people to come and watch ballet live. “In terms of dance on TV, this certainly is the future” he says.
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