[Philip Lelyveld note: Clyde DeSouza blogs regularly on the art of stereoscopic 3D filmmaking.]
[by Clyde DeSouza]
Establishing Scene Geography and using “Dwell time”.
Are there any memorable scenes that we can recall with photographic clarity from the slew of 3D movies currently playing in Cinemas, without us having to try too hard? Chances are, no, not really. There is hardly a difference it seems between watching a 3D movie versus the same in 2D.
Why is that? There can be a few reasons, and we will not rehash the old 2D to 3D conversion argument in this article, but let’s look at one reason that today’s 3D movies are not as “immersive” as they could be. That reason has something to do with the fact that Directors and Cinematographers accustomed to traditional 2D storytelling and scene building are not familiar with one secret ingredient that contributes to compelling 3D movies… “Dwell Time”.
The image above is a still grab (in 3D) from the fabulous Mermaid Sequence in the movie Pirates of the Carribean – On Stranger Tides. The key to unlocking and studying the effect that Stereoscopic 3D can have in movie making is to see this movie in 3D and then a few days later watch the 2D version of it, both on a big screen.
There is bound to be an undeniable feeling of Deja Vu…. an uncanny feeling of having ‘been there’. If this claim sounds a little far fetched, at the very least, when watching the 2D version there is bound to be a “recall” in the brain of the “depth” in that scene…something approaching the feeling that the viewer has been there before. In this movie, the feeling starts from the moment the first mermaid appears, breaking the surface of the water, followed by the bobbing of the boat in the ripples and waves around it.
When watched in 2d there is no way of showing the spatial relationship between the mermaid, ocean and the boat. Just a suggestion of it, and it depends on proper “framing of the scene” and different angles (a montage) to establish the scene geography. While Stereo 3D is still an illusion of depth, the one area where 3D movies triumph over 2D is the ability to record and present the Spatial Dimensions of a location, in other words it allows us to establish the “depth” of the environment easily, thus requiring less montage like assembly of the scene.
However, most Directors, Editors and Cinematographers have grown up with montage style film making, and do not use “dwell time” which a 3D movie thrives on!
Giving the eyes and brain time to sample and savor a scene in these establishing shots is key to successfully telling a story in Stereo3D.
Stereoscopic 3D as the Medium rather than the Tool:
The sad part about many of today’s 3D movies is that 3D is being used, or wasted, as just a tool by Studios, and film makers, many of whom are guilty of not truly understanding this medium or being able to speak the language of 3D, but simply using 3D to ride in the wake left behind by a couple of successful 3D movies.
This is evident from the fact that 3D is being used in action movies, with little dwell time being allocated for audiences to even register the scene in 3 dimensions. Action movies by their very nature would certainly require a quick pace of cuts, but what needs to be understood is how to balance the quick cuts with enough ETO and SAT for the film to be effective and memorable in 3D.
There is much scope for Stereoscopic 3D to “immerse” audiences in either fantasy locations (such as in Pirates IV’s mermaid scene or the fantasy Avatar jungle) as there is in real world locations. The feeling of identifying with a location such as a midnight stroll down the river with the Eiffel Tower as the backdrop, the “feel” of the cobbled stones on the road can leave an audience with a sense of having actually visited the place.
For audiences that may have actually been to the location in real life, it can surely trigger an emotional response… happy or otherwise. That is what every Director and Visual Storyteller does strive for after all, to evoke emotion in the audiences while the story plays out.
Stereoscopic 3D when used as a medium of visual Story telling allows this and much more. The language of 3D cinema is still being constructed and everyone is still learning the ABCs of what is possible. There are no “experts” yet.
Let’s not forget sound. The haunting melody and mermaid song that accompanies the mermaid sequence scene does add to the ensemble. The right kind of music score, surround sound, Stereo 3D “framing” and the medium of S3D all playing out on a big screen is the way forward in truly suspending-the-feeling-of-disbelief for audiences. This is what going to the movies should be all about!
New graduates of Film schools and existing movie makers who are not jaded by 2D thinking, but willing to explore 3D Cinematography, are encouraged to share their insights on this subject.
See the original post here: http://realvision.ae/blog/2011/06/understanding-the-use-of-stereo-3d-in-movies-geography-emotion-and-dwell-time/