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[Tuesday at NAB]
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3-D Rises Again at NAB Content Theater
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by Douglas Bankston,
~ April 15, 2008
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DV MAGAZINE
Driven by new digital tools, the third dimension finally may be moving beyond gimmick to cinematic staple as studios have placed some 20 3-D-specific projects into production.
In the Central Hall’s Content Theater — a new aspect to the NAB Show that looks at creation, production and distribution of content made possible by new technologies — experts in the 3-D field gathered Monday morning to discuss this surge in stereoscopic filmmaking and the special aesthetics required to showcase
3-D effectively — and safely. (Eye strain was one of the reasons previous incarnations of 3-D failed.)
In his “3-D Primer,” Phil Streather, CEO of Principle Large Format, a U.K.-based producer of 2-D/3-D giant screen content, provided a crash course in the technical aspects of stereoscopic shooting: using two cameras, one for each eye, to add the depth of the Z axis to the traditional 2-D X-Y equation.
By manipulating the positions of the cameras to affect convergence, where the cameras’ optical axes align somewhere along the Z axis, stereographers in — 3-D parlance — can place images “either in front of the screen, at the screen or behind the screen,” Streather said. Now with digital tools, this image manipulation can also be done in post production.
Streather then demonstrated on a Quantel Pablo and Christie 2K projector various 3-D effects using footage from his award-winning 2003 Imax film, “Bugs! 3D.”
A MORE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
The 3-D examination then veered into the “Art of 3-D Filmmaking,” featuring a panel of gurus in the 3-D field moderated by Perry Hoberman, associate research professor at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, Interactive Division. Panelists included: 3-D and large-format pillar Peter Anderson, ASC, stereographer on the recent “U2 3D”; Eric Brevig, director of the upcoming “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D”; Phil McNally, stereoscopic supervisor for Dreamworks Animation; Vince Pace, CEO of PACE and executive producer of “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour” in 3-D; Sean Phillips, stereographer on “Bugs! 3D”; and Rick Rothschild, executive show director for Walt Disney Imagineering (“Captain EO”).
The use of 3-D may be just the thing to hook audiences distracted by other mediums. “There is so much competition,” said Phillips, “that we need to make the experience bigger, more exciting and more immersive. Since we have two eyes, it’s time to start using them.”
“One of the unique things with 3-D,” said Anderson, “is that everyone has a singular experience. A 2-D image is a common image. If you put on your 3-D glasses, each one has an individual, singular experience with what is on the screen. It is much more personal.”
Added Pace, “[3-D] extracts more emotion, more character. There are going to be certain films that are destined for
3-D not because they have the effect of 3-D, but because that emotional bond or singular experience is so intensive, you wouldn’t want to watch it any other way.”
A film resonates with an audience through some form of connection with its members, and 3-D may do that on a better level. Explained McNally: “A flat, graphic image of a person compared to the real, three-dimensional version, 3-D cinema really does get us one step closer to that, and one of the most powerful things of
3-D cinema is looking into the character’s eyes at the emotional peak of the movie.” Even through polarized glasses.
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