3D Cinema Short History
3D technology can be traced all the way back to the beginning of photography. In 1844 David Brewster invented the Stereoscope. It was a new invention that could take photographic images in 3D. Later, Louis Jules Duboscq took that invention and improved on it. Steroscopic cameras started to catch on and became fairly common for personal use by World War II.
In 1855 the Kinematascope, a stereo animation camera, was invented. It was able to create 3d motion pictures. In 1915 the first anaglyph movie was produced. Anaglyph technology used 3d glasses with 2 different color lenses that would direct an image to each eye. In 1890 William Friese-Greene, a British film pioneer, filed a patent for the 3D movie process.
In 1922 the first public 3D movie, "The Power of Love", was displayed.
In 1935 the first 3D Color movie was produced. The use of the technology would remain dormant for over a decade.
In the 1950s, 3D technology made a come back. During this era, TVs had become extremely popular and had started appearing in many households. In the 50s a number of 3D movies were being produced. In 1952 "Bwana Devil" by United Artists was shown across the United States. This was the first 3D movie of the 50s. The film was shot using a process called Natural Vision. This process was pitched to Hollywood studios but they all passed.
In 1947 The Soviet Union released their first full length 3D movie, "Robinson Crusoe".
In the 1960s a new technology called Space-Vision 3D was released. This technology took two images and printed them over each other on a single strip. Unlike previous 3D technologies, it required a single projector with a special lens. This new technology removed the need to use two cameras to display 3D movies. Two camera systems were difficult to use, because it required that the two cameras were perfectly synced. The first movie to use this technology was "The Bubble". The movie was panned by critics, but the 3D experience still brought huge audiences. It became a profitable movie, making the new technology ready for promotion to other studios.
In 1970, Allan Silliphant and Chris Condon developed Stereovision. This was a new 3D technology that put two images squeezed together side by side on a single strip of 35 mm film. This technology used a special anamorphic lens that would widen the picture using a series of polaroid filters.
In the early 1980s many movies were released in 3D using the same process as Space Vision. Some of the movies that were released were Amityville 3-D, Friday the 13th Part III, and Jaws 3-D. In the mid 1980s, IMAX began producing documentary films in 3D. IMAx's 3D technology emphasized mathmatical correctness and this eliminated the eye fatigue that was seen in previous 3D technologies.
During the 1990s, many films were released in IMAX 3D. The most succesful IMAX 3D film released during this time was "Into the Deep". The first IMAX 3D fiction film, "Wings of Courage" was released in 1996.
During the 2000s, many big studio movies were released in 3D. In 2003, James Cameron released Ghosts of the Abyss. This was the first full length 3D IMAX feature film. This movie used the latest IMAX 3D technology called Reality Camera System. The technology used the latest HD video cameras and was developed by Vince Pace. This same technology was used in "Spy Kids 3D: Game over", "Aliens of the Deep", and "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D". In 2004 the first full length animated 3D movie was released. It was called "The Polar Express". This movie was so succesful in 3D that it prompted a great interest in 3D animated films. The 3D version of the film earned 14x as much per screen as the 2D version. In 2005, The Mann's Chinese 6 theater in Hollywood became the first commercial movie theater to have the Digital 3D technology.
In 2007 Scar 3D was released internationally and it was the first film to be filmed using a completely digital workflow.
On May 13, 2010, China's first IMAX 3D film started shooting. The pre-production of the first 3-D French shot film Derrière les murs began in May 2010.
On October 1, 2010 Scar3D was the first-ever stereoscopic 3D Video-on-demand film released through major cable broadcasters for 3D televisions in the United States.
in 2009 Avatar has gone on to be one of the most expensive films of all time, with a budget at 237M; it is also the highest-grossing film of all time. The main presentation technologies were Real D 3D, Dolby 3D, XpanD 3D, MasterImage 3D, and IMAX 3D.
There are now more 3-D exhibition equipments, and more dramatic films being shot in 3-D format. One incentive is that the technology is more mature. Shooting in 3-D format is less limited, and the result is more stable. Another incentive is the fact that while 2-D ticket sales are in an overall state of decline, revenues from 3-D tickets continue to grow.
The 3D fever not only that it hit the filmmakers and filmgoers worldwide but also hit the mobile, gaming and TV industry. In this short 3D cinema overview I would like to stress couple of points and those are the following: the1. 3D cinema is not only a solitary breakthrough in the film industry but a phenomenon that leaks out in many other industries and consequently changes the needs and expectations of the audience/viewer/ consumer and 2. All these technological changes will affect the audience and this chain of interrelated events will eventually open new possibilities for cinematic expression.
3D technology in Japan
Japan is known to the world as a country where future is designed and innovations born. The 3D revolution is no exception. The major Japanese companies in this sector are rapidly redirecting their resources towards the 3D technology and introducing products that are setting the bar high for 3D technology in the consumer sector.
Many companies seems that had their departments working low scale through the years and waiting for the right moment to force their 3D products on the market. Among these companies leading are the Japanese one- Nintendo, Toshiba, Fuji, Sony, Panasonic and few others.
In the earlier half of 2008, Hyundai had launched the world’s very 1st 46 inches three dimensional stereoscopic television system in Japan. This 3D TV has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and it can grab all Nippon BS channels and BS 11 three dimensional broadcasts in Japan.
In December 2010 Toshiba launched the first glasses-free 3D TV. 3D glasses was consider as an obstacle in the 3D TV revolution, since people weren’t very up to the idea to wear glasses at their home while they watch TV.
"Customers currently think of 3D images as just an add-on function... but 3D is expected to become a standard eventually", said Toshiba sales official Eiichi Matsuzawa.
Until now it seemed that the gap between 3D technology and 3D content was so big that it was stopping these innovations (from 3D TV sets to 3D mobile phones and portable game sets) to invade the market. Japanese companies are very well aware of this problem and they are trying to push the 3D technology further by offering 3D consumer cameras that will give the opportunity for consumers to create their own 3D video content at affordable price.
The case for 3D just got stronger with Panasonic announcing the release of the world's first 3D consumer camera in the summer 2010. Panasonic has positioned itself at the forefront of 3D camcorder technology and this product is significant because previously available professional 3D models are far more expensive, and as a result have not made it into the hands of the general public. The company's new HDC-SDT750 camcorder is likely to be the first of many 3D cameras to reach home moviemakers.
Using a conversion lens that comes with the camcorder, 3D images can be recorded, ready for playback on a 3D display.
Fuji also released 3D HD consumer camera, which is extremely easy to use and portable to carry. The camera has a mini HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) that lets you play back the images or video on a 3D TV set. Go Miyazaki, president of the Fujifilm division in the U.S., said the company is committed to the evolution of imaging technology and that the camera is a necessary part of the food chain that consumers will adopt as TV shifts to 3D.
Just as I am writing this paper, the Nintendo releases the first 3D portable game console –the long expected 3DS. Nintendo 3DS provides 3D images without the need for special 3D glasses. It also allows users to capture 3D images and 3D video. The initial release was few days ago in Japan and the first 400,000 units were sold out within hours. There is no doubt that this product will have an absolute commercial success worldwide. Games are becoming an important part of entertainment for younger generation including working demographic group, not only for the teenagers as it was before. At this stage of the 3DS's development, one thing that remains unclear is how developers will employ its unique abilities to bring about new forms of gameplay, although there were plenty of indicators towards an innovative future. The machine's twin cameras, which let it shoot video in 3D, generate some genuinely exciting possibilities as far as Augmented Reality (AR) games are concerned.
Combining video games 3D technology and filmmaking
3D content and Independent cinema
The bridge between the 3D technology and the consumer who not only wants to have a 3D TV, but wants to be able to chose from variety of 3D content is bridgeable and the bridge can be possibly built by independent filmmakers and enthusiastic young film and TV producers. The younger generation of independent filmmakers embraces the technology with open hands, if nothing less as an experiment for further exploitation of new cinematographic expressive tools. One such experiment that has excited young filmmakers and animators is the Machinima (muh-sheen-eh-mah) which uses game software to capture real-time, 3D virtual environment. In an expanded definition, it is the convergence of filmmaking, animation and game development. Machinima is real-world filmmaking techniques applied within an interactive virtual space where characters and events can be either controlled by humans, scripts or artificial intelligence. To give you better idea about the process let me explain it more simply. When a person plays a computer game on a network (LAN) - each person in the game is using their computer to log into the server computer. Each computer represents one character in the game, usually running around shooting at each other. Everyone playing can see each other's character in real time in the game world, from their characters viewpoint on their monitor. In Machinima, the roles shift: the characters, instead of shooting each other, are actors in the scene, and the server doubles as the camera, recording everything that happens in the virtual world. People sometimes produce Machinima on their own (not using a LAN) by using tools the game developers publish for a particular game. These tools often allow the end user to create new levels, import new characters, and create scripted events. While the game developer produce these tools often to extend the replayability of the game, Machinima developers have used them to create their films. This essentially turns the off-the-shelf game into a small Machinima studio. Machinima also has their own Academy of Art and Science (as you can guess there are no degrees there, just entusiast who are inventive and willing to spend a great deal of their time to create animated stories in this new way) and an annual Film Festival where they chose the best Machinima films created.
Independent filmmakers&3D
On the film pitching competition organized by Toei Studios during the Historica film festival in Dec 2010 in Kyoto, majority of the young Japanese filmmakers who presented their projects for feature film expressed an aspiration to produce their films in 3D. I interviewed couple of them to find out more about the reasons of such enthusiasm.
Fumie Nishikawa (西川文恵) is independent filmmaker with a feature film released in Japan (Soeru,2007). She is currently working (postproduction phase) on a 3D movie titled “Hashire!” It seems that for independent filmmakers like Nishikawa it is easier to attract investors for her movies if they are in 3D, since 3D is a sensation that everyone want to be a part of. I assume Nishikawa’s opinion that 3D can be used to make a slow film comes from her background and purely Japanese visual aesthetic sensibility, which reminds me on great filmmakers such as Ozu and Mizoguchi who use a static camera and long wide shots. However this sensibility is not shared with many other western filmmakers when it comes to 3D cinema. The independent filmmaker and cinematographer from New York Eric Lin(What Remains, Why we pull the trigger) says” 3D is not as appropriate for films that are more reality based. I can't see a reason that a filmmaker would want to make a character drama, in which so much depends on the viewer's intimate connection to the actors on screen, and shoot it in 3D which takes away that connection and pushes the environment to the foreground. I await the day I'm proven wrong though, when we will see a serious drama shot in 3D and done in a new and amazing way. The thing about filmmaking is the conventional wisdom is always broken by great artists.”
Conclusion
Apparently the way to create new cinematographic style with the 3D technology is to surprise the audience, even disappoint their expectations such as watching 3D to experience visually stimulated roll-coaster. Seems that 3D as a technology that offers a new perceptual dimension to the audience will have different interpretation by different demographic groups of filmmakers. I am sure this interesting aspect of perceptual and behavioral psychology related to cinematic appreciation will stir many new researchers to investigate the subject in more depth, but unfortunately within the limits of this paper I won’t continue immersing into the subject.
As a conclusion I would add that the potential of the 3D filmmaking is immense and what we are seeing now it is just the tip of the iceberg. It is still early to speculate what the direction of development might be for the future, but without a doubt 3D is here and it is here to stay. The new way of life enforced by internet and computers created a fertile ground for the seed of 3D to be planted and grow fruits that will without a doubt change the way we know cinema in the 21st century.
All rights reserved © Andrijana Cvetkovik.