tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82119107241136442412024-03-12T18:05:50.405-07:003Defence - A blog about 3D cinema3d movies are here to stay. 3Defence is here to add depth to the discussion on 3D cinema, and to help you decide when to put on your glasses.Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-78542457943311545392014-06-21T08:28:00.004-07:002014-06-21T08:44:26.705-07:00How's the 3D in Edge Of Tomorrow?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1yKhUPimDd3uoqrsuqe6-2KLkel7ebDWve_f0mhGrQau49jiv-7gkJEGTPv_wpMA7gJFXqemR4j4qJEP5MKvtZ_C1IZRVqLdrcHWGa759IWeqon7hRx5fCdiPY91BVGyfJcp4sp87yTE/s1600/edge_of_tomorrow_imax_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1yKhUPimDd3uoqrsuqe6-2KLkel7ebDWve_f0mhGrQau49jiv-7gkJEGTPv_wpMA7gJFXqemR4j4qJEP5MKvtZ_C1IZRVqLdrcHWGa759IWeqon7hRx5fCdiPY91BVGyfJcp4sp87yTE/s1600/edge_of_tomorrow_imax_poster.jpg" height="182" width="400" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Background:</h3>
Following hot on the heels of <i>Top Gun</i>'s 3D re-release, <i>Edge Of Tomorrow </i>gives audiences another change to see Tom Cruise's million-watt smile in 3D. The film is based on a Japanese novel called <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Need_Is_Kill" target="_blank"><i>All You Need Is Kill</i></a></b>, though it deviates somewhat from the story's plot. The tale itself is a hodgepodge between <i>Groundhog Day</i>, <i>Looper </i>and <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Liman" target="_blank">director Doug Liman</a></b>'s own <i>The Bourne Identity</i>, while also calling to mind the rewards-based repetition that modern video games offer their players. More importantly than all that though, how is the 3D in <i>Edge Of Tomorrow</i>? Read on in our 3D-focused review to find out all you need to know!<br />
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<h3>
Post-Converted 3D:</h3>
<i>Edge Of Tomorrow </i>was post-converted from 2D to 3D by <b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1631867/fullcredits" target="_blank">Prime Focus World</a></b>. Their approach to this film seems to be unique in 2014's crowded slate of post-converted films. Rather than hide the technique with a 'native lite' approach, they appear to have been directed to dial up the stereo at pivotal moments and dial it down in others. The beginning sequence is seemingly intentionally dull, before the visuals are dramatically opened up in a chaotic battle scene. We've seen visual 'kicks' before (think of the difference in <i>The Wizard Of Oz</i> between Kansas' monochromatic colours and the Technicolor world of Oz) but this is the first time we can recall one being initiated by a post-conversion team so strikingly.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx97KmKAy40ypo0XDOOEiycsdppngW5Mx2ynpKAoYtAT5caP9naeHS717nBoHrPeDn43DjhDSyYLlck-M3Z__KC8Pg7bbQmAxZ1rWiAN4EE_2QxcVSvG-7LyHOt6DdSo3NODoKK1qL004/s1600/edge_of_tomorrow_beginning_sequence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx97KmKAy40ypo0XDOOEiycsdppngW5Mx2ynpKAoYtAT5caP9naeHS717nBoHrPeDn43DjhDSyYLlck-M3Z__KC8Pg7bbQmAxZ1rWiAN4EE_2QxcVSvG-7LyHOt6DdSo3NODoKK1qL004/s1600/edge_of_tomorrow_beginning_sequence.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beginning sequence of Edge Of Tomorrow has 'flat' feeling 3D</td></tr>
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The key to their success appears to be, perversely, how much of the opening sequence is kept close to its native 2D source. This lulls the audience's eyes into a relaxed state, before the post-conversion team shockingly uses scaled negative parallax to literally yo-yo soldiers in and out of the frame. It's a refreshingly brazen technique, and serves the narrative well; our anti-hero is being thrown from a comfortable world into a stark and gruesome reality. The shock is appropriate, and not as gaudy as it could have been in other contexts. The post-conversion team served the narrative well here, and it's likely the shock they were able to convey could not have been achieved if the film were shot in native 3D.<br />
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<h3>
How's the depth of the 3D?</h3>
The depth varies wildly throughout the film. The battle scenes opt for a 'deep focus' that allows you to see for miles into the distance. Or, at least, you could if the camera kept still for long enough. The battle scenes are the most interesting visually, in that they provide an arresting focal point for each of Tom Cruise's character's (Cage) loops. One character dies as an object drops from the sky on him, and then in Cage's next iteration through the loop Cage saves the man before the object drops, and then the next loop Cage doesn't bother. Knowing the exact geography of the scene is important for Cage, and it's incredibly important the audience knows the impact of a character standing even a metre from their 'usual' position.<br />
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The film-makers attempt to show Cage's growing confidence grow with each new iteration. The camerawork is shaky and chaotic in his first few attempts at battle, and then slowly grows more steady and assured as he begins to learn the ropes. Unfortunately, this also means that the audiences eyes are expected to context-shift with each new iteration of Cage's battle. Your perception shifts from loop to loop; progressing from only seeing a few feet of depth behind Cage in his first loop, through to being eventually able to see for miles behind him as his skills develop. After enough rapid-fire edits and changes to the way the action is filmed, your eyes might wary and tire from all this visual change.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJjsi1RrOsWcUCymJdU1Umly-p-bG_zB_vtTHq8069D7U1UyZH9znm6n_rbdAYC1mgdQpy3zuljwM2bxxX2udBrbzyqLJi5ciqBO5KiQ1l5DHS6UhZpjK8hwBjjEA93ri25KYTnLVdbg/s1600/edge_of_tomorrow_battle_scene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJjsi1RrOsWcUCymJdU1Umly-p-bG_zB_vtTHq8069D7U1UyZH9znm6n_rbdAYC1mgdQpy3zuljwM2bxxX2udBrbzyqLJi5ciqBO5KiQ1l5DHS6UhZpjK8hwBjjEA93ri25KYTnLVdbg/s1600/edge_of_tomorrow_battle_scene.jpg" height="150" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Does the 3D 'pop'?</h3>
As mentioned earlier, the opening battle scene is the primary example of negative parallax being used. Soldiers are thrown from a moving plane into a battle field below them, and some are accidentally suspended to the plane by rope. As the plane descends, they're flung at the audience in a yo-yo like technique that we <b><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2014/06/3d-in-the-amazing-spider-man-2.html" target="_blank">wished had been included in <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2</i></a></b>. The remainder of the film uses this type of technique relatively rarely, with the only 'popping' elements usually being restricted to debris and out of focus guns aimed at the camera. Again, this kind of inconsistency can contribute to some amount of eye strain, as audiences eyes attempt to process the inconsistently applied visuals.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsvyRZqMoQiGPoLMfP6mKQwg8fjGl4hNz2hyphenhyphenLNTRrg8tMEhBvzxEP4R1ohH_hYJMT_niIByBLKpGqcAaDoHTHDLczFeMvos7lQgMWLGxmyPAg24vYbiCwwkVAt_CPkfOwQOfJhergoKGk/s1600/edge_of_tomorrow_night_time.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsvyRZqMoQiGPoLMfP6mKQwg8fjGl4hNz2hyphenhyphenLNTRrg8tMEhBvzxEP4R1ohH_hYJMT_niIByBLKpGqcAaDoHTHDLczFeMvos7lQgMWLGxmyPAg24vYbiCwwkVAt_CPkfOwQOfJhergoKGk/s1600/edge_of_tomorrow_night_time.jpg" height="170" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dull night-time visuals, with a lack of background contrast</td></tr>
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<h3>
Did it make sense to add 3D to <i>Edge Of Tomorrow</i>?</h3>
The film-makers made a lot of good choices when considering the idea of <i>Edge Of Tomorrow </i>as a 3D film. The action is largely set in daylight, and the characters contrast well against their backgrounds. However, they made a few missteps once the second act is over. The climactic set piece is largely set in the evening, and it's very hard to differentiate the dark-suited soldiers from their background. Their enemy is cloaked in shadow and similarly hard to pick out visually. Without the kind of bright neon offered in films like Prometheus or Tron: Legacy, these night-time scenes suffer visually, particularly if your local multiplex hasn't adjusted the brightness of their projector to accommodate 3D projection's light loss. Just in case you hadn't noticed a recurring theme in our review; this narrative and visual choice can also lead to eye strain in audiences.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2RHdljL0lshDF06vAnaEzsFAXWu5kAC7uUh0UHMRxOiRqbPfhMKMcw4_VhvIEKlFjk4t5B7OCmecZp_URvrJueevOS-Rnd7iLnI62Da61YPVgvVIkgTG7FoHV0hUukQcVebdBXR1iCnI/s1600/edge_of_tomorrow_emily_blunt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2RHdljL0lshDF06vAnaEzsFAXWu5kAC7uUh0UHMRxOiRqbPfhMKMcw4_VhvIEKlFjk4t5B7OCmecZp_URvrJueevOS-Rnd7iLnI62Da61YPVgvVIkgTG7FoHV0hUukQcVebdBXR1iCnI/s1600/edge_of_tomorrow_emily_blunt.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3>
The film itself</h3>
<i>Edge Of Tomorrow </i>is one of the most arresting and relentlessly entertaining blockbusters to have been released in recent years. Simply put, it's a gem of a sci-fi/action film. If you're a fan of shoot 'em up video games, this is the film for you. If you're a fan of the enigmatic and interesting stars, then this is further proof that they're A-list talent. If you've ever <b><a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/06/18/meet_the_meta_blockbuster_what_edge_of_tomorrow_reveals_about_the_state_of_its_genre/" target="_blank">bemoaned the influx of comic book movies </a></b>and sequels in the American Summer movie-going season, then you'll find <i>Edge Of Tomorrow</i>'s originality refreshing. If you ever watched an action film and wished the female lead were tougher and more heroic than the male, then Emily Blunt's steely performance is going to make you feel better about Hollywood. It's a joy of a movie, let down only by a somewhat anti-climactic final minute of footage. If there were Oscars for crowd-pleasing films, this would be nominated in several categories.<br />
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<h3>
If we had to archive one version, should we save the 2D or the 3D?</h3>
If you have the choice, see <i>Edge Of Tomorrow </i>in 2D. Buy the 2D Blu-Ray. Avoid the 3D version unless you're really curious. It's disappointing for us to say, but the 3D version is a noble failure. There's a bunch of great examples of stereo on display, but the eyestrain we suffered while watching can be traced back to several poor visual choices that other film-makers would do well to learn from. Just because you can post-convert from 2D to 3D, doesn't mean you should.Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-7800855360954790652014-06-15T14:12:00.000-07:002014-06-16T17:44:29.455-07:00How's the 3D in X-Men: Days of Future Past?<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLDgp2cuw8ZnaGm016_Lti10vmTaCE7bSti5ZHbuqw8UkCXqcowT30zxy-PcMh8sqd9avviRerQOuFBvaw_x1lunC8iSn0Gl2qgTwOcW8K4N5aNsXgYCzbE1N4sDUrUsnScK8tBYVYo8Q/s1600/x_men_days_of_future_past_poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLDgp2cuw8ZnaGm016_Lti10vmTaCE7bSti5ZHbuqw8UkCXqcowT30zxy-PcMh8sqd9avviRerQOuFBvaw_x1lunC8iSn0Gl2qgTwOcW8K4N5aNsXgYCzbE1N4sDUrUsnScK8tBYVYo8Q/s1600/x_men_days_of_future_past_poster.png" height="151" width="400" /></a></h3>
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<h3>
Background:</h3>
It could be argued that the first <b><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/07/is-guardian-correct-are-superhero-films.html" target="_blank"><i>X-Men </i>(2000) film began the modern-day phenomena</a></b> of blockbuster superhero franchises. 4 films and 2 spin-offs later into this series, <i>X-Men: Days of Future Past </i>arrives in 3D, directed again by the series' original helmer, <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Singer" target="_blank">Bryan Singer</a></b>. This is not the first time we've seen Wolverine and his pals in 3D, so we've a lot of precedent to judge this effort against. How's the 3D in <i>X-Men: Days Of Future Past</i>? Read on to find out!<br />
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<h3>
Native and Post-converted 3D</h3>
<i>X-Men: Days Of Future Past</i> is a hybrid stereo film. Interior and dialogue scenes were largely shot <b><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/new/X-Men-Days-Future-Past-Shoot-3D-Bryan-Singer-Explains-His-Secrecy-35728.html" target="_blank">in native 3D</a></b>. Several key sequences were post-converted sequences from a mono source. Other shots are largely CGI in nature, and the responsible effects houses were able to natively render their footage to stereo. It's therefore quite a confusing film to critique. To do the job properly, one would need a shot list or production schedule. We'll do our best though.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tRtwVnyhyNkJkqfqMDbOQ_Wjdw4lPokF_a_yzTtrAlaR0pSPgf7j54qHpfhi4RgduM1NXI4dztBcKor4mMGrmA0Xdrv6ktfUj8a2tV9C0Sz0T0KHh_1dt72CdgR03AVCZUrjLQLX-TE/s1600/x_men_arri_cinematography.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tRtwVnyhyNkJkqfqMDbOQ_Wjdw4lPokF_a_yzTtrAlaR0pSPgf7j54qHpfhi4RgduM1NXI4dztBcKor4mMGrmA0Xdrv6ktfUj8a2tV9C0Sz0T0KHh_1dt72CdgR03AVCZUrjLQLX-TE/s1600/x_men_arri_cinematography.jpg" height="128" width="320" /></a></div>
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As a rule of thumb, <b><a href="http://www.arri.de/news/alexa-xt-on-x-men/" target="_blank">most "first unit" sequences</a></b> (character beats that would typically be directed by the director himself, and featuring the A-list stars) set indoors are clearly shot in native 3D. An observant audience member will be able to tell the difference. The trick is to look for subtle details; strands of hair, the length of an actor's nose, or even just compositional details like the layers of props on a table. In these scenes, it's interesting how at ease your eyes become. The camera is often locked down, actors are interacting in multiple panes of depth, and the stereo feels completely natural. You're there, say in Professor Xavier's mansion, with the other X-Men. These sequences were <b><a href="http://www.arri.de/news/alexa-xt-on-x-men/" target="_blank">shot on ALEXA Ms</a></b>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGu2EvzfuAaeQR66t4L9EGJ4YqTVNf4awl8_Drt9xlO5KTvIKiUiPKdSzciwJAMI9RvJcOchtUDZINpKf3V_eGyduirJUqKrvHGB6onCT6RKgVYgVBzrvB2dyC0gNtWvaGfX55En7M610/s1600/x-men_arri_photography.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGu2EvzfuAaeQR66t4L9EGJ4YqTVNf4awl8_Drt9xlO5KTvIKiUiPKdSzciwJAMI9RvJcOchtUDZINpKf3V_eGyduirJUqKrvHGB6onCT6RKgVYgVBzrvB2dyC0gNtWvaGfX55En7M610/s1600/x-men_arri_photography.jpg" height="128" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credit: <a href="http://www.arri.com/news/alexa-xt-on-x-men/">http://www.arri.com/news/alexa-xt-on-x-men/</a></td></tr>
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"Second unit" sequences (eg: the type of moment that doesn't usually require an expensive star, such as a shot where a hand picks up an object) are often show in 2D, and later post-converted to 3D. The same is true of large sequences that are shot on older film stock, using cameras from the 1970s, where the footage was later converted to a subtle form of stereo too. The conversion is handled well, and there are no glaring errors in the added depth. Aside from having marginally more eye strain, most audience members won't be able to tell the difference. What's interesting though, is the 'feeling' one gets from this rapid-fire transition. <b><a href="http://www.anatomyofamovie.com/2014/05/30/x-men-days-of-future-past-with-special-guest-john-ottman-anatomy-of-a-moviex-men-days-of-future-with-special-guest-john-ottman-anatomy-of-a-movie/" target="_blank">According to editor John Ottman</a></b>, he edited the film in 2D, while the mono footage was being converted to stereo, because the cuts between the two formats were so regular and jarring that he couldn't process the visuals consistently. While audiences are thankfully spared from experiencing this, we at 3Defence definitely came away with a feeling that the film lacked a stereoscopic 'continuity'. Post-conversions are great, until they're compared to native 3D in the same sequence. These sequences were <b><a href="http://www.arri.de/news/alexa-xt-on-x-men/" target="_blank">shot on ALEXA XT's</a></b>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfTSzdUkQ4vpG2N8le_0lsbORGA6sRHy6drqGiPUPqw8nHMqh07i7jvM0qRoPchlbH05QsuGDWBLa4s5FgjHzoHEJOsIQtN_0fRdR3yhbGlUfcCX7dBTmlTnIuHalpt1Tu2q-TDtudRo/s1600/x_men_days_of_future_past_sentinel.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfTSzdUkQ4vpG2N8le_0lsbORGA6sRHy6drqGiPUPqw8nHMqh07i7jvM0qRoPchlbH05QsuGDWBLa4s5FgjHzoHEJOsIQtN_0fRdR3yhbGlUfcCX7dBTmlTnIuHalpt1Tu2q-TDtudRo/s1600/x_men_days_of_future_past_sentinel.jpeg" height="200" width="320" /> </a></div>
Of course, as usual with most Hollywood blockbusters, there are also shots in the film that are 'rendered 3D'. In shots where the majority of the action is a composite of shots with digital characters (for example, a few shots of Sentinels in the beginning sequence), it's more than likely that the effects studios in charge of the shots provided the stereo rendered 'natively'. So, <i>X-Men: Days Of Future Past </i>is a hybrid of techniques.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUCX8dVY7UGQQAdSNK-D6AYD3eWu70jlpv8bVKLplH3pn0DTFP3_y7Ajf9l2w99eZcH_i5Zmt3UrfE8ghjRAbU857KXN8J8mS3DQVWLGfFSE-Pcl1bmTs1xSMzDdO7xeTQh4LDq79Bwo/s1600/x_men_days_of_future_past_stadium.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUCX8dVY7UGQQAdSNK-D6AYD3eWu70jlpv8bVKLplH3pn0DTFP3_y7Ajf9l2w99eZcH_i5Zmt3UrfE8ghjRAbU857KXN8J8mS3DQVWLGfFSE-Pcl1bmTs1xSMzDdO7xeTQh4LDq79Bwo/s1600/x_men_days_of_future_past_stadium.png" height="132" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
How's the depth?</h3>
As mentioned above, the visual continuity is inconsistent throughout <i>X-Men: Days Of Future Past</i>. That is due to a number of reasons, in addition to the differing methods of filming. For one thing, large sections of the film's schedule were aggressively organised around the ensemble cast's availability. For another, the film went through several rewrites (even during production), <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neYrOINoi-8#t=22m9s" target="_blank">major edits</a></b>, and even <b><a href="http://screenrant.com/x-men-days-future-past-rogue-scenes-explained/" target="_blank">rearranged which actors were part of key scenes</a></b>.<br />
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So, ignoring the inconsistency of depth used in the film, we can look at a few shining moments where depth is used really creatively. The stand-out sequence, both from an entertainment perspective and a technical perspective, is a prolonged slow-motion one where Quicksilver single-handedly disarms and defeats several foes. The character's power is to be able to "<b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quicksilver_%28comics%29#Powers_and_abilities" target="_blank">move and think at superhuman speeds.</a></b>" Consequently, <b><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2014/06/3d-in-the-amazing-spider-man-2.html" target="_blank">like <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2 </i>before it</a></b>, we're offered another version of a bullet-time like sequence, where a character is able to interact with a chaotic environment where objects are suspended in mid-air. Aside from being hilarious, the sequence allows the character dozens of objects to interact with and run around, on various panes of depth. It's an engaging sequence visually, and single-handedly worth the price of admission.<br />
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Another fantastic sequence is provided in the way Blink's powers are used in the film's first big action set-piece. She can project an entry and exit portal, that allows characters to jump through a kind of wormhole. In 3D, we get to see characters leap from one side of the room to the other, to startling effect. Just as your eye learns where a character is in the scene, the character is transported to a different spacial plane, forcing your eye to try and catch up. It's a power visual, that is used well in the beginning and end sequences of the film.<br />
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<h3>
Does the 3D 'pop'?</h3>
There are a few instances where <b><a href="http://miriamruthross.wordpress.com/2014/06/07/may-2014-3d-round-up-transformative-bodies-and-dynamic-space/" target="_blank">debris, water, dust</a></b> and other particle-based elements come very close to the edge of the screen. Generally the film treats the screen's boundary as a safe barrier between the audience and the action. If you're after yo-yo styled pop-out effects, <i>X-Men: Days Of Future Past</i> is not the 3D film for you.<br />
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<h3>
Did it make sense to add 3D to <i>X-Men: Days Of Future Past</i>?</h3>
In theory, it makes sense to add 3D to any X-Men movie. Their characters are colourful, with a variety of interesting powers, and in <i>Days Of Future Past </i>they interact across time and space. In practice though, this film spends a lot of time in a murky and dark post-apocalyptic future, and in 3D these scenes are distractingly gloomy. 3D projection's light-loss was evident in many sequences throughout <i>Days Of Future Past</i>, and we didn't feel the film-makers did enough to counteract this. Films like <i>Prometheus </i>and <i>Tron: Legacy </i>have worked around this issue with bright neon-flavoured yellows and blues. <i>Days Of Future Past</i>'s 'fire-light' orange didn't have the same effect, and made the image softer than we'd like.<br />
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<h3>
The film itself</h3>
<i>X-Men: Days Of Future Past</i> is a great film... provided you have watched at least four key films from the series beforehand. It's assumed at this point you know the key characters' powers, without any real introduction or back-story. Most characters get an arc of some description, though the impact of that arc is more meaningful if you've seen the other films the arc relates to. In that sense, this is a perfect comic book movie. We wouldn't advise casual viewers check this out, unless they're prepared to do their homework ahead of time! If you have done your homework, you'll be rewarded for as much as effort as you were prepared to put in. The complexity of the lore on offer here is getting seriously dense, and it's a treat to see your favourite characters navigate unfamiliar terrain in the way we see here. At least as of our first viewing, this film vies with <i>X-Men 2 </i>for the title of 'best in the series'.<br />
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<h3>
Should we archive the 2D or the 3D version?</h3>
Archive the 3D version, if only for the beauty and hilarity of the Quicksilver heist sequence. Seeing that in 3D is worth it, if you were umming and ahhing about paying the extra dollar for premium 3D ticket prices. There are parts of <i>X-Men: Days of Future Past </i>we weren't fans of, from a stereo perspective, but that one sequence is going to go down as one of the 'all time great' 3D moments.Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-62172912573169159682014-06-08T10:21:00.000-07:002014-06-08T10:24:15.681-07:00How's The 3D in Godzilla?<h3 style="text-align: center;">
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<h3>
Background:</h3>
Godzilla has been around for 50 years. He's been in almost as many movies. 2014's <i>Godzilla </i>is Hollywood's second attempt at bringing the monster to life. Thankfully, this version was guided to the big screen by Gareth Edwards, whose 2010 film <i><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsters_%282010_film%29" target="_blank">Monsters</a></b> </i>went a long way with a very low budget. His skills behind the camera have been recognised already, with Disney shoulder-tapping him to helm <b><a href="http://collider.com/star-wars-spinoff-image-gareth-edwards/" target="_blank">the next stand-alone <i>Star Wars </i>film</a></b>. So, how did his transition from micro-budget to massive-budget film-making go? More importantly, how is the 3D in <i>Godzilla</i>?<br />
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<h3>
Post-Converted 3D:</h3>
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<i>Godzilla </i>was shot in 2D on Arri Alexa Studio 4:3 cameras, using Panavision C Series anamorphic lenses. Effects studios like Weta Digital, Moving Picture Co., and Double Negative provided the CGI, and The Avengers' cinematographer Seamus McGarvey lensed the action. The film was later post-converted to 3D by two studios, <b><a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Hear+Godzilla+roar+Vancouver+mania+lives+upcoming+blockbusters/9426761/story.html" target="_blank">Vancouver-based Gener8</a></b> and <b><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/search/label/StereoD" target="_blank">Stereo D</a></b>. Their work here is subtle, but effective. Where <i>Godzilla</i>'s post-conversion really shines is in the interior dialogue scenes. Rather than flatten out the stereo in such scenes, the stereo compositors add several layers of depth. For example, a doorway might frame a shot, with a concerned child layered in front of it, while a distraught parent paces several feet away in an adjoining room. In fact, doorways are used repeatedly to block characters from one another, and the motif afforded the post-conversion team a great way to separate actors from one another in three dimensions. A lot of the film has a naturalistic 'hand-held' approach, which can't have made the post-conversion easy in shots like this (the doorways would be constantly moving, which requires a lot of rotoscoping). The teams did a great job.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_qgaTa03aDcgynpgvhoe4m_GUg3_9pecOjHpd2p3KvNTJiJKSTKK15L2dPLeWrrMzVlTu6guGv-YbLMhkCbg7JJo23cqBIPfBYlr3FNIbx8TTJO4lZME02X4_o2V5LotlcglJcHH40GE/s1600/bryan_cranston_behind_a_door.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_qgaTa03aDcgynpgvhoe4m_GUg3_9pecOjHpd2p3KvNTJiJKSTKK15L2dPLeWrrMzVlTu6guGv-YbLMhkCbg7JJo23cqBIPfBYlr3FNIbx8TTJO4lZME02X4_o2V5LotlcglJcHH40GE/s1600/bryan_cranston_behind_a_door.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bryan Cranston's character, behind a door</td></tr>
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<h3>
How's the depth?</h3>
<i>Godzilla </i>is the second big-budget 3D monster movie we've seen from Warner Brothers & Legendary Pictures. The difference in approach between Guillermo Del Toro's <b><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/07/hows-3d-in-pacific-rim.html" target="_blank"><i>Pacific Rim</i></a></b> and Gareth Edwards' is interesting. It's hard to know if Edwards was explicitly guided by the studio to avoid a similar aesthetic to Guillermo Del Toro's picture, or if he just followed his nose towards a different approach. Perhaps answering that question, Legendary employed their own '<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1262315/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr231" target="_blank">stereoscopic consultant</a></b>' (though that might have been a supervisory role between the two conversion studios). Del Toro <b><a href="http://screenrant.com/guillermo-del-toro-pacific-rim-japan-anime/" target="_blank">was at pains </a></b>to show the scale of his monsters, from the monsters' perspective; rearing above skyscrapers, shot from phenomenal heights.<br />
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Edwards instead shoots his monsters from the perspective of the panicked humans below them. He communicates this scale in several interesting ways. He places humans on top of tall objects like skyscrapers or bridges. He throws humans out of planes, wearing parachutes. He has awestruck humans at ground-level, craning their heads to see the monsters towering above them. He has humans descend into deep caves, and lean over the edge of craters. The effect achieved is that we feel engaged in each shot. The depth of field is appropriately massive, but with a human in the near foreground and a disaster in the distant background we are invited to feel 'like we were there', and wonder 'what would I do in this situation?' <br />
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<h3>
Does the 3D 'pop'?</h3>
There are several inventive usages of negative parallax in <i>Godzilla</i>. The title sequence is a series of military records being redacted, over the top of World War 2-era footage that has been aged and scuffed. The redaction process reveals the names of actors and crew members, and occurs in the deep foreground, in front of the action below. Eventually, the title card of 'GODZILLA' disperses into ashes, and the debris floats out towards the audience. It's a nice way of breaking the 'wall' of the cinema screen, without also breaking the audience's attention from the narrative of the film.<br />
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There are other memorable moments where the 3D 'pops'. In the crowded theatre 3Defence saw <i>Godzilla</i>, several audience members ducked and flinched when objects hurled towards the screen. As buildings are toppled, a cloud of dust and debris inevitably follows, roaring from several hundred feet of the way to eventually engulf the audience and their movie theatre. This effect is used to particularly strong effect in a nuclear power plant's meltdown, where a group of scientists attempt to outrun a cloud of radioactive material.<br />
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<h3>
Did it make sense to add 3D to <i>Godzilla</i>?</h3>
A post-converted movie, filmed hand-held, set largely in evening scenes, where the monsters are often off-camera? No, it didn't make much sense to convert this film into 3D. This film challenges a lot of our traditional definitions of what is 'appropriate' for 3D distribution. We're glad that the studio took the risk though, and that Gener8/Stereo D pulled off such interesting interior scenes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsExQYXhXqmcPtdImDc829s4jG6QqXKAXaJNXb8N9Ostibtvyj5xTJMbrIwWwVfpNudlbyTSQYP0E4jj6xHarHOYDBIV4FMgQVbgPnvwh9-DKROSAOjnymMF_G9-_KRsBUUckQGrQv_Ug/s1600/godzilla_roar.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsExQYXhXqmcPtdImDc829s4jG6QqXKAXaJNXb8N9Ostibtvyj5xTJMbrIwWwVfpNudlbyTSQYP0E4jj6xHarHOYDBIV4FMgQVbgPnvwh9-DKROSAOjnymMF_G9-_KRsBUUckQGrQv_Ug/s1600/godzilla_roar.png" height="160" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
The film itself</h3>
Your reaction to <i>Godzilla </i>will depend on the history you bring to the theatre with you. If you're a longtime fan, you'll spend the first half of the movie frustrated you're not given much monster action, but then love the last 30 minutes. If you're a casual fan, you'll chuckle at a few references and generally have a good time. If you're a novice to the world of Godzilla, the performances of the humans might grate, and the episodic nature of the film might wear at your attention span. Hopefully you're somewhere in the middle of these perspectives, but it's not likely that any one person will be entirely satisfied by their experience. We hope there's a sequel, and that it addresses a few of these concerns.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycmVobCqI7oTRoZofXzoEcqCzbz5lt4NtAh65qriCOFltHSNFUVpXIA1ov9Z8C6p4Edj1GJG_Sj809IZl65N93b5O3PE6cPEt54_BxKb4d7E7ZLDXdsU-0RPhulp1ffjaWPU9UeuB1lM/s1600/godzilla_poster_2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycmVobCqI7oTRoZofXzoEcqCzbz5lt4NtAh65qriCOFltHSNFUVpXIA1ov9Z8C6p4Edj1GJG_Sj809IZl65N93b5O3PE6cPEt54_BxKb4d7E7ZLDXdsU-0RPhulp1ffjaWPU9UeuB1lM/s1600/godzilla_poster_2014.jpg" height="320" width="216" /> </a></div>
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<h3>
Should we archive the 2D or the 3D version?</h3>
This is a tricky question. 3Defence is going to side with the 3D version in this case, but after much consternation. The literal framing devices used - where doorways or humans are in the close foreground, separating us from the action far away - demand to be watched in stereo. In 2D, they look like the action is being obstructed. In 3D, they look purposeful, giving us a sense of scale. The actors have been positioned, just like they were in the original Godzilla films of olde, as proxies for ourselves. In 3D, this effect works. In 2D, it's annoying. See the 3D version if you can, on the biggest screen you can find.Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-29282101450915390112014-06-07T06:53:00.000-07:002014-06-07T07:19:14.865-07:00How's the 3D in 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2'?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoSYgKgLNuHFqLNabDVxVBW91g59I0gP0VuHrL7AaORtZKGf-CZljrOL1nZIiXDjmR2nIPUWZ1t6GFaNnjY45CMeQgLtA-v8nKiDfxd_cMGPZ66gCuSUz49KpDXWNHmQY_N6HnAm9YBAM/s1600/the_amazing_spider_man_2_IMAX_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoSYgKgLNuHFqLNabDVxVBW91g59I0gP0VuHrL7AaORtZKGf-CZljrOL1nZIiXDjmR2nIPUWZ1t6GFaNnjY45CMeQgLtA-v8nKiDfxd_cMGPZ66gCuSUz49KpDXWNHmQY_N6HnAm9YBAM/s1600/the_amazing_spider_man_2_IMAX_poster.jpg" height="320" width="221" /></a></div>
<h3>
Background</h3>
The fifth Spider-Man film in 15 years, <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2</i> is also Spidey’s second 3D film. We were <b><a href="http://www.3defence.blogspot.com/2012/07/amazing-spider-man-how-good-is-its-3d.html" target="_blank">reasonably underwhelmed</a></b> by the 'original' <i>The Amazing Spider-Man</i>, despite it being shot in native 3D. How does the most recent sequel fare in comparison? Read on for all the details on the film’s post-converted 3D, its depth, effects and whether or not we should save the 2D or 3D versions for archival purposes.<br />
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<h3>
Post-Converted 3D</h3>
Unlike its immediate predecessor, <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2 </i>was largely shot on film, and post-converted to 3D. This task fell to Legend 3D, and Stereo Supervisor <b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0550547/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr553" target="_blank">Ed W. Marsh</a></b>. The company has <b><a href="http://legend3d.com/#films" target="_blank">a mixed record with its stereo conversions</a></b>. Some of their earlier work left much to be desired (eg: <i>Alice In Wonderland </i>and <i>Green Hornet</i>). Like much of the conversion industry, they've upped their game in recent years (eg: <i>Top Gun</i>, <b><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/06/hows-3d-in-man-of-steel.html" target="_blank"><i>Man Of Steel</i></a></b>). <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2 </i>is another massive step forward for them; average viewers won't realise this film was post-converted 3D.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLYHZXzMm_D8ygDeK84rRtAy8xbxK00Aj3Pxv6Xv-hPkyQhqSKh33kTCfpzfFb_7eORRt-aTP5-qjeicFw-WnN-ys0BeHyR1_7NjdK3HlhPyqnDPo8vrD5SVjC2WA0IpiIA_htmgGnL94/s1600/filming_anamorphic_spider-man-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLYHZXzMm_D8ygDeK84rRtAy8xbxK00Aj3Pxv6Xv-hPkyQhqSKh33kTCfpzfFb_7eORRt-aTP5-qjeicFw-WnN-ys0BeHyR1_7NjdK3HlhPyqnDPo8vrD5SVjC2WA0IpiIA_htmgGnL94/s1600/filming_anamorphic_spider-man-2.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A film, made on film!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
That's a misleading sentence though, because much of the film is not 'post-converted' in the truest sense. Due to the web-slinging nature of the film, large sequences of the film feature hundreds of composite effects shots, most of which would have been digitally rendered directly to stereo by the effects studio in charge. Consequently, most of the action scenes you see in <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2</i> are 'rendered 3D', and are therefore as 'native' as the computer generated character they feature.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXrDMHFUPBOl6quSRqoAUXyF9GvrPjhrKnGfCylqVYcqU0CQMUnDn9P99rp_PzRumkmwCyMHPvYTov_SXEqE6TnzMnxO5eO_zYjt-ScXfmuyJV60Vzb_PHFptw71fZFE-KhtMCQy2Hoxo/s1600/gwen_in_amazing_spider-man_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXrDMHFUPBOl6quSRqoAUXyF9GvrPjhrKnGfCylqVYcqU0CQMUnDn9P99rp_PzRumkmwCyMHPvYTov_SXEqE6TnzMnxO5eO_zYjt-ScXfmuyJV60Vzb_PHFptw71fZFE-KhtMCQy2Hoxo/s1600/gwen_in_amazing_spider-man_2.jpg" height="129" width="320" /></a></div>
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The movie is a warm looking one, perhaps afforded a softer image by filming on film. Of course, even in 2D you can tell the difference between a digitally shot image and one filmed on celluloid. We mention the film's warmth here primarily because it makes for a nice change, amongst many of its contemporaries. The scenes with Peter & Gwen are radiant, in a way that is as much about the leads' performances as the technical goings-on behind the camera.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Wr9uSRxs7BD6AXyiDWeYxFISxY7WjqAkxY2AZbVtr7OGEp9uCN1kkkdgbq86dauSnkBe_12B5eO_HXWXjqJNj3ulHVf14AydNyyAnH4cozRsxEfXhpauY8XAD7i36RTfPSSR5vCvOag/s1600/spider-man_throwing-stone-scene.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Wr9uSRxs7BD6AXyiDWeYxFISxY7WjqAkxY2AZbVtr7OGEp9uCN1kkkdgbq86dauSnkBe_12B5eO_HXWXjqJNj3ulHVf14AydNyyAnH4cozRsxEfXhpauY8XAD7i36RTfPSSR5vCvOag/s1600/spider-man_throwing-stone-scene.png" height="132" width="320" /></a> </div>
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<h3>
<b>How's the depth of the 3D?</b> </h3>
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<b><i><a href="http://www.3defence.blogspot.com/2012/07/amazing-spider-man-how-good-is-its-3d.html" target="_blank">The Amazing Spider-Man</a></i></b> from a few years ago had a depth problem. The action scenes were vibrant, but the dialogue scenes were not. Its sequel has learned a few things from this. Half of the dialogue scenes are just as boring as they were last time around, but the other half are staged in locations that emphasize depth. For example, Peter Parker catches up with a - rich - old school friend, and they spend a few minutes talking in a room, separated by an oppressively large stairwell. They then go to a river's side to continue their discussion, which is staged fairly traditionally. But the boys then begin a stone-throwing competition. Each stone thrown goes further and further, and eventually Peter's powers let rip and his stone is seen skipping across a hundred foot of water. These are slights of the hand, allowing for an engaging image while also getting through truckloads of exposition nad 'character development'.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjofnoRuqSt7NAZncH793CqZ8jt1zTSQ7erNrelN3rYWEpKWJuDwvfFSMqAf0g6RB1xKPWPuOhySYZ45kMW7j9xxPMuqwYA3C8VwKG6_q-w3cyoZHqqIAHzP4LY3u7Z1_-ViFWdn5_FCyM/s1600/spider-man-buildings-3d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjofnoRuqSt7NAZncH793CqZ8jt1zTSQ7erNrelN3rYWEpKWJuDwvfFSMqAf0g6RB1xKPWPuOhySYZ45kMW7j9xxPMuqwYA3C8VwKG6_q-w3cyoZHqqIAHzP4LY3u7Z1_-ViFWdn5_FCyM/s1600/spider-man-buildings-3d.jpg" height="134" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then, of course, there's the action scenes. When 'Spidey Sense' is triggered, the viewer is allowed to see the world as Spider-Man sees it; the camera can roam in and out of space and time to focus on what's important. As time slows down, and the camera speeds up, the action takes on a balletic quality. This is the most nimble and agile Spider-Man we've seen on screen yet, and his contortionist nature is all the more miraculous in 'bullet-time'. These scenes frequently use focus, color and camera movements to convey geography and choreography. For example (this requires bullet-points to communicate the progression, sorry):<br />
<ul>
<li>Spider-Man might begin a shot in mid-air in the foreground,</li>
<li>the camera then whips over to a falling pedestrian, </li>
<li>the camera zooms in on something that endangers that pedestrian (eg: an electrified handrail),</li>
<li>the focus then is pulled again and we see Spider-Man, now in the background, engineer his web slinging perfectly,</li>
<li>his web then reaches out and prevents a death in the foreground.</li>
</ul>
This type of sequence repeats itself in key moments throughout the film. Each iteration shows more and more variety of depth, building towards a pivotal showdown between the hero and his adversaries. The showdown, high above the ground, uses stereo-emphasised depth to communicate the peril our hero faces. When a web misses its target, we feel as pained as the hero does. <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2 </i>uses the bullet-time technique to make for a more engaging 3D image, while enhancing the narrative too. The slow motion allows our eyes to take a rest from camera blur and post-converted characters, and when 'real time' comes back the shock of reality is sometimes made intentionally jarring. Its an overtly manipulative technique, and it works well in 3D.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBCfU5Jd1wzjRQe0BQe24OfsFkkDxwLsV0-3u7YDDkw-sm5iFjRLuGcsMbmbuhqbs8zBRhnH8Lti1lfr59Fv8pS22X63ZgJEQ-3tuyvryPKD-iAbdseorPfuXWiMYVKLwGlbkiWj5cGsk/s1600/popping_3d_the-amazing-spider-man-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBCfU5Jd1wzjRQe0BQe24OfsFkkDxwLsV0-3u7YDDkw-sm5iFjRLuGcsMbmbuhqbs8zBRhnH8Lti1lfr59Fv8pS22X63ZgJEQ-3tuyvryPKD-iAbdseorPfuXWiMYVKLwGlbkiWj5cGsk/s1600/popping_3d_the-amazing-spider-man-2.png" height="133" width="320" /></a> </div>
<h3>
Does the 3D 'pop'?</h3>
The 3D in <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2</i> is largely in keeping with the modern stereo aesthetic; <b><a href="http://3dfilmtutorials.com/the-flip-flop-of-negative-and-positive-parallax" target="_blank">aggressive negative parallax</a></b> is used sparingly. This seems like a missed opportunity. Electro's sparks could certainly have flown into the audience, and Spider-Man could have swung over our heads a few times. That gimmick was essentially what made people pay to see <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_Turn_Off_the_Dark" target="_blank"><i>Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark</i></a></b><i> </i>and it would work well in this series too. It's not fashionable to have this opinion, but in 3Defence's view, this series has a 'dork' of a main character, and it'd be in keeping with his nature to make a visual joke or two using negative parallax.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIG2MpAEbKcSEzIgW5c5aTI9UNd5R_OdP6mMVGtNl7NTg-VmkbguPZaKsEohZcPtEn4rJlGkpQvKOo3a7i7QEWuE8qX_96AF3koTslaQ-9TTrilqKHLAG0bLBz6r-pbW_zAwny-snumk/s1600/the_amazing_spider_man_2_electro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIG2MpAEbKcSEzIgW5c5aTI9UNd5R_OdP6mMVGtNl7NTg-VmkbguPZaKsEohZcPtEn4rJlGkpQvKOo3a7i7QEWuE8qX_96AF3koTslaQ-9TTrilqKHLAG0bLBz6r-pbW_zAwny-snumk/s1600/the_amazing_spider_man_2_electro.png" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
Did it make sense to add 3D to <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2</i>?</h3>
It absolutely made sense to distribute <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2</i> in 3D. The primary villain is bright blue neon coloured, and he fights with startling blue blasts of electricity that illuminate any night time scene. The primary hero is primary coloured himself, and - when he's not battling Electro - is often shot in daylight, in broad and open exteriors. When he's web slinging, there's a deliberately vertigo inducing quality, as we focus on our hero in the foreground while a busy background of skyscrapers rapidly pass behind him. This is the most '3D appropriate' entry in the series so far.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4EubtLpmdc0bXuJcUSAuQrrqArpyBSYOelc5CC-rZQZc_3MDDVJ5FcINGeRgrG_gGm2RFIx-Y8eiW8jmw37ru4AdtBBKCjy3UKfpWQHJzS0o_pzKWRkIab7WO6LIs1oStaPa8G_S94I/s1600/The-Amazing-Spider-Man-2_3d_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4EubtLpmdc0bXuJcUSAuQrrqArpyBSYOelc5CC-rZQZc_3MDDVJ5FcINGeRgrG_gGm2RFIx-Y8eiW8jmw37ru4AdtBBKCjy3UKfpWQHJzS0o_pzKWRkIab7WO6LIs1oStaPa8G_S94I/s1600/The-Amazing-Spider-Man-2_3d_poster.jpg" height="169" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
The film itself</h3>
<i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2</i>'s tagline was "his greatest battle begins". The issue 3Defence has with this film is that "his greatest battle" should have been split into more movies. There's so much going on in <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2 </i>- much of it interesting and of worth - that the film feels rushed and chaotic. Perhaps if an extra half hour were added to its running time, it would have allowed things to settle. Perhaps rogue story elements like Peter Parker's parents' research could have been eliminated to free up more character development. In any case, the film is highly engaging, it just feels like a second draft; bloated with great ideas and poorly cut down for coherency. The "greatest" thing we could say for the film is that it is the closest we've come since Sam Raimi's own <i>Spider-Man 2</i> to perfect web-slinging action. If you've ever read a Spidey comic, you owe it to yourself to check the film out, just for that alone.<br />
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<h3>
If we had to archive one version, should we save the 2D or the 3D?</h3>
The 3D version of <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2 </i>is the definitive version to archive. Unlike its predecessor, the film-makers made great decisions here, and designed an engaging 3D experience that you'll remember long after you leave the theatre. The depth of field afforded, and emphasised, by stereo gives the audience a reason to watch the film with glasses on. <b><a href="http://legend3d.com/" target="_blank">Legend3D</a></b> should be proud of their work.Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-42999034440352862392014-05-14T19:39:00.000-07:002014-05-14T20:10:39.064-07:00How's the 3D in 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwpaF2V-HcyS77gJuczT1gMmzFSCb9Xxmmui-zQgjoUsh8evKYxcRA8kfJR0bo99onRTxz-pwZ8cgkhLM7NXDsIqfEh_7R2Gqrb2WpDQ4WU_QzqTY-_sL_9LhEzDnlEGdSqJj2diIiHC4/s1600/paolo_riveras_stunning_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Read about the poster here - http://paolorivera.blogspot.com/2014/03/captain-america-winter-soldier.html" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwpaF2V-HcyS77gJuczT1gMmzFSCb9Xxmmui-zQgjoUsh8evKYxcRA8kfJR0bo99onRTxz-pwZ8cgkhLM7NXDsIqfEh_7R2Gqrb2WpDQ4WU_QzqTY-_sL_9LhEzDnlEGdSqJj2diIiHC4/s1600/paolo_riveras_stunning_poster.jpg" height="400" title="Read about the poster here - http://paolorivera.blogspot.com/2014/03/captain-america-winter-soldier.html" width="266" /></a> </div>
<h3>
Background </h3>
This April, <i>Captain America: The Winter Soldier</i> kicked off the 'Summer' movie-going season early. Its over-sized box-office takings match the muscle and reputation of the hero himself, and critics were quick to praise the film too. He's the linchpin for Marvel's Cinematic Universe, which is why it's the fourth time we've seen Cap in 3D. Is this the definitive Steve Rogers story? How does the 3D fare in comparison to the post-converted likes of <b><i><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/06/hows-3d-in-iron-man-3.html" target="_blank">Iron Man Three</a></i></b> or <i><b><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/05/how-good-is-3d-in-avengers.html" target="_blank">The Avengers</a></b></i>? Join us for this in-depth review of the film's stereo effects, and let us know if we've missed anything!<br />
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<h3>
Post-Converted 3D</h3>
Marvel makes bold bets on its directors. In retrospect, many of their choices often made total sense; Shakespearean-influenced Kenneth Brannagh was well matched with <i>Thor</i>, as was the wise-cracking <i>Iron Man</i> helmer Jon Favreau. While some of their directors had previously made big-budget films, none had ever made a 3D movie. We assume that's why the studio's 3D output to date has largely been post-converted; why make a nervous director's job harder than it needs to be on set? The technology improves every day, but filming in native 3D remains a challenge for even the most experienced of directors. <i>Captain America: The Winter Soldier </i>was not filmed by the likes of Peter Jackson or James Cameron. It was filmed by the directors of TV's <i>Arrested Development</i>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo_brothers" target="_blank">Anthony & Joe Russo</a>. As best as we can tell, Marvel never divulged the reason they chose to post-convert this movie, but we assume the directors' green-ness to big-budget movie-making contributed to the decision.<br />
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As a result, the task of manually post-converting this behemoth of a movie fell to Stereo D and <b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4202670/" target="_blank">lead stereographer Anjel Alcaraz</a></b>. We've <b><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/search/label/StereoD" target="_blank">covered their work before</a></b>. They do a fine job of subtly enhancing 2D footage. 3Defence takes the view that Stereo D are a reliable shop, generally churning out quality work that is worthy of your attention. Indeed, <b><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/3d-creative-arts-awards-life-418842" target="_blank">they won a 3D industry award</a></b> for their work on <i>The Avengers</i>, and we expect they'll be seeking recognition for their efforts here on <i>Captain America: The Winter Soldier</i> too.<br />
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<h3>
How's The Depth of the 3D?</h3>
Captain America can't fly like Iron Man. He can't soar through the air like Thor and his hammer. He is basically human-sized, unlike Hulk. He doesn't web-sling, use magic, and he's not even a pint-sized gun-toting racoon. His buddies in this movie are all human too: Black Widow, Nick Fury and The Winter Soldier himself. To put it bluntly; stories about Steve Rogers don't necessarily call for depth imbalances in the way that his Marvel buddies' movies do.<br />
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Without a depth imbalance based on character size itself, usually 3D movies convey depth by relying on an arresting visual. For example, a character overlooking a large vista (say Sandara Bullock's <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/10/hows-3d-in-gravity.html" target="_blank">space-faring character in Gravity</a>), or one placed atop of a large structure (say Will Smith on the <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-good-is-3d-in-mib3.html" target="_blank">Apollo mission's launch pad in Men In Black 3</a>). For much of <i>Captain America: The Winter Soldier</i>, this type of 'imbalance' is not achieved. The nearby landscape - low-rise Washington DC - is neither spectacular or noteworthy. The foes are identifiably human-sized, and generally fighting in close proximity. Indeed, the film is purposefully shot in a way that invokes the memory of paranoid and close-quarters 70s thrillers like <i>All The President's Men</i>. Much of the movie is also shot in a traditional way; a blurry object is in the deep foreground, while a mid-ground character commands a sharp focus against a blurry background.<br />
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There's an interesting opening set-piece, set on the decks of a boat. It's closest 3D peer is <i>Life Of Pi</i>'s shipwreck scene. There, Ang Lee shot the action from close angles, as if the camera operator were in the same predicament as the protagonist. Captain America's seafaring battle is similarly chaotic, but is filmed more objectively. The film-makers are unafraid to pull back a long way, to show the full speed and agility of their hero. It's an interesting touch, especially in light of how few film-makers have filmed superheros this way recently. The Dark Knight, Spider-Man, <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/06/hows-3d-in-man-of-steel.html" target="_blank">Superman</a>, Thor, Iron Man and a myriad of others have often been filmed 'just over the shoulder' in a way that makes the action seem more immediate, but also makes their heroes appear more human. There were moments in the opening battle where distance and depth helped convey how powerful Steve Rogers is, and how superhuman his abilities are.<br />
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Where the film really comes alive though, from a depth perspective, is its last half-hour. Set high in the air courtesy of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicarrier" target="_blank">helicarriers</a> and accompanied by a flying Falcon, the super-sized action allows for an explosive finale. Still, there's nothing in this sequence that comes close to<i> <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/06/hows-3d-in-iron-man-3.html#Depth" target="_blank">Iron Man Three</a></i><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/06/hows-3d-in-iron-man-3.html#Depth" target="_blank">'s airplane freefall </a>or even the skyscraper-soaring conclusion to <i>The Avengers</i>. The action here is also shot largely in the traditional modern superhero style of 'just over the shoulder', so you'll be disappointed if you're looking for new bench-marks in depth here.<br />
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<h3>
Does the 3D 'pop'?</h3>
While objects don't fly out into the audience, objects like Captain America's shield regularly fly from the background right up to the edge of the screen. You won't spend much of the movie ducking for cover.<br />
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<h3>
Did it make sense to add 3D?</h3>
Dark, gritty, political thrillers are not a natural fit with 3D. We weren't particularly blown away by the post-conversion used in this film's predecessor (<i>Captain America: The First Avenger</i>)<i> </i>either. Thankfully, someone in charge of <i>The Winter Soldier </i>made sure they catered many of the film's set-pieces with 3D in mind: the biggest action sequences all happen in broad daylight. Sunlight helps provide clear and crisp images to a glasses-wearing audience. By setting their fast-paced fight scenes in the afternoon the Russo Brothers made 3D easy on the eyes. We thank them!<br />
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<h3>
The film itself</h3>
This is the easiest section to write for this review: it's a great movie. At the time of writing, it's firmly placed in the <b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/chart/top" target="_blank">IMDb Top 250</a></b>. The film's best watched with some beginner's knowledge of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it's definitely easy to keep up with for outsiders. Chris Evans nails his part, and Scarlett Johansson continues to play Black Widow with a surprising intensity (though we'd like her part more if <b><a href="http://miriamruthross.wordpress.com/2014/04/12/the-3d-female-body-pompeii-and-captain-america-the-winter-soldier/" target="_blank">she were filmed from the same distance as her male peers</a></b> and if there were <b><a href="http://bechdeltest.com/view/5351/captain_america:_the_winter_soldier" target="_blank">more meaningful female characters for her to talk to</a></b>). The Winter Soldier himself is a meaningful 'bad guy' (particularly if you've seen <i>The First Avenger</i>) and his relationship with Captain America is pivotal to the story. You couldn't ask for a better comic book movie this early in 2014.<br />
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<h3>
If we had to archive one version, should we save the 2D or the 3D?</h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibLrYLUHRQx2Q8EzMm4Z88CeRYpG_C-eBj4qCax-Gqtp1hADPPUk1cCUyxPEf_IZCSKPuFf0WYMnWLGoIrS0clgKco4CFDdj1r-QwcteVUSz37W84PuGoX0EVUWEGOWVWhb3DTqtfliAw/s1600/winter_soldier_3d_glasses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibLrYLUHRQx2Q8EzMm4Z88CeRYpG_C-eBj4qCax-Gqtp1hADPPUk1cCUyxPEf_IZCSKPuFf0WYMnWLGoIrS0clgKco4CFDdj1r-QwcteVUSz37W84PuGoX0EVUWEGOWVWhb3DTqtfliAw/s1600/winter_soldier_3d_glasses.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a>We hope this review of <i>Captain America: The Winter Soldier</i>'s 3D has been regarded as largely positive. If anything, we at 3Defence are 'lukewarm' on the conversion. We're going to side with the 2D version. There's nothing to 'dislike' here, and 3D haters would struggle to point at anything that detracts from the movie-going experience. However, 3D enthusiasts would also struggle to find much that radically improves the movie-going experience in stereo. This is about as middle-of-the-road as it gets.Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-90740950944744619982014-03-30T20:22:00.000-07:002014-03-30T20:26:51.646-07:0046% of 2014's Oscar Winners Were 3D Films<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5L9CP2zAP2y1_yW_u97fqkKLQhg1qTz0ADoEaPfJfuWrrEnllrgrIk1SHGIJbuKBLJP5y6cJBKPmQvd95jcQfITbW9bGqPZnhi94oz0Ic8c1wib7PU7ma1srkK-Esy10WGIt3sttNd0/s1600/ellen+oscars+selfie+with+3d+glasses.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5L9CP2zAP2y1_yW_u97fqkKLQhg1qTz0ADoEaPfJfuWrrEnllrgrIk1SHGIJbuKBLJP5y6cJBKPmQvd95jcQfITbW9bGqPZnhi94oz0Ic8c1wib7PU7ma1srkK-Esy10WGIt3sttNd0/s1600/ellen+oscars+selfie+with+3d+glasses.png" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
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The 86th Academy Awards were held in March, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. When the gathered stars and glitterati weren't <a href="https://twitter.com/TheEllenShow/status/440322224407314432/photo/1." target="_blank"><b>taking selfies</b></a>, the famous gold statues were being handed out to a host of worthy winners. Amongst them, 3Defence counted <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86th_Academy_Awards" target="_blank"><b>11 wins for 3D films</b></a>, helped mostly by <i>Gravity</i>, but ably assisted by <i>Frozen </i>and <i>The Great Gatsby</i>. This means that 46% of 2014's Oscar winners were 3D films. By comparison, 21% of 2013's winners were stereo movies, and 23% of 2012's were too. So, why the meteoric rise this year?<br />
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<i>Gravity</i> - as many predicted - swept the majority of the 'technical' categories. It took out the Visual Effects, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing awards early on in the evening. These particular awards have been given to 3D films in the past. Cinematography and Film Editing came next though, and winning both of these awards is a significant breakthrough in terms of the industry's recognition of stereo film-making. For one thing, the teams working on both fields for <i>Gravity </i>were utterly dependent on each other to succeed. Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography filmed the unfilmable, and had to predict where effects and edits would be made many years before they could be finished. Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger's editing stitched together hundreds of shots and effects into a seamless whole, to the point where their edits were nearly invisible to the audience. Their combined achievements meant that 3D cinema was awarded its first Best Film Editing Academy Award.<br />
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Steven Price took out the Best Original Score Oscar for <i>Gravity </i>too, joining <i>Life Of Pi </i>and <i>Up</i>'s composers as the third 3D film to win that particular award. Finally, Alfonso Cuarón won the Best Director award for the film. After Ang Lee's win last year, this makes it the second year in a row that the Academy has awarded a director of a 3D film... and then <i>not</i> awarded them a Best Picture Oscar to boot. <i>12 Years A Slave </i>pipped <i>Gravity </i>to that eventual win, and by all accounts the race was very tight.<br />
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As mentioned earlier, it wasn't just <i>Gravity </i>cleaning up at the Oscars; smash hit <i>Frozen</i> picked up 2 golden statues. <i>Frozen </i>has widely been regarded as a 'return to form' for Disney's animation division, and is the first time the animation studio has won an Academy Award in 14 years. The film has now earned over $1 billion at the global box office (ably helped by 3D ticket surcharges) and one of its songs <i>Let It Go </i>reached the Billboard Top 10. That particular achievement may have helped the studio win Best Original Song, and it also picked up an award for Best Animated Feature.<br />
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Finally, the immaculately designed and photographed <i>The Great Gatsby</i> picked up 2 Academy Awards also. Catherine Martin & Beverley Dunn were rewarded for their efforts in Production Design. Following wins from <i>Avatar</i>, <i>Hugo</i>, and <i>Alice In Wonderland</i>, this category is beginning to look like a 3D-dominated one. Catherine Martin picked up another gong for Best Costume Design (another category that <i>Alice In Wonderland </i>took out a few years ago). <i>Gatsby</i>'s opulent aesthetic has had a major cultural influence in music videos and dress-up parties this year, and the decadence came alive wonderfully in stereo.<br />
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In a few years' time, a 3D film may eventually take home the Best Picture Oscar. While it hasn't happened this year, it's still great to see the film industry recognising the craftsmanship of stereo film-making. We at 3Defence heartily congratulate the likes of Catherine Martin, Mark Sanger and their esteemed peers for their efforts in making 2013 a banner year for 3D cinema.Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-62273435000801475352014-02-08T13:19:00.000-08:002014-02-08T13:38:20.611-08:00Dr. Cinephile or: How I Learned to Stop Reading 'Movie Gossip' and Love the Internet: The Best Apps<i>If you're an active reader of 3Defence, the chances are you're a movie nerd; a cinephile; a film buff; a student of cinema; or generally just the type of person who appreciates long-form articles on interesting topics. I know this, because that's who I am. I can't think of anything better than a Saturday morning coffee and a chance to learn about how movies are made, or what the critical community thinks of the resulting product. That's why 3Defence exists; to help provide a place for balanced criticism and reasoned study of stereo film-making in the modern age. However 3Defence is also just a place for movie geeks to hang out. In that spirit, today we kick off a series that offers up other ways to get your cinematic fix from the web. Article #1 is going to focus on two of 'The Best Apps' for movie geeks, and offer up a couple of other ways to make sure you keep up to date with your favourite film sites while on the go.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.picksandpeeks.com/" target="_blank">Ain't It Cool News Picks & Peeks (iOS & Android, free)</a></h3>
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Ain't It Cool News' early days were filled with exclusive 'scoops' and early reviews of unproduced scripts, and their stories permanently changed the way Hollywood makes movies. While it used to be possible to get direct access to crews and cast of big budget films, most have become tight-lipped and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-disclosure_agreement" target="_blank">NDA'd</a> to the point where even DVD / Blu-ray Special Features of released movies rarely feature honest observations. Perhaps as a result, <b><a href="http://www.aintitcool.com/" target="_blank">Ain't It Cool News</a>' </b>best work these days is focused on the past: retrospectives on genre pictures, obscure cult classics and recently released blockbusters. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMW73q0UbZNj3T_w5tt9WRDVv6nrtkmgEiFtoeQWAUUnBW33BQaP3g46GfsNOnrz1KEkNidHz7KR1x6SqoYy3rKpgY-Mh_0jx1HhGOMCF5ksBxve6UhV0YFzWfbTDyx1gUsU5vO4Fp-k4/s1600/picks_and_peeks_knowles_aicn.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMW73q0UbZNj3T_w5tt9WRDVv6nrtkmgEiFtoeQWAUUnBW33BQaP3g46GfsNOnrz1KEkNidHz7KR1x6SqoYy3rKpgY-Mh_0jx1HhGOMCF5ksBxve6UhV0YFzWfbTDyx1gUsU5vO4Fp-k4/s1600/picks_and_peeks_knowles_aicn.png" height="81" width="320" /></a></div>
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Their Picks & Peeks column is a semi-monthly one (irregularly updated) that usually covers around 4 weeks' worth of DVD / Blu releases, and their corresponding app pushes you notifications to help you keep up. The stand-out feature isn't the app itself, but the content: every column will offer you something you <i>need </i>to buy, and something you're offended by, and something else that challenges your assumptions about a movie so you need to re-watch it to make up your own mind. And surely that's all we can ask for as movie geeks, right? The app also allows you to trawl through the archives of the column, which is super useful if you're ever in need of some movie-watching inspiration while in the 'Weekly' section of your local DVD store. You can download the app via the Google Play of iOS App stores here:<b> <a href="http://www.picksandpeeks.com/">http://www.picksandpeeks.com/</a></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirG4AofzRweHOuGGBfk3HhvqgNenqBU2CK0c-0Y4jdrhiMAyw5FiHR8SaDkb8R-rfW4Eq74oSD2krtIlap8buuammh6JCPIHwHBEDOXEjHMsZU3YaC_dfEjXWnE26S2mFM8vvSwQxhRFc/s1600/aicn_picks_and_peeks_on_android.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirG4AofzRweHOuGGBfk3HhvqgNenqBU2CK0c-0Y4jdrhiMAyw5FiHR8SaDkb8R-rfW4Eq74oSD2krtIlap8buuammh6JCPIHwHBEDOXEjHMsZU3YaC_dfEjXWnE26S2mFM8vvSwQxhRFc/s1600/aicn_picks_and_peeks_on_android.jpg" height="200" width="181" /></a></div>
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Cinefex is a special-effects magazine that began in the 'George Lucas / Steven Spielberg' era, when effects work stopped being an afterthought and became a primary driver for Hollywood's blockbusters. Cinefex has an astounding back catalogue of "behind the scenes" articles, covering 30 years of movie-making artistry; from the advancements in matte painting, rotoscoping and model work done in the 80s, through to the birth of mainstream CGI usage in the 90s, to the reaction to 'overdone' CGI in the '00s, and now the exclusively digital cinema of modern films. The magazine's released quarterly, and tends to focus on the films that have had the most unique effects-work attempted in the last few months. Regular subscribers usually get to read exclusive content that you'd not find in studio-mandated press materials until the home video release of the film many months later. Put simply, if you ever buy DVDs purely to watch the "making of" documentaries in the special features... this is the magazine for you.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7VJGdhYoLxRhVLYFqX1nGmhJYht1TorEZzAryZoYa97j5-DHW7qnHuXyu7lYoZofnnWaoQFMuMmHJqxGeix-FPNenBQ_1CP_qaNwUTIWEqnh_2HVRw1SWXM-B9sCKowvrZ7F_h8Gfz8/s1600/cinefex_ipad_edition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7VJGdhYoLxRhVLYFqX1nGmhJYht1TorEZzAryZoYa97j5-DHW7qnHuXyu7lYoZofnnWaoQFMuMmHJqxGeix-FPNenBQ_1CP_qaNwUTIWEqnh_2HVRw1SWXM-B9sCKowvrZ7F_h8Gfz8/s1600/cinefex_ipad_edition.jpg" height="133" width="400" /></a></div>
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The recently released iPad edition is a big leap forward for the magazine. It offers three great 'value adds' you'd not normally get from the print edition. For one thing, an annual subscription is much cheaper than the print version. The other great thing about a subscription to their newer content, is that they are now making the magazine tailor-made for the iPad experience: in the articles you get to see effects reels, user-controlled toggles between on-set footage/wire-frames/pre-visualised concept art/and the final product itself, and you generally get to interact with the magazine in a designed way that dramatically enhances your understanding of "how the hell did they do that?" But the other great perk? The back-catalogue.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWAecQzt7GIQnajkVtkig6XLm93fSiSkTiLAdjWS-d2V_vx6rOzqvTvDSi_CdC6jgIoWxWtUj6kvsQCnmeSwe1vRUYPaVqG7442ZmCtw3zwu9TQEeKrkgu5K76XP-mTQ_wZ_kb1P2NK8w/s1600/cinefex-back-catalogue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWAecQzt7GIQnajkVtkig6XLm93fSiSkTiLAdjWS-d2V_vx6rOzqvTvDSi_CdC6jgIoWxWtUj6kvsQCnmeSwe1vRUYPaVqG7442ZmCtw3zwu9TQEeKrkgu5K76XP-mTQ_wZ_kb1P2NK8w/s1600/cinefex-back-catalogue.jpg" height="244" width="320" /></a></div>
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For a long time, much of the Cinefex back-catalogue was out of print. Thanks to their iPad app, all of their content is back, ready to read for the small price of $4.99 USD an issue. To be fair, buying the lot will set you back a substantial sum, but if you choose wisely you could find yourself with hiterto unseen behind the scenes shots of your favourite films from the 80s, 90s, 2000s and today. For us as fans of 3D cinema at 3Defence, this history is important, because modern-day 3D tends to only be included in the most expensive productions, which also tends to be effects-heavy films. The overlap in craft and crews are important, and it's great to have a publication like Cinefex open its doors for movie geeks around the world. The app is responsive, and has a nice 'back catalogue' scrolling UI that feels fun to interact with. Worth a try!<br />
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<a href="http://feedly.com/apps.html" target="_blank">Feedly</a> (Multi-platform, free) and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/unread-an-rss-reader/id754143884?mt=8" target="_blank">Unread</a> (iOS, $2.99 USD)</h3>
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I know what you're thinking; how the hell is a news aggregator and an RSS reader related to movie-focused apps? Well... you're a busy person, right? There's a bunch of movie-focused sites you like to read, but you can't be bothered going to each and every bookmark to keep up with them? Enter <a href="http://feedly.com/index.html#welcome" target="_blank"><b>Feedly</b></a>. Sign up with your Google account (the same one you use for Gmail or <a href="https://plus.google.com/115102795861615268400/posts" target="_blank"><b>Google+</b></a>), tap "Add Content", search for a site you like (hint - "3Defence" is a good term!) and subscribe to the site so that Feedly can keep you up to date with any new posts.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXgAiG-5nUNoZIExXFhDp2dTVZSGEXbhd897sz5KxuHIE-t3PFr5OxCtd73HUGhVXrI1UQ-ns4QVM2Y9859g7royhCiqSG0Bx_xi-LhUVDpNWJ-O92eqUjhTjMzF8LUBgsfmbOssPtxQY/s1600/3Defence_on_Feedly.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXgAiG-5nUNoZIExXFhDp2dTVZSGEXbhd897sz5KxuHIE-t3PFr5OxCtd73HUGhVXrI1UQ-ns4QVM2Y9859g7royhCiqSG0Bx_xi-LhUVDpNWJ-O92eqUjhTjMzF8LUBgsfmbOssPtxQY/s1600/3Defence_on_Feedly.png" height="150" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now that you've amassed an array of sites you care about, you might be wondering how you're going to keep track of all their updates while you're out and about. Enter <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/unread-an-rss-reader/id754143884?mt=8" target="_blank"><b>Unread</b></a>. Unread brings the act of 'reading' your RSS feeds to the fore. It has a gesture-focused interface that feels incredibly well designed. The app empowers you to quickly scan over what's new, before jumping headfirst into the articles that interest you most, and then allows you to quickly mark the rest as 'read' to hide them from your site. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_uEa-RcGSdds5ZUg0khY1ADKeF20Irft9MnENcq7Ux2-fRF1O94exJH2hoggu5jBZkCjbQdsgW7OJdTgO56HYQjMMnFdhUWAq5yXiClcIfdy3hyjU2Xt3n6Vf74IikooZkctsaC4Ml2w/s1600/3Defence_on_Unread_RSS_Reader.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_uEa-RcGSdds5ZUg0khY1ADKeF20Irft9MnENcq7Ux2-fRF1O94exJH2hoggu5jBZkCjbQdsgW7OJdTgO56HYQjMMnFdhUWAq5yXiClcIfdy3hyjU2Xt3n6Vf74IikooZkctsaC4Ml2w/s1600/3Defence_on_Unread_RSS_Reader.PNG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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You can break your feed up into categories and individual subscriptions, or you can just read the whole lot from 'most recent' to 'oldest'. And when you're done, the app makes it abundantly clear that you're done! You'll never need to worry about missing an update from your favourite site again. The other perk of the app is its deep integration with many other services; you can easily share quotes, URLs, or the article itself to your iPhone's Reading List, Instapaper, Readability, Pinboard etc. Combining apps like these will unlock a world of cinema on the internet you never knew existed, we promise!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJ4CJdNwn-U_DB6-6mFxbv3Z8hXctqMD_WW3bGjjON_p5I8I7EcT20AcddhaSh-Lm_IHt9c5zb6ok1oGnPwHvuvQjCY4Mo3N7LJmqTry0C8t1yUOvBDWrPaVz-RvdxsO2AZS1fTV_NoU/s1600/Unread_RSS_Reader.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJ4CJdNwn-U_DB6-6mFxbv3Z8hXctqMD_WW3bGjjON_p5I8I7EcT20AcddhaSh-Lm_IHt9c5zb6ok1oGnPwHvuvQjCY4Mo3N7LJmqTry0C8t1yUOvBDWrPaVz-RvdxsO2AZS1fTV_NoU/s1600/Unread_RSS_Reader.png" height="340" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.instapaper.com/apps" target="_blank">Instapaper (iOS, Android, Kindle, generally around $4 USD)</a></h3>
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Speaking of 'sharing', Instapaper will change your life if you travel a lot. One of the best ways to read web content while 'offline', Instapaper can help you read long articles like this one on the go, regardless of whether of not you can get a 3G connection. A godsend on planes or underground trains, Instapaper is easily integrated in with <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/instapaper/acgdjjilmhiofacmdnmmlndeokamkkcl?hl=en-GB" target="_blank"><b>Chrome</b></a>, Twitter apps like <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tweetbot-3-for-twitter-iphone/id722294701?mt=8" target="_blank"><b>Tweetbot</b></a> and now <a href="https://www.facebook.com/paper" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Facebook's Paper</a>, so you can always send an interesting article to your Instapaper account for reading later. You can read on Instapaper on your desktop, or on native apps for iOS and Android, so you'll be able to read whatever you want regardless of which device you've got in your hands. The app has a great feature where it syncs your reading positions constantly, so (provided you were online at some point) you can pick up on your tablet where you left off on your phone, and then do the same when you fire up the ol' laptop too. It's a game-changer, always has been, and it's one of those 'essentials' that make owning a smart mobile device in the modern age a genuine pleasure.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7S_OujtJdY550IBfaCl56eKJLOwZpMG6wGECQ4dBs3P36RH8eUDFmwC79xGEWeWNYN_MOD_mBfrONYIyWdfklwxE-3hW7An50N1e2Q7GecOLdfjXHy4rx_7mNYGxUNxeTh281BRm4Ig/s1600/3Defence_on_instapaper.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7S_OujtJdY550IBfaCl56eKJLOwZpMG6wGECQ4dBs3P36RH8eUDFmwC79xGEWeWNYN_MOD_mBfrONYIyWdfklwxE-3hW7An50N1e2Q7GecOLdfjXHy4rx_7mNYGxUNxeTh281BRm4Ig/s1600/3Defence_on_instapaper.PNG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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That wraps up our round-up of great apps for movie geeks. Tune in soon for our next installment, which will focus on Podcasts!</div>
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Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-58230550388071262232014-01-31T22:52:00.001-08:002014-02-08T11:16:25.636-08:00And the Oscar goes to... a 3D film?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3cmzrAi2KhD_6x9ObC9kNDvKkpPP4IiQhbYuMlpI2fu0Uz5-m6h0QZRX3i0Mu0AOkKZl6Gu2GLSvkfVkL4SZ5zr2yANMDKV1vlaAFmDSFcor99Ua4cXxhe96bnV0IGNrRBFttimHhss/s1600/the_first_3d_best_picture_oscars.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3cmzrAi2KhD_6x9ObC9kNDvKkpPP4IiQhbYuMlpI2fu0Uz5-m6h0QZRX3i0Mu0AOkKZl6Gu2GLSvkfVkL4SZ5zr2yANMDKV1vlaAFmDSFcor99Ua4cXxhe96bnV0IGNrRBFttimHhss/s1600/the_first_3d_best_picture_oscars.png" height="148" title="The First 3D Best Picture Oscar Winner?" width="200" /></a></div>
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This year's Awards Season is gearing up for its main event: the 86th Academy Awards. Many cinephiles justifiably find the concept of 'Awards Season' horrifying. They can validly cite examples through the years where Oscar was wrong (<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/37th_Academy_Awards" target="_blank"><b>My Fair Lady</b></a> </i>over <i>Strangelove</i>? <i><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/78th_Academy_Awards" target="_blank">Crash</a> </b></i>over <i>Good Night and Good Luck</i>? <i><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/71st_Academy_Awards" target="_blank">Shakespeare In Love</a> </b></i>being allowed in the same room as the first 20 minutes of <i>Saving Private Ryan</i>?) and they can cite many more examples where films "should at least have been <i>nominated</i>!" Thankfully, the Academy broadened the nomination pool after <a href="http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/oscars-to-go-with-10-nominees-for-best-picture-instead-of-five/" target="_blank"><b>universal outcry</b></a> at <i>The Dark Knight'</i>s nomination snub<i> </i>in 2008, and that's alleviated those tensions a little. It means we get a more balanced summary of the year in cinema: edgier films get nominated (<i>District 9</i>, <i>Amour</i>), and broader-playing fare (<i>Up</i>, <i>The Help</i>) makes the cut as a nearer summary of what movie-goers... <i>go </i>to the movies for in the first place.<br />
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The Nominees</h3>
2013's nominees are typical of the post-<i>Dark Knight</i> era: a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0751102/" target="_blank"><b>David O. Russell</b></a> "actor's movie"; a film about American racial discrimination; a couple of films about elderly people; a movie about finding love in an unlikely place; a smattering of biopics and... a 3D film. Wait, what was that? A 3D film, nominated for Best Picture? You got it. Every year since 2008 there has been at least one 3D film nominated for Hollywood's biggest accolade. In 2009, there was <i>Avatar </i>and <i>Up</i>. In 2010, Pixar stayed the course with <i>Toy Story 3</i>. Scorsese's <i>Hugo </i>literally popped out of the screen in 2011. <i>Life Of Pi </i>followed in 2012, and now we have the big kahuna: <i>Gravity</i>. We'll get to <i>Gravity</i>'s chances later though.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXWLbE09R5bEK1Fru4QuGDK1SqwSV9HJCNvqmEnnsiIPIOjebqWSMYyeSbd_i84WEwFxrMa8baVnQGsO7pruSF92nPsdQ_eMhjZv4VF4lVF-rMNZ494O8joc2Ji1fuhkinuFt9-yiMiw/s1600/the_2014_best_picture_oscar_nominees.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXWLbE09R5bEK1Fru4QuGDK1SqwSV9HJCNvqmEnnsiIPIOjebqWSMYyeSbd_i84WEwFxrMa8baVnQGsO7pruSF92nPsdQ_eMhjZv4VF4lVF-rMNZ494O8joc2Ji1fuhkinuFt9-yiMiw/s1600/the_2014_best_picture_oscar_nominees.png" height="174" width="320" /></a></div>
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For now, let's discuss what this means for the acceptance of 3D in Hollywood and the 'mainstream'. Does it mean anything at all? Given the post-<i>Dark Knight</i> boom in Oscar nominations, it seems easy to discredit any significance a 3D-focused site like ours might impose. So, we've decided to go one further. Today we're going to look at broader trends within The Academy Awards for the nomination of 3D films in the modern age, to see if we can read the tea-leaves for Hollywood's true view on 3D movie-making.<br />
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<h3>
Cinematography</h3>
From 1928 onwards, every Academy Award for Best Cinematography was given to a 2D movie. Depth was communicated with focus pulling, the mono illusion of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallax" target="_blank">parralax</a>, or a savvy combination of both. Those two concepts were fundamental to how cinematography "worked". At least, that was how it "worked" until 2009. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/82nd_Academy_Awards#Awards" target="_blank"><b>That year</b></a>, Mauro Fiore took home an Oscar for his revolutionary work on the 3D film <i>Avatar</i>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/84th_Academy_Awards#Awards" target="_blank"><b>Two years later</b></a> (enough time for Hollywood to hastily revisit this whole 3D business) Robert Richardson deservedly earned his third Oscar for his stereo work on <i>Hugo. </i>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/85th_Academy_Awards#Awards" target="_blank">85th Academy Awards</a> officially made it a trend: Claudio Miranda and his team were rewarded for working with the ocean & kids & animals & 3D on <i>Life Of Pi</i>. And guess what? 2013's Best Cinematography Oscar has another 3D film nominated: <i>Gravity. </i>We'll find out how realistic Emmanuel Lubezki's chances are after the American Society of Cinematographers announce their <a href="http://www.theasc.com/asc_news/News_Articles/News_467.php" target="_blank"><b>Award for Outstanding Achievement</b></a> later tonight.<br />
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<h3>
Visual Effects</h3>
So, we've established there's a trend underway for 3D Best Picture nominees, and 3D Best Cinematography winners. What about any other categories? As it happens, 3Defence has done deeper digging to reveal other surprises. The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects has been inundated with 3D films. This isn't that surprising: visual effects are expensive, and 3D is where the money is these days. The exponential growth in this field is surprising though. In 2006, <i>Superman Returns </i>was the first (partial) 3D film to be nominated in the category, <i>Avatar </i>was the first to win, and then - like the cinematography field - two years later a veritable deluge arrived. 2010 had one 3D nominee (Alice In Wonderland), while 2011 saw a 3D winner (<i>Hugo</i>) and 2 nominees (<i>Transformers 3</i>, and <i>Harry Potter 7.5</i>). 2012 saw another 3D winner (<i>Life Of Pi</i>) and 3 nominees (<i>The Hobbit 1/3</i>, <i>The Avengers 1</i>, and <i><strike>Alien 0.5</strike></i> <i>Prometheus</i>). 2013... 4 of the 5 nominees are 3D movies (<i>The Hobbit 2/3</i>, <i>Iron Man 3</i>,<i> Star Trek <strike>12</strike> 2</i>, and of course, <i>Gravity</i>). While we're a wee way off from 2014's nominees, it's fair to assume that we'll see a similar ratio of nominees this year (likely contenders are <i>The Planet of The Apes <strike>8</strike> 2, The Hobbit 3/3, Maleficent </i>and <i>Transformers 4</i>), and probably the following year too. 3D is here to stay in the visual effects category.<br />
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<h3>
Animation</h3>
You'd imagine that, having exhausted the two most obviously 'visual' categories, we'd be done with the 3D-focused trend at the Oscars... but then you'd be forgetting Best Animated Feature. Guess what? Since 2008, 4 out of 5 Animated Feature winners were 3D films (<i>WALL-E</i>, <i>Up</i>, <i>Toy Story 3</i> and <i>Brave</i>), and in addition to that, 10 of the nominees were 3D films too. It's a hard call who will win this year; will the 2D Miyazaki effort <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wind_Rises" target="_blank"><b>The Wind Rises</b></a> </i>reward the animation legend for his years of long-service, or will the Academy bow to the populist choice and reward the 3D hit musical <i>Frozen? </i>At this point we'd peg the chances for both at 50:50.<br />
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<h3>
Other Technical Categories</h3>
Following on from these trends, 9 Oscars for 3D films have also been dealt out amongst the Production Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Original Score, Costume Design, and Best Original Song categories. Notable absences can be found in the editing, hair & makeup, costume and two screenplay categories. It's possible <i>Gravity </i>will buck the trend for editing, and <i>The Great Gatsby </i>does the same for Costume Design, but we wouldn't recommend betting the house on either!<br />
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<h3>
A 3D Film For Best Picture?</h3>
Which leads us back to <i>Gravity</i>'s Best Picture nomination. Will it be the first 3D film to win the industry's most coveted of awards? It's got good chances. In its director, Alfonso Cuarón, the film has a 'career come-back' narrative that Academy voters love (his last film, <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/" target="_blank"><b>Children Of Men</b></a></i>, was well regarded critically, but poorly attended at the box-office). The film has the 'popular vote' sewn up, with wider audiences <a href="http://www.boxofficeguru.com/012714.htm" target="_blank"><b>still paying millions</b></a> to see it on the big-screen, despite it being 3+ months into its cinematic release. The Director's Guild of America <b><a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-directors-guild-awards-winners,0,3026295.story" target="_blank">gave its top honour</a> </b>to Cuarón, and the Producer's Guild gave <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/producers-guild-awards/" target="_blank"><b>a rare tie</b></a> to <i>Gravity </i>and <i>12 Years A Slave</i>. The scales are weighed in <i>Gravity</i>'s favour, save for one thing: it's not got many actors in it. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/feb/24/oscars-investigation-power-behind-academy" target="_blank"><b>22% of Academy voters are actors</b></a>, and they have historically bestowed Best Picture awards out to, well, 'showy' films with large casts (see <i>Crash</i>,<i> </i>for example). It's certainly possible their enduring love for Sandra Bullock will help out <i>Gravity</i>'s chances, but we at 3Defence would be weary of giving the film more than 60:40 odds to take out the Best Picture Oscar.<br />
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Still, the very fact this conversation is possible is amazing. Within a month's time, either 3D movie-making will either finally be legitimized, or we will have to wait for another year to have this debate all over again. No matter what happens, it's clear that - from Hollywood's perspective at least - 3D is here to stay. The movie industry's own voters are recognising the technical excellence being used to pull off stereo movies convincingly, and are rewarding their talented crew and studios accordingly. Fingers crossed <i>Gravity </i>helps break some more records on March 2nd!Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-3940733180616688662013-10-14T20:50:00.000-07:002014-05-14T20:02:52.832-07:00How's The 3D In 'Gravity'?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h3>
Background:</h3>
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The best 3D film of the year? Ordinarily conservative critics have fallen over themselves to proclaim <i>Gravity </i>a landmark cinematic event, ranking it amongst distinguished 3D peers like <i>Avatar</i>, <i>Hugo </i>and <i>Life Of Pi. </i>James Cameron, the king of commercially successful 3D films, told Variety "I think it's the best space photography ever done, I think it’s the best space film ever done, and it's the movie I've been hungry to see for an awful long time." Riding a wave of breathless hype, <i>Gravity </i>broke US October box-office records, and is fast becoming the 'word of mouth' hit of the year. So... does it live up to the praise? Is <i>Gravity </i>a ground-breaking achievement in 3D film-making?</div>
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<h3>
Post-converted / Natively Rendered 3D:</h3>
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Modern-day 3D films are produced through three broadly classifiable means; 'native 3D' (where the majority of the movie was shot with stereoscopically capable cameras that have two lenses to capture the information in 'true' 3D), 'post-converted 3D' (where the film was shot largely in 2D by a camera that had one lens, and then later converted into stereo by a company that separates out layers of the 2D footage digitally) or what we at 3Defence call 'rendered 3D'. Often the latter might be a film like <i>Toy Story 3</i>; a digital construction where animated characters exist inside a virtual environment that has mathematically accurate axes, horizons and depth. <i>Wall-E </i>or <i>Up</i>'s 3D effects<i> </i>are not automated by any means, but their film-makers do have a geographical point of reference when applying stereo to their rendered footage. <b><a href="http://www.tested.com/art/movies/449542-finding-nemo-3d-interview/" target="_blank">Pixar's reconstruction team re-made <i>Finding Nemo 3D</i> in this way</a></b>, modifying source elements to render out to stereo footage in a way that made sense physically... but in actuality differed from its 2D predecessor. It's all a little bit confusing, and is not nearly as straight-forward as you'd think!<br />
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Anyway, that's a gigantic tangent, but we bring it up because <i>Gravity </i>defies classification. The very concept of "post" production is moot; nearly every shot is a 'special effect' stitched together by talented rotoscopers, artists and technicians. When you see a shot of George Clooney's face, <a href="http://www.primefocusworld.com/work/gravity-warner-bros-pictures-0" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">it was shot in 'mono' using a 2D camera rig, then post-converted into 3D by Prime Focus World</a>. Complicating definition though is that this face was then superimposed inside a digital spacesuit, which was then placed into a virtual environment, such as the Hubble telescope or the exterior of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station" target="_blank"><b>the ISS</b></a>. The resulting face is thus just another layer of a natively rendered output. Closer to one of Pixar's rendered 3D films than <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/06/hows-3d-in-world-war-z.html" target="_blank"><b>the post-converted 3D of <i>World War Z</i></b></a>. As fiendishly complex as it is to explain this, it must have been doubly more so to actually film it! <i>Gravity </i>was originally due for a November 2012 release date, but the film was granted another half a year to get its effects 'just right', and we can safely say you won't believe your eyes.</div>
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The only comparison in modern cinema, as best as we know, is <i>Avatar</i>. While <i>Avatar </i>is famed for being a 'native 3D' film, and indeed much of it was filmed with real 3D cameras on real sound-stages with real humans, a large portion of that movie was rendered through Weta Digital's server farms, with animated characters interacting with filmed ones, creating an 'informed' 3D post-conversion. <i>Gravity</i>, it seems, <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/gravity-stereo-supervisor-reveals-how-647234" target="_blank"><b>was made with a similar approach</b></a>. We can therefore label <i>Gravity </i>as something of a 3D anomaly; a post-converted / natively rendered 3D film.<br />
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<h3>
Does the 3D 'pop'?</h3>
Despite the title, there sure are a lot of scenes set in a zero-gravity environment. The possibility of things floating out towards the audience is endless, and doubly so because <i>Gravity</i> is a largely digital creation. The only thing stopping this from happening <i>ad nauseam</i> is Oscar-nominated director <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_Cuar%C3%B3n" target="_blank">Alfonso Cuarón</a>'s curative tastes. Negative parallax effects in <i>Gravity </i>are used sparingly, but when they are used they are at optimum points in the narrative, with a pre-determined purpose. Cuarón deploys such 'popping out at the audience' moments in the same way that a master roller-coaster designer might give their riders a brief moment of respite... before then flinging them into an unforeseen and terrifying corkscrew. In <i>Gravity</i>, these 3D effects are therefore used as some sort of appropriately inverse cliffhanger; a second or two of levity before a new and even more dire situation is revealed. The overt manipulation of the audience's emotions is stunning in its simplicity. Cuarón giveth and Cuarón taketh away our movie-going delight in a way that hasn't been seen since the heydays of Kubrick or Spielberg.<br />
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How's the depth of the 3D?</h3>
The great thing about space is that it's infinite. The terrifying thing about it is also... that it's infinite. From a cinematic perspective, we've never seen that scale conveyed before. We've all seen space-walks on-screen, but we've never felt like one wrong move by an astronaut might send our favourite character spinning into an endless purgatory of relentless high-speed rotation. Space has never been as <u>dangerous</u> as it is in <i>Gravity. </i>Very quickly, you learn to fear "the blind" that exists outside of Earth's orbit, where stars stretch out into a distant blanket of darkness. Of course, you'll also learn to fear what lurks within Earth's orbit, hurtling around the planet at many thousands of miles per hour, approaching far too rapidly from a distant horizon. And you'll appreciate too that a hasty descent to Earth could kill a rogue traveller in their spacesuit, as the continents of our world loom discomfortingly large. Ordinary "Sci-Fi" genre pictures usually rely on exposition to explain all this to their audience, but in <i>Gravity</i> these chilling facts are often conveyed visually; we innately understand the primal fear of our heroes plight, by layers of depth masterfully created by Cuarón and his cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki.<br />
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Did it make sense to add 3D to Gravity?</h3>
In the '90s and early 2000s, directors were ramping up excitement levels by shaking the camera and rapidy cutting from one high octane shot to the next. <i>Gravity </i>proves that cinema is able to move beyond such gimmicks, with its long, steady, shots and fluid choreography. Perhaps it might not have seemed the 'perfect' candidate for 3D a few years ago, but coming at the end of a Hollywood blockbuster season stuffed to the gills of shaky-cam 3D epics, <i>Gravity</i>'s deliberate pacing and meticulous camera-work seem positively inspired. 3Defence was reminded (as <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/09/hows-3d-in-wizard-of-oz-3d.html" target="_blank"><b>we learned from <i>The Wizard Of Oz</i> recently</b></a>) that audience's eyes crave the ability to rove around a stereo frame. There is a noticeable feeling of "immersion" when we are allowed to choose what to focus on within a deep-focus shot. More than anything, <i>Gravity </i>showed us that a new language of film-making is possibly still to come for "the best" 3D experience. This is a modern medium that is still finding its feet, and <i>Gravity </i>can rightly be considered a new touchstone for future directors to build upon.<br />
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<h3>
The film itself</h3>
<i>Gravity</i>, at the time of writing, has an average rating of 96% on Metacritic. That's not to say the film is "perfect", but it does mean that hardened reviewers are imploring their readers to see <i>Gravity </i>on the biggest screen possible, at their soonest convenience. If it's not clear already, we at 3Defence consider this more of a 'thrill ride' than a cerebral and thought-provoking epic. We don't mean to diminish <i>Gravity</i>'s impact in saying that though. We just want to warn you that this has more in common with Sandra Bullock's <i>Speed </i>than it does with Cuarón's thinking-man's sci-fi epic <i>Children Of Men</i>. From our perspective, that's a good thing. Provided you go in with those expectations, you'll have a white-knuckle thrill-ride, the likes of which you can usually only find in a theme park.<br />
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If we had to archive one version, should we save the 2D or the 3D?</h3>
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It's hard to know right now if the hype for this film will last into the next few decades or not. It's unlikely that people in 3013 will look back at <i>Gravity</i> in the same way as they do for <i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i> or <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Trip_to_the_Moon" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Voyage Dans La Lune</a>. </i>But as of this moment in time, <i>Gravity </i>is a monumental success as much because of its usage of 3D as its taught plot or excellent casting choices. The 3D version is the definitive version as best as we can see, and - if for no other reason than an eventual curio in the ongoing development of modern stereoscopic cinema - the 3D version of <i>Gravity </i>is the one we'd advocate be archived. It's hopefully going to show the way forward for other directors who will build on the lessons taught to them by Cuarón and his team. It certainly looks like another 3D film that will reap Oscars and Golden Globes come early 2014!</div>
Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-35628347000683781122013-09-29T11:22:00.000-07:002013-09-29T19:58:07.515-07:00How's The 3D In 'The Wizard Of Oz 3D'?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h3>
Background:</h3>
Ask anyone of Generation Y "what's the oldest film you've ever seen?" and there's a very good chance that (after some prodding) the answer is <i>The Wizard Of Oz</i>. The <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Fleming" target="_blank">Victor Fleming</a> </b>film was released in 1939, with World War II a month away from breaking out in Europe. Bizarrely - considering its legacy nowadays - <i>Oz </i>was something of a commercial misfire for MGM at the time. One of the studio's most lavish and expensive productions, it took a few re-releases for <i>The Wizard Of Oz </i>to fully recoup its costs and, more importantly, to be seen by subsequent generations as a landmark event in cinema. The better part of a century later, Warner Brothers now owns the film's rights, and Dorothy's had more "special anniversary box-sets" released than 3Defence cares to count. Warners probably figured out that, after fans have already bought the film on VHS, DVD<i> and </i>Blu-Ray in 2009, they needed to do something particularly special this time around. So, for a limited time only, viewers get to see the film on IMAX screens around the world, in post-converted 3D. How'd they do with the stereo? Is this re-release worth the trip to the big screen?<br />
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Post-Converted 3D:</h3>
This is actually the second 3D trip to Oz viewers get this year; Sam Raimi's native-3D <i>Oz The Great And Powerful</i> <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/04/hows-3d-in-oz-great-and-powerful.html" target="_blank"><b>underwhelmed us in April</b></a>. <i>The Wizard Of Oz </i>is a different beast entirely, because it's the oldest live-action feature film to be converted into 3D. It's much older than the likes of <i><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/04/china-and-its-requited-love-for-titanic.html" target="_blank"><b>Titanic 3D</b></a> </i>or <i><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/04/hows-3d-in-jurassic-park-3d.html" target="_blank"><b>Jurassic Park</b></a>,</i> which both benefited from being originally filmed with cutting-edge 1990s technology. Put simply, getting any version of <i>Oz </i>onto the big-screen in a format that discerning audiences would find tolerable is hard enough; and getting a 3D version looking good seems nigh-on impossible. So, let's take a moment to discuss the restoration of the film, and then we can take a closer look at the technical feat of the stereo-conversion.<br />
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Filmed with a mixture of three-strip Technicolor and sepia-toned black & white footage, <i>The Wizard Of Oz </i>conformed to the original <b><a href="http://www.widescreen.org/widescreen_academy.shtml" target="_blank">Academy aspect ratio</a> </b>of 1.33:1 (aka "4:3"). This means it fits better on the screen of your square-looking 1990s CRT TV than it does to your rectangular 16:9 LED TV from the mid-2000s. Likewise, if you project it correctly on a modern-day big-screen, the film will leave vertical 'letter-boxing' lines to the left and right of the image. It's unusual for 3D films to deal with this framing, though we've seen varieties of the square look in <b><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-good-is-3d-in-katy-perry-part-of-me_14.html" target="_blank">Katy Perry's 3D backstage footage</a> </b>and the Raimi <i>Oz </i>film's opening sequence.<br />
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The aspect ratio's reasonably easy to accommodate though. The real challenge for any team restoring <i>Wizard Of Oz </i>is the Technicolor negatives. The version you're familiar with of the film is actually an amazing combination of<b> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technicolor#Process_4:_Development_and_introduction" target="_blank">three strips of differently coloured images</a></b>, layered on top of one another to form an image that makes sense visually as 'realistic colour'. Most <i>Wizard Of Oz</i> re-releases to date have been restorations of that 'end product': the original combination print. What makes the 2013 restoration different though, is that the studio restored and scanned each of the original three colourized layers again (cyan, magenta and yellow) then combined them again into a fresh combination print. The restoration team had a further challenge too - some of these negatives <a href="http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/the-wizard-of-oz-imax-3d-conversion-1200610859/" target="_blank"><b>had shrunk to different sizes from one another</b></a>! What was once "35mm" film was now 34mm in some cases! The team had their work cut out for them. Because of such quirks in this process, you're effectively watching a different film than audiences did in 1939. You're watching a sharper image than the original audiences ever had the chance to; processing these images digitally allowed the restoration team to precisely align each layer on top of one another, and removed the chance of accidental blurring occurring if a strip of film was misaligned.<br />
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After months of work, Warner Brothers were able to give<b> <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/search/label/Prime%20Focus%20World" target="_blank">Prime Focus World</a> </b>a <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4K_resolution" target="_blank">4K print</a> </b>that looked more crisp and detailed than any print of the film to date. As <a href="http://www.primefocusworld.com/work/wizard-oz-3d-warner-bros-pictures-0" target="_blank"><b>the firm's CEO put it</b></a>, "to be trusted with one of the best known films of all time – an important part of American popular culture – is truly humbling." One challenge unique to this conversion is the average length of each shot in the film; being a 1930s MGM musical, the cuts from one shot to another are purposeful and at a much slower pace than the rapid-fire edits of a modern-day musical like<b> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables_(2012_film)" target="_blank"><i>Les Misérables</i></a> </b>or <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_(2002_film)" target="_blank"><b>Chicago</b></a>. </i>As a consequence, Prime Focus World had to be just as purposeful with how they chose to use 3D in a shot that might run upwards of 30 seconds, lest audience's eyes wander about the frame and find gaps or errors in the chosen stereo effects. All up, the conversion took around 16 months to complete, which possibly makes it the longest conversion in film history.<br />
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<h3>
Does <i>The Wizard Of Oz</i>'s 3D 'pop'?</h3>
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Warner Brothers' Chief Preservation Officer, Ned Price <a href="http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/the-wizard-of-oz-imax-3d-conversion-1200610859/" target="_blank"><b>said to Variety</b></a> “I don’t like 3D unless it’s really good 3D ... so I was probably a good pick to rein in the people we worked with. They’re very good people over at Prime Focus but I think I kept them honest.” Needless to say, Price largely avoided having flying monkeys pop out of the screen, or fireballs thrown at the audience. The few elements of the film that extend towards the screen are usually associated with the Wicked Witch, whose angular nose, fingers and hat occasionally venture outwards. However, the film is largely free of any "gimmicky" popping effects, and the 3D effects used are as conservative as Price's tastes allowed.</div>
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<h3>
How's the depth of the 3D?</h3>
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Until now, the backgrounds of <i>The Wizard Of Oz </i>looked either like very obvious matte paintings, or they looked like giant hand-painted backdrops that had reasonably obvious lines to the floor. Children might not notice, but adults surely did. In the 3D conversion process, Prime Focus World <a href="http://www.primefocusworld.com/work/wizard-oz-3d-warner-bros-pictures-0" target="_blank"><b>had to choose whether they made the backdrop look more 'flat'</b></a> or if they enhance the suggested depth within it. They chose the latter, so the rolling green hills of Oz now look like they exist in three-dimensional space, albeit that they don't look like the pastures back home in Kansas. The effect of this is that the world of <i>Oz </i>feels more stylized than it did in previous versions, and now looks like a particularly fantastical land that feels effortlessly part-animated and part-photo-real. The effect is startling and breathes new life into each image. The haunted forests now stretch out for miles and you feel like lions-and-tigers-and-bears might actually lurk there. The witch's castle looms large over the landscape, as foreboding and terrifying as anything from <i>The Two Towers. </i>Munchkinland now seems brimming with more munchkins than ever before, because you can see how many dozens of characters are moving in the deep background of the wonderful sets there. The tornadoes in Kansas will seem more threatening than you remembered them, and more perilously close to the house Dorothy escapes to. <i>Oz</i>, for the first time in years, feels alive.</div>
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<h3>
Did it make sense to add 3D to The Wizard Of Oz?</h3>
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With its bright lights, vivid colours, inventive choreography, fantastical settings and varying planes of action (the Munchkins hiding in bushes when Dorothy first arrived were a real treat), <i>The Wizard Of Oz</i> is a natural fit with 3D. Many of the medium's current limitations are avoided thanks to the slow paced editing, locked-down camera work and artificially-lit studio sets. The only reason we can think of avoiding the conversion is that it would be very hard to pull off, and could seriously risk ruining the reputation of a beloved classic if done badly.</div>
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The film itself</h3>
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3Defence has seen <i>The Wizard Of Oz </i>on the big-screen several times over the years, projected in 2D using 35mm. We've obviously all seen the film on TV sets throughout the past few decades, in varying quality of restoration or bastardization of the film's ratios or technical set-up. Throughout every permutation though, the unmistakable genius of the music, acting, set design, costumes, make-up and directing shine through. It doesn't matter what mood you're in, you'll be hooked by the episodic nature of the film's plot, and constantly be surprised at how breezy the narrative is. It's hard to define, but <i>The Wizard Of Oz </i>is one of those films that can hook in viewers of all ages, at any time of day, at any time in film history since its release. It truly is a magical piece of cinema.</div>
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If we had to archive one version, should we save the 2D or the 3D?</h3>
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This question is one we ask for each 3Defence film review. Normally it's an easy enough one to answer, and we <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/06/list-of-3defences-reviews.html" target="_blank"><b>tend to side with the 2D version as often as we side with its 3D counterpart</b></a>. Today though, we are asked to judge the nostalgic memory of a 2D cinematic classic, against the cold hard reality that no version of it exists that looks as detailed or as 'clear' as the 2013's version's remaster. This particular 3Defence reviewer has seen the film dozens of times, but has never seen it in such startling clarity as he did yesterday in IMAX 3D. The film's soundtrack and visuals have never been so lively, and you'll see details that enhance (rather than detract, like say the Star Wars <i>Special Editions</i>) a film that is already a masterpiece. The Scarecrow's makeup alone is worth the price of admission. In 3D, you'll pick up every texture available to be seen, and each detail adds to a more positive impression of the whole film. We're going to say "archive the 3D!" in this case, and we reserve the right to this opinion until an 8K (or suitably ludicrous) 2D remaster release is unveiled for the film's 80th Anniversary!</div>
Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-62464294109529444642013-09-19T19:58:00.001-07:002013-09-19T20:00:00.033-07:00Gravity - the best 3D film of 2013?Alfonso Cuarón's upcoming 3D film <i>Gravity </i>has critics spellbound, and looks to be this year's "Must-See 3D Film". Set miles above Earth, the film stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as a pair of astronauts who... have to deal with gravity after a high-speed encounter with space debris. <i>Gravity </i>premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, and <a href="http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/09/09/toronto-gravity-wows-propelling-sandra-bullock-toward-a-second-oscar-nomination/" target="_blank"><b>immediately started generating Oscar-buzz</b></a> from the dumbstruck audience.<br />
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It sounds like cinematographer <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0523881/" target="_blank"><b>Emmanuel Lubezki</b></a>'s first 3D outing is a doozy, technically-speaking. Breathless reviewers have described long, unbroken, takes that last in the range of 10 - 15 minutes. HitFix's Drew McWeeny appropriately <a href="http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/review-sandra-bullock-is-amazing-in-alfonso-cuarons-dazzling-gravity" target="_blank"><b>summed up most people's reactions</b></a>: "It is increasingly rare that I look at an effects-heavy film and don't know immediately how they did it. With <i>Gravity</i>, I'm not even sure what was real and what wasn't." Indeed, if you watch any of the film's trailers or TV Spots, there's a good chance you'll have the same reaction:</div>
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So, what of the 3D? 3Defence hasn't had a chance to catch a sneak-peek yet, but we can report the media has spoken very favourably of the 3D effects used. Cuarón <a href="http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2013/10/toronto-international-film-festival-2013-gravity-review" target="_blank"><b>designed the film with an IMAX 3D release in mind</b></a>, and has apparently made dizzying use of the medium, with epic shots of Earth set beyond the stratosphere. In <a href="http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/stunning-gravity-pictures-highlight/" target="_blank"><b>these pictures released this week</b></a>, you get a chance to see for yourself what the fuss is about. What do you think? Will this be another over-hyped release, or one that will help strengthen 3D's reputation in 2013?</div>
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Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-56151807367731728902013-09-14T16:13:00.000-07:002013-09-14T16:13:08.347-07:00China's Love For 3D Kaiju, One-Eyed Monsters, And Stereo RaptorsAs we enter a new season of movie-going, the Chinese box-office continues to buck worldwide trends in 3D movie attendance. A month ago, the industry had written off <i>Pacific Rim</i> as a well-intentioned exercise in geek-pandering<i>. Jurassic Park 3D</i> had proved that audiences were never going to go crazy for 3D re-releases. <i>Monsters University </i>was a middling Pixar effort. Midway through September though, China has re-written the history books for all three films, and again challenged expectations of the global audience for 3D.<br />
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<i>Pacific Rim</i>'s experience was the most startling for the industry: a gigantic movie in every sense of the word, it was always destined to do earn more "internationally" than "domestically". It's reasonably common for big Hollywood action pictures to earn 60% of their total gross in the wider worldwide marketplace, and the other 40% or so of their gross comes from the avidly movie-going State-side domestic audience. What no-one expected to happen this year though? A case where a Hollywood tentpole earned <i>less </i>in the USA than it earned in China. <a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=pacificrim.htm" target="_blank"><b>At the time of writing</b></a>, <i>Pacific Rim</i> has just pipped over the $100 million mark in the US... and in the People's Republic it has earned $111 million, with more on the way. In fact, <i>Pacific Rim</i>'s opening weekend was <a href="http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/pacific-rim-9m-opening-in-china-biggest-ever-for-warner-bros-sequel-likely/" target="_blank"><b>Warner Brothers' highest ever</b></a>.</div>
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So, why did China go ga-ga for <i>Pacific Rim</i>? For one thing, the Guillermo Del Toro picture feels tailor-made for a global audience; it doesn't feel like an American-flag waving sci-fi pic in the vein of <i>Transformers</i>, and it certainly avoided the New York-set locations that giant monsters like <i>King Kong,</i> <i>Cloverfield </i>and 1998's <i>Godzilla </i>have already ravaged. In fact, <i>Pacific Rim</i>'s largest fight scenes were set in Hong Kong, and that surely played a part in the Chinese audience's affection for the film.</div>
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Of course, the other thing <i>Pacific Rim </i>had going for it was Rinko Kikuchi playing a pivotal starring role. While she's not Chinese, she <i>is </i>an Asian woman cast as the main character in a film that would ordinarily been stacked full of Ben Affleck / Bruce Willis / Liv Tyler types. There is no doubt that this helped sell Pacific Rim as a 'different' feeling blockbuster. And if 2013's box-office grosses are anything to go by, people are actively avoiding anything that feels too 'samesy' these days. That's true no matter what country you live in. Worldwide audiences have passed on <i>RIPD</i>, <a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/new/You-Won-t-Believe-How-Identical-R-I-P-Men-Black-Really-38547.html" target="_blank"><b>partly because it felt too similar to <i>Men In Black</i></b></a>. Many avoided <i>The Lone Ranger </i>on the basis that it was <a href="http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/07/15/johnny-depp-career-lone-ranger/" target="_blank"><b>Johnny Depp doing his usual schtick</b></a>. <i>Pacific Rim</i>, to Western audiences at least, might well have seemed like more of the <i>Godzilla</i> / <i>King Kong</i> gimmickery they're accustomed to. But to China, it felt sufficiently unique to justify a near-stampede through their multiplex turnstiles.<br />
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That 'special difference', from their perspective? 3D, and <a href="http://gizmodo.com/watch-the-visual-effects-reel-behind-pacific-rims-awes-1290329384" target="_blank"><b>some stunning CGI</b></a>. China's certainly seen its fair share of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiju" target="_blank"><b>kaiju films</b></a> (which are historically more of a Japanese cinematic phenomenon), but there's never been one this expensive. There's a saying that you've gotta spend money to make money, and <i>Pacific Rim</i>'s Chinese box-office grosses prove there's still some truth to that expression. Audiences there determined they weren't going to watch this on a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/12/world/a-tale-of-piracy-how-the-chinese-stole-the-grinch.html" target="_blank"><b>pirated VCD</b></a> or DVD: <i>Pacific Rim </i>in 3D was a family event that had to be experienced on the big-screen. Certainly the Del Toro film's outstanding performance proves that Chinese movie-goers still think that 3D elevates a film to 'event status', provided the film's content matches their tastes. On the basis of <i>Pacific Rim</i>'s performance, you can expect to see fewer big-budget cowboy films in the next decade, and a much larger number of 3D monster films set in China!<br />
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Speaking of 3D monster films... <i><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013_04_01_archive.html" target="_blank"><b>Jurassic Park 3D</b></a> </i>has exceeded all expectations in China. Its opening day <a href="http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/pacific-rim-9m-opening-in-china-biggest-ever-for-warner-bros-sequel-likely/" target="_blank"><b>was the fourth highest of the year</b></a> (trailing only the 3D films <i><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/06/hows-3d-in-man-of-steel.html" target="_blank"><b>Man Of Steel</b></a></i>, <i><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/07/hows-3d-in-pacific-rim.html" target="_blank"><b>Pacific Rim</b></a></i> and the 2D <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1905041/" target="_blank"><i><b>Furious 6</b></i></a>). The 20 year old movie has now ruled the Chinese box-office <a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/china/" target="_blank"><b>two weeks in a row</b></a>. So, why the love for <i>Jurassic Park</i>? In the West, <i>Jurassic Park 3D</i>'s middling success was considered by most to be fuelled by a general nostalgia for the film. It's a beloved classic these days, regardless of its flaws, and the re-release was <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jurassic_park/" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">generally well-received</a> by Western media. In 1993, Western audiences were watching the film repeatedly, while China's movie theatres missed out on the Spielberg dino-pic entirely. There was no doubt a pent-up and long-held desire by many Chinese to see the film on the big-screen for the first time. Still, that doesn't explain why the film gripped their box-office for a fortnight. Hollywood explanation? Again, <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/global-box-office-jurassic-park-614090" target="_blank"><b>China's apparent love of 3D movie-going</b></a>.<i> </i>It costs roughly $20 million to post-convert a 2D classic film to 3D, but given that China alone has earned <i>Jurassic Park 3D </i>$50 million+ (with more to come) then it's safe to expect more 3D re-releases that are targeted specifically for the Chinese market's tastes. Don't expect to see <i>Saving Private Ryan 3D </i>any time soon, but we at 3Defence wouldn't be surprised if we see a <i>Jaws 3D </i>conversion released soon!<br />
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And <i>Monsters University 3D</i>? Why does that warrant a mention? Well, in comparison to some of Pixar's efforts in China, the Billy Crystal-voiced effort absolutely dominated the box-office. It smashed the record for <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/monsters-university-sets-hong-kong-584561" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">a highest grossing single-day of an animated film in Hong Kong</a>, beating the tallies of several other 3D films, including Pixar's own <i>Toy Story 3. </i>In mainland China too, the film is on its way to surpassing <i>Toy Story 3'</i>s grosses, to become Pixar's most successful film ever there. Traditionally, <a href="http://chinafilmbiz.com/2012/07/03/pixars-persistent-china-drought/" target="_blank"><b>Pixar films have underperformed in China</b></a>, especially when compared to their counterparts like Dreamworks or Blue Sky Studios. Most marketing in the country is handled by the same two firms, so advertising is usually not blamed for this phenomenon. Rather, the studio's films - that often praise rebellious and forward-thinking anti-hero figures - are considered the reason Chinese audiences don't gravitate towards Pixar films. <i>Brave</i>, Pixar's first film about a woman, <a href="http://english.sina.com/entertainment/p/2012/0703/482977.html" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">was criticised there for being "too American"</a>, despite being set in Scotland and starring Billy Connolly! So why would <i>Monsters University -</i> set in a very American campus, rampant with variants of beer pong and college frat-boy hijinks - not suffer the same fate? Could we attribute that to a continued desire to see 3D films? Or is it just that <i>Monsters Inc.</i> was an already established brand in the country? It's hard to say. In any case, the prequel's performance this year is noteworthy, if only because the film itself is regarded much worse by Western critics than films like <i>Brave </i>and <i>Up</i>. If the next Pixar film outpaces <i>Monsters</i>' performance, then we'll know for sure that 3D is continuing to drive the Chinese box-office.</div>
Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-88912615751699604282013-07-22T20:26:00.001-07:002013-07-22T20:26:18.177-07:00Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes' (literally) viral marketingOver the weekend, Fox showed off 3D footage for <i>X-Men: Days Of Futures Past</i>, <i>The Wolverine</i> and <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_of_the_Planet_of_the_Apes" target="_blank"><b>Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes</b></a></i>. Most of that footage has so far remained in the San Diego Comic Con halls, but Fox did release this sneaky piece of - literally - <a href="http://www.simianflu.com/us/#!/the-simian-flu-and-you" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">viral marketing</a>.<b> </b>It's a cute play on the recent <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpZmIiIXuZ0" target="_blank"><i>Designed By Apple</i></a> </b>ad, with similarly noodling piano and swooshy animations:<br />
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I was a big fan of <i>Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes</i>, and are hoping the team involved knock its sequel (which is technically also a prequel) out of the park. What do you think, are you ready for some <a href="http://www.slashfilm.com/reaction-dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-teased-at-comic-con/" target="_blank"><b>damned dirty</b></a> 3D apes?Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-48093478554582102602013-07-15T21:09:00.000-07:002013-07-18T08:57:31.388-07:00How's the 3D in Pacific Rim?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Background:</h3>
<i>Pacific Rim</i> is Guillermo Del Toro's first film in 5 years. Much ink has already been spilled about his near-misses directing <i>The Hobbit </i><strike>film</strike> trilogy<i> </i>and the potential James Cameron / Tom Cruise adaptation of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness#Film" target="_blank"><b>At The Mountains Of Madness</b></a></i>. Thwarted project after thwarted project, it seemed Del Toro just couldn't catch a break. Luckily, the big man had a big plan: direct a big film about big robots fighting big monsters. For all <i>Pacific Rim</i>'s high-minded intentions, the movie's essentially Del Toro's love letter to the likes of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla_vs._Mechagodzilla" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla</a>; his long-simmering kaiju vs mecha tale. So, how'd he fare? Was his 'boyhood dream' picture better than Peter Jackson's <i>King Kong</i>, or Spielberg's <i>Jurassic Park</i>? More pressingly for 3Defence, is its 3D any good?<br />
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Post-Converted 3D:</h3>
For a long time, Del Toro voiced a hedged opinion towards adding 3D to his films. In pre-production for his version of <i>The Hobbit</i> he started with a firm "<a href="http://screenrant.com/the-hobbit-3d-cast-rumors-guillermo-del-toro-ross-23583/" target="_blank"><b>NO</b></a>" and ended with a potential 'maybe'. Likewise, in <i>Pacific Rim</i>'s pre-production, <a href="http://screenrant.com/guillermo-del-toro-pacific-rim-japan-anime/" target="_blank"><b>he originally stated</b></a> "I didn't want to make the movie 3D because when you have things that big… the thing that happens naturally, you’re looking at two buildings lets say at 300 feet [away], if you move there is no parallax." Later in the piece though, <b><a href="http://collider.com/pacific-rim-2-sequel-guillermo-del-toro/" target="_blank">we eventually learned</a></b> the film would be post-converted into 3D by ILM (who composited their own CGI shots) and<b> <a href="http://www.stereodllc.com/projects/" target="_blank">Stereo D</a></b>. The latter has been busy this Northern-hemisphere Summer, with <i>Iron Man 3</i>, <i><a href="http://www.fxguide.com/featured/star-trek-into-darkness-vfx-makes-it-so/" target="_blank"><b>Star Trek: Into Darkness</b></a></i>, <i>Jurassic Park 3D</i> and many more titles on the way.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWL8Vf7GIGLabAdyjsZw4sCVyxN8MPNznuJ_reSDqdtapZUpeQ8SImNOefffmiuNza1fE95WPLNTDluIirucNBWDpU-Y7_Llo6JIqItR4bSCZgLboJc6JnL2RuIwgtwXmvnU9yPS8w5U8/s1600/pacific+rim+3d+guillermo+del+toro+and+guillermo+navarro+on+set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWL8Vf7GIGLabAdyjsZw4sCVyxN8MPNznuJ_reSDqdtapZUpeQ8SImNOefffmiuNza1fE95WPLNTDluIirucNBWDpU-Y7_Llo6JIqItR4bSCZgLboJc6JnL2RuIwgtwXmvnU9yPS8w5U8/s320/pacific+rim+3d+guillermo+del+toro+and+guillermo+navarro+on+set.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Pacific Rim</i> was lensed by Del Toro regular cinematographer, the Oscar-winning (and similarly-named) <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0622897/" target="_blank"><b>Guillermo Navarro</b></a>. The pair have had a long-standing relationship that has provided audiences with some of cinema's most enduring images. 3Defence is glad to see any work by Navarro on the big screen, and we were interested in seeing his first 3D film, regardless of how it came to get there. In the shooting of <i>Pacific Rim</i>, Navarro <a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/pacific-rim-cinematographer-navarro-goes-digital-on-del-toros-gargantuan-monster-epic" target="_blank"><b>reluctantly shot digitally for the first time</b></a>. He's been a celluloid hold-out, and his departure from 35mm is significant. The pair of Guillermo's shot using <a href="http://www.digitalcinemareport.com/news/guillermo-navarro-using-ang%C3%A9nieux-optimo-lenses-pacific-rim#.UeS2l42sh8E" target="_blank"><b>Steadicam-rigged</b></a> 15 RED EPIC cameras, <a href="http://collider.com/pacific-rim-deleted-scenes-blu-ray/" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">and they took advantage of that camera's colour-saturation</a> to produce the images that Stereo D and ILM later post-converted. Apparently Del Toro then <a href="http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/pacific-rim-guillermo-del-toro-on-why-hes-like-raleigh-becket/?q6038272=1" target="_blank"><b>asked for an unusually long post-conversion period</b></a>, so he could personally supervise the shots and get them looking as great as possible.<br />
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Does <i>Pacific Rim</i>'s 3D 'pop'?</h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZ0953qvRVyebptjFAHzvRbIgw7TGhq_vdq2juDkC-Ze6dv3c21WZ1aCI0vi23L9Za3dULuO6I1pe_h3_EYDbn2XTlfG05kmgq-Mb19WPHCmajt6HXJ5_6aUaEmh5M1yPWcxSlWKztEA/s1600/Pacific+Rim+3D+Skippys+Sword.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZ0953qvRVyebptjFAHzvRbIgw7TGhq_vdq2juDkC-Ze6dv3c21WZ1aCI0vi23L9Za3dULuO6I1pe_h3_EYDbn2XTlfG05kmgq-Mb19WPHCmajt6HXJ5_6aUaEmh5M1yPWcxSlWKztEA/s200/Pacific+Rim+3D+Skippys+Sword.png" width="195" /></a>Frequently. Very early on, a fish swims out in front of the audience. It's one of those moments where kids and young-at-heart adults alike reach out to 'touch' a 3D creation. The effect is Del Toro's open invitation into his futuristic world. This is one of those 3D films you want to bring youngsters to, because they'll appreciate the pure visual magic on offer. Aside from fish, you'll see swords, sparks, dust, ash, snow, rain, fire, steam, tentacles and rockets breaking the 'fifth wall' of the screen. It's a loud-and-proud 3D that is refreshing to see embraced in blockbuster fare.<br />
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How's the depth of the 3D?</h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbaiKYq3fWA-HhyQXkaSVyWo_0zf6F1rH63Zk-c5cgKH02WKF0HjXm1nZ_tEr0bQumxuhUDsvyP5U_dgMLIJ9l8uDxC9HJ3iPTDj8D7AEfSQjd5lYEF1_hdkhpLltuAzcp-YWjxy_MRdU/s1600/comparison+of+monster+movies.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbaiKYq3fWA-HhyQXkaSVyWo_0zf6F1rH63Zk-c5cgKH02WKF0HjXm1nZ_tEr0bQumxuhUDsvyP5U_dgMLIJ9l8uDxC9HJ3iPTDj8D7AEfSQjd5lYEF1_hdkhpLltuAzcp-YWjxy_MRdU/s200/comparison+of+monster+movies.png" width="186" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaiju have historically hated bridges</td></tr>
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3D at the size of <i>Pacific Rim</i>'s kaiju can sometimes leave us feeling like an image is oddly '2D'. To counteract this sensation, Del Toro usually places a dozen human-sized objects around the <a href="http://pacificrim.wikia.com/wiki/Jaeger" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">jaegers</a>: helicopters dwarfed by the structures, a giant hand picking up a fishing trawler, or - more impressively - an oil tanker used as a baseball bat. So the 3D-added 'depth' is a sleight of hand. Just like the man-in-suit monster movies of old, your eye will be aware of a monster's size purely by what is <i>small</i> around it. Still, we've come a long way...<br />
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Did it make sense to add 3D to <i>Pacific Rim</i>?</h3>
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This is where the wheels come off the giant robot-carried wagon. <i>Pacific Rim </i>features a couple of daylight moments in the jaegers, but the vast majority of the fight scenes are either set at night in the rain, or they're set in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_Trench" target="_blank"><b>Mariana Trench</b></a>. Readers of 3Defence know the drill, but in case you're a newbie let's spell it out again: 3D (with glasses) usually makes the projected image darker. So, if a 3D film's set largely at night, the darkness gets <i>really</i> dark, and there's a possibility audiences will suffer some eye strain. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdc_EYA55vNdvgorYtO2oS4aPbjRSY6jlxh_SOGAipYPcykSC1rQqZTJaLQERQ_vmFLJlE9rNksz4VYgNvx20Q2oX4ChiJvXqa4T_4EhYgPWScWmiMIOt9NMnmIDh6R0sVzVyfxor1v5w/s1600/pacific+rim+gif.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdc_EYA55vNdvgorYtO2oS4aPbjRSY6jlxh_SOGAipYPcykSC1rQqZTJaLQERQ_vmFLJlE9rNksz4VYgNvx20Q2oX4ChiJvXqa4T_4EhYgPWScWmiMIOt9NMnmIDh6R0sVzVyfxor1v5w/s320/pacific+rim+gif.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even in 2D, as a GIF, it's hard to make out what's happening here</td></tr>
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Presumably Del Toro set <i>Pacific Rim </i>at night to save money in his effects budget. It's easier to fudge CGI if effects are obscured by noise-elements like rain, and artists can round off dodgy corners by cranking up the shadows. As far as 3D goes, Del Toro achieved a 'brightness compromise' by setting much of the nocturnal action scenes amid the bright neon lights of Hong Kong. He went above and beyond in other areas to add light to the frame too: there's approximately two million shots of holograms in <i>Pacific Rim</i>, and there's a lot of brightly-lit fire, lava, steam and sparks to compensate for the evils of wearing glasses in the cinema.</div>
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<h3>
The film itself</h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOV1WxOW1hy44IEY8Cv_YxYeDElABaXAiTIFtduCf0QprMKZVDyFMYJur-OdhZYY3MD4p0hl8RhQlk1bGnUPwTE1E3vEevnGFqRX7BKjXR2bix6FnodqDbv4KNufetQG4QyQyRr9ZBIA/s1600/character+development+in+pacific+rim+3d.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOV1WxOW1hy44IEY8Cv_YxYeDElABaXAiTIFtduCf0QprMKZVDyFMYJur-OdhZYY3MD4p0hl8RhQlk1bGnUPwTE1E3vEevnGFqRX7BKjXR2bix6FnodqDbv4KNufetQG4QyQyRr9ZBIA/s200/character+development+in+pacific+rim+3d.png" width="196" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A stunning character-focused flashback</td></tr>
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It's a hoot. A good-natured, well-intentioned lark of a film that has moments of subtlety and warmth amongst a whole lot of monster vs robot carnage. It's hard to take seriously, but it's very easy to take as a jolt of big-budget Summer blockbuster fun. As per usual for 2013's tent-pole flicks, the third-act is a nonsensical race to the finish line, without much in the way of surprises or meaningful character development. We only mention it because, like <i>Iron Man 3</i> and <i>Man Of Steel</i> before it, <i>Pacific Rim</i> gives you a great Act 1 and 2 before clobbering its way to the end credits in Act 3. Hopefully Hollywood will learn from this Summer's successes and mistakes. In the meantime, <i>Pacific Rim</i> is your most sure-fire ticket of fun right now.</div>
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<h3>
If we had to archive one version, should we save the 2D or the 3D?</h3>
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This is a hard call. <i>Pacific Rim</i>'s post-conversion was a great job. Stereo D and ILM exceeded their mandate by a kaiju-sized mile. Their work added visual depth that was thematically appropriate to the film, and added to the experience of watching it. Del Toro wasn't afraid to embrace the hokey aspects of 'fifth wall' breaking 3D either, and that also seemed appropriate given the fantastical nature of the film's visuals. But. Whoever it was in the studio that demanded <i>Pacific Rim</i> be converted into 3D should have been told "sure, if we get a few extra million to change the script to be set at day time." 3Defence can't abide a 3D film this aesthetically noisy (seriously, there's not a frame without sparks or rain) set at night, especially if there are hard-to-comprehend CGI creations running amock. <i>Pacific Rim </i>is a feast for the eyes, and you should see it in 2D, with as few layers as possible between you and Guillermo Del Toro's marvellous creations.</div>
Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-31024107235231517492013-07-07T16:26:00.001-07:002013-07-18T08:57:31.384-07:00The BBC, In 2DWe don't talk about 3D TV much on this site, because we're technically a site about 3D Film. This week though, serious news broke that might very well have an impact on the future of both the cinematic medium and its televised equivalent. So, we interrupt usual film-based discussion to take a brief look into 3D TV and its - now somewhat perilous - future.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEPXr0teyiaGnpuAlhCMEydXYW2wUGNuLMGb5ja-OG5KvqRiPurZW1G5VQfh9DbyFMN2ExmEeCiDXcLGyGSLG93v003_AvoF-zsa-W5HPrPYOR5bNFNZqmlnq1WTt__fgzUYzMYv20jY/s1600/PANASONIC+VIERA+3D+AVATAR+PACKAGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEPXr0teyiaGnpuAlhCMEydXYW2wUGNuLMGb5ja-OG5KvqRiPurZW1G5VQfh9DbyFMN2ExmEeCiDXcLGyGSLG93v003_AvoF-zsa-W5HPrPYOR5bNFNZqmlnq1WTt__fgzUYzMYv20jY/s200/PANASONIC+VIERA+3D+AVATAR+PACKAGE.jpg" width="177" /></a></div>
Post-<i>Avatar, </i>it seemed that movie theaters were guaranteed 3D movie-going successes. All eyes (literally) turned towards the home theater industry, to see whether TVs would be able to catch up. In the short-term at least, the holy grail was to get <i>Avatar</i> <i>3D </i>into living rooms as soon as humanly possible. A deal was struck so that copies of <i>Avatar</i> would be shipped with a <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5703215/avatar-3d-blu+ray-finally-available++when-a-panasonic-3dtv-is-bought" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">particular brand of TV</a>. Other TV manufacturers were stuck hawking <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudy_with_a_Chance_of_Meatballs_(film)" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs</a><i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>and a few made-for-Blu efforts.<br />
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The thing the TV industry neglected to mention was that you'd only get a couple of 3D glasses with your $3500 telly. And each additional pair of glasses would cost $100. Given that the nuclear-family is usually a home theatre system's target demographic, the limited number of 3D glasses pretty much doomed 3D TV from the outset. Mum and Dad could watch in 3D, while the kids watched blurry outlines. At least, this might be the case until someone eventually forked out for a few extra pairs of glasses on EBay.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmPn_BQ2Ys9HI_lcLqZdE-KIpdmDLaQ1C1j19DaoxOhrMWnTw4SdTRIvwQ1Cw5i6C-b2HQPrm-v3TtfWlrWFmHqkQG_qE3H0OCGDS1L88hTTvUg8x5BlSMZ5i3mANcqjnsYLYF7ZF0UWQ/s1600/expensive+3d+tv+panasonic+sony+glasses.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmPn_BQ2Ys9HI_lcLqZdE-KIpdmDLaQ1C1j19DaoxOhrMWnTw4SdTRIvwQ1Cw5i6C-b2HQPrm-v3TtfWlrWFmHqkQG_qE3H0OCGDS1L88hTTvUg8x5BlSMZ5i3mANcqjnsYLYF7ZF0UWQ/s320/expensive+3d+tv+panasonic+sony+glasses.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The price of 3D glasses on EBay, July 2013</td></tr>
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPdPigwZDhxecuyeIbFjJoVKmfgxHUjzRKgoFZQThFOVyi6lo959SMGy4MG5Il5kgSf45Mc-9JZqkoJfOVwCV-ne1MFrjQtjzCFpjaa6uRyrCr7fiPRlcLJ9vqSUiMIY9IHJ15d6HSID4/s1600/prometheus+3d+4+disc+set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPdPigwZDhxecuyeIbFjJoVKmfgxHUjzRKgoFZQThFOVyi6lo959SMGy4MG5Il5kgSf45Mc-9JZqkoJfOVwCV-ne1MFrjQtjzCFpjaa6uRyrCr7fiPRlcLJ9vqSUiMIY9IHJ15d6HSID4/s200/prometheus+3d+4+disc+set.jpg" width="159" /></a>At first, there wasn't much in the way of content for 3D-capable television. Eventually this changed though, and 3D Blu-rays began to be released same day-and-date with their 2D brethren. Prominent 3D Blu-ray content like <a href="http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=9767" target="_blank"><b><i>Prometheus</i> and <i>The Avengers</i></b></a> shifted many thousands of units, and broke records for their market share of 'High Def' content vs 'Standard Def' mediums like DVDs offered in the past. If you consume content via Blu-ray, these days <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Blu-ray_3D_releases" target="_blank"><b>it's possible to build a library of a few dozen 3D titles</b></a> (including a few X-rated titles too...)<br />
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Eventually, TV caught up too. ESPN and the BBC began providing programming that had been filmed natively in 3D. Viewers were able to see significant events such as Wimbledon championships, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and even Queen Elizabeth's Christmas message in 3D. ESPN's efforts were particularly noble, in that they offered a dedicated 24/7 3D channel. Sports were the most obvious type of programming to benefit from 3D; flattened 2D images cause issues for home viewers when you're trying to figure out if someone was off-side, or if a goal missed its posts by a few feet. For a time, things looked bright for 3D TV. 2011's Consumer Electronics Show (widely known as 'CES') prominently featured second-generation 3D TVs from major manufacturers, and <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/velocity/2011/01/07/ces-toshiba-makes-bold-move-with-glasses-free-3d-tv/" target="_blank"><b>even demonstrated a possible future of 'glasses-free' 3D</b></a>. By 2012, there were 55 3D-only channels worldwide.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi_28-56l2gMWgBLqQl3DK9V1eHeR_eWFCaQ6yWchRJHllcuVBqj__uXqbW_a9L7Sa8zqfQXV6hqYp-FxeMRVzTfEAJ4dMbaLKC8HO1B8Xs-FjP2buDQcbTD-RTEfu2yXdVGX4QoIJn-0/s1600/espn+3d+football.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi_28-56l2gMWgBLqQl3DK9V1eHeR_eWFCaQ6yWchRJHllcuVBqj__uXqbW_a9L7Sa8zqfQXV6hqYp-FxeMRVzTfEAJ4dMbaLKC8HO1B8Xs-FjP2buDQcbTD-RTEfu2yXdVGX4QoIJn-0/s200/espn+3d+football.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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Just a year later though, 2012's CES big news story was... <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/01/state-of-3-d-technology/" target="_blank"><b>the absence of 3D TV</b></a>. Much finger-pointing began. Some blamed the lack of quality content (there was content, but it couldn't stand toe-to-toe with the James Cameron Standard), others blamed glasses-dependent technology, and others blamed... the consumer's unforeseen unwillingness to upgrade their TVs. As the year wore on, it became clear that "3D-capable" was no longer a must-have selling point for a TV, and many manufacturer's marketing departments instead began to tout their TV's Wi-Fi capabilities and built-in web applications. By 2013, perhaps reading the tea leaves of customer desire, the industry considered "3D-capable" to be a mere checklist item; hastily written on the side of boxes, next to "2 HDMI ports" and "Batteries included with remote". 2013's CES <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ces-2013-4k-tvs-wrap-412181" target="_blank"><b>featured 4K-quality TVs prominently instead</b></a>, and paid nary a mention to 3D. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9xMcgULR08o0PIifSG9MntkOFq3xHfsRqU7u6uwN6sRMZr3vZKqU5ouebWkT8LCG81NeSXpF086ymcAulNpOL4k0xHJBOrJXXBqAySFDrfVYjavlHMxGnQnZttJP7a4zkTvaAtiB7snU/s1600/sony+xbr+4k+ultra+hd+tv.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9xMcgULR08o0PIifSG9MntkOFq3xHfsRqU7u6uwN6sRMZr3vZKqU5ouebWkT8LCG81NeSXpF086ymcAulNpOL4k0xHJBOrJXXBqAySFDrfVYjavlHMxGnQnZttJP7a4zkTvaAtiB7snU/s320/sony+xbr+4k+ultra+hd+tv.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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This week, things really took a turn for the worst. After two years of its 'pilot project', the <a href="http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-07-04/bbc-put-3d-projects-on-hold-due-to-lack-of-public-appetite-for-technology" target="_blank"><b>BBC announced it would wind down its 3D operations until 2016</b></a>. For the time being, the Queen's next few Yuletide greetings will be back to normal old 2D. The head of the BBC's 3D programming described the viewing experience as "a hassly experience" but also hesitated to "call the whole 3D race." It's hard to say exactly why they've chosen 2016 as a date to revisit the 3D methods of broadcasting, but it's fair to assume that the number of 3D-capable televisions will have grown significantly by then. What will they watch in the meantime? That, it seems, is now down to Hollywood. <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/12/4422874/espn-3d-to-shut-down-by-end-of-2013" target="_blank"><b>ESPN is shutting down its 3D operations this year too</b></a>, citing "low adoption" as their reasons. It all seems a bit chicken-and-the-egg; without an existing customer-base, we'll not get much more 3D TV content... and without any 3D TV content, there's unlikely to be much of a customer-base.</div>
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What's the solution then? Potentially, games consoles. The PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One get released this year, and both will sport Blu-ray drives. This is significant, because the previous Xbox iteration was limited to a standard-def disc drive, and this limited the potential for 3D content on it. Months out from the release of either console, both are setting pre-order records, and it seems likely that their successful launches will keep Blu-ray players in the living room for the rest of the decade. This is significant because, for now at least, there's not many other legitimate methods for watching a 3D film. iTunes and Netflix don't support 3D content, but these new games consoles' Blu-ray players will. If enough people can get acclimatised to seeing <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2013/2/25/4014662/3d-gaming-support-in-ps4" target="_blank"><b>3D content in the home</b></a>, it's possible the likes of ESPN and the BBC will legitimately revise the viewing landscape in 2016. We may yet see the Queen in 3D once more, but we'd best hope that Microsoft and Sony succeed in their console launches this Christmas.</div>
Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-52432188593425109162013-07-05T10:40:00.000-07:002013-07-18T08:57:31.393-07:00Is The Guardian Correct? Are Superhero Films Done For?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In a week's time, it'll be the first <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men_(film)" target="_blank"><b>X-Men</b></a></i> film's 13th birthday. The movie's critical and commercial success gave Hollywood the excuse it needed to revitalise the comic-book-movie 'genre'. <i>X-Men </i>delivered the industry a template of sorts that has largely remained unchanged in the decade that followed. That template required an ensemble cast, mixing up A-list stars with Academy Award winning actors, character veterans, relative newcomers and a few nerd favourites. <i>X-Men</i> also set a visual-effects precedent that eschewed the overblown <i>Batman And Robin '</i>look' in favour of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi43Vr2yJqI" target="_blank"><b>more modern effects in the vein of </b></a><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI5N4aDecMg" target="_blank"><b>The Matrix</b></a>. </i>The revised superhero film template also required the X-Men ditch their traditional bright yellow-and-blue tights for... very <i>Matrix</i>-esque black leather costumes. And, just like that, a modern genre was born.<br />
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Or, rather, <u>re</u>born. The superhero 'genre' had merely been laying dormant. In the decades since Richard Donner's <i>Superman</i>, we'd seen various attempts at Batman, Supergirl, Dick Tracy, The Phantom, The Shadow and The Rocketeer. Some of those films had a significant impact on pop-culture, but none rejuvenated an entire industry in the same way as <i>X-Men. </i>Why was that? 3Defence argues that it was <i>X-Men</i>'s striking modernity that made it connect with film producers and audiences alike. This superhero film featured women kicking as much butt as their male peers did. It was set in the 'not too distant future', and had a hip bent towards sci-fi conventions that other comic-books had previously neglected. Crucially, <i>X-Men </i>had an interesting subtext; prominently featuring a mutant-superhero allegory for the Gay and Civil Rights movements. For the first time, Hollywood was presenting a superhero film that (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_IV:_The_Quest_for_Peace" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">successfully</a>...) had something important to say.<br />
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Thirteen years later, we've seen 3 actors play Hulk, 2 actors play Superman, one actor play Batman 3 times, a former Hollywood punchline play Iron Man<i> </i>5 times and we're about to see Hugh Jackman play an X-Men character for the 6th time. We've even seen two variations of Catwoman, and Ryan Reynolds (<i>Blade 3</i>, <i>Wolverine: Origins</i>, <i>The Green Lantern</i>) is days away from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.I.P.D." target="_blank"><b>release of his fourth comic-book adaptation</b></a>! It's easy to feel over-saturated by it all. Of course, this is how it's always felt when you walk into a comic-book store: cross-over titles, mash-ups, alternate universes, one-shots, long-running series, and retrospective collector's editions... the 'comic' world of heroes has never been particularly shy about throwing any old thing against the wall.<br />
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Maybe it was that scatter-shot approach that erked <b><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jun/11/man-steel-hollywood-break-superheroes" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> </b>enough to write a recent piece entitled "<b><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jun/11/man-steel-hollywood-break-superheroes" target="_blank">Man of Steel: does Hollywood need saving from superheroes?</a></b>" A fortnight later, The Hollywood Reporter released a piece condemning the genre's bias towards fight-scenes, entitled "<a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/marvels-x-men-thor-screenwriter-574533" target="_blank"><b>Why Has Destruction Become the Default' in Movies</b></a>?" Kiwi favourite Funerals & Snakes has <a href="http://funeralsandsnakes.net/2013/07/02/review-man-of-steel-everybody-has-a-plan-and-white-lies/" target="_blank"><b>a great write-up</b></a> arguing the destruction in the genre has become an arms-race. Tech-focused Wired magazine has just released an article asking, "<a href="http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/06/superhero-movie-genre-success/" target="_blank"><b>Is the Superhero Movie Genre as Invulnerable as Its Iconic Characters?</b></a>" A quick Google search reveals a simmering 'genre malaise' from the media has been around for some time, and will likely be around for much longer. The Wall Street Journal supposed audiences were tiring of the genre <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/06/17/is-america-burning-out-on-superhero-movies/" target="_blank"><b>in 2011</b></a>. USA Today asked - amusingly, in retrospect - "Are Superheoes Done For?" in... <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/2008-07-27-comic-con-wrapup_N.htm" target="_blank"><b>2008</b></a>. So, The Guardian, Wired and THR's recent articles are nothing altogether new, but it's interesting they all use <i>Man Of Steel</i> as a divining rod for the fate of the wider genre<i>.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>***Warning! Spoilers within this paragraph about </i>Man Of Steel<i>! If you've not seen the film, then skip this paragraph!*** </i></span>What is it about Superman's latest film that has convinced the mainstream press of the genre's imminent demise? Perhaps it's their expectations of Superman himself that's the cause of the issue. Historically, he's been considered the Big Blue Boy Scout of superheroes (even if that's not actually been the case in the last 25 years of comics). So, perhaps it was all a bit too shocking for average audiences to watch that Boy Scout break his nemesis' neck, after having levelled several dozen city blocks. Indeed, even many modern comic-book readers were shocked by this moment, and were outraged that Superman allowed citywide catastrophic damage to occur in his mammoth battle with Zod's troops. This was meant to be the most 'super' of heroes, but instead we saw an <a href="http://scriptshadow.net/movie-review-man-of-steel/" target="_blank"><b>inactive character</b></a> who was focused on fighting his adversaries in a retaliatory manner. <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">***Spoilers over now, continue***</span></i><br />
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More importantly though, <i>Man Of Steel</i> is a significant departure from the <i>X-Men</i>-issued genre template. The cast is hardly heavy-hitters like those seen in <i>The Dark Knight </i>or <i>Iron Man </i>series; <i>Man Of Steel</i>'s veteran actors haven't anchored a film in well over a decade, and most have been involved in straight-to-video fare for years. <i>Man Of Steel</i>'s special-effects aren't facsimiles of other industry benchmarks either. Superman embraces his bright blue & red costume too; no hip dark leathers here. And, most importantly, there is a dearth of subtext.<br />
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In the days since <i>X-Men, </i>critics have delighted in subtextual readings of superhero films. The <i>Dark Knight </i>series has been remembered as a commentary on the Bush administration's anti-terrorism tactics; Ang Lee's <i>Hulk</i> <a href="http://www.thefilmjournal.com/issue7/hulk.html" target="_blank"><b>was a musing on Classical mythology</b></a>; <i>Watchmen</i> was a cautionary tale about 'checks and balances'; <i>V For Vendetta </i>provided a big-screen adaptation of a comic-book interpolation of Orwell's <i>1984</i>. <i>Iron Man </i>even spoke to the perils of the arms trade. So... what does <i>Man Of Steel </i>speak to? Being facetious, we could say the subtext is that it's rude to terraform planets that don't belong to you, and also rude to punch people. Being more generous (though still with a healthy helping of snark) it's possible to read <i>Man Of Steel</i> as a cautionary tale in the age of Big Data: keep your secrets to yourself, no matter what, or else the government will screw things up. But, yes, that's being generous. There's actually bugger all subtext going on in <i>Man Of Steel</i>. It's another case of <a href="http://badassdigest.com/2013/06/12/film-crit-hulk-smash-the-age-of-the-convoluted-blockbuster/" target="_blank"><b>too much plot, and too little story</b></a>. And, as The Guardian points out, perhaps we're a little tired of relying on <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jun/11/man-steel-hollywood-break-superheroes" target="_blank"><b>a bootstrapped operation to right the ills of government</b></a>. Maybe the media are onto something, maybe there really is something broken with Hollywood's approach to the genre?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEh6ITBNhHjjNDfE2Xfod0UYzQC0N_Tf_l32w8s6FDn-cuIa-tkOK7Jqye0SvkPBhdNlGdu3XWhBa4iIKUdcInIdeb5laPr4QwLbxQ6NqN3OxEN4odrGET8Ckx1J2syRLkjArMc2Ss6M/s382/the+death+of+superman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEh6ITBNhHjjNDfE2Xfod0UYzQC0N_Tf_l32w8s6FDn-cuIa-tkOK7Jqye0SvkPBhdNlGdu3XWhBa4iIKUdcInIdeb5laPr4QwLbxQ6NqN3OxEN4odrGET8Ckx1J2syRLkjArMc2Ss6M/s200/the+death+of+superman.jpg" width="130" /></a>While 3Defence can agree with the media to some extent, we can't see much benefit in pointing out a whole bunch of flaws in currently released films. We don't need Hollywood to immediately stop making any superhero films. There's clearly still an audience for them, and there's a wealth of material to draw from to continue telling interesting stories for decades to come. The media needs to move away from posturing about the 'death of the genre' and instead focus on how to 'reboot the genre' successfully in a more palatable way. To do this, we need to study other successful genre 'reboots'.<br />
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<i>Man Of Steel</i>'s incarnation of Superman actually has a few parallels with Jason Bourne; a peaceful soul who's unsure of his identity, yet miraculously trained in combat, and ready to fight anyone who threatens him. Of course, that's where the similarities end. <i>Man Of Steel</i> might well mark the end of its genre's era, while <i>The Bourne Identity </i>is rightly regarded as a landmark event that changed the fate of the 'action' and 'spy' genres forever.<br />
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In 2002, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bourne_Identity_(2002_film)" target="_blank"><b>The Bourne Identity</b></a> </i>removed wire-work and excessively balletic kung-fu from the action film. Instead of behemoths like Arnold or Sly, the averagely-built Matt Damon carried the main role. <i>The Bourne Identity</i>'s set-pieces were staged in cramped European apartments, and cast an <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004376" target="_blank"><b>indie darling</b></a> as the hero's love interest. Women in the series had realistic character qualities, independent lives of their men-folk, <a href="http://academia.edu/406021/GENDER_GEOPOLITICS_AND_GEOSURVEILLANCE_IN_THE_BOURNE_ULTIMATUM" target="_blank"><b>were placed in powerful positions</b></a>, and ultimately became the series' <a href="http://www.offscreen.com/index.php/pages/essays/bourne_analysis#The_representation_of_women" target="_blank"><b>moral guardians</b></a>. More importantly than anything else though, <i>The Bourne Identity </i>and its sequels were action films that weren't afraid to embrace silence. Critics and audiences alike fawned over this breath of fresh air, and the action genre was revitalised enough to buy itself another decade in multiplexes. Single-handedly, the <i>Bourne</i> films also forced drastic revisions to stalwart espionage franchises like <i>James Bond </i>and <i>Mission Impossible</i>.<br />
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Not that we're trying to bash on The Guardian or anything (though we do relish taking a snipe at periodicals that hypocritically bash comic books as a "plebeian, populist artform") but in the early 2000s, The Guardian bashed on the Bond and Tom Cruise <i>Impossible</i> outings with all too familiar criticism. <i><b><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/77522/world.is.not.enough" target="_blank">The World Is Not Enough</a> </b></i>"looks so weirdly dated" and "commonplace." <b><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/84050/mission" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">MI2</a></b> was "devoid of real risk, real sweat or real danger." You can guess how The Guardian's<i> Does Hollywood Need Saving From Superheroes</i> article concludes, right? Yep, "it's the same movie – over and over and over again."<br />
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They've got several good points. Just look at the above image, where three superheroes essentially share the same pose. We just wish The Guardian hadn't been such snobs about it. It's not like they're also going to write an article bemoaning the sexism and monotony of the romantic comedy genre. Indeed, every article that's been written about the genre this month has had an air of 'this is kids stuff really, it's a bit beneath us adults.' And perhaps that's why <i>The Bourne Identity </i>is a good touchstone.<i> </i>Like the original <i>X-Men </i>film too, these two genre reboots were fearless in the way they embraced their particular genre's roots, whilst still subverting their genre-audience's expectations. People were sold a spy film with <i>The Bourne Identity</i>, but they also got Matt Damon having meaningful dialogue with Franke Potente (don't get us started on the 'relationship' between the era's James Bond and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwJKKOa_RHg" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Dr. Christmas Jones</a>). <i>X-Men </i>may have been marketed with its special-effects, but audiences were really given a film about the differing human rights concerns of adolescents and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI7SEIKaKwE" target="_blank"><b>the generations that controlled their fates</b></a>. Maybe the world was hoping <i>Man Of Steel </i>would provide a reboot in the same vein as these films, and the media has seized on the opportunity to bash it for being a merely serviceable evolution of a genre that's outstayed its welcome.<br />
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So what's stopping Hollywood from pulling a <i>Bourne</i>-styled rabbit from their hat? There's a few things working against them. For one thing, the vast majority of upcoming superhero films are coming from Marvel directly. They're not just licensing their comic-book content to another studio; they're becoming a fully-functioning studio themselves, in charge of their own film adaptations now. This is dangerous, because many (not all) of these comics have historically been aimed at men, and rarely feature self-contained narratives. If the studio churning out this product is left to its own devices, then it seems likely it will continue creating sprawling plots <a href="http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/marvel-cinematic-timeline.jpg" target="_blank"><b>that take several films to resolve themselves</b></a>, and attempt gender parity via a few scenes of a woman kicking or punching a male character.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taken from <a href="http://bit.ly/17SH0a1" target="_blank">here</a></td></tr>
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The more significant thing holding Hollywood back is the financial imperative to <u>not</u> change anything. Films like <i><a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderman4.htm" target="_blank"><b>The Amazing Spider-Man</b></a></i> and <i><a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ironman3.htm" target="_blank"><b>Iron Man 3</b></a></i> see overseas markets double their US-based box office grosses now. This means that superhero films regularly make 2/3rds of their money in countries that might not necessarily have grown up reading the comics the films are based on, and definitely haven't grown up with Western humour or the mythologies the genre has traditionally embraced. By necessity, blockbusters on this global scale have to play broadly, and there's not much room allowed for genre subversion, societally contextual humour, political dissidence or familial unrest. When you factor 3D into the mix... things change even more. This article's already sprawling, and we're aware we've not discussed 3D at all yet, despite this being a site devoted to 3D cinema. Let's not mince our words: 3D grosses are slowly declining in the US and some (not all) of the Western world, but 3D business is still doing gangbuster business in places like China, Brazil and Russia. Indeed, 3Defence's incoming traffic sky-rockets weekly as people from these countries ask Google (and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidu" target="_blank">Baidu</a>) "should I see X superhero movie in 2d or 3d?"</div>
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If you removed 3D box office 'extra' takings from the equation, then the distribution of box-office grosses would balance more favourably again towards countries like the US, UK and Australia. Two prominent 2D superhero films, <i><a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ironman2.htm" target="_blank"><b>Iron Man 2</b></a></i> and <a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=darkknight.htm" target="_blank"><i><b>The Dark Knight</b></i></a> actually earned more in the US than they did worldwide. So it's no mistake that the 3D <i>Iron Man 3 </i>doubled the gross of its predecessor. <u>Doubled</u>. As long as 3D has that kind of a result, Hollywood will continue paying the estimated $10 - $20 million extra it costs to add 3D to a film. And when it makes that sort of an additional investment, Hollywood expects its money back, and will advocate for playing broadly to guarantee that happens. When you go broad, you miss out on subtleties of the kind offered by Matt Damon's <i>Bourne</i> character, and you certainly miss out on a subtext about the rights of homosexuals in our modern society like <i>X-Men</i> offered.</div>
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We're not saying that 3D is the entire problem with the superhero genre, but it's one part of the problem. If you look at the types of genres that are still being made in 2D - such as comedies, detective films, dramas, thrillers - then you also start to see that these films are the ones that cost such a small amount that they're allowed to be edgy or outside of the mainstream four-quadrant blockbuster formats. A 2D $25 million film like <i>Anchorman</i> costs roughly 1/10th of the budget for the 3D $225 million <i>Man Of Steel,</i> and the lower-budget film has a lot to say about society's casual sexism while the big-budget film has basic thoughts on the evils of... terraforming.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh30KXZaswkJFvvT8UYRKzPykcZ86kxoW-dMXxOjn9BPoqC0dgjcWRaCQez_5fxO1vMpv908rx3YbFWgVhfOPoqC8dCbFixPCL28hz2GZ0hgmrlX6eNvl3_gY160RNOdp1kazSF_JkpaMI/s1600/powers+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh30KXZaswkJFvvT8UYRKzPykcZ86kxoW-dMXxOjn9BPoqC0dgjcWRaCQez_5fxO1vMpv908rx3YbFWgVhfOPoqC8dCbFixPCL28hz2GZ0hgmrlX6eNvl3_gY160RNOdp1kazSF_JkpaMI/s320/powers+cover.jpg" width="209" /></a>When you start to truly look at the problems Hollywood faces, it becomes clear there is a solution, and it's right in front of their noses. Create superhero films that embrace <u>actual</u> genres. Get rid of the <i>X-Men</i> template, which has now been distilled to a meaningless 'superheroes for superheroes sake'. Instead, look to existing titles like <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powers_(comics)" target="_blank"><b>Powers</b></a></i>; a detective story that features a buddy-cop pairing of a talkative but capable young woman and a brooding hulk of a world-weary man. With the successful release of the (again, 2D) film <i><a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3697&p=.htm" target="_blank"><b>The Heat</b></a></i>, we know there's an audience for women in the buddy-cop / detective genres. And the great thing about <i>Powers</i> is that, because the pair usually investigate the deaths or crimes of superheroes after-the-fact, there's little need for flashy special effects or whizz-bang 3D gimmickry. You could make a taut film adaptation of <i>Powers </i>for $45 million, and critics would praise the way you'd dealt with the collateral damage and psychological impact recklessly wrought by caped crusaders.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVB4c1p9-VwEuNazM-T4aYlM2OQNZSLcXgKbB52QBQgDBvRMMKknTzsx5Z0tdqF_3KtDY2Oti7ff4VXU6dgeieUItMCsls2GNT4fZORdUGPEn4yz4OYtox3d7oGUow7zoU8688Pmt8fFk/s1600/iron+man+alcoholism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVB4c1p9-VwEuNazM-T4aYlM2OQNZSLcXgKbB52QBQgDBvRMMKknTzsx5Z0tdqF_3KtDY2Oti7ff4VXU6dgeieUItMCsls2GNT4fZORdUGPEn4yz4OYtox3d7oGUow7zoU8688Pmt8fFk/s200/iron+man+alcoholism.jpg" width="131" /></a>Of course, there are dozens of other titles that are just as deserving of the big-screen treatment as <i>Powers</i>. <i>Batman Begins</i> could have been made for half its budget if they'd adhered more closely to the detective-thriller <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_Year_One" target="_blank"><i><b>Batman: Year One</b></i></a> comic. That might have allowed more room to talk about our society's attitude to criminals, beyond Machiavellian chemical-warfare schemes. There are decades worth of Iron Man comics that realistically deal with alcoholism, as real a worldwide issue as any, but we'd be surprised if Disney/Marvel ever sanctioned a low-budget rehab drama featuring ol' Shellhead (though watching Robert Downey Jnr. tackle that would be particularly interesting!).</div>
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So, yes, you're reading this right. 3Defence is advocating more 2D superhero films, for at least as long as it's cost-prohibitive to make a 3D version of a movie. But then, we're cinema advocates here, not just 3D ones. A 'holy grail' situation is obviously a time when movie production and distribution costs are lowered significantly, and producers can begin releasing more 3D dramas, 3D comedies and 3D crime films. When that happens it's likely that Hollywood will finally wise-up and start inserting their A-list superheroes into these genres. When <i>The Bourne Identity</i> equivalent of a superhero film comes along, it's going to change everything overnight... just like the bite of a radioactive spider or a sudden burst of gamma rays. Next time you catch your favourite publication ranting about the low-brow nature of a populist form of entertainment, ask them how they suggest improving things. They have great power, and they should start taking that responsibility seriously.</div>
Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-27065906176871409252013-07-01T12:41:00.000-07:002013-07-01T12:52:48.314-07:00New Wizard Of Oz IMAX 3D trailerIn September, for better or worse, we get our second 3D trip to Oz for the year. Warner Brothers and IMAX have teamed up to re-release <i>The Wizard of Oz </i>in post-converted 3D for a limited one week release. It's hard to know how big an audience there is for this type of retrospective; <i><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/04/hows-3d-in-jurassic-park-3d.html" target="_blank"><b>Jurassic Park</b></a> </i>and <i><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/04/china-and-its-requited-love-for-titanic.html" target="_blank"><b>Titanic</b></a></i> 3D re-releases have been doing <a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/showdowns/chart/?id=liveaction3dre.htm" target="_blank"><b>fine business</b></a> at the box-office, but no-one's attempted a post-conversion job on a classic this old. In fact, most kids' grandparents weren't even born when <i>Wizard Of Oz</i> was originally released, so if there's a nostalgia ticket to be sold then it's likely on the basis of a VHS copy or TV re-runs! For many, it will be the first time they've seen Dorothy's ruby slippers on the big screen. Check out the trailer for an insight into how Warners are pitching their marketing:<br />
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With its school-choir revision of <i>Somewhere Over The Rainbow, </i>it would appear Warner Brothers are borrowing a play from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB95KLmpLR4#t=0m7s" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">The Social Network</a>'s marketing play-book. It's no mistake that they've done this. Both trailers capitalise on a 'global' feeling of connection to the material, and they work hard to captivate as many generations as they can. Whatever your original connections are to the source material though, it's hard to avoid the feeling this trailer was whipped together on-the-cheap, with trite fonts in front of stock footage backgrounds feeling all a little 'straight to video'.</div>
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Of course, the impact of this trailer is dramatically reduced in 2D. It's easy to imagine that this footage pops off the screen in an IMAX theatre. The trailer labours how expansive the film's backgrounds feel (most were achieved with the help of <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VUi_WWqo9vE/To_iqexg9vI/AAAAAAAAF-o/nmCki3jEOk4/s1600/WizardOz-A2.jpg" target="_blank"><b>some stunning matte paintings</b></a>) and how <a href="http://oz.wikia.com/wiki/Technicolor" target="_blank"><b>vivid the Technicolor is</b></a>. If the 3D post-conversion has been handled tastefully, we think the <i>Wizard Of Oz</i> re-release could look better than some of the other 3D product being shifted around multiplexes this year. What do you think? Are you tired of these re-releases, or do you relish the opportunity to see a beloved classic on the big screen again?</div>
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Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-44022551501837886662013-06-25T20:52:00.000-07:002013-06-25T21:02:41.236-07:00How's the 3D in World War Z?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Background:</h3>
<i>World War Z</i> is (loosely) based on a 2006 novel by Max Brooks. The book is a cracking read, and we were hoping the film would be just as outstanding as its source-material. The production of the film encountered multiple woes, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_Z_(film)#Production" target="_blank"><b>all of which are well documented</b></a>, but the first few trailers successfully dispelled most audience's doubts about the film. Indeed, in its first weekend, <i>World War Z </i><a href="http://www.boxofficeguru.com/062413.htm" target="_blank"><b>mightily exceeded</b></a> all box-office expectations. <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/movie/world-war-z" target="_blank"><b>Critics are divided</b></a> on the film, while audiences are more generally positive towards horror and action pictures, so have dished out a healthy B+ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CinemaScore" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">CinemaScore</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTD-8dalUTJ72X2jjjbUUEwcFt6FcuvS7dM_rgiWv1uU9acGhcku77e9GrwP374lcUxxVVOi_vECdVOSOi4yBUBjzW7UXc9ZS4sthMnTYjnYjao3ThchQkt6sML6AwlIfQgQJAxaGloGc/s1600/brad+pitt+and+marc+forster+on+set+of+world+war+z+3d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTD-8dalUTJ72X2jjjbUUEwcFt6FcuvS7dM_rgiWv1uU9acGhcku77e9GrwP374lcUxxVVOi_vECdVOSOi4yBUBjzW7UXc9ZS4sthMnTYjnYjao3ThchQkt6sML6AwlIfQgQJAxaGloGc/s200/brad+pitt+and+marc+forster+on+set+of+world+war+z+3d.jpg" width="200" /></a>Post-Converted 3D:</h3>
<i>World War Z</i> was shot in 2D, <a href="http://www.theasc.com/ac_magazine/February2013/ZeroDarkThirty/page1.php" target="_blank"><b>using Alexa cameras</b></a>, and later post-converted into 3D by Prime Focus World. The firm delivered 2076 converted shots, assisted by 400 artists. <a href="http://www.primefocusworld.com/work/world-war-z-paramount-pictures-0" target="_blank"><b>The firm's website</b></a> goes into great detail about the conversion, and when stereo firms rave about their own work we tend to listen. We've seen several projects recently where there has been <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/06/hows-3d-in-iron-man-3.html" target="_blank"><b>next-to-nothing released officially</b></a> about the post-conversion process. In contrast, the team involved with <i>World War Z</i> are proud to show off the collaboration they had with the film's creators, and they're glad to talk about their unique approach to 3D film-making. They need not talk too much about their work though, because the proof of it is in the theatre, where their work looked absolutely stunning.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSl6Wk9iojqQBcauH3Senp3aBt5t_Bp3B3B6VOyZspnv34H5qDfDmNGBlDf4xv8HcNb6ci5gILpCCieGEde9uGyGeY1G-l1497C07jAGP0vkmlMktzr-3vjA4SHv8jKD9A_QBjJxqdpc/s1600/brad+pitt+in+world+war+z+3d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSl6Wk9iojqQBcauH3Senp3aBt5t_Bp3B3B6VOyZspnv34H5qDfDmNGBlDf4xv8HcNb6ci5gILpCCieGEde9uGyGeY1G-l1497C07jAGP0vkmlMktzr-3vjA4SHv8jKD9A_QBjJxqdpc/s320/brad+pitt+in+world+war+z+3d.jpg" width="320" /></a>Does the 3D 'pop'?</h3>
Like <i>28 Days Later</i> and the <i>Dawn Of The Dead</i> remake before it, <i>World War Z </i>features fast-moving zombies. They're relentless in their pursuit of human flesh, and the undead have a nasty habit of popping at the living. The film-makers make full use of these jump scares, with teeth and clawed hands leaping out at their audience. The 3D effects used don't linger long enough to be hokey; instead they're employed to give you a good fright before the effects are dialled back down to 'classy' again. Between zombie attacks, 'noise elements' like lens flares or ash particles are layered enough to give the audience the perception they're really in the room with Brad Pitt.<br />
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How's the depth of the 3D?</h3>
Fantastic! The film is deceptively small-scale, and is focused (literally) on Brad Pitt's character throughout. Prime Focus World went above and beyond to map out Pitt's face in elaborate detail, so his character feels absolutely 'real' in terms of depth, even in close-ups. Their efforts pay off the most in dialogue scenes, where spatial integrity is maintained perfectly, to the point we'd swear some scenes were filmed in Native 3D. Often an 'over-the-shoulder' shot - where there are three planes of depth caused by an out of focus shoulder at the front of the shot - causes issues for post-conversion teams, sometimes resulting in obviously 'layered' visuals that feel artificial. In <i>World War Z</i>, this pitfall is avoided masterfully.<br />
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But you don't care about dialogue when it comes to a zombie film, do you? No. You care about the apocalypse! The damage wrought upon Israel, Korea and Philadelphia in <i>World War Z</i> is expertly staged by the film-makers, and their set-pieces are well designed to emphasise the magnitude of the unfolding disasters. In 3D, the cataclysmic events seem that much more devastating, thanks to a large number of helicopter-based shots that help the audience contextualise and comprehend the undead chaos.<br />
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Did it make sense to add 3D to <i>World War Z</i>?</h3>
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Not in the slightest. The major set-pieces are set in either cramped and dark areas, or dusty and monochromatic landscapes. The characters mostly wear plain looking clothes (which helps sell the realism of the situation) and the undead wear the same clothes too. Even the blood is neutered to be a digitally-altered black colour; presumably to reduce the rating to a PG-13 one that could help boost ticket sales. So, at face-value, this wouldn't be an obvious choice for a 3D film for us. We're happy the team at Prime Focus World proved us wrong though. Perhaps we'll have to revise what our criteria for a '3D-appropriate' film is. There are scenes set in pitch-black rain that work great here, with zero eye strain, and perfect visual clarity achieved. There are others that allow us to focus on one tiny detail amongst a sprawling mass of creatures. It's a great example of what 2013's 3D technology is capable of, and it's another film that proves that post-conversions are capable of standing toe-to-toe with Native 3D works now.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The film itself</h3>
<div>
Fans of the book's non-linear timeline and documentary style will probably hate <i>World War Z</i>. Likewise, true zombie genre fans. And it's possible those who wanted to see a 'world war' will be disappointed they're instead given a film about a UN health inspector... ha. For one final caveat, it's possible that Palestinian sympathisers will find images in the film unsettling, but then again the film deals with that issue directly and it's therefore hard to argue a sub-textual agenda. With all these caveats out of the way, we found <i>World War Z</i> a perfectly executed Hollywood disaster picture. This isn't a zombie film. Instead, it deserves to be compared to the likes of <i>2012</i>, <i>The Day After Tomorrow</i>, <i>Armageddon </i>and <i>Deep Impact</i>. In company like that, <i>Z</i> shines. It's far smarter than it deserves to be.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h3>
If we had to archive one version, should we save the 2D or the 3D?</h3>
</div>
<div>
In case it's not been obvious enough yet, we'd recommend archiving the 3D version of World War Z. It's a great post-conversion, and you only gain appreciation for the film by seeing it in 3D.</div>
Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-50633840096933206262013-06-24T20:31:00.000-07:002014-06-21T08:50:42.574-07:00List of 3Defence's ReviewsThis is a compilation of 3Defence's 3D film reviews. Hopefully the table below provides a quick resource to see all of our reviews at a glance, and also shows we're not overtly biased in one direction or the other between 2D and 3D versions of films*. Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<style type="text/css">.nobrtable br { display: none } tr {text-align: center;} tr.alt td {background-color: #eeeeee; color: black;} tr {text-align: center;} caption {caption-side:bottom;}</style>
<br />
<table border="2" bordercolor="#8832ff" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="background-color: #444444; color: white; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-top: 5px;">
<th valign="top" width="40%">Film Title</th>
<th valign="top" width="30%">What type of 3D?</th>
<th valign="top" width="30%">Which version to preserve?</th>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2014/06/hows-3d-in-edge-of-tomorrow.html" target="_blank"><b>Edge Of Tomorrow</b></a></td>
<td>Post-Converted 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2D</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2014/06/hows-3d-in-x-men-days-of-future-past.html" target="_blank"><b>X-Men: Days Of Future Past</b></a></td>
<td>Native 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">3</span><span style="color: #990000;">D</span></span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2014/06/The-3D-in-Godzilla-2014.html" target="_blank"><b>Godzilla</b></a></td>
<td>Post-Converted 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">3</span><span style="color: #990000;">D</span></span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2014/06/3d-in-the-amazing-spider-man-2.html" target="_blank"><b>The Amazing Spider-Man 2</b></a></td>
<td>Post-Converted 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">3</span><span style="color: #990000;">D</span></span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2014/05/how-is-the-3d-in-captain-america-the-winter-soldier.html" target="_blank"><b>Captain America: The Winter Soldier</b></a></td>
<td>Post-Converted 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2D</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/10/hows-3d-in-gravity.html" target="_blank"><b>Gravity</b></a></td>
<td>Rendered 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">3</span><span style="color: #990000;">D</span></span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/09/hows-3d-in-wizard-of-oz-3d.html" target="_blank"><b>The Wizard Of Oz</b></a></td>
<td>Post-Converted 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">3</span><span style="color: #990000;">D</span></span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/07/hows-3d-in-pacific-rim.html" target="_blank"><b>Pacific Rim</b></a></td>
<td>Post-Converted 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2D</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/06/hows-3d-in-world-war-z.html" target="_blank"><b>World War Z</b></a></td>
<td>Post-Converted 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">3</span><span style="color: #990000;">D</span></span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/06/hows-3d-in-iron-man-3.html" target="_blank"><b>Iron Man 3</b></a></td>
<td>Post-Converted 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2D</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/06/hows-3d-in-man-of-steel.html" target="_blank"><b>Man Of Steel</b></a></td>
<td>Post-Converted 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">3</span><span style="color: #990000;">D</span></span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/04/hows-3d-in-jurassic-park-3d.html" target="_blank"><b>Jurassic Park 3D</b></a></td>
<td>Post-Converted 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2D</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/04/hows-3d-in-oz-great-and-powerful.html" target="_blank"><b>Oz The Great And Powerful</b></a></td>
<td>Native 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2D</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/01/hows-3d-in-life-of-pi.html" target="_blank"><b>Life Of Pi</b></a></td>
<td>Native 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">3</span><span style="color: #990000;">D</span></span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/11/hows-3d-in-bait.html" target="_blank"><b>Bait 3D</b></a></td>
<td>Native 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2D</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-good-is-3d-in-frankenweenie.html" target="_blank"><b>Frankenweenie</b></a></td>
<td>Post-Converted 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">3</span><span style="color: #990000;">D</span></span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-good-is-3d-in-dredd.html" target="_blank"><b>Dredd</b></a></td>
<td>Native 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">3</span><span style="color: #990000;">D</span></span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-good-is-3d-in-katy-perry-part-of-me_14.html" target="_blank"><b>Katy Perry: Part Of Me</b></a></td>
<td>Both</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2D</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/07/amazing-spider-man-how-good-is-its-3d.html" target="_blank"><b>The Amazing Spider-Man</b></a></td>
<td>Native 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2D</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-good-is-3d-in-mib3.html" target="_blank"><b>Men In Black 3</b></a></td>
<td>Post-Converted 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">3</span><span style="color: #990000;">D</span></span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-good-is-3d-in-prometheus.html" target="_blank"><b>Prometheus</b></a></td>
<td>Native 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2D</span></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/05/how-good-is-3d-in-avengers.html" target="_blank"><b>The Avengers</b></a></td>
<td>Post-Converted 3D</td>
<td><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">3</span><span style="color: #990000;">D</span></span></b></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div>
And here's a visual representation of whether we came down in favour of the 2D or 3D versions:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-SQxUbnCna6Js88GACsGhBEvSuWp6Qb4irivTW4R332pjujsq9xhRSXM7MzQ3g68_GcLsYZUMw4t4duBU8cI_wPwMMF7ydUX7PNU43aCfl937M5nfZ7252zH61ldgH674RyJMG2A6NM/s1600/3d_vs_2d_preference.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-SQxUbnCna6Js88GACsGhBEvSuWp6Qb4irivTW4R332pjujsq9xhRSXM7MzQ3g68_GcLsYZUMw4t4duBU8cI_wPwMMF7ydUX7PNU43aCfl937M5nfZ7252zH61ldgH674RyJMG2A6NM/s1600/3d_vs_2d_preference.png" height="192" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div>
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<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Worth mentioning though, we tend to avoid writing reviews that explicitly urge you to spend your money in one way or another. Instead, we've preferred to opine on whether the 3D or 2D version of a film is the 'definitive' version that should be archived and preserved. After all, most critics and audiences would agree that the 3D version of <i>Avatar</i> projected in cinemas in 2009 is the version with the most historic significance. Likewise, most would agree <i>Alice In Wonderland</i>'s </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">post-converted 3D </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">should never be seen again, and if we needed to archive anything we should archive the 2D version. If nothing else, we're hoping that this site can be a resource for future scholars, documenting what audiences responded to in the modern 3D era, and what we didn't.</span></div>
Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-84547362592712243462013-06-21T16:13:00.003-07:002014-05-13T18:45:32.926-07:00How's the 3D in 'Iron Man 3'?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQcjWC9VjHJmU5Q87jgetH8TR5KfV_yqyrBkDgobgU3qoM2GbxiylTIsCI6Y7Zd6Ex0XeWPtuQjR5K3jxzZdEuQd_dqAnoJYlf35IVSkCf_P2tyCSvvgo_-lQ8wCUA0o8NQU2zkPmE2Ac/s1600/IRON+MAN+3+3D+FALLING+POSTER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQcjWC9VjHJmU5Q87jgetH8TR5KfV_yqyrBkDgobgU3qoM2GbxiylTIsCI6Y7Zd6Ex0XeWPtuQjR5K3jxzZdEuQd_dqAnoJYlf35IVSkCf_P2tyCSvvgo_-lQ8wCUA0o8NQU2zkPmE2Ac/s320/IRON+MAN+3+3D+FALLING+POSTER.jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Background</h3>
Obviously the third film in the series, <i>Iron Man 3 </i>is actually the fifth time we've seen Robert Downey Jr. play the role of Tony Stark. It's also <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Kiss_Bang_Bang" target="_blank"><b>the second time</b></a> he's collaborated with the film's director, Shane Black. For the latest Stark instalment, the pair have conspired to chop the titular hero's ego down to size, perhaps hoping to provide a more likeable character arc than what <i>Iron Man 2</i> offered us. We'll discuss plot points later though, for now, let's have a look at the third film's usage of 3D! How was it? Should you see it in 2D or 3D? We'll investigate below in our usual template-driven style, in the hopes you'll be able to make an informed movie-going decision.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Post-Converted 3D</h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rINBLXSMpa2TLJ5OzAL8p00_DD1CLpSUiT83yyulFNcg_JRVCuIBuDeSL3a9QgL4j0MQpCESlkVzcL7uJu5CIdWRG6Fh74JpXEhlzCcWXjKEWsMfGxQKV_i1ZIgxGTm-fLKlnbrqPw8/s1600/gwyneth+in+iron+man+3d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rINBLXSMpa2TLJ5OzAL8p00_DD1CLpSUiT83yyulFNcg_JRVCuIBuDeSL3a9QgL4j0MQpCESlkVzcL7uJu5CIdWRG6Fh74JpXEhlzCcWXjKEWsMfGxQKV_i1ZIgxGTm-fLKlnbrqPw8/s200/gwyneth+in+iron+man+3d.jpg" height="200" width="140" /></a>Like <i>The Avengers</i> and <i>Thor</i> before it, <i>Iron Man 3</i> was shot digitally, and post-converted into 3D. 3Defence's view of <i>The Avengers</i> was that <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/05/how-good-is-3d-in-avengers.html" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">the film greatly benefited</a><b> </b>from an extra dimension, and the <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/05/10-million-americans-watched-3d-film.html" target="_blank"><b>movie-going public appeared to agree</b></a>. Have you ever wondered why Disney & Marvel have been so gung-ho to post-convert their films to 3D? Maybe it's because they're hiring directors like Kenneth Branagh, Joss Whedon; veterans, but rusty or inexperienced when it comes to helming A-list, tent-pole, action blockbusters. In Shane Black's case, his sophomore directing gig is also the follow-up to the third biggest film ever! To make the film's production relatively smooth-sailing, we can understand why you'd want to film in 2D. The firm StereoD was brought in to pick up the slack.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhtpxzLsntWvcTbqydqtspW7SA6Dbal05LVfP0I2UKti7dhBC8blaWo1b7gsI0xbC4WZ-udYvGh52Xa0xzhG0ZoiI5XM1p9I2hTdHxFTelVcQ93UKbPD3N0oEzpUsyuNoeAVE6WBeHLsg/s1600/StereoD+3D+firm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhtpxzLsntWvcTbqydqtspW7SA6Dbal05LVfP0I2UKti7dhBC8blaWo1b7gsI0xbC4WZ-udYvGh52Xa0xzhG0ZoiI5XM1p9I2hTdHxFTelVcQ93UKbPD3N0oEzpUsyuNoeAVE6WBeHLsg/s320/StereoD+3D+firm.jpg" height="139" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://www.stereodllc.com/" target="_blank"><b>StereoD</b></a> are quickly carving out a reputation as the 'benchmark' firm when it comes to post-conversion. They've handled other well-respected conversions like the ones from <i>The Avengers</i> and <i>Titanic 3D, </i>and they no doubt put in a lot of effort to the work done for <i>Iron Man 3</i>. We've had uncharacteristically bad luck when it comes to researching the "hows" and "whys" the production took for the 3D used, so we're left to suppose a bit of conjecture here. Perhaps Mavel/Disney still think that post-conversion is frowned upon by audiences, and were loathe to reveal how the 3D was added afterwards? Is it possible they're burying news of post-conversions? That's definitely speculation, but the total radio silence on this conversion rang alarm bells for us.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Does the 3D 'pop'?</h3>
As is becoming a theme for superhero films, 'noise elements' like dust, snow, debris and sparks happily fly out of the screen. There's a lot of holographic images that buzz around the screen too. Characters don't break this 'fifth wall' of the screen though, they stay safely behind it. The mantra in Hollywood continues to be "<a href="http://variety.com/2013/digital/features/summerfx-3d-conversion-1200485853/" target="_blank"><b>classy</b></a>" instead of using overt 3D effects on actors.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTPzpR-DHbbxc9WaJS2bDcMnSuh3Hwy0YTf5M1LjQ0PwR4djlKvse_NUU0Ed0g54L_cB5BU8AWTby9sjibaVrwHfTQ3hbKIQTv8V9DEY-f8sKGWtfstcW99WuTEn14s9CpI3tDzb8e9ig/s1600/brain+hologram+in+iron+man+3+3d+with+guy+pearce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTPzpR-DHbbxc9WaJS2bDcMnSuh3Hwy0YTf5M1LjQ0PwR4djlKvse_NUU0Ed0g54L_cB5BU8AWTby9sjibaVrwHfTQ3hbKIQTv8V9DEY-f8sKGWtfstcW99WuTEn14s9CpI3tDzb8e9ig/s320/brain+hologram+in+iron+man+3+3d+with+guy+pearce.jpg" height="131" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If I had a dollar for every comic franchise to use holographic 3D effects...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h3><a id ="Depth">
How's the depth of the 3D?</a></h3>
<i>Iron Man 3</i> shines when it comes to depth. By far the most effective 3D sequence is a prolonged aerial free-fall, where Stark attempts to save several people plummeting to earth. Thanks to the stunning usage of stereo depth employed, we're constantly aware of how fast the ground is approaching. This sense of impending doom heightens (pun intended) the tension of the scene significantly, and will likely give viewers a real sense of vertigo. It probably helps that, for this scene at least, <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/iron-man-3-red-bull-452228" target="_blank"><b>the crew filmed dozens of real-life skydiving jumps</b></a> to capture the kinetic feeling of a free-fall. The 3D effects added in post-production enhance the feelings of immediacy for the viewer, so we'd consider them worthwhile and consistent with the story being told. It's a stunning piece of action, and fantastic 3D cinema.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyOlZip0MT1DW8eAnf9FA0H4YGVM8HNciOAY8NecVx21RaycT0XvipsUEesZkPE4FcC_lCwdOlfuyQ53CX-4XvmKwvantmEhzsumfTUw2__gc_L-OAl9OLM5mwKlsNM_cKj4I4Qe4X7tM/s1600/iron+man+3+skydiving+scene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyOlZip0MT1DW8eAnf9FA0H4YGVM8HNciOAY8NecVx21RaycT0XvipsUEesZkPE4FcC_lCwdOlfuyQ53CX-4XvmKwvantmEhzsumfTUw2__gc_L-OAl9OLM5mwKlsNM_cKj4I4Qe4X7tM/s320/iron+man+3+skydiving+scene.jpg" height="135" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<h3>
Did it make sense to add 3D to Iron Man 3?</h3>
Superheroes and 3D generally seem a natural fit. <i>Iron Man 3</i> is no <i><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.co.nz/2013/06/hows-3d-in-man-of-steel.html" target="_blank"><b>Man Of Steel</b></a></i> though. Take a look at the posters: they're set at nightfall, grimly lit and generally projecting more darkness than we'd like from a 3D film. Indeed, most of the pivotal action scenes are set at night or indoors, in dull offices and neutral corridors. The film's villain, The Mandarin, is lit and dressed like an Al Qaeda-issued video: shot in a cave, wearing camouflaged clothing - hardly the type of footage we'd normally advocate for in a 3D film. Even Iron Man's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man%27s_armor" target="_blank"><b>various Mark suits</b></a> have had their colour vibrancy dialled down, and that's before 3D glasses added another 'muting' layer! The final image is muddy and, it would seem, poorly conceived for the 3D medium.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcyvlA1XHsJzsD3WK4i5Y_uLGmgKkh9DWSwg62j8H_rL4hre_6AL1rkDvIEcIh_NG9ELOSsiEOfW8alLXoJgaXYC0h3v8zukbijGgzuFJUYkC-4Fmhe42WCiDdaUKo3EycScYLB-BnU0/s1600/the+mandarin+in+iron+man+3d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcyvlA1XHsJzsD3WK4i5Y_uLGmgKkh9DWSwg62j8H_rL4hre_6AL1rkDvIEcIh_NG9ELOSsiEOfW8alLXoJgaXYC0h3v8zukbijGgzuFJUYkC-4Fmhe42WCiDdaUKo3EycScYLB-BnU0/s320/the+mandarin+in+iron+man+3d.jpg" height="136" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dimly lit, boring background, neutral colours... not a good 3D mix</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
The film itself</h3>
Make no mistake about it: <i>Iron Man 3 </i>is a muddled mess. The first two acts are great fun, while the third act is a hastened and bombastic explosion of nonsense. The stakes are significantly lowered by the reveal that Stark owns autonomous suits that can do his bidding. This has the same effect that the droid army did in the <i>Star Wars</i> prequels - we have no emotional investment in the robots, so our engagement is significantly dialled back. To some extent, Marvel has been guilty of this for some time. They've regularly provided literal cannon fodder for their heroes and villains to dispatch without requiring a harsher rating. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitauri" target="_blank"><b>Chitauri</b></a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giants_(Marvel_Comics)" target="_blank"><b>Frost Giants</b></a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HYDRA" target="_blank">HYDRA</a> agents, and now the spare suits of Tony Stark... all relatively faceless fodder for CGI-laden battles.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9NtYKgiB3CD98BjJGbvVmcvAW9HaxasOU31MYSZRip5VicVWrhnBPz5id56g-9wNFkGsr9VgNLKESn_QYfODAOR5W-WlBxXS4OBnjZ00f7JtSm3EMhSYGslIiBY1v92ThQTznbE2GaA/s1600/multiple+iron+man+3+suits.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9NtYKgiB3CD98BjJGbvVmcvAW9HaxasOU31MYSZRip5VicVWrhnBPz5id56g-9wNFkGsr9VgNLKESn_QYfODAOR5W-WlBxXS4OBnjZ00f7JtSm3EMhSYGslIiBY1v92ThQTznbE2GaA/s320/multiple+iron+man+3+suits.png" height="131" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have no idea what's going on here, even in 2D</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
If we had to archive one version, should we save the 2D or the 3D?</h3>
In this case, we're going to side with the 2D. With glasses on, you'll spend much of the last act wondering what the hell is going on. There's so many dark-coloured suits flying around, at night-time, for some reason in a shipyard, that your eyes will struggle to decipher meaning from the noise. Save some money and save your eyes the effort.Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-26719530517529523842013-06-15T12:10:00.000-07:002013-06-27T06:10:00.605-07:00How's the 3D in 'Man Of Steel'?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyRjT6XkPaUIzAtYiLtT28OtsX72rlP1Hl0cGh-Jq1Q_H8pW29C3vE77n3lBpCZgiA6SDoEF7AjsHDm01zWdze5Irac5PYlZMpCHVtlcVVv0hKtBBXYw94VR2GB2Q_s97WSEdykZDAAeA/s1600/Man-Of-Steel-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" href="http://blog.mondotees.com/2013/06/11/man-of-steel-timed-edition/" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyRjT6XkPaUIzAtYiLtT28OtsX72rlP1Hl0cGh-Jq1Q_H8pW29C3vE77n3lBpCZgiA6SDoEF7AjsHDm01zWdze5Irac5PYlZMpCHVtlcVVv0hKtBBXYw94VR2GB2Q_s97WSEdykZDAAeA/s320/Man-Of-Steel-Poster.jpg" title="Mondo's poster is available here - http://blog.mondotees.com/2013/06/11/man-of-steel-timed-edition/" width="213" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Background:</h3>
To date, despite owning DC Comics' entire catalogue of superheroes, Warner Brothers have taken a small-scale - or at least self-contained - approach to their big-screen adaptations. Certainly their DC films have not been as far-reaching or synergistic as anything from Disney's Marvel-verse. Warners, seeing Marvel's successes - and perhaps fearing a time when <i>The Hobbit</i> can't be split into any further films - promptly commissioned another blockbuster series from Christopher Nolan and his <i>Dark Knight</i> team. Taking on the <i>Man Of Steel </i>himself<i> </i>is no small challenge<i>.</i> The brief Warners likely gave was that the film needed to broadly introduce aliens to Earth, show Superman punching bad guys, and earn big <i>Dark Knight</i>-sized blockbuster grosses. Some challenge! Nolan promptly recruited <i>300</i> and <i>Watchmen</i> "<a href="http://www.wired.com/underwire/2008/12/is-watchmen-dir/" target="_blank"><b>visionary</b></a>" director Zack Snyder to helm the mayhem. The resulting film was released yesterday and 3Defence was there in a packed auditorium on opening night. How'd they do? How was <i>Man Of Steel</i>'s 3D? Should you see it in 3D or 2D? Read on for the answer!<br />
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<h3>
Post-Converted 3D:</h3>
Here's the thing with a tent-pole superhero film these days; unless it's directed by the 3D-averse Christopher Nolan, you'd best believe it will be released in 3D somehow. That's one cinematic trend you can literally bank on for the next few years, especially after the <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/05/10-million-americans-watched-3d-film.html" target="_blank"><b>3D-grosses were tallied up for <i>The Avengers</i></b></a>. Why then is <i>Man Of Steel - </i>from Nolan himself - being released with a post-converted 3D option? If they had to release the film in 3D at all, you'd think the picky creative team would've preferred to go 'all in' with a native-3D shoot, right?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-SvPlyPXF05eY-L5-QSnR4DALdGs3FjH5CcfxNifRJCLvRyjGi5pjXDZA-tYTNRaHYRDP7usIqlqJL3ic58kKCOiX0nOI0xNleJeib4Qh6hBmFWnsegLs_OXEwyJeeK4HG3CIDZxOvT8/s1600/zack+snyder+on+set+of+Man+Of+Steel+3D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-SvPlyPXF05eY-L5-QSnR4DALdGs3FjH5CcfxNifRJCLvRyjGi5pjXDZA-tYTNRaHYRDP7usIqlqJL3ic58kKCOiX0nOI0xNleJeib4Qh6hBmFWnsegLs_OXEwyJeeK4HG3CIDZxOvT8/s320/zack+snyder+on+set+of+Man+Of+Steel+3D.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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In fact, they originally wanted to do just that. In an <a href="http://collider.com/zack-snyder-man-of-steel-interview/" target="_blank"><b>interview with Collider</b></a> Snyder said, "we spent quite a while talking about shooting the movie in [native] 3D and we tested a bunch of rigs. I said, 'Look, the movie’s handheld. If you guys can give me a handheld grade that I think is viable, I’m happy to talk about it.' No one could find me a rig." Essentially, the shoot could take much longer than planned, or Snyder would have to film on a tripod; a total change of the visual language he needed for this fast-paced film. It's an interesting conundrum, that we've not heard articulated by other A-list directors yet. So, <i>Man Of Steel</i> is post-converted into 3D because native-3D rigs weren't ready yet to accommodate this particular director's pace. Adding to the intrigue, <a href="http://www.flicks.co.nz/blog/amazing-interviews/interview-zach-snyder-director-of-man-of-steel/" target="_blank"><b>Snyder eventually shot on film</b></a> - remember 35mm?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1dPH4x0xXqylh9w0Dy5hhSbuIIsDDKkcRVAnn_tDmH02hpL9PPAXJIMVF4EPpzxFtVychMWrww6EHRyrTTY-9-Sg8iFh99zGa-c3LyF4mc-zCQ2sNjUo99NykB8QzhiqpO49J2I6ics/s1600/man+of+steel+fast+paced+3d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1dPH4x0xXqylh9w0Dy5hhSbuIIsDDKkcRVAnn_tDmH02hpL9PPAXJIMVF4EPpzxFtVychMWrww6EHRyrTTY-9-Sg8iFh99zGa-c3LyF4mc-zCQ2sNjUo99NykB8QzhiqpO49J2I6ics/s320/man+of+steel+fast+paced+3d.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Does the 3D pop?</h3>
<div>
If anything comes beyond the confides of the screen in <i>Man Of Steel</i>, it's a few 'noise' elements; stuff like debris, sparks, steam and flames. Interestingly, we didn't notice the effect's absence while watching the film. Historically, we've criticised some superhero films (looking at you <i><a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2012/07/amazing-spider-man-how-good-is-its-3d.html" target="_blank"><b>The Amazing Spider-Man</b></a></i>) for being too timid with their usage of 3D's most outrageous effect. <i>Man Of Steel </i>though is no ordinary superhero film; it's borderline apocalyptic in tone. With the fate of multiple worlds at stake, and villains who can move at supersonic speeds, we're actually appreciative there's a clearly defined boundary between 'the film' and 'the audience'. The action on offer is laden with such an overwhelming surplus of visual information <i>too much immersion</i> would have been a bad thing!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoBsB5w7EZTh2cW8WrueBMfwb4it-ykCf3gaJ9WIjCFRt-pnDldN3Ss5wObr7LwlEVOOTyPySVNB7GBo4eGlFfz7u6W_sHvj9te534JFt3yPdi5qqmoA1Np0V96vNNWzGzTbFl16xo8kw/s1600/apocalyptic+action+in+man+of+steel+3d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoBsB5w7EZTh2cW8WrueBMfwb4it-ykCf3gaJ9WIjCFRt-pnDldN3Ss5wObr7LwlEVOOTyPySVNB7GBo4eGlFfz7u6W_sHvj9te534JFt3yPdi5qqmoA1Np0V96vNNWzGzTbFl16xo8kw/s320/apocalyptic+action+in+man+of+steel+3d.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3>
How's the depth of the 3D?</h3>
<div>
Stunning. The depth effects used on <i>Man Of Steel</i> work on two levels (pun intended). On the one hand, the depth of the background adds visual clarity to the viewer. Because of the way the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Parallax.gif" target="_blank"><b>parallax effects</b></a> are used, we're able to see how insanely fast Superman is moving, and how that might contrast to the speed of his adversaries. On the other hand, and in open contradiction to our earlier point, the depth employed adds a ton of chaos to the action. This chaos is consistent with the film's plot though and, we would argue, assists the audience's comprehension of the ridiculously high-stakes at play throughout the movie. You'll see vistas stretch into the distant horizon, and then be blasted to the limits of that horizon in seconds, before being catapulted into space, and then back down into a suburban diner and then back into the skies again. This is easily the fastest-paced superhero film we've ever seen, and the depth added by the 3D here left us, entirely appropriately, reeling.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7uRHe_5AMy2cHYHMA8pK_69O1cf_JyalowFf53XcFWL3wyxCdZI0ABa4yXblE2f72FPOEJeHvkLnoY40wQ_joZ4GsjlQ4xfDRF1V6YMIZTOVOGFZrlxyPEuQ-x3wSJgeHDGufEqZBqCQ/s1600/man+of+steel+building-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7uRHe_5AMy2cHYHMA8pK_69O1cf_JyalowFf53XcFWL3wyxCdZI0ABa4yXblE2f72FPOEJeHvkLnoY40wQ_joZ4GsjlQ4xfDRF1V6YMIZTOVOGFZrlxyPEuQ-x3wSJgeHDGufEqZBqCQ/s320/man+of+steel+building-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Did it make sense to add 3D to <i>Man Of Steel</i>?</h3>
<div>
Superman, brightly-coloured boy scout that he is, is a natural hero to cast in a 3D film. He's certainly not the brooding and nocturnal type that Batman is. So, on the surface, <i>Man Of Steel</i>'s a dictionary-definition of a "3D appropriate" movie. However... 3Defence had a concern: all that motion-blur, and that aforementioned handheld camera. 3D films have yet to overcome the historic associations with nausea and headaches that were often caused by an unsteady stereoscopic image. Seemingly aware of this, the post-conversion team dial back the 3D effects frequently, to give your eyes a 'breather' in the more unruly scenes. There are broad stretches where you could take your glasses off without missing anything. This is one of the most focused and sensitive conversions we've ever seen, precisely because the handheld camera work was not an issue at all. The team involved has proven 3D projection is ready for any visual challenge.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGx07CQpjAAC6cdjGmSWLID2VrZB2mXHFY58dl0dcPu01FzSbudgP7QJUNsrJaZly6bdrCui7-ilJIFziCrD4DPP7CtTMVTqh0DLj9Uo-8nWJQdy-aOE49os_0iDHf3Ubrl1LDoxwu8Ok/s1600/man+of+steel+realD+3D+glasses.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGx07CQpjAAC6cdjGmSWLID2VrZB2mXHFY58dl0dcPu01FzSbudgP7QJUNsrJaZly6bdrCui7-ilJIFziCrD4DPP7CtTMVTqh0DLj9Uo-8nWJQdy-aOE49os_0iDHf3Ubrl1LDoxwu8Ok/s400/man+of+steel+realD+3D+glasses.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<h3>
If we had to archive one version, should we save the 3D or the 2D?</h3>
<div>
From our perspective, <i>Man Of Steel</i>'s 3D version is the definitive version. It's refreshing to say that too, because we've <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/04/hows-3d-in-jurassic-park-3d.html" target="_blank"><b>favoured the 2D version</b></a> in several <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/04/hows-3d-in-oz-great-and-powerful.html" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">recent 3D films</a> (so don't be accusing of bias, yo). <i>Man Of Steel</i> is a ground-breaking step forward for the movie business, seemingly decades ahead of 2005's staid and plodding <i>Superman Returns. </i>The flight scenes, with Superman soaring over Africa and the Arctic, are superbly executed and are light-years beyond anything offered from Marvel's stable. The fact the post-conversion team handled the handheld camera work so well is a giant evolutionary step forward for the 3D effects industry, and this arguably makes the film a landmark work in its own right. If you watch <i>Man Of Steel</i> in 2D, you're missing out on a chance to see history in the making.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXtKIYLK10v7qcL36dXGJ1yoz96mPWgZIFat1ouXwMSpyScGw1idLbBbUMp7hDOBsQ8un9OnHUVcwYvr_SkhwTZl7O6X0hvzTopIKzfoBlgF95VUCte_zR9ett_kHwyLlVuXukTYxWdQ/s1600/man+of+steel+3d+in+smallville.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXtKIYLK10v7qcL36dXGJ1yoz96mPWgZIFat1ouXwMSpyScGw1idLbBbUMp7hDOBsQ8un9OnHUVcwYvr_SkhwTZl7O6X0hvzTopIKzfoBlgF95VUCte_zR9ett_kHwyLlVuXukTYxWdQ/s320/man+of+steel+3d+in+smallville.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8211910724113644241" name="TheFilmItself">
The film itself</a></h3>
<div>
There's a funny critical reaction to this movie. The sort of reaction that is common when two generations are divided. If you grew up reading Silver Age Superman comics, or if your only memory of the hero is the Christopher Reeve movies, then you're going to be surprised by the angry <i>Man Of Steel </i>offered here<i>. </i>If you read the comics from the 80s onwards though, you know Supes is capable of being a Big-Brother-esque government lackie, or a vengeful God ready to wreak havoc if it suits his dogmatic needs. Hell, he even <a href="http://comicsalliance.com/superman-renounces-us-citizenship/" target="_blank"><b>surrendered his American citizenship recently</b></a>; he's not exactly the jingoistic patriot he once was. <i>Man Of Steel </i>embraces this newer, more nuanced, version of DC Comics' flagship character. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio2zddPW42UYD0mwCOeoCzpfU2yv4JEL7FSRjEZcUreungvdbtxjgX6y4ZwuHOrIrkUXO06GF1y59Aoe9RVqgAcSOh1BBpdpOu5yR15COFP0wJublGPr5jz04bWeKSTvTZHYHntWNmyWg/s1600/superman+as+big+brother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio2zddPW42UYD0mwCOeoCzpfU2yv4JEL7FSRjEZcUreungvdbtxjgX6y4ZwuHOrIrkUXO06GF1y59Aoe9RVqgAcSOh1BBpdpOu5yR15COFP0wJublGPr5jz04bWeKSTvTZHYHntWNmyWg/s400/superman+as+big+brother.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div>
This isn't a mid-20th Century version of a superhero film. This is a film that fully embraces the genre's Roman and Greek roots: when Gods and Earth mix, the results can be disastrous. The collateral damage is enormous. We at 3Defence have clamoured for years to see the full extent of Superman's powers on-screen and, for better or worse, Zack Snyder has delivered that with <i>Man Of Steel</i>. This is a case where fans should be careful what they wish for though, because the resulting film is essentially a chaotically paced and very long fight scene. There's not much room for character development. So, if you're pining for a world-leading Christopher Reeve-styled Superman, you'll be bitterly disappointed by the worldly and weary version Snyder has cooked up for you. Even if that's your take on the film though, you might forgive <i>Man Of Steel</i>'s flaws, given its absurdly gigantic scope and ambition.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsH3VdjSsZJR3fiJqmYylmQZhQbM3hSqa8ngzyvt8YMWdhFknHHCyF4koR-AtKR6Py138h_aS62Kbhmacd1bOHp9vXg65A5URaRG7wosast2TjHhDMtc0ku95ItkQK3CcAxlrMsSAhdkU/s1440/man+of+steel+3d+explosion.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsH3VdjSsZJR3fiJqmYylmQZhQbM3hSqa8ngzyvt8YMWdhFknHHCyF4koR-AtKR6Py138h_aS62Kbhmacd1bOHp9vXg65A5URaRG7wosast2TjHhDMtc0ku95ItkQK3CcAxlrMsSAhdkU/s320/man+of+steel+3d+explosion.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Looked at as a late-comer to the big-screen comic-book adaptation game, <i>Man Of Steel </i>could be described as a mash-up. It combines <i>Batman Begins</i>' franchise foundations, <i>Iron Man</i>'s handheld effects<i> </i>and <i>Thor</i>'s intergalactic derring-do. Cynics might go further, saying <i>Man Of Steel</i> feels like the dregs of those films, swilled together in a putrid and overblown mess. Our opinion though? <i>Man Of Steel</i> wildly exceeds the type of fight-scenes any child has ever dreamed up while clutching a Superman figurine. The film treats its modern comic-book fans with respect, and forces a different era of Superman fans to come to terms with a God who is capable of vast collateral damage if you get in his way. <i>Man Of Steel</i> delivers a full-on bombast unlike any other film ever made and, given the titular character's super-sized abilities, that seems entirely appropriate.</div>
Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-16267953144656639932013-06-11T10:37:00.002-07:002013-06-11T10:37:30.195-07:00New trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of SmaugToday Warner Brothers released the first trailer for their upcoming epic <i>The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug</i>. It's filled with dramatic wide-angle shots and sword-bearing creatures leaping towards the camera. Even when viewed on YouTube, the footage looks devoid of motion-blur, very much like the 48fps HFR version will in theatres. Check out <a href="http://youtu.be/fnaojlfdUbs" target="_blank"><b>the trailer</b></a> below:<br />
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What do you make of the trailer? Are you excited to see an explosion of butterflies in 3D, or a waterfall scene at twice the frame rate of any waterfalls from the original trilogy? You'll be able to see the trailer in 24fps 3D this Friday, as it's likely attached to most <i>Man Of Steel 3D</i> prints.Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-72485779284044694552013-05-18T11:05:00.003-07:002013-06-17T07:56:05.286-07:00Man Of Steel 3D - Behind The Scenes<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>UPDATE - we've now <a href="http://3defence.blogspot.com/2013/06/hows-3d-in-man-of-steel.html" target="_blank"><b>reviewed Man Of Steel's post-converted 3D</b></a>.</i><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rtcEtDDqvu8" width="100%"></iframe>In the lead-up to June 14th, we're getting more and more footage released for the upcoming film, <i>Man Of Steel</i>. The Superman flick is being post-converted into 3D (which <a href="http://screenrant.com/christopher-nolan-imax-3d-cgi-mlee-164945/" target="_blank"><b>we can't imagine producer Christopher Nolan</b></a> is very happy about). Perhaps proving how forgettable <i>Superman Returns</i> was, many news agencies and bloggers have incorrectly reported that <i>Man Of Steel</i> is the caped boy scout's first 3D outing. It's fair to say that <i>Steel</i>'s director, Zac Snyder, is wary of <i>Returns</i>' luke-warm reception. The 3D footage used in that film was intermittent, with long periods of time passing in 2D. Snyder has upped the stakes <a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/11/07/man-of-steel-will-be-released-in-3d" target="_blank"><b>by saying</b></a>, "anticipating how audiences today embrace 3D, we designed and photographed the movie in a way that would allow <i>Man of Steel</i> to captivate those movie goers." Indeed, <i>Man Of Steel</i> is actually Zac Snyder's second 3D film; the first being the atrociously-titled <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_the_Guardians:_The_Owls_of_Ga'Hoole" target="_blank"><b>Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole</b></a></i>. That movie certainly had its 'visual moments', with Snyder employing fantastic depth in some of its flying scenes. <i>Steel</i> looks like it will build on his work in that area, and some of the footage we've viewed in theatres looks absolutely stunning. </div>
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So, what do you make of the footage being released of the new superhero epic? Will it improve on<i> Ga'Hoole</i> and <i>Returns</i>' 3D?</div>
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Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-30442117892352523242013-05-01T08:08:00.000-07:002013-05-02T09:38:39.514-07:00Steven Soderbergh's 'State Of Cinema' Address<br />
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Last weekend, at the<b> <a href="http://festival.sffs.org/" target="_blank">San Francisco International Film Festival</a></b>, Steven Soderbergh delivered a<i> tour de force</i> speech that aptly sums up the Hollywood movie industry in 2013. He covers box-office grosses, theatre admissions, marketing strategies, numbers of films released per year, insider stories, and his own thoughts on how to improve 'the studio system'. While he doesn't specifically address 3D film, he does infer strongly that studios are spending more, on fewer films, to earn more money. How does this have anything to do with 3D? Well, one can see this logic in play with the release pattern of 3D films: while there are fewer films per year being greenlit with a budget of $10 million, there are more 'tent-pole' releases having $10 million <i>added</i> to their already-massive budgets to convert or shoot the blockbuster in 3D. We'll be covering some of this ground next week in a three part special that asks "is 3D still a fad?" but for now you can watch (or <a href="http://www.deadline.com/2013/04/steven-soderbergh-state-of-cinema-address/" target="_blank"><b>read the transcription</b></a>) the highly entertaining Soderbergh deliver his thoughts:<br />
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Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com0New York, NY, USA40.7143528 -74.005973140.3291728 -74.65142010000001 41.0995328 -73.3605261tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211910724113644241.post-21130595115122773922013-04-26T13:11:00.000-07:002013-04-26T17:40:57.275-07:00How's the 3D in 'Jurassic Park 3D'?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Background:</h3>
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You know the story of <i>Jurassic Park</i>'s<i> </i>1993 release. It was "An Adventure 65 Million Years In The Making." It busted all blocks there were to be busted; it claimed the title of #1 Highest Grossing Film of All Time (until <i>Titanic</i> came along); it seared words like "CGI" and "Digital Sound" into the public consciousness; it inspired two sequels and then... never really got old. Two decades on, the effects in <i>Jurassic Park</i> are still held as a benchmark by many. Either the experience of watching it was so seminal for a generation of blown-away moviegoers, or - shockingly - the film has aged like a fine wine and improved with time. Universal is celebrating the film's 20th birthday (we feel old just typing that) with a 3D re-release. Audiences are slowly warying of these 3D retrospectives, but <i>Jurassic Park 3D'</i>s launch looks to have reversed a <b><a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/showdowns/chart/?id=liveaction3dre.htm" target="_blank">downward trend in re-release box-office grosses</a></b>. Perhaps that's because <i>Jurassic Park </i>is best seen with friends, or maybe, people of all generations just really wanted to see big-ass dinosaurs romping and stomping over Isla Nublar on the big screen one more time. Let's have a look at how its 3D turned out.</div>
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Post-Converted 3D:</h3>
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Steven Spielberg, and his cinematographer <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Cundey" target="_blank">Dean Cundey</a>,</b> originally shot <i>Jurassic Park</i> on 35mm film, on location in Hawaii. While most audiences remember <i>Jurassic Park</i> as the true dawn of CGI effects, in truth there are only a few shots in the movie that feature computer animated dinosaurs. The majority of the action was completed using massive animatronic puppets created by Stan Winston Studio. Take a look at <a href="http://youtu.be/jAzQr3Ml0UI" target="_blank"><b>this video created by the team</b></a> who made the Velociraptors if you need convincing! So, while most of the CGI was rendered at a much lower resolution than is standard today, the rest of the in-camera filmed dino-footage still looks as good as it did in 1993. When rain bounces off the T-Rex's nose... that's <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QMu0An-1HY" target="_blank">because that snout was really on set</a>. </b>The size of the dinosaurs no doubt completely terrified the actors who were there with them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDceCQYtIufmS8_H6emhV1TNOEX5hCMbjFYSjFLKeDWMKUPzmzndcoHX8XyiJFr-r3Hl4to4ZdyqQgM50_UlQziRJRb01VeQjJHbe57VjmiBdOg0vIh7wq1EKePjWtaVyhs6lL1IprHWE/s1600/jurassic+park+3d+post+conversion+process+b+roll.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDceCQYtIufmS8_H6emhV1TNOEX5hCMbjFYSjFLKeDWMKUPzmzndcoHX8XyiJFr-r3Hl4to4ZdyqQgM50_UlQziRJRb01VeQjJHbe57VjmiBdOg0vIh7wq1EKePjWtaVyhs6lL1IprHWE/s320/jurassic+park+3d+post+conversion+process+b+roll.png" width="195" /></a>Anyway, long story short, this on-screen realism makes <i>Jurassic Park</i> a reasonable candidate for the post-conversion process. Apparently <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEJ-0rp0fY0#t=0m39s" target="_blank">Spielberg was blown away by the team who converted <i>Titanic</i>'s 3D re-release</a></b> (saying the Cameron film "looked like it had been shot originally in 3D") that he hired the same team to look after <i>Jurassic Park</i>'s conversion. Word on the street is that Spielberg's supervision of the process lasted more than a year, and the conversion cost somewhere around $10 million to pull off. Apparently <a href="http://www.aintitcool.com/node/62086" target="_blank"><b>the conversion was 'manipulated' slightly</b></a>, to include elements that were added especially for this version of the film (those who've seen <i>ET</i>'s<i> 20th Anniversary Edition</i> might not be surprised by this...) stuff like more digital rain in the T-Rex attack scene, to add a more 'native 3D' feeling to certain shots.<br />
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Does the 3D 'pop'?</h3>
Yes, but not as often as you'd expect, and rarely very far beyond the confines of the screen. Mostly these moments are jump-scares - the famous one where a 'raptor leaps upwards at our heroes stands out - but the best shots are ones where dinosaur features like a tail or a jaw are extended just enough to make you appreciate the enormity of these creatures.<br />
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How's the depth of the 3D?</h3>
Things start to go off-the-rails with<i> Jurassic Park</i>'s conversion when we start looking at its emulation of depth. Imagine a shot filled with ferns, where a few are digitally brought further forwards than their peers. This is an eminently reasonable thing to do if you need to create the illusion of 'depth' from a 2D image. Unfortunately for <i>Jurassic Park</i>, this sort of trick seems to back-fire quite a bit: the fern that's been brought forward is grainy and filled with noisy artefacts that betray the illusion. The deep background and the majority of the midground look fine, because they're either at 100% of their size, or they've been shrunk and blurred, but the foreground frequently appears detached from the rest of the image. If you can get over the harshness of the film grain though, you'll definitely enjoy the range of depths offered, particularly in scenes featuring the (apparently free-roaming) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachiosaurus" target="_blank"><b>Brachiosaurs</b></a>.<br />
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<b>Did it make sense to add 3D to <i>Jurassic Park</i>?</b><br />
The answer to that question is a bit mixed. You have to look at three factors here: audience perception, commercial necessity, and then - more boringly - the perspective of keen stereographic fanboys like ourselves at 3Defence. Let's start with the audience pereception. Anecdotally, most people consider these dinosaurs the best looking ones ever put to film, and everyone wants to see gigantic dinosaurs eating people... right? Seeing them in 3D is a bonus, if it further helps sell the illusion these creatures are real.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsuY8YCD2hlcCeyNtn9OvbXcaGL5sgdppxhJbdjiRuLP3TtTtijnByOKVsuXLyExTk6c9By9FfZ2SxxSTPd9V166vTTFMLwVu1QP8U2F4HBc0CbV0PMFVIhS1amuZ6kKqUFm7jTPfpiBA/s1600/stan+winston+on+set+jurassic+par.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsuY8YCD2hlcCeyNtn9OvbXcaGL5sgdppxhJbdjiRuLP3TtTtijnByOKVsuXLyExTk6c9By9FfZ2SxxSTPd9V166vTTFMLwVu1QP8U2F4HBc0CbV0PMFVIhS1amuZ6kKqUFm7jTPfpiBA/s200/stan+winston+on+set+jurassic+par.jpg" width="200" /></a>Looked at purely commercially though... next year, for better or worse, we get to see <i>Jurassic Park 4</i>. This re-release was likely motivated by a need to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1EKdiUuoEg#t=1m36s" target="_blank"><b>conjure up 'brand awareness'</b></a> and 'relevancy' again. For all we know, the $10 million conversion costs were attributed to the marketing budget of <i>JP4</i>, particularly because it helps put that sequel on surer footing. There's no word yet on whether <i>JP4</i> will be in 3D (shooting starts in July, so details in general are hazy) but it's safe to assume it'll have a stereoscopic version of some kind released. In the meantime, these are the best dinosaurs on offer at a multiplex.<br />
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Looked at from a more practical (and geeky) perspective though, 3Defence always had some reservations about this conversion. The main set-pieces don't lend themselves to "the 3D experience" at all. For example, the T-Rex and Dilophaurus attacks occur in dimly lit night-time scenes; the 'raptor attack is largely contained to a dimly lit kitchens, hallways and offices; while the sick triceratops scene has dull looking colours in it throughout. Even the film's producer, <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1EKdiUuoEg#t=1m07s" target="_blank">Kathleen Kennedy, says</a> </b>"so many of the big, iconic, moments are in relatively small spaces." Thinking about it, we'd actually argue <i>The Lost World</i>'s brightly lit, almost harsh, vibrantly coloured palette might have been better suited to 3D projection. We went to this film cautiously optimistic, but we came out convinced our gut instinct was right all along: <i>Jurassic Park </i>was a tough film to get right in 3D, and never really lent itself to the conversion process.<br />
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If we had to archive one version, should we save the 2D or the 3D?</h3>
The appeal of <i>Jurassic Park </i>has always been that it felt like someone somehow made a 'B-Movie' into an 'A-Movie'. Despite its blockbusting reputation, it's actually quite a small film, cobbled together with focused set-pieces <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1EKdiUuoEg#t=1m11s" target="_blank"><b>in small spaces</b></a>, wonderful character actors and a mere $63 million budget. In 2012, 3Defence had the pleasure of watching a 2D digital remaster of <i>Jurassic Park</i> and the film felt more honest, visually. The 2013 version's 3D effects change your perception of the film from being an 'over-performing B-Movie' to one where you come away thinking "that's a pretty strange A-Movie." The 3D layering is done reasonably well, but they sometimes add grain where there shouldn't be, and they darken the image in the few moments of levity and light. Ultimately, this 3D conversion was one we couldn't get behind.<br />
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The film itself</h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_gJoZoLuZG8gvRIjP5RUaccrzIxLF9KLwtyxK4PnwiHl2KMglcwDWavm1UHiU79yUqMqg2AWlzOqU0fv66gD4Ww2IqehzGBnnSRjXcehJPR6i7FeWB9oyWoUYXMP3YILVXF1ZBjwgJdk/s1600/jeff+golblum+in+jurassic+park+3d.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_gJoZoLuZG8gvRIjP5RUaccrzIxLF9KLwtyxK4PnwiHl2KMglcwDWavm1UHiU79yUqMqg2AWlzOqU0fv66gD4Ww2IqehzGBnnSRjXcehJPR6i7FeWB9oyWoUYXMP3YILVXF1ZBjwgJdk/s200/jeff+golblum+in+jurassic+park+3d.jpeg" width="200" /></a>It is that rarity in modern cinema: a blockbuster that has barely aged a day, maybe even improving since its release. That's probably because Spielberg surrounded himself with amazing collaborators: John Williams still at the peak of his powers, Stan Winston's studio literally firing on all cylinders, ILM completely re-writing the rulebook for digital effects, and - of course - Jeff Goldblum in all his glory. <i>Jurassic Park </i>remains a fantastically fun film, whether you view it with glasses on or not. In this case though, we recommend the 2D version, to experience <i>JP </i>in all its uninhibited glory.</div>
Daniel McClellandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07365505463057358772noreply@blogger.com3