A
3-D film or
S3D (
stereoscopic 3D)
film is a motion picture that enhances the
illusionAn optical illusion is characterized by visually perceived images that differ from objective reality. The information gathered by the eye is processed in the brain to give a perception that does not tally with a physical measurement of the stimulus source...
of
depth perceptionDepth perception is the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions and the distance of an object. Depth sensation is the ability to move accurately, or to respond consistently, based on the distances of objects in an environment....
. Derived from
stereoscopicStereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
photography, a regular motion picture camera system is used to record the images as seen from two perspectives (or
computer-generated imageryComputer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
generates the two perspectives in
post-productionPost-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
), and special projection hardware and/or eyewear are used to provide the illusion of depth when viewing the film. 3-D films are not limited to
feature filmIn the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
theatrical releases; television broadcasts and
direct-to-videoDirect-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
films have also incorporated similar methods, primarily for marketing purposes.
3-D films have existed in some form since the 1950s, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion picture industry because of the costly hardware and processes required to produce and display a 3-D film, and the lack of a standardized format for all segments of the entertainment business. Nonetheless, 3-D films were prominently featured in the 1950s in American cinema, and later experienced a worldwide resurgence in the 1980s and '90s driven by
IMAXIMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
high-end theaters and Disney themed-venues. 3-D films became more and more successful throughout the 2000s, culminating in the unprecedented success of 3-D presentations of
Avatar in December 2009 and January 2010.
Techniques
Stereoscopic motion pictures can be produced through a variety of different methods. Over the years the popularity of systems being widely employed in movie theaters has waxed and waned. Though anaglyph (see next section) was sometimes used prior to 1948, during the early "Golden Era" of 3-D cinematography of the 1950s the polarization system was used for every single feature length movie in the United states, and all but one short film. In the 21st century, polarization 3-D systems have continued to dominate the scene, though during the 60s and 70s some classic films which were converted to anaglyph for theaters not equipped for polarization, and were even shown in 3-D on TV. In the years following the mid 80s, some movies were made with short segments in anaglyph 3D. The following are some of the technical details and methodologies employed in some of the more notable 3-D movie systems that have been developed.
Anaglyph
Anaglyph imageAnaglyph images are used to provide a stereoscopic 3D effect, when viewed with glasses where the two lenses are different colors, such as red and cyan. Images are made up of two color layers, superimposed, but offset with respect to each other to produce a depth effect...
s were the earliest method of presenting theatrical 3-D, and the one most commonly associated with
stereoscopyStereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
by the public at large, mostly because of non theatrical 3D media such as comic books and 3D TV broadcasts, where polarization is not practical. They were made popular because of the ease of their production and exhibition. The first anaglyph movie was invented in 1915. Though the earliest theatrical presentations were done with this system, most 3D movies from the 50s and 80s were originally shown polarized.
In an anaglyph, the two images are
superimposedSuperimposed is an Indie Metal band based in Manchester, England. The exact membership of the band is subject to speculation, as the number of members appearing at gigs varies, and their identity is heavily masked...
in an
additive lightAn additive color model involves light emitted directly from a source or illuminant of some sort. The additive reproduction process usually uses red, green and blue light to produce the other colors. Combining one of these additive primary colors with another in equal amounts produces the...
setting through two filters, one red and one cyan. In a
subtractive lightA subtractive color model explains the mixing of paints, dyes, inks, and natural colorants to create a full range of colors, each caused by subtracting some wavelengths of light and reflecting the others...
setting, the two images are printed in the same
complementary colorComplementary colors are pairs of colors that are of “opposite” hue in some color model. The exact hue “complementary” to a given hue depends on the model in question, and perceptually uniform, additive, and subtractive color models, for example, have differing complements for any given color.-...
s on white paper. Glasses with colored filters in each eye separate the appropriate images by canceling the filter color out and rendering the complementary color black.
Anaglyph images are much easier to view than either parallel sighting or crossed eye
stereogramA stereogram is pair of two-dimensional panels depicting the view of a scene or an object from the vantage points of the right and left eyes. Observing the panels superimposed in a stereoscope results in the experience of three-dimensionality by virtue of the fact that object depth is encoded as...
s, although the latter types offer bright and accurate color rendering, particularly in the red component, which is muted, or desaturated with even the best color anaglyphs. A compensating technique, commonly known as Anachrome, uses a slightly more transparent cyan filter in the patented glasses associated with the technique. Process reconfigures the typical anaglyph image to have less
parallaxParallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight, and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. The term is derived from the Greek παράλλαξις , meaning "alteration"...
.
An alternative to the usual red and cyan filter system of anaglyph is
ColorCode 3-D, a patented anaglyph system which was invented in order to present an anaglyph image in conjunction with the NTSC television standard, in which the red channel is often compromised. ColorCode uses the complementary colors of yellow and dark blue on-screen, and the colors of the glasses' lenses are amber and dark blue.
The
anaglyph 3-D system was the earliest system used in theatrical presentations and requires less specialized hardware.
The
polarization 3-D system has been the standard for theatrical presentations since it was used for
Bwana DevilBwana Devil is a 1952 drama based on the true story of the Tsavo maneaters. It was written, directed, and produced by Arch Oboler, and is considered the first color, American 3-D feature. It started the 3-D boom in the U.S. film making industry from 1952 to 1954...
in 1952, though early Imax presentations were done using the eclipse system and in the 60s and 70s classic 3D movies were sometimes converted to anaglyph for special presentations. The polarization system has better color fidelity and less ghosting than the anaglyph system.
In the post-'50s era, anaglyph has been used instead of polarization in feature presentations where only part of the movie is in 3D such as in the 3D segment of
Freddy's Dead: The Final NightmareFreddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare is a 1991 American slasher film. It is the sixthand as the title suggests, intended to be the lastfilm in the series of films featuring Freddy Krueger...
and the 3D segments of
Spy Kids 3D.
Anaglyph is also used in printed materials and in 3D TV broadcasts where polarization is not practical.
3D polarized TVs and other displays only became available from several manufacturers in 2008; these generate polarization on the receiving end.
Polarization systems
To present a stereoscopic motion picture, two images are projected superimposed onto the same screen through different polarizing filters. The viewer wears low-cost eyeglasses which also contain a pair of polarizing filters oriented differently (clockwise/counterclockwise with circular polarization or at 90 degree angles, usually 45 and 135 degrees, with linear polarization). As each filter passes only that light which is similarly polarized and blocks the light polarized differently, each eye sees a different image. This is used to produce a three-dimensional effect by projecting the same scene into both eyes, but depicted from slightly different perspectives. Since no head tracking is involved, the entire audience can view the stereoscopic images at the same time. Additionally, since both lenses have the same color, people with one dominant eye (
amblyopiaAmblyopia, also known as lazy eye, is a disorder of the visual system that is characterized by a vision deficiency in an eye that is otherwise physically normal, or out of proportion to associated structural abnormalities of the eye...
), where one eye is used more, are able to see the 3D effect, previously negated by the separation of the two colors.
In the case of RealD a
circularly polarizingIn electrodynamics, circular polarization of an electromagnetic wave is a polarization in which the electric field of the passing wave does not change strength but only changes direction in a rotary type manner....
liquid crystalLiquid crystals are a state of matter that have properties between those of a conventional liquid and those of a solid crystal. For instance, an LC may flow like a liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a crystal-like way. There are many different types of LC phases, which can be...
filter which can switch polarity 144 times per second is placed in front of the projector lens. Only one projector is needed, as the left and right eye images are displayed alternately.
Sony, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
features a new system called
RealD XLSRealD Cinema is a digital stereoscopic projection technology made and sold by RealD Inc. It is currently the most widely used technology for watching 3-D films in theatres.-Technology:...
, which shows both circular polarized images simultaneously: a single
4KDigital cinema refers to the use of digital technology to distribute and project motion pictures. A movie can be distributed via hard drives, optical disks or satellite and projected using a digital projector instead of a conventional film projector...
projector (4096×2160 resolution) displays both
2KDigital cinema refers to the use of digital technology to distribute and project motion pictures. A movie can be distributed via hard drives, optical disks or satellite and projected using a digital projector instead of a conventional film projector...
images (2048×858 resolution) on top of each other at the same time, a special lens attachment polarizes and projects the images.
Thomson Technicolor has produced a system using a split lens which allows traditional 35mm projectors to be adapted to project in 3D using over/under 35mm film. This is a very cost-effective way to convert a screen as all that is needed is the lens and metallic (silver) screen rather than converting entirely to digital. A metallic screen is necessary for these systems as reflection from non metallic surfaces destroys the polarization of the light.
Polarized stereoscopic pictures have been around since 1936, when
Edwin H. LandEdwin Herbert Land was an American scientist and inventor, best known as the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation. Among other things, he invented inexpensive filters for polarizing light, a practical system of in-camera instant photography, and his retinex theory of color vision...
first applied it to motion pictures. The so called "3-D movie craze" in the years 1952 through 1955 was almost entirely offered in theaters using linear polarizing projection and glasses. Only a minute amount of the total 3D films shown in the period used the
anaglyph color filterAnaglyph images are used to provide a stereoscopic 3D effect, when viewed with glasses where the two lenses are different colors, such as red and cyan. Images are made up of two color layers, superimposed, but offset with respect to each other to produce a depth effect...
method.
Linear polarization was likewise used with consumer level stereo projectors. Polarization was also used during the 3D revival of the 80s.
In the 2000s,
computer animationComputer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
, competition from DVDs and other media, digital projection, and the use of sophisticated IMAX 70mm film projectors, have created an opportunity for a new wave of polarized 3D films.
Eclipse method
With the eclipse method, a mechanical shutter blocks light from each appropriate eye when the converse eye's image is projected on the screen. The projector alternates between left and right images, and opens and closes the shutters in the glasses or viewer in synchronization with the images on the screen. This was the basis of the Teleview system which was used briefly in 1922.
A variation on the eclipse method is used in
LCD shutter glassesLiquid crystal shutter glasses are glasses used in conjunction with a display screen to create the illusion of a three dimensional image, an example of stereoscopy. Each eye's glass contains a liquid crystal layer which has the property of becoming dark when voltage is applied, being otherwise...
. Glasses containing
liquid crystalLiquid crystals are a state of matter that have properties between those of a conventional liquid and those of a solid crystal. For instance, an LC may flow like a liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a crystal-like way. There are many different types of LC phases, which can be...
that will let light through in synchronization with the images on the cinema, TV or computer screen, using the concept of
alternate-frame sequencingAlternate-frame sequencing is a method of showing 3-D film that is used in some venues. It is also used on PC systems to render 3-D games into true 3-D.-Applications in film:...
. This is the method used by nVidia,
XpanD 3DXPAND 3D is a brand name of a system for presenting three-dimensional films in a digital cinema, home theater, video games and other applications. XPAND utilizes active-shutter 3D glasses...
, and earlier
IMAXIMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
systems. A drawback of this method is the need for each person viewing to wear expensive, electronic glasses that must be synchronized with the display system using a wireless signal or attached wire. The shutterglasses are heavier than most polarized glasses though lighter models are no heavier than some sunglasses or deluxe polarized glasses. However these systems do not require a silver screen for projected images.
Interference filter technology
Dolby 3DDolby 3D is a marketing name for a system from Dolby Laboratories, Inc. to show three-dimensional motion pictures in a digital cinema.- Technology :...
uses specific wavelengths of red, green, and blue for the right eye, and different wavelengths of red, green, and blue for the left eye. Eyeglasses which filter out the very specific wavelengths allow the wearer to see a 3D image. This technology eliminates the expensive silver screens required for polarized systems such as
RealDRealD Inc. is the company that develops the RealD Cinema technology, used for projecting films in stereoscopic 3D using circularly polarized light. The company was founded in 2003 by Michael V. Lewis and Joshua Greer. Between 2005 and 2007 the company purchased StereoGraphics Inc...
, which is the most common 3D display system in theaters. It does, however, require much more expensive glasses than the polarized systems. It is also known as
spectral comb filtering or
wavelength multiplex visualization
The recently introduced Panavision 3D system also uses this technology, though with a wider spectrum and more "teeth" to the "comb" (5 for each eye in the Panavision system). Panavision also claim that their glasses are cheaper to manufacture than those used by Dolby.
Pulfrich
The
Pulfrich effectThe Pulfrich effect is a psychophysical percept wherein lateral motion of an object in the field of view is interpreted by the visual cortex as having a depth component, due to a relative difference in signal timings between the two eyes.-Overview:...
is based on the phenomenon of the human eye processing images more slowly when there is less light, as when looking through a dark lens.
Imagine a camera which starts at position X and moves right to position Y as shown by the arrow. If a viewer watches this segment with a dark lens over the left eye, then when the right eye sees the image recorded when the camera is at Y, the left eye will be a few milliseconds behind and will still be seeing the image recorded at X, thus creating the necessary parallax to generate right and left eye views and 3D perception, much the same as when still pictures are generated by shifting a single camera. The intensity of this effect will depend on how fast the camera is moving relative to the distance to the objects; greater speed creates greater parallax. A similar effect can be achieved by using a stationary camera and continuously rotating an otherwise stationary object. If the movement stops, the eye looking through the dark lens (which could be either eye depending on the direction the camera is moving) will "catch up" and the effect will disappear. One advantage of this system is that people not wearing the glasses will see a perfectly normal picture.
Of course, incidental movement of objects will create spurious artifacts, and these incidental effects will be seen as artificial depth not related to actual depth in the scene. Unfortunately, many of the applications of pulfrich involve deliberately causing just this sort of effect and this has given the technique a bad reputation. When the only movement is lateral movement of the camera then the effect is as real as any other form of stereoscopy, but this seldom happens except in highly contrived situations.
Though pulfrich has been used often on TV and in computer games, it is rarely if ever used in theatrical presentations.
Spectral separation
ChromaDepthChromadepth is a patented system from the company Chromatek that produces a stereoscopic effect based upon differences in the diffraction of color through a special prism-like holographic film fitted into glasses...
uses a holographic film in the glasses that creates an effect like a
dispersive prismIn optics, a dispersive prism is a type of optical prism, normally having the shape of a geometrical triangular prism. It is the most widely-known type of optical prism, although perhaps not the most common in actual use. Triangular prisms are used to disperse light, that is, to break light up into...
. This causes redder objects to be perceived as near and bluer objects as farther away.
Lenticular or barrier screens
Lenticular printingLenticular printing is a technology in which a lenticular lens is used to produce images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles...
and parallax barrier technologies involve imposing two (or more) images on the same sheet, in narrow, alternating strips, and using a screen that either blocks one of the two images' strips (in the case of parallax barriers) or uses equally narrow lenses to bend the strips of image and make it appear to fill the entire image (in the case of lenticular prints). To produce the stereostopic effect, the person must be positioned so that one eye sees one of the two images and the other sees the other.
In this method, glasses are not necessary to see the stereoscopic image.
Both images are projected onto a high-gain, corrugated screen which reflects light at acute angles. In order to see the stereoscopic image, the viewer must sit within a very narrow angle that is nearly perpendicular to the screen, limiting the size of the audience. Lenticular was used for theatrical presentation of numerous shorts in Russia from 1940–1948 and in 1954 for the feature length films
Crystal,
Machine 22-12 and
The Pencil on Ice.
Though its use in theatrical presentations has been rather limited, lenticular has been widely used for a variety of novelty items and has even been used in amateur 3D photography.
New systems without glasses
There is increasing emergence of new 3-D viewing systems which do not require the use of special viewing glasses. These systems are referred to as Autostereoscopic displays. They were initially developed by
Sharpis a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products. Headquartered in Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan, Sharp employs more than 55,580 people worldwide as of June 2011. The company was founded in September 1912 and takes its name from one of its founder's first...
. The first Autostereoscopic LCD displays first appeared on the Sharp Actius RD3D notebook and the first LCD monitor was shipped by Sharp in 2004 for the professional market. Both have since been discontinued. The first Autostereoscopic mobile phone was launched by
HitachiHitachi is a multinational corporation specializing in high-technology.Hitachi may also refer to:*Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan*Hitachi province, former province of Japan*Prince Hitachi and Princess Hitachi, members of the Japanese imperial family...
in 2009 in Japan and in 2010 China mobile is to launch its version. Manufacturing trials are being run for TV. The first digital camera to feature an autostereoscopic display was the Fujifilm FinePix REAL 3D W1 released in 2009. The W3 model was released one year later. For the gaming market the first probable commercial application was handheld gaming devices, such as the
Nintendo 3DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software...
. These systems do not yet appear to be applicable to theatrical presentations.
Early patents and tests
The stereoscopic era of motion pictures began in the late 1890s when British film pioneer
William Friese-GreeneWilliam Friese-Greene was a British portrait photographer and prolific inventor. He is principally known as a pioneer in the field of motion pictures and is credited by some as the inventor of cinematography.-Career:William Edward Green was born on 7 September 1855, in Bristol...
filed a
patentA patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
for a 3-D movie process. In his patent, two films were projected side by side on screen. The viewer looked through a stereoscope to converge the two images. Because of the obtrusive mechanics behind this method, theatrical use was not practical.
Frederic Eugene IvesFrederic Eugene Ives was a U.S. inventor, born at Litchfield, Connecticut. In 1874–78 he had charge of the photographic laboratory at Cornell University. He moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where in 1885 he was one of the founding members of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia...
patented his stereo camera rig in 1900. The camera had two lenses coupled together 1 3/4 inches apart.
On June 10, 1915,
Edwin S. PorterEdwin Stanton Porter was an American early film pioneer, most famous as a director with Thomas Edison's company...
and William E. Waddell presented tests to an audience at the Astor Theater in New York City. In red-green
anaglyphAnaglyph images are used to provide a stereoscopic 3D effect, when viewed with glasses where the two lenses are different colors, such as red and cyan. Images are made up of two color layers, superimposed, but offset with respect to each other to produce a depth effect...
, the audience was presented three reels of tests, which included rural scenes, test shots of
Marie DoroMarie Doro was an American stage and film actress of the early silent film era.-Personal life:Marie Doro was born as Marie Katherine Steward in Duncannon, Pennsylvania and began her career as a theater actress under the management of Charles Frohman before progressing to motion pictures in 1915,...
, a segment of John Mason playing a number of passages from
Jim the Penman (a film released by
Famous Players-LaskyFamous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company created on July 19, 1916 from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company -- originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays -- and Jesse L...
that year, but not in 3-D), Oriental dancers, and a reel of footage of
Niagara FallsThe Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
. However, according to
Adolph ZukorAdolph Zukor , born Adolph Cukor, was a film mogul and founder of Paramount Pictures.-Early life:...
in his 1953
autobiographyAn autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
The Public Is Never Wrong: My 50 Years in the Motion Picture Industry, nothing was produced in this process after these tests.
Early systems of stereoscopic filmmaking (pre-1952)
The earliest confirmed 3-D film shown to a paying audience was
The Power of Love, which premiered at the Ambassador Hotel Theater in Los Angeles on . The camera rig was a product of the film's producer, Harry K. Fairall, and
cinematographerA cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Robert F. Elder. It was projected dual-strip in the red/green anaglyph format, making it both the earliest known film that utilized dual strip projection and the earliest known film in which anaglyph glasses were used. Whether Fairall used colored filters on the projection ports or whether he used
tintedFilm tinting is the process of adding color to black-and-white film, usually by means of soaking the film in dye and staining the film emulsion...
prints is unknown. After a preview for exhibitors and press in New York City, the film dropped out of sight, apparently not booked by exhibitors, and is now considered
lostA lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
.
Early in December 1922, William Van Doren Kelley, inventor of the
PrizmaThe Prizma Color system was a technique of color motion picture photography, invented in 1913 by William Van Doren Kelley and Charles Raleigh. Initially, it was a two-color additive color system, similar to its predecessor, Kinemacolor...
color system, cashed in on the growing interest in 3-D films started by Fairall's demonstration and shot footage with a camera system of his own design. Kelley then struck a deal with
Samuel "Roxy" RothafelSamuel Lionel Rothafel, known as "Roxy" was an American theatrical impressario and entrepreneur. He is noted for developing the lavish presentation of silent films in the deluxe movie palace theaters of the 1910s and 1920s.-Biography:Born in Stillwater, Minnesota, Samuel L. Rothafel was a showman...
to premiere the first in his series of "Plasticon" shorts entitled
Movies of the Future at the Rivoli Theater in New York City .
Also in December 1922,
Laurens HammondLaurens Hammond , was an American engineer and inventor. His inventions include, most famously, the Hammond organ, the Hammond Clock, and the world's first polyphonic musical synthesizer, the Novachord.- Youth :...
(later inventor of the
Hammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
) and William F. Cassidy unveiled their
TeleviewTeleview was a process for producing stereoscopic motion pictures, invented in 1922 by Cornell University graduates Laurens Hammond and William F. Cassidy...
system. Teleview was the earliest alternate-frame sequencing form of
film projectionA movie projector is an opto-mechanical device for displaying moving pictures by projecting them on a projection screen. Most of the optical and mechanical elements, except for the illumination and sound devices, are present in movie cameras.-Physiology:...
. Through the use of two interlocked projectors, alternating left/right frames were projected one after another in rapid succession. Synchronized viewers attached to the arm-rests of the seats in the theater open and closed at the same time, and took advantage of the viewer's
persistence of visionPersistence of vision is the phenomenon of the eye by which an afterimage is thought to persist for approximately one twenty-fifth of a second on the retina....
, thereby creating a true stereoscopic image. The only theater known to have installed this system was the Selwyn Theater in New York. Only one show was ever produced for the system, a groups of shorts and the only Teleview feature
The Man From M.A.R.S.The Man from M.A.R.S. is a 1922 silent science fiction film. This film is notable for using the 3-D process called Teleview, similar to today's field sequential 3-D. After its initial release the title was changed to Radio-Mania...
(later re-released as
Radio-Mania) on December 27, 1922 in New York City.
In 1922,
Frederic Eugene IvesFrederic Eugene Ives was a U.S. inventor, born at Litchfield, Connecticut. In 1874–78 he had charge of the photographic laboratory at Cornell University. He moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where in 1885 he was one of the founding members of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia...
and Jacob Leventhal began releasing their first stereoscopic shorts made over a three-year period. The first film entitled,
Plastigrams, which was distributed nationally by
Educational PicturesEducational Pictures was a film distribution company founded in 1919 by Earle Hammons . Educational primarily distributed short subjects, and today is probably best known for its series of 1930s comedies starring Buster Keaton, as well as for a series of one-reel comedies featuring Shirley...
in the red/blue anaglyph format. Ives and Leventhal then went on to produce the following stereoscopic shorts in the "Stereoscopiks Series" for
Pathé FilmsPathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
in 1925:
Zowie (April 10),
Luna-cy! (May 18),
The Run-Away Taxi (December 17) and
Ouch (December 17). On 22 September 1924,
Luna-cy! was re-released in the DeForest
PhonofilmIn 1919, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patent on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm, which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines. These parallel lines photographically recorded electrical waveforms from a microphone, which were translated back...
sound-on-film system.
The late 1920s to early 1930s saw little to no interest in stereoscopic pictures, largely due to the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. In Paris, Louis Lumiere shot footage with his stereoscopic camera in September 1933. The following year, in March 1934, he premiered his remake of his 1895 film
L'Arrivée du Train, this time in anaglyphic 3-D, at a meeting of the French Academy of Science.
Two 30-minute Nazi propaganda films shot in 3D in Germany in 1936 were found in Berlin’s Federal Archives in 2011. The Australian documentary maker Philippe Mora is convinced there is more unseen 3D footage yet to be found.
In 1936, Leventhal and John Norling were hired based on their test footage to film MGM's
Audioscopiks series. The prints were by
TechnicolorTechnicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
in the red/green anaglyph format, and were narrated by
Pete SmithPete Smith was a film producer and narrator of "short subject" films from 1931 to 1955....
. The first film,
Audioscopiks, premiered January 11, 1936 and
The New Audioscopiks premiered January 15, 1938.
Audioscopiks was nominated for the Academy Award in the category Best Short Subject, Novelty in 1936.
With the success of the two Audioscopiks films, MGM produced one more short in anaglyph 3-D, another Pete Smith Specialty called
Third Dimensional MurderThird Dimensional Murder is a 1941 3D comedy short produced and narrated by Pete Smith. It is the last of the Audioscopiks 3D short series.It is MGM's first 3-D all-color film, but was otherwise in black and white, including the opening credits....
(1941). Unlike its predecessors, this short was shot with a studio-built camera rig. Prints were by Technicolor in red/blue anaglyph. The short is notable for being one of the few live-action appearances of the Frankenstein Monster as conceived by Jack Pierce for
Universal StudiosUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
outside of their company.
While many of these films were printed by color systems, none of them was actually in color, and the use of the color printing was only to achieve an anaglyph effect.
Introduction of Polaroid
While attending
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
,
Edwin H. LandEdwin Herbert Land was an American scientist and inventor, best known as the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation. Among other things, he invented inexpensive filters for polarizing light, a practical system of in-camera instant photography, and his retinex theory of color vision...
conceived the idea of reducing
glareGlare is difficulty seeing in the presence of bright light such as direct or reflected sunlight or artificial light such as car headlamps at night. Because of this, some cars include mirrors with automatic anti-glare functions....
by polarizing light. He took a
leave of absenceLeave of absence is a term used to describe a period of time that one is to be away from his/her primary job, while maintaining the status of employee...
from Harvard to set up a lab and by 1929 had invented and patented a polarizing sheet. In 1932, he introduced
Polaroid J Sheet as a commercial product. While his original intention was to create a filter for reducing glare from car headlights, Land did not underestimate the utility of his newly dubbed Polaroid filters in stereoscopic presentations.
In January 1936, Land gave the first demonstration of Polaroid filters in conjunction with 3-D photography at the
Waldorf-Astoria HotelThe Waldorf-Astoria is a luxury hotel in New York. It has been housed in two historic landmark buildings in New York City. The first, designed by architect Henry J. Hardenbergh, was on the Fifth Avenue site of the Empire State Building. The present building at 301 Park Avenue in Manhattan is a...
. The reaction was enthusiastic, and he followed it up with an installation at the New York Museum of Science. It is unknown what film was run for audiences with this installation.
Using Polaroid filters meant an entirely new form of projection, however. Two prints, each carrying either the right or left eye, had to be synced up in projection using an external selsyn motor. Furthermore, polarized light would not register on a matte white screen, and only a
silver screenA silver screen, also known as a silver lenticular screen, is a type of projection screen that was popular in the early years of the motion picture industry and passed into popular usage as a metonym for the cinema industry...
or screen made of other reflective material would correctly reflect the separate images.
Later that year, the feature,
Nozze Vagabonde appeared in Italy, followed in Germany by
Zum Greifen Nah (
You Can Nearly Touch It), and again in 1939 with Germany's
Sechs Mädel Rollen Ins Wochenend (
Six Girls Drive Into the Weekend). The Italian film was made with the Gualtierotti camera; the two German productions with the Zeiss camera and the Vierling shooting system. All of these films were the first exhibited using Polaroid filters. The Zeiss Company in Germany manufactured glasses on a commercial basis commencing in 1936; they were also independently made around the same time in Germany by E. Käsemann and by J. Mahler.
In 1939, John Norling shot
In Tune With Tomorrow, the first commercial 3-D film using Polaroid in the US. This short premiered at the
1939 New York World's FairThe 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...
and was created specifically for the Chrysler Motor Pavilion. In it, a full 1939 Chrysler Plymouth is magically put together, set to music. Originally in black and white, the film was so popular that it was re-shot in color for the following year at the fair, under the title
New Dimensions. In 1953, it was reissued by RKO as
Motor Rhythm.
Another early short that utilized the Polaroid 3-D process was 1940's
Magic Movies: Thrills For You produced by the
Pennsylvania RailroadThe Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
Co. for the
Golden Gate International ExpositionThe Golden Gate International Exposition , held at San Francisco, California's Treasure Island, was a World's Fair that celebrated, among other things, the city's two newly-built bridges. The San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge was dedicated in 1936 and the Golden Gate Bridge was dedicated in 1937...
. Produced by John Norling, it was actually shot for him by Jacob Leventhal using his own rig. It consisted of shots of various views that could be seen on Pennsylvania Railroad's trains.
The 1940s was further hindered by World War II, and stereoscopic photography once again went on the back-burner in most producers' minds.
The "golden era" (1952–1955)
What aficionados consider the "golden era" of 3-D began in 1952 with the release of the first color stereoscopic feature,
Bwana DevilBwana Devil is a 1952 drama based on the true story of the Tsavo maneaters. It was written, directed, and produced by Arch Oboler, and is considered the first color, American 3-D feature. It started the 3-D boom in the U.S. film making industry from 1952 to 1954...
, produced, written and directed by
Arch ObolerArch Oboler was an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, novelist, producer, and director who was active in radio, films, theater, and television. He generated much attention with his radio scripts, particularly the horror series Lights Out, and his work in radio remains the outstanding period...
. The film was shot in
Natural Vision, a process that was co-created and controlled by M. L. Gunzberg. Gunzberg, who built the rig with his brother, Julian, and two other associates, shopped it without success to various studios before Oboler used it for this feature, which went into production with the title,
The Lions of Gulu. The film starred
Robert StackRobert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
,
Barbara BrittonBarbara Britton was an American film and television actress.She was the first actress to play Laura Petrie on television on the pilot program, Head of the Family, which was retooled and became The Dick Van Dyke Show with the role taken over by Mary Tyler Moore. The California native signed a film...
and
Nigel BruceWilliam Nigel Ernle Bruce , best known as Nigel Bruce, was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Doctor Watson in a series of films and in the radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes...
.
As with practically all of the features made during this boom,
Bwana Devil was projected dual-strip, with Polaroid filters. During the 1950s, the familiar disposable anaglyph
glassesGlasses, also known as eyeglasses , spectacles or simply specs , are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes. They are normally used for vision correction or eye protection. Safety glasses are a kind of eye protection against flying debris or against visible and near visible light or...
made of cardboard were mainly used for comic books, two shorts by exploitation specialist
Dan SonneyDan Sonney was a director, producer and distributor of exploitation films. He was the son of Louis Sonney, who founded Sonney Amusements, the husband of Margaret Sonney, and a long term business partner of David F. Friedman....
, and three shorts produced by Lippert Productions. However, even the Lippert shorts were available in the dual-strip format alternatively.
Because the features utilized two projectors, a capacity limit of film being loaded onto each projector (about 6000 feet (1,828.8 m), or an hour's worth of film) meant that an intermission was necessary for every feature-length film. Quite often, intermission points were written into the script at a major plot point.
During Christmas of 1952, producer
Sol Lesser quickly premiered the dual-strip showcase called
Stereo Techniques in Chicago. Lesser acquired the rights to five dual-strip shorts. Two of them,
Now is the Time (to Put On Your Glasses) and
Around is Around, were directed by
Norman McLarenNorman McLaren, CC, CQ was a Scottish-born Canadian animator and film director known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada...
in 1951 for the
National Film Board of CanadaThe National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
. The other three films were produced in Britain for
Festival of BritainThe Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...
in 1951 by Raymond Spottiswoode. These were
A Solid Explanation,
Royal River, and
The Black Swan.
James Mage was also an early pioneer in the 3-D craze. Using his 16 mm 3-D Bolex system, he premiered his
Triorama program on February 10, 1953 with his four shorts:
Sunday In Stereo,
Indian Summer,
American Life, and
This is Bolex Stereo. This show is considered lost.
Another early 3-D film during the boom was the Lippert Productions short,
A Day in the Country, narrated by
Joe BesserJoe Besser was an American comedian, known for his impish humor and wimpy characters, and is now best remembered for his brief stint as a member of the Three Stooges in movie short subjects of 1957-59...
and composed mostly of test footage. Unlike all of the other Lippert shorts, which were available in both dual-strip and anaglyph, this production was released in anaglyph only.
April 1953 saw two groundbreaking features in 3-D:
Columbia'sColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
Man in the DarkMan in the Dark is a film noir drama 3-D film starring Edmund O'Brien, Audrey Totter and Ted de Corsia released in 1953. It is a remake of the 1936 Ralph Bellamy vehicle The Man who Lived Twice.It was the first Columbia Pictures film released in 3-D....
and
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
House of WaxHouse of Wax is a 1953 American horror film starring Vincent Price. It is a remake of Warners' Mystery of the Wax Museum without the comic relief featured in the earlier film, and was directed by André de Toth...
, the first 3-D feature with
stereophonic soundThe term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
.
House of WaxHouse of Wax is a 1953 American horror film starring Vincent Price. It is a remake of Warners' Mystery of the Wax Museum without the comic relief featured in the earlier film, and was directed by André de Toth...
, outside of
CineramaCinerama is the trademarked name for a widescreen process which works by simultaneously projecting images from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge, deeply-curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. It is also the trademarked name for the corporation which was formed to market it...
, was the first time many American audiences heard recorded stereophonic sound. It was also the film that typecast
Vincent PriceVincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
as a horror star as well as the "King of 3-D" after he became the actor to star in the most 3-D features (the others were
The Mad MagicianThe Mad Magician was a 1954 horror film starring Vincent Price and Eva Gabor. In 1987, it became the first movie shown in 3D on television.-Plot:...
,
Dangerous MissionDangerous Mission is a 1954 American dramatic color film noir thriller starring Victor Mature, Piper Laurie, Vincent Price and William Bendix. The movie was produced by Irwin Allen, directed by Louis King and released by RKO Pictures...
, and
Son of SinbadSon of Sinbad is a 1955 American film directed by Ted Tetzlaff. The movie takes place in the Middle East and consists of a wide variety of characters including over 127 women.Initially, the film was shot in 1953 and planned to be released in 3D...
). The success of these two films proved that major studios now had a method of getting moviegoers back into theaters and away from television sets, which were causing a steady decline in attendance.
The Walt Disney Studios waded into 3-D with its May 28, 1953 release of
MelodyMelody is a 1953 Walt Disney short cartoon film, originally released on May 28, 1953. It was the very first cartoon to be filmed in 3-D.-Synopsis:In this cartoon, Professor Owl teaches his class about melody and its importance to the world of music....
, which accompanied the first 3-D western, Columbia's
Fort Ti at its Los Angeles opening. It was later shown at Disneyland's Fantasyland Theater in 1957 as part of a program with Disney's other short
Working for PeanutsWorking for Peanuts is a 1953 animated short produced by Walt Disney. It is notable for being one of their first shorts filmed in 3D ....
, entitled,
3-D Jamboree. The show was hosted by the
MousketeersThe Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that began in 1955, produced by Walt Disney Productions and televised by the ABC, featuring a regular but ever-changing cast of teenage performers. The Mickey Mouse Club was created by Walt Disney...
and was in color.
Universal-InternationalUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
released their first 3-D feature on May 27, 1953,
It Came from Outer SpaceIt Came from Outer Space is a 1953 science fiction 3-D film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, and Charles Drake. It was Universal's first film to be filmed in 3-D.- Plot :...
, with stereophonic sound. Following that was Paramount's first feature,
Sangaree with
Fernando LamasFernando Álvaro Lamas was an Argentine-born actor and director, and the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas.-Early life and career:...
and
Arlene DahlArlene Carol Dahl is an American actress and former MGM contract star, who achieved notability during the 1950s. She is the mother of actor Lorenzo Lamas.-Early years:...
.
Columbia released several 3-D westerns produced by
Sam KatzmanSam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Born into a poor Jewish family, Katzman went to work as a stage laborer at the age of 13 in the fledgling East Coast film industry...
and directed by
William CastleWilliam Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....
. Castle would later specialize in various technical in-theater gimmicks for such Columbia and Allied Artists features as
13 Ghosts13 Ghosts is a 1960 horror film directed by William Castle and written by Robb White. To the dismay of some of the cast members, Castle gave top billing to 12-year-old Charles Herbert. It was remade in 2001 under the title of Thirteen Ghosts, directed by Steve Beck.-Plot:When occultist uncle Dr...
,
House on Haunted HillHouse on Haunted Hill is a 1959 American B movie horror film from Allied Artists. It was directed by William Castle, written by Robb White, and starring Vincent Price as eccentric millionaire Fredrick Loren. He and his fourth wife, Annabelle, have invited five people to the house for a "Haunted...
, and
The TinglerThe Tingler is a 1959 horror-thriller film by American producer/director William Castle. It is the third of five collaborations with writer Robb White and stars Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, Patricia Cutts, Pamela Lincoln, Philip Coolidge and Judith Evelyn.The film tells the story of a scientist...
. Columbia also produced the only slapstick comedies conceived for 3-D. The Three Stooges starred in
Spooks and
Pardon My Backfire; dialect comic Harry Mimmo starred in
Down the Hatch. Producer
Jules WhiteJules White born Julius Weiss was a film director and producer best known for his short-subject comedies starring the Three Stooges.-Early years:...
was optimistic about the possibilities of 3-D as applied to slapstick (with pies and other projectiles aimed at the audience), but only two of his stereoscopic shorts were shown in 3-D.
Down the Hatch was released as a conventional, "flat" motion picture. (Columbia has since printed
Down the Hatch in 3-D for film festivals.)
John IrelandJohn Benjamin Ireland was an actor and film director.-Biography:Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he was raised in New York City from the age of 18. He started out in minor stage roles on Broadway...
,
Joanne DruJoanne Dru was an American film and television actress, known for such films as Red River and All the King's Men.-Career:...
and
Macdonald CareyEdward Macdonald Carey was an American actor, best known for his role as the patriarch Dr. Tom Horton on NBC's soap opera Days of our Lives...
starred in the Jack Broder color production
Hannah Lee, which premiered June 19, 1953. The film was directed by Ireland, who sued Broder for his salary. Broder counter-sued, claiming that Ireland went over production costs with the film.
Another famous entry in the golden era of 3-D was the 3 Dimensional Pictures production of
Robot MonsterRobot Monster is a 1953 American science fiction film made in 3-D by Phil Tucker. It is frequently considered one of the worst films ever made.- Plot :...
. The film was allegedly scribed in an hour by screenwriter Wyott Ordung and filmed in a period of two weeks on a shoestring budget. Despite these shortcomings and the fact that the crew had no previous experience with the newly-built camera rig, luck was on the
cinematographerA cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
's side, as many find the 3-D photography in the film is well shot and aligned.
Robot Monster also has a notable score by then up-and-coming composer
Elmer BernsteinElmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions...
. The film was released June 24, 1953 and went out with the short
Stardust in Your Eyes, which starred nightclub comedian, Slick Slavin.
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
produced their only 3-D feature,
InfernoInferno is a 1953 American film noir drama/thriller directed by Roy Ward Baker, shot in Technicolor and shown in 3-D Dimension and stereophonic sound on prints for the few theaters equipped for that sound system in 1953.-Plot:...
in 1953, starring
Rhonda FlemingRhonda Fleming , is an American film and television actress.She acted in more than 40 films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became renowned as one of the most beautiful and glamorous actresses of her day...
. Fleming, who also starred in
Those Redheads From Seattle, and
Jivaro, shares the spot for being the actress to appear in the most 3-D features with Patricia Medina, who starred in
Sangaree,
Phantom of the Rue Morgue and
Drums of Tahiti.
Darryl F. ZanuckDarryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
expressed little interest in stereoscopic systems, and at that point was preparing to premiere the new widescreen film system,
CinemaScopeCinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
.
The first decline in the theatrical 3-D craze started in August and September 1953. The factors causing this decline were:
- Two prints had to be projected simultaneously.
- The prints had to remain exactly alike after repair, or synchronization would be lost.
- It sometimes required two projectionists to keep sync working properly.
- When either prints or shutters became out of sync, the picture became virtually unwatchable and accounted for headaches and eyestrain.
- The necessary silver projection screen was very directional and caused sideline seating to be unusable with both 3-D and regular films, due to the angular darkening of these screens. Later films that opened in wider-seated venues often premiered flat for that reason (such as Kiss Me Kate at the Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
).
- The few cartoons made in 3D had a "cardboard cutout" effect, where flat objects appeared on different planes.
Because projection booth operators were at many times careless, even at preview screenings of 3-D films, trade and newspaper critics claimed that certain films were "hard on the eyes."
Sol Lesser attempted to follow up
Stereo Techniques with a new showcase, this time five shorts that he himself produced. The project was to be called
The 3-D Follies and was to be distributed by RKO. Unfortunately, because of financial difficulties and the growing disinterest in 3-D, Lesser canceled the project during the summer of 1953, making it the first 3-D film to be aborted in production. Two of the three shorts were shot:
Carmenesque, a burlesque number starring exotic dancer
Lili St. CyrLili St. Cyr , was a prominent American burlesque stripper.- Early years :She was born as Willis Marie Van Schaack in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1918. She had a sister, Rosemary Van Schaack Minsky...
. and
Fun in the Sun, a sports short directed by famed set designer/director
William Cameron MenziesWilliam Cameron Menzies was an Academy Award-winning American film production designer and art director who also worked as a director, producer, and screenwriter during a career spanning five decades...
, who also directed the 3-D feature
The Maze for Allied Artists.
Although it was more expensive to install, the major competing realism process was anamorphic, first utilized by Fox with
CinemascopeCinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
and its September premiere in
The RobeThe Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster...
. Anamorphic features needed only a single print, so synchronization was not an issue. Cinerama was also a competitor from the start and had better quality control than 3-D because it was owned by one company that focused on quality control. However, most of the 3-D features past the summer of 1953 were released in the flat
widescreenWidescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
formats ranging from 1.66:1 to 1.85:1. In early studio advertisements and articles about widescreen and 3-D formats, widescreen systems were referred to as "3-D", causing some confusion among scholars.
There was no single instance of combining Cinemascope with 3-D until 1960, with a film called
September Storm, and even then, that was a blow-up from a non-anamorphic negative.
September Storm also went out with the last dual-strip short,
Space Attack, which was actually shot in 1954 under the title
The Adventures of Sam Space.
In December 1953, 3-D made a comeback with the release of several important 3-D films, including MGM's musical
Kiss Me, KateKiss Me Kate is the 1953 MGM film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name.Inspired by The Taming of the Shrew, it tells the tale of musical theater actors, Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi, who were once married and are now performing opposite each other in the roles of Petruchio and...
.
Kate was the hill over which 3-D had to pass to survive. MGM tested it in six theaters: three in 3-D and three flat. According to trade ads of the time, the 3-D version was so well-received that the film quickly went into a wide stereoscopic release. However, most publications, including
Kenneth MacgowanKenneth Macgowan was an American film producer. He won an Academy Award for Best Color Short Film for La Cucaracha , the first live-action short film made in the three-color Technicolor process....
's classic film reference book
Behind the Screen, state that the film did much better as a "regular" release. The film, adapted from the popular
Cole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical, starred the MGM songbird team of
Howard KeelHarold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
and
Kathryn GraysonKathryn Grayson was an American actress and operatic soprano singer.From the age of twelve, Grayson trained as an opera singer. She was under contract to MGM by the early 1940s, soon establishing a career principally through her work in musicals...
as the leads, supported by
Ann MillerJohnnie Lucille Collier, better known as Ann Miller was an American singer, dancer and actress.-Early life:...
,
Keenan WynnKeenan Wynn was an American character actor. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade, and though he rarely had a lead role, he got prominent billing in most of his film and TV parts....
, Bobby Van,
James WhitmoreJames Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in...
, Kurt Kasznar and
Tommy RallThomas Edward "Tommy" Rall is an American ballet dancer, tap dancer and acrobatic dancer who was a prominent featured player in 1950s musical comedies...
. The film also prominently promoted its use of stereophonic sound.
Several other features that helped put 3-D back on the map that month were the John Wayne feature
HondoHondo is a movie that was made in 1953 by 3-D Warnercolor western film starring John Wayne, directed by John Farrow. The screenplay is based on the 1952 short story "The Gift of Cochise" by Louis L'Amour...
(distributed by Warner Bros.), Columbia's
Miss Sadie Thompson with
Rita HayworthRita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
, and Paramount's
Money From Home with
Dean MartinDean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
and
Jerry LewisJerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
. Paramount also released the cartoon shorts
Boo Moon with
Casper, the Friendly GhostCasper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. As his name indicates, he is a ghost, but is quite personable...
and
Popeye, Ace of Space with
Popeye the SailorPopeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...
.
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
released a 3-D
Korean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
film
Cease Fire filmed on actual Korean locations in 1953.
Top BananaTop Banana is a movie musical based on the musical of the same name starring Phil Silvers, and released by United Artists. It stars most of the original cast...
, based on the popular
stage musicalTop Banana is a musical with music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer and book by Hy Kraft which premiered on Broadway in 1951. Comedian Phil Silvers starred, and won the Tony Award in 1952.-Production:...
with
Phil SilversPhil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
, was brought to the screen with the original cast. Although it was merely a filmed stage production, the idea was that every audience member would feel they would have the best seat in the house through color photography and 3-D. Although the film was shot and edited in 3-D,
United ArtistsUnited Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
, the distributor, felt the production was uneconomical in stereoscopic form and released the film flat on January 27, 1954. It remains one of two "Golden era" 3- D features, along with another United Artists feature,
Southwest Passage (with John Ireland and Joanne Dru), that are currently considered lost (although flat versions survive).
A string of successful 3-D movies followed the second wave. Some highlights are:
- The French Line
The French Line is a 1954 musical film starring Jane Russell made by RKO Pictures, directed by Lloyd Bacon and produced by Edmund Grainger, with Howard Hughes as executive producer. The screenplay was by Mary Loos and Richard Sale, based on a story by Matty Kemp and Isabel Dawn...
, starring Jane RussellJane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
and Gilbert RolandGilbert Roland was a Mexican-born American film actor.He was born Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and originally intended to become a bullfighter like his father. When the family moved to the United States, however, he became interested in acting when he was...
, a Howard HughesHoward Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
/RKO production. The film became notorious for being released without an MPAA seal of approval, after several suggestive lyrics were included, as well as one of Ms. Russell's particularly revealing costumes. Playing up her sex appeal, one tagline for the film was, "It'll knock both of your eyes out!" The film was later cut and approved by the MPAA for a general flat release, despite having a wide and profitable 3-D release.
- Taza, Son of Cochise
Taza, Son of Cochise is a 1954 western film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Rock Hudson and Barbara Rush. The film was shot in 3D, but only released in 2D at the time.-Plot synopsis:...
, a sequel to 1950's Broken ArrowBroken Arrow is a western Technicolor film released in 1950. It was directed by Delmer Daves and starred James Stewart and Jeff Chandler. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, and won a Golden Globe award for Best Film Promoting International Understanding. It made history as the first...
, which starred Rock HudsonRoy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
in the title role, Barbara Rush as the love interest, and Rex ReasonRex Reason is an American actor.He is the brother of actor Rhodes Reason, who is two years younger...
(billed as Bart Roberts) as his renegade brother, released through Universal-International. It was directed by the great stylist Douglas SirkDouglas Sirk was a Danish-German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas in the 1950s.-Life and work:...
, and his striking visual sense made the film a huge success when it was "re-premiered" in 2006 at the Second 3-D Expo in Hollywood.
- Two ape films: Phantom of the Rue Morgue, featuring Karl Malden
Karl Malden was an American actor. In a career that spanned more than seven decades, he performed in such classic films as A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks...
and Patricia Medina, and produced by Warner Bros. and based on Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in Graham's Magazine in 1841. It has been claimed as the first detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination". Two works that share some similarities predate Poe's stories, including Das...
", and Gorilla At Large, a Panoramic Production starring Cameron MitchellCameron Mitchell was an American film, television and Broadway actor with close ties to one of Canada's most successful families, and considered, by Lee Strasberg, to be one of the founding members of The Actor's Studio in New York City.-Early life and career:Born Cameron MacDowell Mitzel in...
, distributed through Fox.
- Creature from the Black Lagoon
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a 1954 monster horror film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, and Whit Bissell. The eponymous creature was played by Ben Chapman on land and Ricou Browning in underwater scenes...
, starring Richard CarlsonRichard Carlson was an American actor, television and film director, and screenwriter.-Career:Born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, Carlson graduated from the University of Minnesota with an M.A. degree, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. He later appeared on the Broadway stage in the 1930s after studying...
and Julie AdamsJulie Adams is an American film and television actress, sometimes credited as Julia Adams or Betty Adams.-Life and career:...
, directed by Jack Arnold. Arguably the most famous 3-D movie, and the only 3-D feature that spawned a sequel, Revenge of the CreatureRevenge of the Creature is the first sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon. The film is notable for being the only 3-D film to be released in 1955; the only 3-D sequel to a 3-D film; and for being the first screen role for Clint Eastwood. The movie was released May 11, 1955, in the United States...
in 3-D (followed by another sequel, The Creature Walks Among Us, shot flat).
- Cat-Women of the Moon
Cat-Women of the Moon is a 1953 Science fiction 3-D film directed by Arthur Hilton. It stars Sonny Tufts, Victor Jory and Marie Windsor. The musical score was composed by Elmer Bernstein....
, an Astor Picture starring Victor JoryVictor Jory was a Canadian actor.-Biography:Born in Dawson City, Yukon, Jory was the boxing and wrestling champion of the Coast Guard during his military service, and he kept his burly physique. He toured with theater troupes and appeared on Broadway, before making his Hollywood debut in 1930...
and Marie WindsorMarie Windsor . Born as Emily Marie Bertelson in Marysvale, Piute County, Utah, Windsor was an actress known as "The Queen of the Bs" because she appeared in so many film noirs and B-movies like Cat-Women of the Moon...
. Elmer Bernstein composed the score.
- Dial M for Murder
Dial M for Murder is a 1954 American thriller film adapted from a successful stage play by Frederick Knott, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, and Robert Cummings. The movie was released by the Warner Bros...
, directed by Alfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
and starring Ray MillandRay Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
, Robert CummingsCharles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings , mostly known professionally as Robert Cummings but sometimes as Bob Cummings, was an American film and television actor....
, and Grace KellyGrace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
, is considered by aficionados of 3-D to be one of the best examples of the process. Although available in 3-D in 1954, there are no known playdates in 3-D, since Warner Bros. had just instated a simultaneous 3-D/2-D release policy. The film's screening in 3-D in February 1980 at the York Theater in San Francisco did so well that Warner Bros. re-released the film in 3-D in February 1982.
- Gog
Gog is a 1954 science fiction film directed by Herbert L. Strock and released in 1954 by United Artists. It is notable for having been shot in color, widescreen and 3-D...
, an Ivan TorsIvan Tors was a Hungarian playwright, film director, screenwriter, and film and television producer with an emphasis on non-violent but exciting science fiction, underwater filmed television and films, and films about animals...
production, dealing with realistic science fiction. The second film in Tors' "Office of Scientific Investigation" trilogy of film, which included, The Magnetic Monster and Riders to the Stars.
- The Diamond Wizard, the only stereoscopic feature shot in Britain, released flat in both the UK and US. It starred and was directed by Dennis O'Keefe
Dennis O'Keefe was an American actor. Born as Edward Vance Flanagan he was the son of Irish vaudevillians working in the United States...
.
- Irwin Allen
Irwin Allen was a television and film director and producer nicknamed "The Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genre. He was also notable for creating a number of television series.- Biography :...
's Dangerous MissionDangerous Mission is a 1954 American dramatic color film noir thriller starring Victor Mature, Piper Laurie, Vincent Price and William Bendix. The movie was produced by Irwin Allen, directed by Louis King and released by RKO Pictures...
released by RKO in 1954 featuring Allen's trademarks of an all star cast facing a disaster (a forest fire).
- Son of Sinbad, another RKO/Howard Hughes production, starring Dale Robertson
Dayle Lymoine "Dale" Robertson is an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the role of Jim Hardie in the TV series, Tales of Wells Fargo, and the owner of an incomplete railroad line in ABC's The Iron Horse, often appearing as the deceptively thoughtful but...
, Lili St. Cyr, and Vincent Price. The film was shelved after Hughes ran into difficulty with The French Line, and wasn't released until 1955, at which time it went out flat, converted to the SuperScope process.
3-D's final decline was in the late spring of 1954, for the same reasons as the previous lull, as well as the further success of widescreen formats with theater operators. Even though
PolaroidPolaroid Corporation is an American-based international consumer electronics and eyewear company, originally founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land. It is most famous for its instant film cameras, which reached the market in 1948, and continued to be the company's flagship product line until the February...
had created a well-designed "Tell-Tale Filter Kit" for the purpose of recognizing and adjusting out of sync and phase 3-D, exhibitors still felt uncomfortable with the system and turned their focus instead to processes such as
CinemaScopeCinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
. The last 3-D feature to be released in that format during the "Golden era" was
Revenge of the CreatureRevenge of the Creature is the first sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon. The film is notable for being the only 3-D film to be released in 1955; the only 3-D sequel to a 3-D film; and for being the first screen role for Clint Eastwood. The movie was released May 11, 1955, in the United States...
, on February 23, 1955. Ironically, the film had a wide release in 3-D and was well received at the box office.
Revival (1960–1984) in single strip format
Stereoscopic films largely remained dormant for the first part of the 1960s, with those that were released usually being anaglyph exploitation films. One film of notoriety was the Beaver-Champion/Warner Bros. production,
The MaskThe Mask is a 1961 Canadian horror film produced in 3-D by Warner Bros. It was directed by Julian Roffman, and stars Paul Stevens, Claudette Nevins and Bill Walker.-Plot summary:...
(1961). The film was shot in 2-D, but to enhance the bizarre qualities of the dream-world that is induced when the main character puts on a cursed tribal mask, these scenes went to anaglyph 3-D. These scenes were printed by Technicolor on their first run in red/green anaglyph.
Although 3-D films appeared sparsely during the early 1960s, the true second wave of 3-D cinema was set into motion by Arch Oboler, the same producer who started the craze of the 1950s. Using a new technology called
Space-Vision 3D, stereoscopic films were printed with two images, one above the other, in a single academy ratio frame, on a single strip, and needed only one projector fitted with a special lens. This so-called "over and under" technique eliminated the need for dual projector set-ups, and produced widescreen, but darker, less vivid, polarized 3-D images. Unlike earlier dual system, it could stay in perfect sync, unless improperly spliced in repair.
Arch Oboler once again had the vision for the system that no one else would touch, and put it to use on his film entitled
The Bubble, which starred
Michael ColeMichael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
,
Deborah WalleyDeborah Walley was an American actress.-Biographical Information:Deborah Walley was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Ice Capades skating stars and choreographers Nathan and Edith Walley. She attended Central High School in Bridgeport. At fourteen she was playing summer-stock theatre. She...
, and
Johnny DesmondJohnny Desmond , born Giovanni Alfredo De Simone, was a popular American singer.-Early years:...
. As with
Bwana Devil, the critics panned
The Bubble, but audiences flocked to see it, and it became financially sound enough to promote the use of the system to other studios, particularly independents, who did not have the money for expensive dual-strip prints of their productions.
In 1970, Stereovision, a new entity founded by director/inventor Allan Silliphant and optical designer
Chris CondonChris J. Condon was the inventor of 3D lens used by his company StereoVision, a cinematographer, and founder of Sierra Pacific Airlines.He was born in North Chicago, Illinois...
, developed a different 35 mm single-strip format, which printed two images squeezed side-by-side and used an anamorphic lens to widen the pictures through polaroid filters. Louis K. Sher (Sherpix) and Stereovision released the softcore sex comedy
The StewardessesThe Stewardesses is a 1969 softcore, later R-rated, theatrical 3-D film produced, directed and written by Allan Silliphant and starring Christina Hart, Monica Gayle, Paula Erickson, and Donna Stanley....
(self-rated X, but later re-rated R by the MPAA). The film cost $100,000 USD to produce, and ran for months in several markets. eventually earning $27 million in North America, alone ($140 million in constant-2010 dollars) in fewer than 800 theaters, becoming the most profitable 3-Dimensional film to date, and in purely relative terms, one of the most profitable films ever. It was later released in 70 mm 3-D. Some 36 films worldwide were made with Stereovision over 25 years, using either a widescreen (above-below), anamorphic (side by side) or 70 mm 3-D formats. In 2009
The Stewardesses was remastered by Chris Condon and director Ed Meyer, releasing it in
XpanD 3DXPAND 3D is a brand name of a system for presenting three-dimensional films in a digital cinema, home theater, video games and other applications. XPAND utilizes active-shutter 3D glasses...
, RealD Cinema and
Dolby 3DDolby 3D is a marketing name for a system from Dolby Laboratories, Inc. to show three-dimensional motion pictures in a digital cinema.- Technology :...
.
The quality of the 1970s 3-D films was not much more inventive, as many were either softcore and even hardcore adult films, horror films, or a combination of both. Paul Morrisey's
Flesh For Frankenstein (aka
Andy Warhol's Frankenstein) was a superlative example of such a combination.
Between 1981 and 1983 there was a new Hollywood 3D craze started by the spaghetti western
Comin' at Ya!. When
ParasiteParasite is a 1982 horror/science fiction film starring Demi Moore in her first major film role.-Plot:In the far future, an atomic disaster has reduced the world to poverty. Instead of a government, America is run by an organization called the Merchants, who exploit the degenerate remains of...
was released it was billed as the first horror film to come out in 3D in over 20 years. Horror movies and reissues of 1950s 3D classics (such as Hitchcock's
Dial ´M´ for Murder) dominated the 3D releases that followed. The second sequel in the
Friday the 13thFriday the 13th occurs when the thirteenth day of a month falls on a Friday, which superstition holds to be a day of bad luck. In the Gregorian calendar, this day occurs at least once, but at most three times a year...
series,
Friday the 13th Part III, was released very successfully. Apparently saying "part 3 in 3D" was considered too cumbersome so it was shortened in the titles of
Jaws 3-DJaws 3-D is a 1983 thriller film directed by Joe Alves and starring Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Lea Thompson and Louis Gossett, Jr...
and
Amityville 3-DAmityville 3-D is a 1983 horror film and the third installment in the The Amityville Horror series. It was one of a spate of 3-D films released in the early 80s. The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and the script was written by David Ambrose...
, which emphasized off the screen effects to the point of being annoying at times, especially when flashlights were shone into the eyes of the audience.
The science fiction film
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden ZoneSpacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone is a 1983 pulp, action-comedy, science fiction film. The movie stars Peter Strauss, Molly Ringwald, Ernie Hudson, Andrea Marcovicci, and Michael Ironside. The film's executive producer was Ivan Reitman, and it was directed by Lamont Johnson...
was the most expensive 3D movie made up to that point with production costs about the same as
Star WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
but not nearly the same box office success, causing the craze to fade quickly through spring 1983. Other sci-fi/fantasy films were released as well including
Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-SynMetalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn is a 1983 science fiction movie starring Jeffrey Byron, Michael Preston, Tim Thomerson, Kelly Preston and Richard Moll. It was directed and produced by Charles Band who is possibly better known for his other, rather low-budget science fiction and horror...
and
Treasure of the Four CrownsTreasure of the Four Crowns is an action adventure film, featuring Tony Anthony, Ana Obregón, Gene Quintano and Francisco Rabal and directed by Ferdinando Baldi...
, which was widely criticized for poor editing and plot holes, but did feature some truly spectacular closeups.
3D releases after the second craze included
The Man Who Wasn't There (1983),
Silent Madness and the 1985 animated film
Starchaser: The Legend of OrinStarchaser: The Legend of Orin is a 1985 animated movie. It was written by animation writer Jeffrey Scott and was originally released in 3-D by Atlantic Releasing. Starchaser was one of the first animated movies to mix traditional and computer animation. It is the only 3-D film distributed by...
, whose plot seemed to borrow heavily from
Star Wars .
Only
Comin' At Ya!,
Parasite, and
Friday the 13th Part III have been officially released on VHS and/or DVD in 3-D in the United States (although
Amityville 3-D has seen a 3-D DVD release in the United Kingdom). Most of the 80s 3D movies and some of the classic 50s movies such as
House of WaxHouse of Wax is a 1953 American horror film starring Vincent Price. It is a remake of Warners' Mystery of the Wax Museum without the comic relief featured in the earlier film, and was directed by André de Toth...
were released on the now defunct Video Disc (VHD) format in Japan as part of a system that used shutter glasses. Most of these have been unofficially transferred to DVD and are available on the
grey marketA grey market or gray market also known as parallel market is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels which, while legal, are unofficial, unauthorized, or unintended by the original manufacturer...
through sites such as eBay.
Rebirth of 3-D (1985–2003)
In the mid 1980s,
IMAXIMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
began producing non-fiction films for its nascent 3-D business, starting with "We Are Born of Stars" (
Roman KroitorRoman Kroitor is a Canadian filmmaker who is known as an early practitioner of Cinéma vérité, as co-founder of IMAX, and as creator of the Sandde hand-drawn stereoscopic animation system...
, 1985). A key point was that this production, as with all subsequent IMAX productions, emphasized mathematical correctness of the 3D rendition and thus largely eliminated the eye fatigue and pain that resulted from the approximate geometries of previous 3D incarnations. In addition, and in contrast to previous 35mm based 3D presentations, the very large field of view provided by IMAX allowed a much broader 3D "stage", arguably as important in 3D film as it is theatre.
In 1986, Disney Theme Parks and Universal Studios began to use 3D films to impress audiences in special venues,
Captain EoCaptain EO is a 3-D science fiction film starring Michael Jackson and directed by Francis Ford Coppola that was shown at Disney theme parks from 1986 through the 1990s...
(
Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
, 1986) starring
Michael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, being a very notable example. In the same year, the
National Film Board of CanadaThe National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
production
TransitionsTransitions was the world's first IMAX film in 3D. It was created for Expo 86 in Vancouver. The film was co-directed by Colin Low and Tony Ianzelo and produced by the National Film Board of Canada.-External links:*...
(
Colin LowColin Archibald Low, CM, RCA is a Canadian animation and documentary filmmaker.Born in Cardston, Alberta, Low attended the Banff School of Fine Arts and the Calgary Institute of Technology, now known as the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology...
), created for
Expo 86The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo '86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from Friday, May 2 until Monday, October 13, 1986...
in Vancouver, was the first IMAX presentation using polarized glasses. "Echos of the Sun" (
Roman KroitorRoman Kroitor is a Canadian filmmaker who is known as an early practitioner of Cinéma vérité, as co-founder of IMAX, and as creator of the Sandde hand-drawn stereoscopic animation system...
, 1990) was the first IMAX film to be presented using alternate-eye shutterglass technology, a development required because the dome screen precluded the use of polarized technology.
From 1990 onward, numerous films were produced by all three parties to satisfy the demands of their various high-profile special attractions and
IMAXIMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
's expanding 3D network. Films of special note during this period include the extremely successful "Into The Deep" (
Graeme FergusonIvan Graeme Ferguson, CM is a Canadian filmmaker and inventor who co-invented IMAX. Ferguson was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1993...
, 1995) and the first IMAX 3-D fiction film
Wings of CourageWings of Courage is a 1995 American-French drama film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. The 40-minute picture was written by Annaud with Alain Godard. It was the world's first dramatic picture shot in the IMAX-format...
(1996), by director
Jean-Jacques AnnaudJean-Jacques Annaud is a French film director, film producer and screenwriter.- Biography :Annaud was born in Juvisy-sur-Orge, Essonne...
, about the pilot
Henri GuillaumetHenri Guillaumet was a French aviator.He was a pioneer of French aviation in the Andes, the South Atlantic and the North Atlantic. He contributed to the opening up of numerous new routes and is regarded by some as the best pilot of his age...
.
Other stereoscopic films produced in this period include:
- The Last Buffalo (Stephen Low
Stephen Low is a Canadian film director and screenwriter who works extensively in the IMAX film format. Based in Montreal, Quebec, Low has directed numerous film documentaries including Titanica , Beavers , The Last Buffalo ,Across the Sea of Time, Super Speedway, Volcanoes of the Deep Sea and...
, 1990)
- Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3D (Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
, 1991)
- Imagine (John Weiley, 1993)
- Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
Honey, I Shrunk The Audience! was a 3-D film spin off of the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids film series that was shown at several Disney theme parks.-Synopsis:...
(Daniel Rustuccio, 1994)
- Into the Deep (Graeme Ferguson
Ivan Graeme Ferguson, CM is a Canadian filmmaker and inventor who co-invented IMAX. Ferguson was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1993...
, 1995)
- Across the Sea of Time (Stephen Low
Stephen Low is a Canadian film director and screenwriter who works extensively in the IMAX film format. Based in Montreal, Quebec, Low has directed numerous film documentaries including Titanica , Beavers , The Last Buffalo ,Across the Sea of Time, Super Speedway, Volcanoes of the Deep Sea and...
, 1995)
- Wings of Courage
Wings of Courage is a 1995 American-French drama film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. The 40-minute picture was written by Annaud with Alain Godard. It was the world's first dramatic picture shot in the IMAX-format...
(Jean-Jacques AnnaudJean-Jacques Annaud is a French film director, film producer and screenwriter.- Biography :Annaud was born in Juvisy-sur-Orge, Essonne...
, 1996)
- L5, First City in Space (Graeme Ferguson
Ivan Graeme Ferguson, CM is a Canadian filmmaker and inventor who co-invented IMAX. Ferguson was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1993...
, 1996)
- T2 3-D: Battle Across Time
T2 3-D: Battle Across Time is an attraction at various Universal Studios parks around the world including those at Florida, Hollywood and Japan...
(James CameronJames Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
, 1996)
- Paint Misbehavin (Roman Kroitor
Roman Kroitor is a Canadian filmmaker who is known as an early practitioner of Cinéma vérité, as co-founder of IMAX, and as creator of the Sandde hand-drawn stereoscopic animation system...
and Peter Stephenson, 1997)
- IMAX Nutcracker (1997)
- The Hidden Dimension (1997)
- T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (Brett Leonard
Brett Leonard is an American film director, producer and music video director specializing in the science-fiction and horror genres. A few of his films such as The Lawnmower Man and Virtuosity feature groundbreaking computer animation and visual effects...
, 1998)
- Mark Twain's America (Stephen Low
Stephen Low is a Canadian film director and screenwriter who works extensively in the IMAX film format. Based in Montreal, Quebec, Low has directed numerous film documentaries including Titanica , Beavers , The Last Buffalo ,Across the Sea of Time, Super Speedway, Volcanoes of the Deep Sea and...
, 1998)
- Siegfried & Roy: The Magic Box (Brett Leonard
Brett Leonard is an American film director, producer and music video director specializing in the science-fiction and horror genres. A few of his films such as The Lawnmower Man and Virtuosity feature groundbreaking computer animation and visual effects...
, 1999)
- Galapagos (Al Giddings and David Clark, 1999)
- Encounter in the Third Dimension (Ben Stassen
Ben Stassen is a Belgian film producer and director. He founded nWave Pictures in 1994, producing highly successful CGI ride films including the groundbreaking Devils Mine...
, 1999)
- Alien Adventure
Alien Adventure is a science fiction/slapstick comedy 3-D film in IMAX format released in 1999 by nWave Pictures, written and directed by Ben Stassen. The movie was rated G in most countries...
(Ben StassenBen Stassen is a Belgian film producer and director. He founded nWave Pictures in 1994, producing highly successful CGI ride films including the groundbreaking Devils Mine...
, 1999)
- Ultimate G's (2000)
- Cyberworld
CyberWorld is a 2000 3-D comedy film shown in IMAX. Several segments originally filmed in 2-D animation are showcased as converted to 3-D format.-Segments:* The "Homer³" segment from The Simpsons, episode "Treehouse of Horror VI"...
(Hugh Murray, 2000)
- Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man (Keith Melton, 2000)
- Haunted Castle (Ben Stassen
Ben Stassen is a Belgian film producer and director. He founded nWave Pictures in 1994, producing highly successful CGI ride films including the groundbreaking Devils Mine...
, 2001)
- Space Station 3D
Space Station 3D is a 2002 documentary film about the International Space Station. It is the first IMAX 3D production filmed in space. It is narrated by Tom Cruise. The "flat" version was titled simply Space Station....
(Toni Myers, 2002)
- SOS Planet (Ben Stassen
Ben Stassen is a Belgian film producer and director. He founded nWave Pictures in 1994, producing highly successful CGI ride films including the groundbreaking Devils Mine...
, 2002)
- Ocean Wonderland (2003)
- Falling in Love Again
Falling in Love Again is an animated stereoscopic 3D Film, set to the song Falling in Love Again as sung by Marlene Dietrich. It was created by Munro Ferguson at the National Film Board of Canada using IMAX's Sandde stereoscopic drawing system, and it won a Canadian Genie Award for Best Animated...
(Munro Ferguson, 2003)
- Misadventures in 3D
Misadventures in 3D is a 2003 edutainment documentary designed for big-screen Iwerks and Imax theatres and shown mainly in museum theatres. It stars comedian Stuart Pankin and is directed by Ben Stassen.-Plot:...
(Ben StassenBen Stassen is a Belgian film producer and director. He founded nWave Pictures in 1994, producing highly successful CGI ride films including the groundbreaking Devils Mine...
, 2003)
By 2004, 54% (133 theaters of 248) of the IMAX community was 3D-capable.
Shortly thereafter, higher quality
computer animationComputer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
, competition from DVDs and other media, digital projection, digital video capture, and the use of sophisticated IMAX 70mm film projectors, created an opportunity for another wave of 3D films.
Mainstream resurgence (2003 – present)
In 2003,
Ghosts of the AbyssGhosts of the Abyss is a 2003 documentary film released by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media. It was Disney's first film produced in 3-D and was directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker James Cameron after his Oscar winning film Titanic...
by
James CameronJames Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
was released as the first full-length 3-D IMAX feature filmed with the Reality Camera System. This camera system used the latest HD video cameras, not film, and was built for Cameron by Vince Pace, to his specifications. The same camera system was used to film
Spy Kids 3-D: Game OverSpy Kids 3-D: Game Over is a 2003 American action-adventure family film directed by Robert Rodriguez and the third film in the Spy Kids series. It was released in the United States on July 25, 2003. The film featured the return of many cast members from the past two films, although most were in...
(2003),
Aliens of the DeepAliens of the Deep is a 2005 documentary film, directed in part by James Cameron alongside fellow cameraman Steven Quale, who would later go on to direct Final Destination 5 six years later, and filmed in the IMAX 3D format. It was produced by Walden Media and Walt Disney Pictures...
IMAX (2005), and
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-DThe Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D , is a 2005 adventure and fantasy film directed by Robert Rodriguez. The film uses the same anaglyph 3-D technology used in Spy Kids 3D: Game Over. The film stars Taylor Lautner, Cayden Boyd, Taylor Dooley and George Lopez...
(2005).
In 2004, Las Vegas Hilton released
Star Trek: The ExperienceStar Trek: The Experience was a themed attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, based on the Star Trek entertainment franchise. It opened in January 1998, closed in September 2008, and was scheduled to reopen in the Neonopolis Mall on May 8, 2009 in time for the premiere of the...
which included two films. One of the films, Borg Invasion 4-D (Ty Granoroli), was in 3D. In August of the same year, rap group
Insane Clown PosseInsane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore...
released their ninth studio album
Hell's Pit. One of two versions of the album contained a DVD featuring a 3-D short film for the track "
Bowling Balls"Bowling Balls" is a song written by Esham and Joseph Bruce for Insane Clown Posse's 2004 album Hell's Pit, and the fourth single released by the group that was not produced by Mike E. Clark. The song's lyrics describe decapitation and murder. A short film of the same name was produced in...
", shot in high-definition video.
In November 2004,
The Polar ExpressThe Polar Express is a 2004 motion capture computer-animated film based on the children's book of the same title by Chris Van Allsburg. Written, produced, and directed by Robert Zemeckis, the human characters in the film were animated using live action performance capture technique, with the...
was released as IMAX's first full-length, animated 3-D feature. It was released in 3,584 theaters in 2D, and only 66 IMAX locations. The return from those few 3-D theaters was about 25% of the total. The 3-D version earned about 14 times as much per screen as the 2D version. This pattern continued and prompted a greatly intensified interest in 3-D and 3-D presentation of animated films.
In June 2005, the Mann's Chinese 6 theatre in Hollywood became the first commercial movie theatre to be equipped with the Digital 3D format. Both
Singin' in the RainSingin' in the Rain is a 1952 American comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds and directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography...
and
The Polar ExpressThe Polar Express is a 1985 children's book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, a former professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. It was adapted as an Oscar-nominated motion-capture film in 2004....
were tested in the Digital 3D format over the course of several months. In November 2005, Walt Disney Studio Entertainment released
Chicken LittleChicken Little is a 2005 computer-animated science fiction family comedy film loosely based on the fable The Sky Is Falling. It was the 46th animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation...
in digital 3-D format.
The Butler's in LoveThe Butler's in Love is a short film directed by David Arquette and starring Elizabeth Berkley and Thomas Jane. The film is based on a painting by Mark Stock which hangs in Bix, the San Francisco restaurant where Arquette and his wife Courteney Cox held their rehearsal dinner the night before their...
, a short film directed by Anders Laursen and starring
Elizabeth BerkleyElizabeth Berkley is an American television, film, and theatre actress. Berkley's most notable roles were in the television series Saved by the Bell, as brainy feminist Jessie Spano, and the 1995 Paul Verhoeven film Showgirls, as exotic dancer Nomi Malone.-Early life:Berkley was born and raised...
and
Thomas JaneThomas Jane is an American actor known for his roles in the 1999 film Deep Blue Sea, the 2001 TV film 61*, the 2004 film The Punisher and the 2007 Stephen King adaptation The Mist...
was released on June 23, 2008. The film was shot at the former Industrial Light & Magic studios using KernerFX's prototype Kernercam stereoscopic camera rig.
Ben Walters suggests that both filmmakers and film exhibitors regain interest in 3-D film. There are now more 3-D exhibition equipments, and more dramatic films being shot in 3-D format. One incentive is that the technology is more mature. Shooting in 3-D format is less limited, and the result is more stable. Another incentive is the fact that while 2-D ticket sales are in an overall state of decline, revenues from 3-D tickets continue to grow.
Through the entire history of 3D presentations, techniques to convert existing 2D images for 3D presentation have existed. Few have been effective or survived. The combination of digital and digitized source material with relatively cost-effective digital post-processing has spawned a new wave of conversion products. In June 2006,
IMAXIMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
and
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
released
Superman ReturnsSuperman Returns is a 2006 superhero film directed by Bryan Singer. It is the fifth and final installment in the original Superman film series and serves as a alternate sequel to Superman and Superman II by ignoring the events of Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace .The film stars...
including 20 minutes of 3-D images converted from the 2-D original digital footage.
George LucasGeorge Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
has announced that he will re-release his
Star WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
films in 3-D based on a conversion process from the company In-Three.
In late 2005,
Steven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
told the press he was involved in patenting a 3-D cinema system that does not need glasses, and which is based on plasma screens. A computer splits each film-frame, and then projects the two split images onto the screen at differing angles, to be picked up by tiny angled ridges on the screen.
Animated films
Open SeasonOpen Season is a 2006 computer-animated comedy film, written by Steve Bencich and Ron J. Friedman and directed by Jill Culton, Roger Allers, and Anthony Stacchi, and production designed by Michael Humphries...
, and
The Ant BullyThe Ant Bully is a 1999 children's book drawn and written by John Nickle. It is about a young boy named Lucas Nickle , who is the titular character in the book and who likes to torment ants. It was later adapted into a computer-animated film of the same name by John A...
, were released in Analog 3D in 2006.
Monster HouseMonster House is a 2006 computer animated motion capture horror/comedy film produced by ImageMovers and Amblin Entertainment, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. Executive produced by Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg, this is the first time since Back to the Future Part III that they have...
and
The Nightmare Before ChristmasThe Nightmare Before Christmas, often promoted as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, is a 1993 stop motion musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to...
were released on
XpanD 3DXPAND 3D is a brand name of a system for presenting three-dimensional films in a digital cinema, home theater, video games and other applications. XPAND utilizes active-shutter 3D glasses...
,
RealDRealD Inc. is the company that develops the RealD Cinema technology, used for projecting films in stereoscopic 3D using circularly polarized light. The company was founded in 2003 by Michael V. Lewis and Joshua Greer. Between 2005 and 2007 the company purchased StereoGraphics Inc...
and
Dolby 3DDolby 3D is a marketing name for a system from Dolby Laboratories, Inc. to show three-dimensional motion pictures in a digital cinema.- Technology :...
systems in 2006.
On May 19, 2007
Scar3DScar is a horror/crime thriller film. It stars actress Angela Bettis, known for starring in the remake of the horror classic horrorfilm Carrie...
opened at the Cannes Film Market. It was the first US produced 3D full length feature film to be completed in
Real D 3DRealD Cinema is a digital stereoscopic projection technology made and sold by RealD Inc. It is currently the most widely used technology for watching 3-D films in theatres.-Technology:...
. It has been the #1 film at the
box officeA box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
in several countries around the world, including Russia where it opened in 3D on 295 screens.
2008 3-D films included
Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds ConcertHannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert is a 2008 American concert film from Walt Disney Pictures presented in Disney Digital 3-D. Released in the United States and Canada originally for one week, February 1–7, 2008, with release in other countries later on...
,
Journey to the Center of the EarthJourney to the Center of the Earth is an American 2008 3D adventure film starring Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, and Anita Briem...
, and
Bolt.
On January 16, 2009, Lionsgate released
My Bloody Valentine 3D, the first horror film and first R-rated film to be projected in
Real D 3DRealD Cinema is a digital stereoscopic projection technology made and sold by RealD Inc. It is currently the most widely used technology for watching 3-D films in theatres.-Technology:...
. It was released to 1,033 3D screens, the most ever for this format, and 1,501 regular screens. Another R-Rated film,
The Final Destination, was released later that year (August 28) to even more screens. It was the first of its series to be released in HD 3-D.
On May 7, 2009 the
British Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
commissioned a 3D film installation. The film
Radio Mania: An Abandoned Work consists of two screens of stereoscopic 3D film with 3D Ambisonic sound. It stars
Kevin Eldon and is by British artists
Iain Forsyth and Jane PollardIain Forsyth and Jane Pollard are British artists who create re-enactments of cultural and art historical events. Forsyth was born in Manchester in 1973, Pollard in Newcastle in 1972.-Life and work:...
.
The first 3-D Webisode series was
HorrorweenHorrorween is a 2010 horror comedy film directed by Joe Estevez and written by Mike Muscat, Judd Rubin, Jason Sanchez and Ed Meyer. It stars Lloyd Kaufman, Kathy Garver and Tom Savini.-Plot:A group of people hunt Zombies...
starting September 1, 2009.
Major 3-D films in 2009 included
CoralineCoraline is a 2009 stop-motion 3D fantasy/horror children's film based on Neil Gaiman's 2002 novel of the same name. It was produced by Laika and distributed by Focus Features. Written and directed by Henry Selick, it was released widely in US theaters on February 6, 2009, after a world premiere at...
,
Monsters vs. AliensMonsters vs. Aliens is a 2009 American computer-animated 3-D science fiction film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures...
,
UpUp is a 2009 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and presented in Disney Digital 3-D. The film premiered on May 29, 2009 in North America and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film...
,
X Games 3D: The MovieX Games 3D: The Movie is an action sports/documentary 3-D film released on August 21, 2009 for one week only. It captures the drama and spectacle that play out every year at the X Games, highlighting the behind-the-scenes stories of the featured athletes and the sacrifices they make in pursuit of...
,
The Final Destination, and
Avatar.
Avatar has gone on to be one of the most expensive films of all time, with a budget at 237M; it is also the highest-grossing film of all time. The main technologies used to exhibit these films, and many others released around the time and up to the present, are
Real D 3DRealD Cinema is a digital stereoscopic projection technology made and sold by RealD Inc. It is currently the most widely used technology for watching 3-D films in theatres.-Technology:...
,
Dolby 3DDolby 3D is a marketing name for a system from Dolby Laboratories, Inc. to show three-dimensional motion pictures in a digital cinema.- Technology :...
,
XpanD 3DXPAND 3D is a brand name of a system for presenting three-dimensional films in a digital cinema, home theater, video games and other applications. XPAND utilizes active-shutter 3D glasses...
,
MasterImage 3DMasterImage 3D is a company that develops stereoscopic 3D systems for theaters and auto-stereoscopic 3D displays for mobile devices.-Technology:...
, and IMAX 3D.
March and April 2010 saw three major 3-D releases clustered together, with
Alice in WonderlandAlice in Wonderland is a 2010 American computer-animated/live action fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton, written by Linda Woolverton, and released by Walt Disney Pictures...
hitting US theaters on March 5, 2010,
How to Train Your DragonHow to Train Your Dragon is a 2010 3D computer-animated action fantasy film by DreamWorks Animation loosely based on the 2003 book of the same name. The film stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, and Christopher...
on March 26, 2010 and
Clash of the TitansClash of the Titans is a 2010 fantasy and action remake of the 1981 film of the same name . The story is very loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus. Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Sam Worthington, the film was originally set for standard release on March 26, 2010...
on April 2, 2010.
On May 13, 2010, China's first IMAX 3D film started shooting. The pre-production of the first 3-D film shot in France,
Derrière les mursDerrière les murs is a French supernatural-thriller film written and directed by Julien Lacombe and Pascal Sid.-Plot:The story is about a young writer, played by Laetitia Casta, who goes to the countryside in order to find inspiration...
, began in May 2010, and it will be released in mid-2011.
On October 1, 2010
Scar3DScar is a horror/crime thriller film. It stars actress Angela Bettis, known for starring in the remake of the horror classic horrorfilm Carrie...
was the first-ever stereoscopic 3D
Video-on-demandVideo on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
film released through major cable broadcasters for
3D televisionA 3D television is a television set that employs techniques of 3D presentation, such as stereoscopic capture, multi-view capture, or 2D-plus-depth, and a 3D display – a special viewing device to project a television program into a realistic three-dimensional field.- History :In the late-1890's,...
s in the United States.
Released in the United States on May 21, 2010,
Shrek Forever AfterShrek Forever After, taglined as The Final Chapter, is a 2010 animated fantasy-comedy film, and the fourth and final installment in the Shrek film series, produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film was released by Paramount Pictures in cinemas on May 20, 2010 in Russia, and on May 21 in the United...
by
DreamWorks AnimationDreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates animated feature films, television program and online virtual worlds...
(
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
) used the Real D 3D system, also released in IMAX 3D.
Due to growing popularity of 3-D and an increase in 3-D screens, an increasing amount of newly released films have been screened in 3-D. However, film industry observers have noted that 2011 has shown a considerable decline in audience interest in 3-D presentation. For instance, only 45% of the premiere weekend box office earnings of
Kung Fu Panda 2 came from screenings in the 3D presentation format as opposed to 60% for
Shrek Forever AfterShrek Forever After, taglined as The Final Chapter, is a 2010 animated fantasy-comedy film, and the fourth and final installment in the Shrek film series, produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film was released by Paramount Pictures in cinemas on May 20, 2010 in Russia, and on May 21 in the United...
in 2010. In addition, the premiere of
Cars 2Cars 2 is a 2011 American computer-animated action film produced by Pixar, and it is the sequel to the 2006 film, Cars. In the film, race car Lightning McQueen and tow truck Mater head to Japan and Europe to compete in the World Grand Prix, but Mater becomes sidetracked with international espionage...
opening weekend gross consisted of only 37% from 3-D theatres. In view of this trend, there has been box office analysis concluding the implementation of 3-D presentation is apparently backfiring by discouraging people from going to movie theatres at all. As Brandon Gray of
Box Office MojoBox Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...
notes, "In each case, 3D's more-money-from-fewer-people approach has simply led to less money from even fewer people."
One of the leading proponents of 3-D film and the producer of some of the most critically acclaimed films in this format such as
How To Train Your DragonHow to Train Your Dragon is a 2010 3D computer-animated action fantasy film by DreamWorks Animation loosely based on the 2003 book of the same name. The film stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, and Christopher...
(
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
score of 98%) and
Kung Fu Panda 2 (RT 82%),
Jeffrey KatzenbergJeffrey Katzenberg is an American film producer and CEO of DreamWorks Animation. He is perhaps most famous for his period as chairman of The Walt Disney Company's film division, and for producing DreamWorks animated films such as Shrek, Antz, The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Chicken...
, blames oversaturation of the market with inferior films, especially ones photographed conventionally and then digitally processed in
post-productionPost-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
for the 3-D format, such as
The Last AirbenderThe Last Airbender is a 2010 American fantasy adventure film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It is a live-action film adaptation of the first season to the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender....
(RT 6%) and
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty GaloreCats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore is a 2010 family action comedy film directed by Brad Peyton. The film stars Chris O'Donnell and Jack McBrayer. The film also stars the voices of James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Christina Applegate, Katt Williams, Bette Midler, and Neil Patrick Harris...
(RT 13%) that have led to audiences concluding the format is not worth the additional expense to see. However at the global box office 6 3D films have grossed over $1 billion each, 3 from
2011The year 2011 is notable for containing the release of the most film sequels in a single year, at 27 sequels. The following tables list films that are in production or have completed production and will be released in the United States and Canada at some point in 2011.- Highest-grossing films :...
, 2 from
2010The year 2010 saw many new films released worldwide. 2010 saw a dramatic increase and prominence in the use of 3D-technology in filmmaking and film releases after the success of Avatar in the format, with releases such as Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, Jackass 3D, all animated films and...
and 1 from
2009The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note...
.
World 3-D Expositions
In September 2003, Sabucat Productions organized the first World 3-D Exposition, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original craze. The Expo was held at
Grauman's Egyptian TheatreGrauman's Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, is one of the world's most famous movie theatres. Opened in 1922, it was the venue for the first-ever Hollywood premiere.- History :...
. During the two-week festival, over 30 of the 50 "golden era" stereoscopic features (as well as shorts) were screened, many coming from the collection of film historian and archivist Robert Furmanek, who had spent the previous 15 years painstakingly tracking down and preserving each film to its original glory. In attendance were many stars from each film, respectively, and some were moved to tears by the sold-out seating with audiences of film buffs from all over the world who came to remember their previous glories.
In May 2006, the second World 3-D Exposition was announced for September of that year, presented by the
3-D Film Preservation FundThe 3-D Film Preservation Fund is a 501 nonprofit corporation, dedicated to the preservation of stereoscopic motion pictures...
. Along with the favorites of the previous exposition were newly discovered features and shorts, and like the previous Expo, guests from each film. Expo II was announced as being the locale for the world premiere of several films never before seen in 3-D, including
The Diamond Wizard and the Universal short,
Hawaiian Nights with
Mamie Van DorenMamie Van Doren is an American actress and singer; who rose to popularity as Universal Pictures's version of 20th Century Fox's Marilyn Monroe....
and
Pinky LeePincus Leff , better known as Pinky Lee, was an American burlesque comic and host of a children's television program, The Pinky Lee Show, in the early 1950s.-Biography:...
. Other "re-premieres" of films not seen since their original release in stereoscopic form included
Cease Fire!,
Taza, Son of Cochise,
Wings of the Hawk, and
Those Redheads From Seattle. Also shown were the long-lost shorts
Carmenesque and
A Day in the Country (both 1953) and William Van Doren Kelley's two
Plasticon shorts (1922 and 1923).
Criticism
Most of the cues required to provide humans with relative depth information are already present in traditional 2D films. For example, closer objects occlude further ones, distant objects are desaturated and hazy relative to near ones, and the brain subconsciously "knows" the distance of many objects when the height is known (e.g. a human figure subtending only a small amount of the screen is more likely to be 2 m tall and far away than 10 cm tall and close). In fact, only two of these depth cues are not already present in 2D films:
stereopsisStereopsis refers to impression of depth that is perceived when a scene is viewed with both eyes by someone with normal binocular vision. Binocular viewing of a scene creates two slightly different images of the scene in the two eyes due the the eyes' different positions on the head...
(or parallax) and the focus of the eyeball (
accommodationAccommodation is the process by which the vertebrate eye changes optical power to maintain a clear image on an object as its distance changes....
).
3D film-making addresses accurate presentation of stereopsis but not of accommodation, and therefore is insufficient in providing a complete 3D illusion. However, promising results from research aimed at overcoming this shortcoming were presented at the 2010 Stereoscopic Displays and Applications conference in San Jose, U.S.
Motion sicknessMotion sickness or kinetosis, also known as travel sickness, is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system's sense of movement...
, in addition to other health concerns, are more easily induced by 3-D presentations.
Film critic
Mark KermodeMark Kermode is an English film critic, musician and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He contributes to Sight and Sound magazine, The Observer newspaper and BBC Radio 5 Live, where he presents Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews with Simon Mayo on Friday afternoons...
argued that 3-D adds "not that much" of value to a film, and said that, while he liked
Avatar, the many impressive things he saw in the movie had nothing to do with 3-D. Kermode has been an outspoken critic of 3-D film describing the effect as a "nonsense" and recommends using two right or left lenses from the 3-D glasses to cut out the "pointy, pointy 3-D stereoscopic vision", although this technique still does not improve the 30% colour loss from a 3-D film. Versions of these "2-D glasses" are being marketed.
Film critic
Roger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
has repeatedly criticized 3-D film as being "too dim" (due to the polarized-light technology using only half the light for each eye), sometimes distracting or even nausea-inducing, and argues that it is an expensive technology that adds nothing of value to the movie-going experience (since 2-D movies already provide a sufficient illusion of 3-D). While Ebert is "not opposed to 3-D as an option", he opposes it as a replacement for traditional film, and prefers 2-D techologies such as MaxiVision48 that improve image area/resolution and frames per second. Director
Christopher NolanChristopher Jonathan James Nolan is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer.He received serious notice after his second feature Memento , which he wrote and directed based on a story idea by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. Jonathan went to co-write later scripts with him,...
has stated that while two dimensional film displays at 16 foot lamberts of luminance, the addition of 3-D sacrifices up to three foot lamberts, which he criticises as, "A massive difference. You're not that aware of it because once you're "in that world," your eye compensates, but having struggled for years to get theaters up to the proper brightness, we're not sticking polarized filters in everything."
Another major criticism is that many of the movies in the 21st century to date were not filmed in 3-D, but converted after filming. Filmmakers who have criticized this process include
James CameronJames Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
, whose film
Avatar was created in 3-D from the ground up and is largely credited with the revival of 3-D.
Director Christopher Nolan has criticised the notion that traditional film does not allow depth perception, saying "I think it's a misnomer to call it 3D versus 2D. The whole point of cinematic imagery is it's three dimensional... You know 95% of our
depth cuesDepth perception is the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions and the distance of an object. Depth sensation is the ability to move accurately, or to respond consistently, based on the distances of objects in an environment....
come from occlusion, resolution, color and so forth, so the idea of calling a 2D movie a '2D movie' is a little misleading." Nolan also criticised that shooting on the required
digital videoDigital video is a type of digital recording system that works by using a digital rather than an analog video signal.The terms camera, video camera, and camcorder are used interchangeably in this article.- History :...
does not offer a high enough quality image and that 3D cameras cannot be equipped with
prime lensesIn film and photography, a prime lens is either a photographic lens whose focal length is fixed, as opposed to a zoom lens, or it is the primary lens in a combination lens system....
.
See also
- List of 3-D films
- 3-D Film Preservation Fund
The 3-D Film Preservation Fund is a 501 nonprofit corporation, dedicated to the preservation of stereoscopic motion pictures...
- 3D television
A 3D television is a television set that employs techniques of 3D presentation, such as stereoscopic capture, multi-view capture, or 2D-plus-depth, and a 3D display – a special viewing device to project a television program into a realistic three-dimensional field.- History :In the late-1890's,...
- 3D display
A 3D display is any display device capable of conveying a stereoscopic perception of 3-D depth to the viewer. The basic requirement is to present offset images that are displayed separately to the left and right eye. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the...
- Autostereoscopy
Autostereoscopy is any method of displaying stereoscopic images without the use of special headgear or glasses on the part of the viewer. Because headgear is not required, it is also called "glasses-free 3D" or "glassesless 3D"...
- Stereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
- Volumetric display
A volumetric display device is a graphical display device that forms a visual representation of an object in three physical dimensions, as opposed to the planar image of traditional screens that simulate depth through a number of different visual effects...
- Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
- performance capture photography
- Digital 3D
Digital 3D is a non-specific 3D standard in which films, television shows, and video games are presented and shot in digital 3D technology or later processed in digital post-production to add a 3D effect....
- RealD Cinema
- Dolby 3D
Dolby 3D is a marketing name for a system from Dolby Laboratories, Inc. to show three-dimensional motion pictures in a digital cinema.- Technology :...
- XpanD 3D
XPAND 3D is a brand name of a system for presenting three-dimensional films in a digital cinema, home theater, video games and other applications. XPAND utilizes active-shutter 3D glasses...
- MasterImage 3D
MasterImage 3D is a company that develops stereoscopic 3D systems for theaters and auto-stereoscopic 3D displays for mobile devices.-Technology:...
- IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
- Disney Digital 3-D
Disney Digital 3-D is a brand used by the Walt Disney Company to describe three-dimensional films made and released by the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and shown exclusively using digital projection....
- List of Films Shot in 3D
- 4-D film
4-D film is a marketing term that describes an entertainment presentation system combining a 3-D film with physical effects in the theatre, which occur in synchronization with the film...
- List of Blu-ray 3D releases
External links