An Investigation into the impact 3D cinema has to its audience and Directors
In this investigation I will be looking into the impact 3D cinema has to its audience and how the directors of today feel about the use of 3D cinema. Motion picture films have been running for over 65 years, and to an even more surprise 3D motion pictures having been produced since 1950’s and started the market in American cinema. A 3D film is basically a motion picture that has been enhanced with an illusion and perception, which allows the footage to pounce off the screen. The only way you can potentially get these images onto the screen and visually through the audience’s eye is if you shoot using a special motion picture camera and use eye wear which provides an illusion to the audience while they view the motion picture. 3D motion picture films have only really become popular again for the past 3 – 5 years and the demand for them at the cinema, and with high end theatre such as IMAX producing their very own 3D cameras and screens across the world, this shows the market is building for a 3D produced films.
3D films aim to create the feeling that the audience are in fact part of the film, the 3D technology is aiming for the audiences to move out the way and jump as if something is coming towards them, 3D films are aiming to make motion pictures more exciting and more realistic, but does it?
I am going to investigate the impact 3-D films have over its audiences and if the audience feel that 3-D film live up to the hype, I also intend on looking into the directors of the more high budget known for 3-D and 3D converted films. I also intend to look at well-known directors and there hesitant transition to 3D films for example Christopher Nolan the writer and director of the past two batman films and his confusion and his hesitancy in using 3D technology even though he finds it technically fascinating.
"On a technical level, it's fascinating, but on an experiential level, I find the dimness of the image extremely alienating." [1]
After researching 3D films and the filming techniques used to create a 3D blockbuster such as ‘Avatar’, I wanted to see if they really are smashing and taking over the boxing office. Its very clear that 3D films are slowly taking over the box office and creating a huge impact for the audience. If we look back to 2008 ‘The Dark Knight’ was top of the box office charts and remained there until the end of the year[2], although this wasn’t in 3D it was in fact shot the same technical camera to which the IMAX created this shows that the same technology is slowly creeping into the box office and in cinemas and its being recognised.
Having seen that 3D films and the technique are slowly moving up in the box office and audiences are getting more familiarized with the new visual means of watching a motion picture, I’ve carried on and looked into the box office results for 2009 ad 2010. Yet again there are 3D technique films in the top twenty but also 5 fully converted 3D films such as ‘James Cameron’s Avatar’ which sits top of the charts of 2009[3] and also the most a motion picture film has ever made. Other 3D films that sit in the top twenty of the 2009 box office results are ‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs’, ‘UP’, ‘Monsters vs. Aliens’ and also ‘A Christmas Carol’3. Just a year later and five 3D films have come into the cinema and nearly taken over the top twenty, 3D age is now upon us.
Currently the top twenty in the 2010 box office results there are nine 3D films which is nearly double of 2009. This clear shows that 3D films are getting bigger and more competitive with each other as larger production companies such as ‘Warner Bros’ and ‘Universal Studios’[4] are producing and converting more and more 3D motion picture films. This would be the case if the impact to the audience wasn’t in fact a positive one, because 3D has slowly disappeared in the past due to poor ratings, but looking at the statistics 3D films are here for the long run.
‘http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2009&p=.htm’
‘http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2010&p=.htm’
I created a short questionnaire to give to a few people at my University so I could hear and hopefully understand how the audiences feel about 3D films at the cinema and if they generally like them, and if the statistics to box office takings are true. I added a few simple questions into my questionnaire such as, What 3D films have they seen, and what they generally think of 3D films. The Results came back were a little shocking as I initially thought everyone would have been blown away with the concept of 3D films and judging by the results of the last three years at the box office this really did come back as a shock. A lot of people loved the fully converted 3D films such as ‘Avatar’ and Toy Story’ because they were done so well and really made you believe that you was in the film and apart of the visual aspect of the film. There was also a lot of criticism about a few 3D films, such as ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth 2008’ which wasn’t even in the top twenty in 2008, many people thought it looked too ‘fake’ and couldn’t take it seriously all due to the fact it was in 3D. ‘Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland was another 3D film which caught my eye when I looked back at the results, although it was converted late into a 3D motion picture every single questionnaire that came back said how disappointing it was, and the 3D visual side was in fact ‘pointless’ and not needed. I also asked the chosen audience what they believe would make and what they would like to see in a 3D motion picture, I was expecting the results to be varied because it was a type of question where anything could come back. But I was yet again proved wrong, 9/11 people came back saying they only like and want to see 3D films that are fully or nearly fully animated for example ‘Avatar’ and ‘Toy Story 3’ Which are both currently the top two grossing 3D films ever. This would also explain why ‘Alice in Wonderland’ failed to win round the audiences on its release in 2010.
Because 3D films have come out of nowhere and changed cinema forever, many directors have had to change there techniques and there style in filming to cater for the 3D camera and also script writers and screen writers have also had to adapt the way they see the film and put it onto paper to pitch to the producers. Many film makers have had to adapt and change completely the way the film and produce a 3D film. As I briefly said before there are many directors that are very for the idea of a 3D take over and excited about the new cinema and the new look of film that is being produced for example James Cameron the writer and Director is very for and excited for 3D takeover, as he achieved to create the biggest motion picture of all time and is also converting another one of his films ‘Titanic’ into 3D.
‘I think that’s the true and correct use of the conversion technology, is for movies that are already done and are already beloved films. I want to do it with “Titanic,” maybe I’ll go back to “T2,” I don’t know’ (James Cameron)[5]
This shows that directors are looking into converting and producing as many 3D films for the future and they realise that it’s a new age of film making. I went back to the audience who answered my questionnaire and discussed the conversion that James Cameron is currently involved with and how they felt about it. All of them thought it was a scheme to get more money from them, and couldn’t quite understand why they would want to convert an old film such as ‘Titanic’ which was released nearly ten years ago, and back then CGI was up and coming and wasn’t at its greatest, so converting it into 3D many people are worried that it will damage the effect visually and emotionally when it is released in 2012.
It seems that the impact of 3D cinema is only truly making a huge impact if the film was initially filmed and produced for 3D vision purpose and not for conversion. But because 3D films are growing and have only suddenly started to take over and earn such giant box office takings then directors and film companies will convert their films which they have been working on for the past three- four years where they thought 2D cinema was still the means of watching a blockbuster. Judging by many audiences’ views they will be hoping that we are at the end of converted 2D motion picture to 3D motion pictures. Director Joe Dante who directed the film ‘The Hole’ which was all filmed in 3D says that’s 2D films converted to 3D will kill 3D cinema and that it will all slowly fade away.
‘2D-to-3D converted movies are 'a rip-off' and will 'kill 3D' (Joe Dante)
James Dante is a director who believes in 3D motion pictures but doesn’t feel that you can convert a film technique and a film sequence that wasn’t initially meant for the 3D screen.[6] James also believes that in a few years to come there will be many 2D- converted films to 3D. This however will ruin the full on impact for an audience because they won’t be able to relate as much as they possible did when they saw the 2D film.
In my conclusion I feel that the age of 2D cinema is slowly disappearing and the age of 3D is gradually taking over with a huge effect on cinema takings and box office results, with the likes of ‘Avatar’ and Toy Story 3’ being great examples of this and with sequels of ‘Avatar being in production now, we can only wait for me 3D films to take the box office from knew and loved to what we will love in years to come. I also feel that this is a very sensitive subject with many directors, for example Christopher Nolan and Joe Dante and their views on 3D not being true cinema and giving the audience a true film experience., however there are so many other directors who have benefited from the transition and finding it easy to convert from 2D film to 3D or even write scripts for a full 3D motion picture.
With 3D motion picture still learning and film creators still trying to figure out what works best and what exactly the audiences like, I feel that the audiences views on 3D cinema will change until they get a consistency like with ‘Avatar’ I also feel that with these same examples that the audiences impact to 3D cinema will also change as technology and directors learn more and if we hear more from the audiences then the production company can change or add to up and coming 3D motion pictures. 3D films are there to wow audiences, with new technology and with realistic CGI caption it is already doing its job, with only making a comeback within the last three- five years I feel 3D films will and is going to be around for the rest of film and cinema history. Getting the audiences to be more involved and feel as if they are living within a fantasy world is everyone’s dream, and it’s now come true through the eyes of 3D.
[1] Katey Rich (2010) Cinema Blend URL: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Christopher-Nolan-Speaks-Brilliantly-Against-3D-19006.html [December 2010]
[2] IMDb (1999) Yearly Box Office URL: http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2008&p=.htm [December 2010]
[3] IMDb (1999) Yearly Box Office URL: http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2009&p=.htm [December 2010]
[4]IMDb (1999) Yearly Box Office URL: http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2010&p=.htm [December 2010]
[5]URL: http://www.slashfilm.com/james-cameron-talks-about-3d-titanic-conversion-threatens-again-to-convert-terminator-2/ James Cameron Talks About 3D ‘Titanic’ Conversion, Threatens Again to Convert ‘Terminator 2′ (October 14th 2010) Russ Fischer [December 2010]
[6]URL: http://hcc.techradar.com/blogs/team-hcc/2d-3d-converted-movies-are-rip-and-will-kill-3d-claims-director-joe-dante-10-09-10 2D-to-3D converted movies are 'a rip-off' and will 'kill 3D' claims director Joe Dante. Anton van Beek - 10 September 2010 (Home Cinema Choice)[ December 2010]
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