| To 3-D or not to 3-D | 3.03.2009 |
I took the kids to see Coraline the other day. I really wanted to see this in the theaters to get the 3-D experience of it. There has certainly been a resurgance of 3-D lately. And I find myself having to ask... Why?
Seriously. What is the sudden fascination with 3-D? The first Imax experience 3-D that I saw was the Polar Express. And to be honest, I was blown away by it. It really seemed like I was in the midst of a snowstorm. The flakes appeared to be swirling around well past the first few rows (and I was locked in the front row.) Maybe the first row heightened the experience.
Following that I heard that Superman Returns was getting the 3-D treatment. I turned it into a group outing, encouraging a friend to go with me and take her kids. Not going into the quality of the movie itself (it sucked), I found the 3-D to be distracting at best and lame overall. What, 15 minutes of 3-D in a two hour movie. What was the point? Either do it 3-D or don't.
The problem is that filmmakers feel that in order to utilize 3-D properly they need to poke the audience. Scenes are written so that a character can do something that jabs or throws or pokes or prods something into the camera. This mentality of 3-D filmmaking breaks the 4th wall. You are interacting directly with ME the viewer and no longer are you maintaining the integrity of the movie.
Then came Coraline. A 3-D movie done right. There wasn't really anything over the top and to be honest, most of the time you kinda forget that it is 3-D. Until something buzzes the screen in what I felt was a fairly natural manner. The door/tunnel creating itself before our eyes was an excellant use of 3-D. And it didn't poke me. They did poke me in the very beginning, but it was a needle sewing a button, and wouldn't have been filmed very differently without the 3-D aspect.
The previews for Coraline were all in 3-D. Touting at least 3 movies coming in 3-D. Movies which I look at and find myself asking...Why? The technology is better now than Jaws 3-D. But the overall quality of filmmaking from Jaws 3-D to My Bloody Valentine 3-D are exactly the same.
Want me to get excited about a movie being done in 3-D? Don't give me stupid crap like Jaws 3-D. Filmmakers need to grow up. But so do studios. I worry that they are close to running out of classic horror films to remake. What happens then? The studio execs who don't have the balls to make original movies will be forced to remake remakes. If Dimension announces Amityville 3-D the remake I won't need to blog it, you will be able to hear me scream out in protest...
Bloody MonkeyZ
Seriously. What is the sudden fascination with 3-D? The first Imax experience 3-D that I saw was the Polar Express. And to be honest, I was blown away by it. It really seemed like I was in the midst of a snowstorm. The flakes appeared to be swirling around well past the first few rows (and I was locked in the front row.) Maybe the first row heightened the experience.
Following that I heard that Superman Returns was getting the 3-D treatment. I turned it into a group outing, encouraging a friend to go with me and take her kids. Not going into the quality of the movie itself (it sucked), I found the 3-D to be distracting at best and lame overall. What, 15 minutes of 3-D in a two hour movie. What was the point? Either do it 3-D or don't.
The problem is that filmmakers feel that in order to utilize 3-D properly they need to poke the audience. Scenes are written so that a character can do something that jabs or throws or pokes or prods something into the camera. This mentality of 3-D filmmaking breaks the 4th wall. You are interacting directly with ME the viewer and no longer are you maintaining the integrity of the movie.
Then came Coraline. A 3-D movie done right. There wasn't really anything over the top and to be honest, most of the time you kinda forget that it is 3-D. Until something buzzes the screen in what I felt was a fairly natural manner. The door/tunnel creating itself before our eyes was an excellant use of 3-D. And it didn't poke me. They did poke me in the very beginning, but it was a needle sewing a button, and wouldn't have been filmed very differently without the 3-D aspect.
The previews for Coraline were all in 3-D. Touting at least 3 movies coming in 3-D. Movies which I look at and find myself asking...Why? The technology is better now than Jaws 3-D. But the overall quality of filmmaking from Jaws 3-D to My Bloody Valentine 3-D are exactly the same.
Want me to get excited about a movie being done in 3-D? Don't give me stupid crap like Jaws 3-D. Filmmakers need to grow up. But so do studios. I worry that they are close to running out of classic horror films to remake. What happens then? The studio execs who don't have the balls to make original movies will be forced to remake remakes. If Dimension announces Amityville 3-D the remake I won't need to blog it, you will be able to hear me scream out in protest...
Bloody MonkeyZ
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