Last night was my first foray into the world of 3D.
Actually, that’s not quite right.
Last night was my first foray into the world of 3D cinema… and I was underwhelmed.
Once I had worked out that the 3D glasses go on top of my ordinary glasses I was ready to go. I felt prepared for something more than watching a film (perhaps a science experiment or piloting a small plane). The first advert was promising, as a tennis ball spun towards me. I’ve never experienced this before, I thought, until I realised that it was just like playing tennis, but without the enjoyment of actually playing. My glasses were beginning to smear, but was it my normal glasses or the 3D glasses? Neither, as it turned out, it was just a special effect.
The film itself was Clash of The Titans, on reflection a film that probably doesn’t do 3D justice (I had my own personal prejudices for ignoring Avatar). There were a few good battle sequences, but nothing really to make me feel I was truly a part of the action, until midway through the film, when a missile came straight at me and hit me in the face. Wow, I thought, this 3D thing is really something. I didn’t realise technology had come this far! I started to imagine being sprayed by water during Jaws, or a bullet flying just past my ear in a spaghetti western.
These thoughts were to be short-lived. The guy in front turned round and apologised profusely for being careless with his popcorn.
April 4, 2010 at 11:55 am
The interesting thing is that 3D movies have been tried repeatedly in the past—and havs always been found wanting for one reason or the other.
This time it will likely be different, considering Avatar’s success, but considering how fast “talkies” and color movies/television caught on…
Wikipedia has an intereting overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-D_film
January 27, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Of course 3d movies will never be completely effective because they are not 3d more a stereo representation on the on screen image and makes use of the brain being fooled for a lot of people. For those whose brains notice that their focussing is not changing (the screen is a static distance away) or can’t see normally (me for a start) it is an utter waste.
At the moment I am not convinced that 3d tv or cinema is anything more than a gimmick being forced on us by an industry who has done digital and hidef and are looking for the next gimmick. Smellyvision is what I would like to err see as that could really bring a film to life and bring another sense into play.