November 25, 2008
THREE-DIMENSIONAL films, once blamed for making audiences nauseous, are making a comeback and are likely to become the future of cinema thanks to digital technology, Hollywood studio moguls say.
The latest advances had enabled studios to use special effects and state-of-the-art projectors to create 3D films far superior to their predecessors, they said at a 3DX Festival in Singapore.
"In the history of film, there have been two great revolutionary events: the transition from silent movies to synchronised sound that happened in the early 1920s and the arrival of colour in the 1930s," DreamWorks Animation chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said. "Now, more than seven decades later, the movie industry is entering the third period of revolutionary change, with the arrival of 3D."
Speaking to reporters later, Katzenberg said innovation and technology "have made this the magic moment" for 3D films to make a return.
3D technology enables the viewer to feel part of the movie. Objects, for example, can seem to fly directly towards them.
Film studios are banking on the new, dramatic visual experience to lure moviegoers back to cinemas, for which attendances have fallen with the rise of DVDs and other home entertainment formats.
Patrons still need to wear dark glasses to watch 3D films, but these now come with advanced lenses and stylish designs.
Digital technology enables clear images and pristine bright colours, giving filmgoers a 3D experience without the headaches or nausea. Katzenberg said 3D films being made now were a far cry from those in his father's era, which were viewed through "those kind of goofy red and blue cardboard" eyeglasses.
"Let's be honest, the 3D was pretty terrible," he said.
"The technology was primitive, the film was blurry, people got headaches and actually some got nauseous.
"It really wasn't much more than a cheap exploitation gimmick."
Katzenberg showed two preview clips from DreamWorks' 3D animated film Monsters vs Aliens, which got rave reviews from an audience of directors and film-makers at the festival.
Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group, says his company is making "tremendous investments" in 3D films.
It has already released four: Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, The Nightmare before Christmas and the Hannah Montana concert film.
A fifth, Bolt, is to hit cinemas soon.
Walt Disney says it has committed to make 17 movies in the next three years, 11 of them animated 3D films and six with live-action 3D.
Greg Foster, president of another studio giant, IMAX, says his firm also sees 3D as the future. "For us, 3D internationally continues to be a very growing market," he says.
One key challenge is converting movie theatre screens worldwide to be able to show digital 3D films, Hollywood executives say.
AFP