bicycle
03-04-2009, 09:31 PM
THE concept of 3D cinema has been around for longer than you might imagine.
Almost as soon as the moving picture was invented, pioneers tried to make their flat, two-dimensional films more true to life by conquering the art of the 3D image. And yet, more than 100 years later, the method has yet to fully take off.
According to film buffs, the first "golden age of 3D" was the early 1950s, when films like Creature From The Black Lagoonand It Came From Outer Spacethrilled audiences looking for an escape from years of post-war austerity. But, owing to a combination of technical problems and the high costs involved for cinemas, enthusiasm for 3D eventually waned, with only a handful of features being made over the next 25 years.
The craze enjoyed a brief revival in the 1980s, when filmgoers were treated to such movie classics as Amityville 3D, Friday the 13th Part 3and the cinematic triumph that was Jaws 3D.
But, despite many of these films turning a tidy profit for their studios, there was widespread agreement that the technology just wasn't able to match audience expectations - who can forget those green and red glasses that didn't so much turn images into 3D as a fuzzy, headache-inducing blur?
Now, though, the film industry has high hopes for the latest wave of 3D, which promises to bring a genuine new dimension to the cinemagoing experience.
This weekend sees brand new digital 3D screens going live at both the Cineworld and Vue multiplexes in Cambridge. Which is why, last Saturday afternoon, I found myself joining the eager droves of film fans queuing to watch a sneak preview of the new 3D animation Monsters vs Aliensat Cineworld. My mission: To find out whether this really is the long-awaited breakthrough for 3D cinema - or just another monster false-start.
Monsters vs Aliens, with its fastpaced intergalactic action, large-scale explosions and spotless animated textures, provides an ideal platform for this latest foray into the third dimension.
Sure enough, the film wastes no time in performing a series of dimension-busting episodes. In the first minute, tangible shots of juicy hamburgers and wayward bouncyballs are paraded before us.
Dreamworks is clearly out to impress.
Keen to play to its new advantages, the film's characters incorporate every variation of intricate texture attempted in an animation studio. A globular blue blob (called B.O.B), a slimy, scaly fish-man and a gigantic furry grub make up the 3D ensemble.
Although obvious technique tools, they are hugely impressive to watch.
With such focus on the visual experience, it would be easy for the storyline to suffer as a consequence.
Home - Monsters vs Aliens
Jennifer has a close encounter with Monsters vs Aliens B.O.B.
Yet Monsters vs Aliens runs like a standard Dreamworks production which, without the glasses, would be hugely enjoyable in its own right.
The story follows Susan, later Ginormica, whose wedding is interrupted by an uninvited alien meteor which causes her to grow to 50ft.
Although drawing on some recycled themes, the plot holds its own with the help of a likeable lead (for once not an animal or child) and other occasional changes to the Dreamworks repetoire.
Rather than smother the plot, the 3D visuals add another layer of interest, making everything crisper, cleaner and altogether more fun.
Of course, the 3D experience is nothing without the famous 3D glasses. And the good news is, 3D specs have evolved since we might last have come across them. Instead of those flimsy green and red numbers, for my viewing pleasure this week I was handed a pair of dashing, blackrimmed affairs.
Needless to say, these provided much of the afternoon's entertainment. It's hard not to feel a bond between you and your fellow cinema-goers when you all look as though you've come to the same party dressed as Brains from Thunderbirds.
(Or in my case, the ginger one from Wayne's World.) And everyone I chatted to later proudly revealed that they were taking theirs home.
Presumably so they could see all their possessions in, erm, 3D.
Watching a film in 3D rather than 2D seemed to be an all-round hit with Cambridge's cinema fans. Despite the extra £2.20 added to the normal ticket price, Gemma Patterson and nephew Tommy King were keen to see another.
"It was much better than a normal film - we'd certainly choose to watch one again," said Gemma. "And we're definitely keeping the glasses!"
Also hanging on to theirs were Matthew and Mitchell Wilson, who were big fans of the 3D explosions. "I thought the best bit was when the meteor hit Earth," said Matthew, "and when the spaceship blew up."
Certainly, Monsters vs Alienshas enough intergalactic action and slapstick to keep the younger audience members entertained. Yet whether it will stand alongside Shrekas one of Dreamworks' universal classics is less certain. It delivers fewer nods to the adults in the audience, and lacks the heart of Disney-Pixar's 2001 classic Monsters Inc.
Still, as an action-packed animated romp, in gleaming 3D, Monsters vs Aliensis sure to impress. The technology adds an exciting new dimension to the ever-changing world of animated films and, with plans in place for every major Hollywood studio to release a 3D film in 2009, may well prove a turning point for modern cinema.
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=405279
Almost as soon as the moving picture was invented, pioneers tried to make their flat, two-dimensional films more true to life by conquering the art of the 3D image. And yet, more than 100 years later, the method has yet to fully take off.
According to film buffs, the first "golden age of 3D" was the early 1950s, when films like Creature From The Black Lagoonand It Came From Outer Spacethrilled audiences looking for an escape from years of post-war austerity. But, owing to a combination of technical problems and the high costs involved for cinemas, enthusiasm for 3D eventually waned, with only a handful of features being made over the next 25 years.
The craze enjoyed a brief revival in the 1980s, when filmgoers were treated to such movie classics as Amityville 3D, Friday the 13th Part 3and the cinematic triumph that was Jaws 3D.
But, despite many of these films turning a tidy profit for their studios, there was widespread agreement that the technology just wasn't able to match audience expectations - who can forget those green and red glasses that didn't so much turn images into 3D as a fuzzy, headache-inducing blur?
Now, though, the film industry has high hopes for the latest wave of 3D, which promises to bring a genuine new dimension to the cinemagoing experience.
This weekend sees brand new digital 3D screens going live at both the Cineworld and Vue multiplexes in Cambridge. Which is why, last Saturday afternoon, I found myself joining the eager droves of film fans queuing to watch a sneak preview of the new 3D animation Monsters vs Aliensat Cineworld. My mission: To find out whether this really is the long-awaited breakthrough for 3D cinema - or just another monster false-start.
Monsters vs Aliens, with its fastpaced intergalactic action, large-scale explosions and spotless animated textures, provides an ideal platform for this latest foray into the third dimension.
Sure enough, the film wastes no time in performing a series of dimension-busting episodes. In the first minute, tangible shots of juicy hamburgers and wayward bouncyballs are paraded before us.
Dreamworks is clearly out to impress.
Keen to play to its new advantages, the film's characters incorporate every variation of intricate texture attempted in an animation studio. A globular blue blob (called B.O.B), a slimy, scaly fish-man and a gigantic furry grub make up the 3D ensemble.
Although obvious technique tools, they are hugely impressive to watch.
With such focus on the visual experience, it would be easy for the storyline to suffer as a consequence.
Home - Monsters vs Aliens
Jennifer has a close encounter with Monsters vs Aliens B.O.B.
Yet Monsters vs Aliens runs like a standard Dreamworks production which, without the glasses, would be hugely enjoyable in its own right.
The story follows Susan, later Ginormica, whose wedding is interrupted by an uninvited alien meteor which causes her to grow to 50ft.
Although drawing on some recycled themes, the plot holds its own with the help of a likeable lead (for once not an animal or child) and other occasional changes to the Dreamworks repetoire.
Rather than smother the plot, the 3D visuals add another layer of interest, making everything crisper, cleaner and altogether more fun.
Of course, the 3D experience is nothing without the famous 3D glasses. And the good news is, 3D specs have evolved since we might last have come across them. Instead of those flimsy green and red numbers, for my viewing pleasure this week I was handed a pair of dashing, blackrimmed affairs.
Needless to say, these provided much of the afternoon's entertainment. It's hard not to feel a bond between you and your fellow cinema-goers when you all look as though you've come to the same party dressed as Brains from Thunderbirds.
(Or in my case, the ginger one from Wayne's World.) And everyone I chatted to later proudly revealed that they were taking theirs home.
Presumably so they could see all their possessions in, erm, 3D.
Watching a film in 3D rather than 2D seemed to be an all-round hit with Cambridge's cinema fans. Despite the extra £2.20 added to the normal ticket price, Gemma Patterson and nephew Tommy King were keen to see another.
"It was much better than a normal film - we'd certainly choose to watch one again," said Gemma. "And we're definitely keeping the glasses!"
Also hanging on to theirs were Matthew and Mitchell Wilson, who were big fans of the 3D explosions. "I thought the best bit was when the meteor hit Earth," said Matthew, "and when the spaceship blew up."
Certainly, Monsters vs Alienshas enough intergalactic action and slapstick to keep the younger audience members entertained. Yet whether it will stand alongside Shrekas one of Dreamworks' universal classics is less certain. It delivers fewer nods to the adults in the audience, and lacks the heart of Disney-Pixar's 2001 classic Monsters Inc.
Still, as an action-packed animated romp, in gleaming 3D, Monsters vs Aliensis sure to impress. The technology adds an exciting new dimension to the ever-changing world of animated films and, with plans in place for every major Hollywood studio to release a 3D film in 2009, may well prove a turning point for modern cinema.
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=405279