Saturday, December 18, 2010

On 3D

The thing about viewing movies "in 3D!!!" is that the human eye gets used to it. Pretty fast.
Two movies viewed recently - Narnia, and Tron:Legacy (no spoilers, it is safe to continue).

Of the two, Tron works better with the medium, thanks in part to the digital nature/background of a large portion of the movie.
I really do think that the most that 3D adds to a film is a little "ambience", and that, really (so far) only in digital productions.
Narnia - the 3D treatment left some imagery looking as though it were a "miniature".
The thing about 3D in wide landscapes, is that the crossover point of our focus is the equivalent of looking "straight ahead", and there is very little depth to be gained. To force depth, is to make the landscape look smaller - as if we were looking at a miniature in closeup, rather than the true size at a distance.
3D is effective in a near-to-mid range - where mid = a "large room" range. Thereafter, impressions of depth get lost pretty quickly - The only exception to this is the "corridor" effect, where there are lots of visual markers to help the eye appreciate depth. (fence railings, trees, etc, down a street in a big city, train track, that sort of thing.)
I also rather like shots that are low to the ground - I find the ground plane itself to be effective.
Floating dust motes are also kinda nifty in that regard. ;)

But yar, I was kinda saddened that the "impact" value of the 3D aspect of Tron dropped off so quickly. (And again, suspect this is due to the eyes "getting used to it".)

Soundtrack on Tron - hugely reminiscent of Bladerunner's main theme. (Thanks mostly to the staccato signature beat with the strings on top.) Worked with the movie. May consider getting it. (mental note to self, also, to track down the Bladerunner soundtrack!)

Such a lot of work goes into the production of even tiny sequences on a movie like this. It is mind-numbing how many hours can be spent by just one person, carefully labouring over "part" of a shot that ends in a matter of seconds. All this, for an iddy biddy name on a screen. If you're lucky! That's the "entertainment industry" for ya. ;)

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