I’m pretty sure you have heard the term fad and 3D mentioned in the same sentence before. So, I ask how can people call it a fad when it’s been around for several decades and is getting better with each iteration? (History of 3D film).
Well, that is because some don’t realize it has a history and continues to evolve as technology gets better. First you had the red-blue (or red-green) paper glasses. These had red film over the right eye and blue/green film over the left eye which gave a viewer an impression that images popped out of the screen, but you could only see these movies in certain venues. Then over time, engineers brought us shutter glass technology. With it, we saw an added depth effect to the images on the screen giving a noticeable separation between foreground and background scenes. However like red-blue paper glasses, it remained exclusive to certain venues. With the time lag between technology improvements and the added exclusiveness of 3D films to large venues, this has kept viewing limited to seldom occasions making it feel more like a novelty rather than an evolving technology.
It has only been in the last few years that the once exclusive IMAX experience began expanding to homes. Companies now are not only on board with producing more mainstream cinema in 3D format, but more importantly have brought the 3D technology to the everyday consumer. The current trend (more than 30 3D films in 2011) is that companies will continue to do so because when you consider the popularity and success of 3D-shot movies like Avatar and A Christmas Carol, more in the entertainment industry are exploring the advantage of 3D in improving the viewer’s experience. Some of those include: Sports Illustrated videos, 3D TV, and ESPN 3D.
There are of course those that do not believe it adds anything to the viewer’s experience. I would beg to differ because from my personal experience both in IMAX theaters and in my home (I own a Sony Bravia 55HX800), 3D adds to the mood and realism of the movie. For example, in A Christmas Carol (the Jim Carrey version), you really see the ‘pop-out’ effect in the the snowy scenes because its looks like snow is actually falling right in your living room almost real enough to touch it. Take that same effect and apply it to the Ring and that movie would get a lot scarier. Now of course imagine that same 3D effect on the aforementioned movie without special glasses and you might just have to fast forward through those scenes in which the girl is coming out of the television because it might be a little too real.
Along side the pop-out effects which come and go throughout any 3D movie, in every scene of a movie there is the noticeable visual distance between the foreground and the background scenes providing a real sense of seeing live video rather than just a recorded scene in a movie. This is especially great for movies about wildlife in the sea because the underwater scenes in 3D give a sense of swimming with the fishes with no scuba gear required.
So, is 3D a fad? No, it’s still here and its going to stay. At one time when it first came out and during the transition between red-blue paper glasses and shutter glasses, it might have seemed that way. However, that was for two reasons: technology had to catch up with our ideas and more importantly, it was not available for the general public to own in their homes. Technology is always going to be at least a step behind our imagination, but with it available to the consumer, we have reached an important milestone. Hopefully in the next few years, we can overcome the hurdle of making glasses more affordable so that 3D can be a large group activity rather than for small gatherings.
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