Perspective on 3-D Movie Making - page 2

Still from T2: 3-D A story written around 3-D effects

The 3-D ride film - perfect use of 3-D or abuse of a noble medium?

Poking the viewer's eyes out - Spy Kids 3-D's shameless use of stereoscopic gimmicks

Framing as a narrative quality

Framing can enforce the narrative of a film, like with the shot of The Searchers in still 2.0. Here, the cowboy is the protagonist who has to choose between civilization and the wild. Before going either way, he pauses in the doorway of the cabin, illustrating his inner struggle with this choice. It is important for this particular shot that the man be a silhouette, blending in with the darkness of the cabin and being contrasted with the bright outdoor scene. In this way, the shot draws strength, and even its right for existence, from its composition and especially from its flatness - the indoor and the outdoor are presented in the same plane.

An example of framing that tells of relationships and power can be seen in still 2.1, where the optical illusion is given of the man being very small and lying on the screen, on top of the ladies. This signifies their playful approach to men and ultimately their power over them in relationships. Again, the flatness of the frame makes the existence of this shot and its semiotic meanings possible. This optical trick is off the menu with 3-D framing, since the man would show to be lying far away, taking him off his supposed position on the steel frame of the screen. A different approach to achieve the same semiotic meaning must be employed in 3-D.

2.0 The Searchers by John Ford

2.1 Daisies by Vera Cytilova

2.2 42nd Street by Lloyd Bacon

2.3 T2: 3-D by James Cameron

2.4 Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach by Jean-Marie Straub

2.5 Escape from Dino Island by Jerzy Kular

Bordwell & Thomson:

The factors in the image which help create such a sense of space are broadly called depth cues. There is no real space extending behind the screen, of course, but depth cues prompt us to imagine that space, to construct a three-dimensional world in which the film's action takes place. Again, we develop our understanding of depth cues from our experience of space in the real world and from conventions of space is such arts as painting and theatre. In cinema, depth cues are largely provided by lighting, setting, costumes and figure behaviour. The dept cues suggest that a space has both volume and several distinct planes. When we speak of an object as having volume, we mean that it is solid and occupies a three-dimensional area. A film suggests volume by shape, shading, and movement. We use our knowledge of objects in the world to discern volume in filmic space.

So 2-D imaging in film can be seen as a constant reframing of composition, where this composition is based more on the tradition of painting than on the tradition of the stage play. Stage play rules apply to the construct of narrative and character.

The use of a telephoto lens in the example of still 2.6 makes for the blending of all planes, from the man in the foreground to the airport and the city in the background. In still 2.7, the men are sitting at a clear position at the table, but the overhanging flooding light fuses them into a unity. Would these shots work in 3-D? They will certainly be read differently. A different approach will need to be employed.

2.6 Koyaanisqatsi by Godfrey Reggio

2.7 Asphalt Jungle by John Huston

When 3-D film takes away the need for viewer interpretation of volume and space, the viewer can now concentrate more on the detail of this volume. This premise does, however, remove a core element of the audio-visual medium and the room for viewer fantasy. Giving the viewer’s brain no room for volumetric interpretation and creative assessment takes away part of the fun of fantasy; as much as the adaptation of a book for the screen removes the reader’s joy of fantasizing about the look of the world and its characters and props. 3-D film takes away the last bit of imagining the brain has to do to see a three-dimensional image on a flat screen in order to understand spatial relations.

Illustration 2.8 compared to 2.9 is a fine example of the difference between literacy and abstract representation. It's the same scene, painted by the same painter, but the abstract version was done two years later, when Cezanne had started experimenting with impressionist representation. Neither one of the paintings is more beautiful or better in a technical way, but the abstract painting is what made Cezanne unique and ultimately famous and an example to future painters. It's all about imagination, personal vision, putting emotion in every stroke of the brush. It's unique because of these qualities and can be an example to other painters, but it's never a rule of conduct.

Playing with planes, representation and possibilities of abstract imagery means new possibilities for the 3-D filmmaker when it comes to truth of volume, size and spatial relations. An actor or object can be given special meaning by changing its volume or size and where this would not show in a 2-D film at all, in a 3-D film this would mean a new semiotic tool. Difference between cardboard flat scenes and volumetric 3-D scenes can tell a story or enforce an emotion conveyed by the cinematography. Just imagine the bizarre new meaning the subjective reality cue of the focus pull gets when it is performed in a 3-D shot. The same goes for varying the length of lenses and depth of field blurriness; it's like guiding the viewer through a stage play.

2.8 Mont Sainte Victoire by Paul Cezanne

2.9 Mont Sainte Victoire seen from Les Lauves by Paul Cezanne

What happens for example, when these compositions filmed by Godard are presented in 3-D? The power of the image lies in the absence or presence of depth cues, and the images play with the brains way to distinct and to give order of importance to the scene presented. A 3-D presentation of these images would destroy the whole premise of them, and thus this sort of playing with composition has to be approached in a different matter in 3-D.

Or, as it is still very possible, a cardboard flat part of the film starts to present these images, to eventually continue in volumetric imagery - playing even more with the viewer and its perception of depth and scenery.

2.10 La Chinoise by Jean-Luc Godard

An excellent example of imagery that could suffer from 3-D presentation is the cinematography of Film Noir. Through the use of light and shadows, a lot of information is provided concerning the place of the characters in their world. This is especially so when it comes to anti-hero detectives who never seem to fully walk out of the shadows, joined at that by a ‘femme fatale’, while the ‘saving angel’-type of a girl never touches that shadow. Narrow patches of light can then focus the viewer’s attention on a face or a prop, important to story and character development. Also, a flat lighting model can signify the flatness of a character. How many 3-D films employ anything but a flat lighting model – almost all do.

These compositions of 'absence of shadow' and 'volume through light' are designed to create more than just depth cues and positional relationship; they connect with the sort of use of light and darkness that paintings of Grandmasters make their subject matter so much more than just a truthful replica of reality. This composition works as a flat illustration, greatly due to blending of dark areas and unclear spatial relationships. What then if these cinematographic paintings are given depth and the power of ambivalence is removed through clear signifying of depth, spatial relationship and inevitably omnipresent volume? Does flat lighting really need to be employed in 3-D for effective cinematography? 3-D film-noir can be a reality but the approach would have to be a bit more careful in the lighting department.

However, when the full flat lighting model of most stereoscopic films is used for the vérité art form of documentary filming, much power can be drawn from the its realistic qualities. Weaknesses in (narrative) compository film become strengths in realistic film.

2.11 Ashes and Diamonds by Andrzej Wajda

2.12 The Cheat by Cecil B. De Mille

The realistic approach

Weaknesses in (narrative) compository film become strengths in realistic film. This strength also makes for the special relationship that exists between 3-D film and the thrill ride. This is all too logical because of the Point Of View quality of ride-film, and its need for realism to successfully make the viewer believe the imagery on the screen is actually happening to him or her. No matter how fantastic these visuals may be, if it looks and moves like real life, it will be perceived as real life.

So does this notion imply friction between narrative cinema and the thrill-ride, when shot in 3-D? When watching a 2-D narrative movie, the viewer assumes a different watching role than with the experience of a point-of-view movie. The first being an abstract mode of understanding the narrative; identifying with characters, expecting a certain mode of story, and being exited or surprised when the story actually unfolds as the viewer anticipated.

Then the viewer is subconsciously decoding the semiotic hints offered, making the whole movie experience an intricate process of living along with the story being told. So this is more of an emotional experience, drawing the viewer into the movie on an intellectual level, while still enabling the viewer to distinct between the screen and reality because of the easy option to look away from the screen. Composition can help to enforce the dramatic visual way in which the story is presented, and can aid the narrative in providing semiotic elements, or become the way of telling the story in itself.

Action in 2-D narrative film needs to be motivated by story, and is only interesting when it serves the story to develop in a more dramatic way.
The thrill-ride usually tries to make the viewer part of the story in a very physical way. By directly addressing the viewer and making the viewer part of the story the viewer will (at least, in mind) assume the role of participant and go into defensive mode when (presumably) being attacked or physically react to G-forces that are only really there in the visuals presented. So instead of an intellectual level of the experience of story, a physical experience is offered, making the narrative a slave of the action. Composition in a ride-film is also a slave of the need for imagery that gets to the viewer in a physical way.

3.0 The Mask 3-D by Blur Studios

3.1 The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman by Jeffrey Kleiser

How can stereoscopic 3-D film employ its third dimension in a way that is serving the narrative rather than moulding a story around three-dimensional movement? Admitted, most 2-D narrative films mould their stories around central emotional factors in a similar way that 3-D films adapt story to third axis movement.

The notion of the stage play is an important signifier for 3-D film and its overlapping relation with theatre, film and fun-ride short film. Since the 3-D film enables the filmmaker to present actors and props as if they existed in a space ranging from infinity to right up close to the viewer, that viewer will judge the presented imagery as it would a theatre production. Physicality is a keyword in this comparison. So 3-D film takes one step back, whilst taking one step forward in the development of audio-visual presentation. It presents itself as a physical theatre play, but does this by the rules of cinema - an art form directly derivative from the theatre play. Then what are the rules for theatre staging - differing from cinema staging?

And do 3-D filmmakers realize that they can abandon cinema rules, set up for the premise of the flat canvas having to look like a three-dimensional space, only to present a perfectly controlled theatre piece where anything can happen visually and in audio? Perhaps the most important difference in staging comes from the two-dimensional medium's use of signifying interpersonal relationship by composition. Size, position and most importantly, eye-line, signify the position of domination and struggle for power - a predominant factor of visual narrative.

3.2 Casablanca by Michael Curtiz

3.3 The Miracles of St. Francis Xavier by Rubens

3.4 The Boating Party by Jean-Auguste Renoir

These are all questions that need to be answered by a new generation of 3-D filmmakers. A generation that can tear itself loose from the old conventions of flat filmmaking and start a visual revolution. The old generation, now spearheaded by the likes of Lucas, Zemeckis and Cameron like the idea of converting 2-D films to 3-D. This simply means that they do not understand what 3-D can and should be – not a mindless cash cow but a new form of cinema. Turning a painting into a statue is not the way forward. Moulding the statue from the very beginning using the power and beauty of a volumetric art form is. This power has not yet been harnessed; it has so far only been touched upon briefly by 3-D film makers.

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