3D: A Cinematic Revolution

For years 3D cinema has amazed audiences, and this excitement is stronger than ever with the recent release of the Academy Award-winning movie “Avatar,” directed by James Cameron. 3D is now sweeping the theater more than ever because of the hype of “Avatar,” and more movies are scheduled to come out in hopes of achieving the film’s acclaim. 3D is going to remain in the movie theater, for the time being, but soon, 3D will move into the family living room.

Recently, television production companies have invested a massive amount of money in the creation of full high definition 3D. The juggernaut of the 3D TVs seems to be Panasonic’s line of HD 3D televisions. After winning CNET’s (Computer Network) “Best of CES,” (the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow) “Best in Show,” and “Best Television” at CES 2010, Panasonic seems to be at the cutting edge of the 3D technology, and Panasonic released the line of 3D televisions March 10 at local Best Buys for the sum of $2,000. This price may be exorbitant, but it includes the necessary Blu-Ray player, 3D glasses, and the 50-inch TV.

We see 3D when images from the left eye and the right eye are fused into one; to create the 3D effect in High Definition, the TV needs to be refreshed 120 times a second. The majority of TVs are able to refresh at this rate, but they would require a converter chip to differentiate between images intended for left and right eye. However, the television is not the only part of the combination doing the dirty work. The 3D glasses block one eye at a time so the eye sees the frame meant for it. The glasses are LCD which will darken or lighten when the television tells them.

At the moment several television stations have announced plans to release 3D channels, including ESPN and The Discovery Channel. ESPN will be releasing its 3D channel in June showing the World Cup soccer match in full 3D.

3D is not limited only to television programs and movies. Soon, 3D is features will be added to several gaming systems. Microsoft and Sony have both announced that their consoles will be 3D capable, so one can plan on playing “Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3″ in 3D.

Despite the great technological boundaries broken by 3D television sets, many people are still reluctant to change to 3D, and some worry about health issues related to 3D.

Marc Pesce, who developed virtual reality 3D games for Sega in the 90′s, spoke about the problems of 3D TVs.

“When the movie’s over, and you take your glasses off, your brain is still ignoring all those depth perception cues,” said Pesce. “It’ll come back to normal, eventually. Some people will snap right back, and in others, it might take a few hours. This doesn’t matter too much if you’re going to see a movie in the theater, though it could lead to a few accidents in the parking lot afterward, but it does matter hugely if it’s something you’ll be exposed to for hours a day, every day, via your television set.”

Analysts claim that 3D televisions will not become mainstream for another ten years, due to both the price and health concerns. Panasonic is hoping to have more than one million 3D capable television sets sold, but people still look at the price tag and wonder if it is worth pulling the credit card out of the wallet.

Television manufactures will still have to work on the safety issues on 3D. For the time being, 3D will be an expensive luxury that not many can afford or would be pressed enough to buy. Manufactures will hopefully be able to fix current health hazards, and in the near future, manufactures may be able to be rid of the 3D glasses. The 3D technology looks promising and may be in the majority of American homes in the next ten years.

3D movies: Worth the hype?

People, animals, and mystical creatures jump at you. Images whirl around your head. Sharp, hard or just plain dangerous objects barrel straight toward your face. Your heart is racing as you hold tight to your seat. What is this strange but exciting experience? A 3-D movie.

According to Jeffrey Katzenberg, film producer and CEO of DreamWorks Animation studios, 3-D could be the third big transition in movies; the first being the movement from silent to talking films, and secondly the moving from black and white to color. Likewise, in an interview with CNN, David Cohen, a writer for trade magazine Variety, suggested that in the future, all movies will be made in 3-D.

The upcoming release of director James Cameron’s new movie “Avatar” has the industry buzzing on this same issue. According to CNN, many Hollywood directors such as Ridley Scott and John Favreau tout the film as an influential “game changer” in the world of cinema. Supposedly, the new stereoscopic (3-D) cameras Cameron is using have lenses that recreate the motion of the human eye.

This new technology increases the cost of making movies; thus, the costs are passed onto the consumer. In this troubled economy, should moviegoers fork over the extra $1-$3 for a few extra special effects?

The answer is an undeniable “yes.”

With new, more advanced technology, 3-D movies are more realistic and exciting than ever, if produced effectively. Some 3-D movies have these special effects in just the right places, such as in “Up,” where the 3-D effects make people feel like they are being pulled into the adventure.

However, some movies, such as “The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl,” have effects added in places where they do not make much sense. In fact, the effects in this movie were just downright distracting. It is pointless for the only use of the special effects to be characters popping out and saying something insignificant, giving the audience little to no information. This movie featured action and adventures and could have made better use of 3-D effects.

However, 3-D movies that feature compelling effects provide a new spin on the movie viewing experience. Regardless of the viewer’s age, it is still fun to put on a pair a glasses, sit back, and be engulfed in another world, even if only for a little while.

Taking into consideration the economy and entertainment, 3-D movies still live up to the thrill and excitement they promise. If the effects are placed correctly, these movies greatly surpass their 2-D counterparts. So, yes, high action, effectively produced 3-D movies are worth scraping up two extra dollars.

Maybe someday soon, every movie will give people that thrill of magical creatures jumping out, images whirling around their heads, and dangerous objects barreling at their faces. The world is changing, and so are movies, and it seems this already magical experience is about to get even better.