3D again earned a noticeable presence
at the 84th annual Academy Awards. Five awards (for best cinematography,
art direction, visual effects, sound mixing, and sound editing) went to the movie Hugo, the best breakthrough 3D movie I have
seen since Avatar. This peculiar and enchanting film, based on the Caldecott
award winning book, The Invention of
Hugo Cabret, is even better than Avatar. (That’s also the opinion of James Cameron, Avatar’s director.) The
film’s director was Martin Scorsese. I can only suggest you see this film
before it leaves the theaters again.
Many of my
friends and relatives recently have stopped going to 3D movies, citing visual
dullness, drab conversions, and minimal negative parallax, but this powerful
film demonstrates the type of creativity that will certainly bring the doubters
back. Hugo employs 3D for
distinct artistic and visual advantage, a remarkable feat. It features
extraordinary 3D portal views, the appearance of multiple layers of positive
parallax, and positive parallax that is almost as good as negative parallax. During
an interview with CbsNews.com, Scorsese spoke of the initial challenges he
faced shooting in 3D, saying, "Everything changed every shot. Every shot.
The placement of the actor. The nature of the performance...” The same
attention to detail will be needed to support the continued development of educational 3D content. For the
education market, simple 2D to 3D video conversion will not be sufficient in
itself. Running comfortable 3D cartoons for educational customers in exhibit
hall booths will not be enough.
In planning a party for her godfather, Georges, the
spirited Isobel declares in the Hugo film: “We need to have some… panache!” Negative parallax in
3D is like panache. When panache
matters, it matters. Educational 3D
needs more panache (translated,
negative parallax). Think of it in this way: educational customers will come
when content has panache.
Martin Scorsese embraced the 3D medium
with every fiber of creative passion in his possession. But Scorsese’s work also
casts a long and meaningful shadow on what we need to see in 3D within
education settings.
Many of my
friends and relatives recently have stopped going to 3D movies, citing visual
dullness, drab conversions, and minimal negative parallax, but this powerful
film demonstrates the type of creativity that will certainly bring the doubters
back. Hugo employs 3D for
distinct artistic and visual advantage, a remarkable feat. It features
extraordinary 3D portal views, the appearance of multiple layers of positive
parallax, and positive parallax that is almost as good as negative parallax. During
an interview with CbsNews.com, Scorsese spoke of the initial challenges he
faced shooting in 3D, saying, "Everything changed every shot. Every shot.
The placement of the actor. The nature of the performance...” The same
attention to detail will be needed to support the continued development of educational 3D content. For the
education market, simple 2D to 3D video conversion will not be sufficient in
itself. Running comfortable 3D cartoons for educational customers in exhibit
hall booths will not be enough.
And one more thing about Hugo. The movie successfully revives,
after an uncomfortable drought, the beauty and importance of negative parallax. Negative
parallax is critically important in educational content. In Hugo, we see bountiful negative
parallax: snow… ashes… dogs… tools… pendulums… guitar necks… hurting feet… hat
brims… spit… devices… and tools. All with a specific purpose and message to convey.
I use slightly different terms; poke 3D vs explore 3d. Sort of says it all now doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteM
That's quite funny! Actually, it is a very apt saying for poorly constructed and gimmicky commercial 3D. On the other hand, in educational technology and the area of educational 3D, a more fitting expression would be:
Delete"'It's like being there' 3D versus 'it's like it's here with me' 3D."
Both views are necessary, however, in educational applications. There is no 'versus.'
It is quite common for folks who have never seen great educational content--who have only viewed entertainment content produced hastily to make a quick buck--to dismiss negative parallax as 'gimmicky.'
Scorsese broke ground in the thoughtful, purposeful, slow, and extended use of negative parallax in cinema. No pokes here. Just presence.
Conclusions:
In cinema, Poke 3D shows inexperience: presence 3D shows maturity or mastery.
In education, presence 3D is what matters most.)
Hi,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Helio A G Souza, brazilian 3D researcher and documentarist.
Please consider a difference between negative parallax and popout images. An image with negative parallax does not need to popout to the audience. Although an popout image necessarily have negative parallax. Please see my educational film "The 3D Lake" where there are a lot of examples of negative parallax without popout effect. Even there are some with popout effect also.
http://youtu.be/_yC2lBsSDLo
Using negative parallax without popout images, allow you to improve your z space, getting a more impressive depth to the film. It's interesting and necessary when you work with volumes in geography, anatomy, architecture, etc. Not necessarily the popout image will become the film more interesting, to children may be...