Re: SFX in 3D movies

[P3D Gregory J. Wageman <gjw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Marvin Jones comments:

>While of course matte shots, glass shots and other perspective tricks would not
>work in 3D, I think you are placing far too much emphasis and rigidity on such
>shots. While they are sometimes used for establishing shots, movie special
>effects are infinitely broader and richer than just matte shots.

So far in this discussion I've mentioned matte shots, forced-perspective,
bluescreen, motion control, optical compositing, makeup effects, and
pyrotechnics and of course computerized effects.  I could add puppetry,
radio control, gimmicked props and probably a dozen others if I thought
about it real hard.  So I think I have *some* clue.  I read "Cinefex"
regularly and I know just how often a shot that looks like a perfectly
ordinarly location shot is actually a matte or a composite.  Some films
have used literally hundreds.

Again, my point is that when making a film in 3D you're forcing the film-
makers to exclude a whole plethora of F/X processes from the film.  This is
not unlike asking an artist to paint without using any reds or purples,
or asking a composer to refrain from using woodwinds and strings.  Yes,
it is still possible to do it, and maybe even to do it well, but the
results will be *different* than if the whole gamut were available.  An
average movie-goer might not know what was missing, but an educated
movie-goer will realize that the sort of expansive matte shots so commonly
used in flat films are entirely missing.

>(The 3D movies of the '50s survived without them, and matte shots were
>much more common in movies in that backlot era than they are today.)

Well of course they "survived without them", as we've just finished
agreeing, they don't work!  The filmmakers didn't come up with a
*substitute*, though, did they?  They just chose to eliminate such
shots and hope that nobody'd notice.

>Using such technology, it would perhaps not be "easy,"
>but certainly do-able to generate stereo pairs for a 3D film.

I have no doubt that computer-generated images and digital compositing
will be by far the most common effects shots in any modern 3D effects
film.  After you eliminate all the common processes that don't work,
the computer is about the only thing left to replace them.  Fortunately
computers are getting faster and cheaper all the time, so there's hope.

        -Greg

P.S. It's "Halliwell's" that says that "Kiss Me Kate" was released flat.


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