[photo-3d] Old movies in 3D

[ers <ers@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Part of the impact issue for modern showings may relate to the format of the 
film. Some of the older films were preserved as side by side images on a 
single strip of film. Others may exist only as tandem 16mm, while yet others 
are pretty far gone prints.

I only saw one on its first run as a kid-- It Came From Outer Space. This was 
a full tandem 35mm projection, with the machines perfectly in synch, and a 
pristine print. People ducked when the rocks started flying as the ship 
crashed.

I saw it years later in tandem 16mm, and the loss of visual information in 
this reduced format was significant. The original film was razor sharp, and 
the 16mm optical reduction wasn't.

To get the full effect of the stereo, I think I'd want to phone the theater 
and ask about the providence of the print they were showing. None of the 
original 1950s prints can possibly be any good by now-- they'd have to be new 
strikes from the original negatives, assuming the negatives have been properly 
stored...

The over/under modern films like Spacehunter could still be projected 
successfully in 3D, but would probably best be viewed in a relatively small 
theater. They're essentially wide format 16m films, and won't take a huge 
amount of enlargement.

Imax is, of course, incredible 3D, but they seem to have a penchant for 
wasting a lot of effort for a silly movie, like that dinosaur flick they did. 
Nice to look at though, if you just want to see big screen 3D.

--Elliott