Oh my goodness did you know that cinema attendance figures are falling? What on earth is a film industry to do? Well thankfully those smart brains over at Neilsen PreView have pointed out that we might not need to rebuild the whole distribution model- as there’s a far easier answer … make 3D movies.
According to Screen Daily, Marie Dumais, (SVP at Nielsen PreView) has been championing 3D films at the current Cinema Expo in Amsterdam. So sure that 3D film could be the ’saving grace’ of cinema she’s compared the transition from 2D to 3D, to that from black & white to colour.
Whilst its clear from releases such as Beowolf, which pulled in better box office figures proportionately at its 3D Imax screenings, I’m not ‘entirely convinced’ that this idea translates financially or artistically to the mass majority of releases outside of the Speed Racers of this world. But hey, I could be wrong, maybe using the shotguns in Shotgun Stories, various brass instruments in Lets Get Lost, or phalluses in Shortbus for gratuitous 3D ‘long objects accidentally pointing straight down the camera lens’ shots could have boosted their box office.
Once I’d rolled my eyes and formulated a sarcastic response to Neilsen’s deceleration I got thinking about the genuine potential for 3D films. I can’t think of a single film in which 3D has been explored creatively and not primarily as a box office pull, other than the potential offered by Neil Gaiman & Henry Selick’s (The Nightmare Before Christmas) Coraline. Although it still sits under the mantle of a children’s film where 3D is an acceptable medium, I hope Coraline begins to open doors- I mean imagine the possibilities for films by Lynch or Gondry if 3D was able to break free from its gimmicky outdated premise?
So here’s my quick collection of films I’d have loved to have seen if in a 3D friendly parallel world they had been made with the third dimension in mind…
1. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou | Dir. Wes Anderson
I’m left slightly cold by the script of Anderson’s most aesthetically pleasing film. But add in 3D Henry Selick’ stop motion marine life and the doll house cross section of the Belafonte and I’d be way more forgiving.
2. Man on a Wire | Dir. James Marsh
Although I’ve not seen it yet, and don’t want to take away how well the film may work 3D-less, the possibilities for extreme perspectives and a large balancing pole seem a good place to start.
3. La Antena | Dir. Esteban Sapir
If Georges Méliès could have used 3D in his films I think he would’ve, and I think the same could possibly be said for Esteban Sapir and his black and white futurist homage to silent cinema.
4. The Science of Sleep | Dir. Michel Gondry
The endearingly playful and makeshift dreamscapes of this film lend themselves perfectly to a 3D treatment. Plus Bernal’s over sized novelty hands are surely screaming out for some down the lens shots too.
5. Inland Empire| Dir. David Lynch
I’m wary of including this on the list- not just owing to its success in 2D, but by how fantastic but ultimately mind meltingly dangerous Lynch could be with the power of 3D.
(n.b. I can’t really write this post without mentioning U23D, but I consider 3D gig footage less than pioneering. Quite frankly the possibility to view U2 on the big screen turns my stomach enough as it is without the need to make them more life like)
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