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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

It’s Not Your Grandfather’s 3-D Movie, TV

On Halloween morning the “Live With Regis and Kelly Show” tried something new broadcasting in three-dimensional images. Wearing paper glasses with red and blue lenses given out for free, viewers could see the special effects. 3ality Digital Systems in Burbank provided the camera equipment used for the broadcast and for Howard Postley this was an opportunity to show using 3-D cameras was no different than using traditional 2-D cameras. “We are trying to answer questions of difficulty of shooting in 3-D,” said Postley, the COO and CTO at 3ality. “It’s come a long way. It is not what it was five years ago.” Investors feel the same way as they put their money behind getting the films in theaters while the major Hollywood studios ready projects for release and get others in the pipeline. The concert film “U2 3D” shot by 3ality comes to theaters in late January, and a week later The Walt Disney Studios releases a 3-D-version of “The Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour” film starring Mylie Cyrus as Hannah Montana. DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. will release all its animated films in 3-D starting in 2009. In March, Burbank-based Shamrock Capital Growth Fund invested $50 million in Real D, the maker of a 3-D filter and special screen used in multiple films, including Disney’s “Chicken Little” and the upcoming “Beowulf.” Many eyes, in fact, will be on the performance of “Beowulf” as a successful opening can send ripples through the industry. The Robert Zemeckis film will show if an adult-themed 3-D film can bring in the audiences as most 3-D fare of late has been animation aimed at a younger market. (“Beowulf” will also be released in standard 2-D.) Box office tracking firm Media By Numbers President Paul Dergarabedian saw a screening of the 3-D version at the Paramount lot and called it an incredible experience that “was like being inside the movie.” The film’s opening weekend, while important, won’t be nearly as watched as how long audiences will line up to see the 3-D version. “The long term buzz and the initial word of mouth is what will make or break this,” Dergarabedian said. “It’s getting that audience consensus saying ‘It is so cool that this is worth your money to see it.'” Old style To a general audience, the term conjures up wearing paper glasses with red and blue lenses as those given out for free by drug store chain Walgreen’s in connection with the “Live with Regis and Kelly” show. Advances in technology did away with the old way of showing 3-D films using two projectors at the same time. It was a method that created disparity on the screen if the projectors were not in synch, if a bulb went dim or there was a splice in the film. A single digital projector and improvements in the required glasses make for a better viewing experience without the headaches created by the old method. The rub is that not enough theaters use the digital equipment and that explains the slow pace of new 3-D product. “Everybody wants it but they can’t get it without the underlying digital cinema package,” said Joshua Greer, of Real D, which has theaters spanning the Valley region from Glendale to Thousand Oaks. The National Association of Theater Owners forecast about 4,000 screens using digital equipment by the end of 2007. Out of those, more than 1,000 are equipped to show 3D films. The number is expected to go up to 1,500 by next summer. Until a sufficient number of digital theaters are out there to justify the cost of big budget 3-D films, the major studios are in a holding pattern. Meanwhile, smaller production companies like StereoVision Entertainment in Van Nuys slip in with their lower budget 3-D films before the competition gets too fierce. StereoVision begins filming in January on “Aubrey Blaze Piranhas 3-D” for release next summer. Burbank inventor Vince Pace co-developed the camera used for the shoot. Regardless of how low budget, films cannot be made and marketed without money. Publicly traded StereoVision stepped up those efforts by hiring an investor relations firm and taking part in conferences at the London Stock Exchange and on the Nasdaq trading floor. Lucrative side deals could bring in thousands or millions more. Imagine a soda can or chip bag zooming out at the audience from a movie screen. After all, StereoVision Chairman Doug Schwartz helped pioneer product placement in television as creator and executive producer of “Baywatch,” said CEO Jack Honour. The company and a major video game publisher have talked about releasing a “Pirahna 3-D” game as a tie-in. “Were they to do that deal there is a potential for a $500,000 to $1 million licensing fee,” Honour said.

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