Hugo and the current state of 3D
Before Christmas I went to see Hugo in 3D after originally dismissing it as ‘yet another mindless children film’. I was not interested at all until I saw AICN rave on about how brilliant it was. So at a quick glance at a review, I saw that the film was not as the trailer portrayed it to be, but in fact a film about George Melies! I became a fan of Melies when I studied him in University. (Here’s a blog post I wrote about Melies recently for those who don’t know who he is) I saw the film as soon as I could and fell in love with it.
I haven’t been so excited watching a film since… I can’t remember when. I wanted to shout out and explain why Melies’ studio was made of glass, and the importance of his camera in the museum as it was happening on screen. To my delight everything was explained, including his trip to the fair when he saw the Lumiere brothers demonstrating their camera that inspired Melies to make films. It was great to see Melies life and work being brought to attention on the big screen.
Apart from my love of Melies, this film inspired me to revisit my previous 3D blog post (Is 3D a gimmick?) as Hugo has the best 3D I have ever seen. I have seen all kinds of 3D films from good 3D that you appreciate at the start of the film and then forget about, down to horrific post-production/last minute conversion that ruins the film – See Clash of the Titans.
The Current State of 3D
I saw Tintin previously in 3D and I always said that animations take on 3D well, it always looks good. But with Tintin I was aware of the effect at the start but soon got used to it and forgot I was watching a 3D film. Hugo however is the first 3D film I have seen where 3D actually enhanced the film and immersed me into the world.
So where are we now with 3D one year on since my last post? Well for one there seems to be less “bad 3D” – yes films are still using it to earn that extra bit of cash but it seems film makers have learnt what not to do and are actually producing good/passable 3D. Scorsese has really done more to convince me that 3D is a permanent and needed tool in cinema than any filmmaker that has worked with the medium thus far. But then he really studied 3D film before he shot. - Harry Knowles on Hugo (Ain’t It Cool News)
2012 holds some interesting 3D developments with Star Wars Episode 1 being converted to 3D in February. The plan is to release a 3D Star Wars film every year which would give time to improve on any issues the first film may have – one would assume. Then at the end of the year The Hobbit Part 1 comes out with a new take on 3D – Peter Jackson has spoken out how he is filming at a higher frame rate to help with the 3D filming. See the video below for a more in-depth look from Peter Jackson himself (may contain small spoilers).
However there is still a lot of dislike for 3D. The Oatmeal illustrates this amusingly well. It’s a shame that there is so much dislike for the technology as when it works like it did in Hugo, it enhanced the cinema experience. But it’s understandable as many of us have been burned and ripped off by over-priced and poorly done 3D that did little to enhance or in some cases ruin the film. If we can get more films like Hugo, maybe 3D can win back cinema goers and make it a ‘cinema experience’ as it should be.
