Why 3D Movies Keep Failing - Cheddar Explains

ha dang I just can't wait to see that movie in 3d said nobody ever at least nothing's like 2009 when the hype surrounding James Cameron's Avatar reached all-time highs and thanks to that movie as you might remember the world experienced a period of time where 3d films were just stuffed in our faces the belief was that avatars 3d component was so dazzling it drew people out in droves to experience it and if the 3d effect was all it took why not make every movie 3d it was a premium format and they could charge a premium price tag for and more importantly it forced the theater-going experience to become mandatory since you couldn't easily or cheaply get 3d in your home 3d was a game changer it was the future of cinema and Hollywood went all-in until it is people realized it kinda sucked and the box office for the specialized films started tanking but the most interesting part of all of this is that it's not the first time this cycle has happened so what's the deal why is Hollywood so insistent on 3d films why don't they seem to stick and will 3d ever actually be the future of cinema 3d is exciting even if you don't love the medium you have to admit that it's quite a spectacular effect and movies have been about spectacle from the very beginning the first 2d film's premiere in 1895 3d films followed closely behind in 1897 though the history is murky one of the earliest adopters of 3d tech was William Reece Greene he custom-built of the first 3d camera which he later patented in 1893 the rig had two lenses about two and a half inches apart to simulate human eyes two reels would be exposed as foam and when presented using a special viewfinder a 3d effect can be achieved William free screen did not find success of his 3d movies but other filmmakers like Siri Volos did in 1897 he built a 3d film camera that was based on the anaglyph techniques he had learned with 3d photography years before the anaglyph technique uses a red and blue filter to separate out the left and right images the blue filter blocks all red light and the red filter blocks all blue light when the images are stacked on top of each other each eye receives a slightly different image that when combined gives off a 3d effect in the 1890s you needed a huge viewfinder to sell this effect these exhibition requirements proved challenging and because of that 3d remained mostly unseen until the early 20th century the first feature-length 3d film arrived in 1922 it was a passion project by Harry K Farrell called the power of love the screening process used a version of the anaglyph technique with audiences using red and green glasses to view the film but screening the film in its original 3d format proved to be extremely cumbersome the films shown in 3d only once at a special screening in LA and any future showings were all in 2d the excitement for 3d lived on however and there was a boom of 3d shorts and passion projects that were made independently throughout the early 1900s but big Hollywood studios didn't take 3d seriously until the 1950s the 50s were considered the Golden Age of 3d because so many 3d movies released and for the most part they were all rather successful and reasonably well received even if the technology wasn't really there yet independent filmmakers kicked off this resurgence with Bwana devil in nineteen 50 teeth the film garnered scathing reviews like this one from the New York Times that claimed it was a clumsy adventure film and one reflecting on the 3d effect they said the stereoscopic effect is confused with some figures appearing with ghosts some figures appearing three-dimensional and others in the same frame appearing flat but despite the unspectacular story and technical difficulties the film was a hit with audiences and it sparked a major 3d craze Hollywood hopped on board with Columbia and Warner Brothers releasing the first 3d films by major studios within two days of each other man in the dark and House of Wax the latter also featured stereophonic sound for the first time to add to the 3d effect this laid the groundwork for what would eventually become surround-sound and thus began the very very short-lived Golden Age of 3d the period only lasted about three years but over 50 films were made they varied in quality but after about a year 3d films began cracking at the seams though audiences jumped at the novelty in the beginning they soon all started feeling wary of 3d like the New York Times reporter there were just too many technical hindrances on the production side 2d and 3d was often twice as expensive since it required twice as many reels a major turnoff for studios but perhaps the biggest negatives came from screening the film movie theatres needed special equipment to show films in 3d they needed a projector that could show to reel simultaneously one for each eye these reels had to remain perfectly in sync with both lenses being perfectly in focus otherwise the film would become unwatchable a failure in this regard is likely the cause for some of the ghosting referred to by the New York Times reporter and many of the headaches and nausea reported on by other publications projecting in 3d clearly requires a finer touch than screening a regular movie but projectionists aren't always the most highly trained workers most of the time they're teenagers who are just working a job and aren't too worried about being hyper-vigilant that every 3d experience is the most optimal it can be and unlike a suboptimal 2d viewing that at worst is just a bummer a suboptimal 3d viewing is at best headache-inducing and at worst completely unwatchable even if all that was perfect however the 3d effect was really only viewable when sitting dead center if you were too far to either side not only would the effect be less noticeable the screen will become significantly darker so many things needed to go right for audiences to have an enjoyable 3d viewing experience after a while consumers caught on to the fact that they were paying more to see 3d films which kept encountering more problems and they started to get fed up 3d releases wane in popularity thanks to the higher price tags and frequent nausea and headaches soon enough they were completely phased out the last major 3d movie from the Golden Age was revenge of the creature in 1955 just three years after the boom began this 1950 cycle sounds really similar to today 3d movies continued to encounter the same rise and fall over and over you can track it through the 80s coming at ya but Western maeín 3d seemingly just because dazzled audiences the novelty drew crowds and five - the technology for a few years Studios push filmmakers to hop on the trend and we got jaws 3d a medieval 3d Friday the 13th 3d and we showings of Golden Age 3d films like dial M for murder because nothing spells easy money like re releasing a movie that's already been made again audiences complained about headaches and nausea the revival ended just two short years after it began when space hunter adventures in the Forbidden Zone completely flopped the film cost as much as Star Wars to produce and it barely even turned a profit still Studios and filmmakers alike understood the problems plaguing their 3d viewings and believed they could find a better way to dazzle audiences they just needed to be able to control the variables so 3d became a specialized activity reserved for themed parts and museums dedicated projectors and projection rooms with the biggest IMAX screens were able to deliver a more elite 3d experience without having to rely on untrained workers these types of films used polarized 3d glasses unlike anaglyphs polarized lenses are tinted yellow and brown the images on screen are projected both vertically and horizontally and each lens only accepts one oscillation of the light there are other versions of polarized 3d technology but the reason polarized lenses are used over anaglyphs is that they results in clearer 3d with better colors these experiences ranged from shows like Jim Henson's Muppet vision 3d at Disney World's two rides that included 3d like the fantastic world of hanna-barbera and even two documentaries shown at museums like James Cameron's 3d Titanic documentary ghosts of the abyss the one thing they all had in common is that they're all much shorter than average movie Muppet vision clocks in at 15 minutes the average theme park ride runs about five to seven minutes and documentaries at museums while varying in length or it generally as long as a feature film James Cameron's ghosts of the abyss ran about one hour and one minute the benefit of spending less time staring at a 3d screen bet you were less likely to feel eyestrain or nausea so these became the ideal 3d experiences over the years 3d films have popped up here and there from filmmakers wanting to push the medium Robert Rodriguez pushed this with his notable releases Spy Kids 3d game over and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl these were still using anaglyphs however and were shown on regular screens but thanks to theme parks and documentaries there was some hope from studios that 3d movies could still be a valuable product if the technology was implemented properly but they didn't commit to it right away they tested the waters with certain movies like Superman Returns which had 3d sequences and required people to put on or take off their glasses at different times Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix followed a similar test but it only had a 20-minute 3d sequence at the climax of the film it was also only shown in IMAX theaters with polarized glasses to make sure that it was as pristine a showing as possible but the modern craze didn't really begin until avatar came to screen James Cameron having learned many lessons on his 3d documentary was ready to bring 3d back what the past cycles the same problems persisted Hollywood douve deep into 3d projection this time with technology to force films xiong 2d to become 3d through editing tricks most audiences agreed it looked terrible the high pricing and lack of consistency between screenings drove people away and the format is widely considered dead for the time being this is especially true when you consider that 3d TVs stopped being manufactured in 2016 with focuses shifting to 4k Ultra HD many Studios and filmmakers still believe that 3d can be the future of cinema if it has the white implementation glasses-free 3d technology has been proven with devices like the Nintendo 3ds with enough effort and money feeders can be outfitted with similar glasses-free 3d but seeing as even the 3ds gave people headaches and nausea this may not be a perfect solution 3d the dazzling spectacle of the film world may just be best suited for short experience based activities like themed parts and museum exhibits what do you think will 3d ever stick around sound off in the comments below if you like this video please give it a thumbs up consider subscribing 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Channel: Cheddar

Views: 636,831

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Keywords: Cheddar, 3d movies, movies, 3d movies technology, 3d movies are terrible, 3d television, 3d, 3d glasses, 3d vision, cheddar explains, cheddar explores, explainer, 3d movie, avatar, film, avatar 3d, cinema, 3d cinema

Id: KRruoenKmss

Length: 13min 46sec (826 seconds)

Published: Tue May 12 2020