Indie
Filmmaking in 3D
At no other time in history
has the film industry experienced such overwhelming disruptive technology in
both filmmaking and distribution. With the dawn of digital cinema in the last
decade, nothing about the feature film industry seems the same. Today native
and converted 3D, high frame rates (HFR), ultrahigh definition (UHD) and most
recently high dynamic range (HDR) have become common buzz words among leaders
in digital cinema technology and filmmakers alike.
However, with all these
advanced tools available to the filmmaker, the technology driving new
productions among the 6 majors and min-majors has been and continues to be 3D. Indeed, eight out of the top ten highest
grossing films of 2013 were 3D releases by both the majors and mini-majors and
this year there are more 3D films projected to be released than ever before.
What’s So
Special About 3D?
Aside from the incremental
revenue from ticket sales and a clear preference for 3D by certain demographics,
why is 3D so compelling? In my Blog Engaged in 2D and Immersed in 3D I explain from a neuroscience perspective
the difference between passively experiencing story telling in 2D versus active
personalized immersion into the story in 3D.
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The Rest of
The Filmmakers
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What 3D Camera
Systems Are Available to The Indie Filmmaker?
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Conversion of
2D to 3D Becomes Both Available and Affordable
The cost of converting Hollywood tent pole films four years ago was prohibitive expensive even for many of the major studios. Those costs have come down to a fraction of what they once were but they remain out reach of most independent filmmaker's budgets. However, today there are several off the shelf 3D conversion packages that can be found via a simple search on Google. They are relatively easy to learn and, while still labor intensive. they can often produce acceptable results in the right hands.
Off the shelf conversion
packages such as plugins for Nuke and Aftereffects are very effective in converting
character driven films or even some films with minimal visual effects. The only limitation is the knowledge,
experience, skill and talent of the filmmaker.
However there are some exceptional texts on the subject of creating 3D
movies. One in particular is 3D
Story Telling: How Stereoscopic 3D Works and How to Use it by Bruce
Block and Phil “Captain 3D” McNally.
What About Exhibition
of Independent 3D Films?
Today, the high cost of
converting a movie theater to digital cinema has forced many of the
independent, hometown theaters; long a downtown fixture all over the U.S.
to shut their doors. Consequently, it’s
been difficult if not impossible to get indie films exhibited anywhere other
than art film festivals where 3D projection is typically unavailable. However, art film
festivals can exhibit 3D independent films on 60” to 85” passive 3D TVs that
provide perfectly acceptable viewing experiences. I’ve demonstrated 3D content to audiences of
several hundred with no more than one to three big screen 3D TVs synced up to a
Blu-ray player.
Distribution
Is About to Undergo a Paradigm Shift
Exhibiting in mainstream
theaters is certainly out of the realm of possibility for the vast majority of
independent filmmakers. However, I believe distribution of independent films is about to
take a dramatic shift from theatrical exhibition to distribution via online
steaming to smart TVs. In addition, Indie
streaming portals on laptops, tablets and cell phones will eventually level the playing field for independent
filmmakers even with the smallest budgets.
Conclusion
The availability of 3D
conversion for the majority of independent filmmakers has now become an off the
shelf option that makes the high cost of native capture unnecessary. However, creating quality 3D films is no
different than making 2D films in that experience, skill and talent are
essential. Exhibiting and distributing
independent 3D films requires a bit of innovation but the use of passive big
screen TVs at film festivals and the distribution independent films via streaming
movie portals cannot be far off.