The New 3D

The movie industry faces an uphill battle when it comes to getting film-goers back into theaters as the number of competing distractions increases every year. Movies face stiff competition from television, videogames and DVDs. The rising price of movie tickets and the decreasing number of quality movies being released has driven many movie-goers into their home theaters. Who can blame them? A nice HDTV, surround sound system and a Blu-ray or HD DVD player allow you to enjoy the good parts of the theater experience without the lines, crowds, bad seats and sticky floors. The movie industry did not become an entertainment juggernaut by admitting defeat, so they're constantly searching for new technologies with which to lure us back. The hooks are baited now with a digital 3D process called Real D while the recently released film "Beowulf" showcases the technology impressively.

3D movies are certainly nothing new but this isn't the 3D that you remember from "Jaws 3-D" or "Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone." It retains a few of the trappings of the old 3D - glasses and a polarized picture - but gone are the poor colors and blurry imagery. Real D retains the fine detail we're used to from digital projection, while adding depth to the screen. The illusion of the 3D effects was so convincing in "Beowulf" that it strained my eyes. It was as if my eyes and my brain were battling over how to rationalize a life-like three-dimensional image trapped in a two-dimensional frame. Since the 3D images simulate a real world, you lose the depth-of-field effects you get from film cameras while gaining immersion.

Whether Real D is the future of theater is up to the storytellers at this point. The technology is capable of some amazing feats but it's the storytellers that have to figure out how to use it.

'Beowulf'

Most people have probably heard the name Beowulf through high school or college literature. It's an Old English epic poem that's over 3,000 lines long and was written more than 1,000 years ago. The poem tells the tale of the heroic Beowulf as he battles monsters and demons over his lifetime. This adaptation of "Beowulf," written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery, unsurprisingly veers from the original work of literature but not in a way that betrays the story or the characters.

It may be CGI but the skin detail and facial expression are incredible.

"Beowulf" was directed by Robert Zemeckis whose experience on "The Polar Express" in 2004 proved invaluable when coming back to the world of motion-capture CGI. For "Beowulf" Zemeckis used the latest technology to bring the characters and settings to life. What Zemeckis also did was design "Beowulf" to be a 3D experience from the get-go - which unfortunately is one of my main problems with the movie.

In the past, 3D was something of a gimmick and the movies played to the gimmick as much as possible. Both "Jaws 3-D" and "Friday the 13th: Part 3 in 3D" are filled with ridiculous shots of spears, harpoons and even yo-yos coming right at the camera the idea being, obviously, to take full advantage of the 3D. "Beowulf" does this, too, and it doesn't need to. This new 3D is impressive enough without constantly poking me in the eyes with spears and arrows. These kinds of shots feel like the director is shouting into my ear: "Hey! Doesn't it look like it's coming right at you!?" Yes it does. Now can we get on with the story?

Some of the most impressive 3D sections were not the ones filled with sword points and arrow heads but rather the crowd scenes and shots where the "camera" angle was flat across the surface of water. Those were the moments that I liked best because they were shots you'd see in a normal movie but with added dimension.

I think in order for 3D to be taken seriously the movies need to stop winking at the audience. Just tell your story and process the film into 3D afterward. Don't do all the 3D goof shots. Movies have to live on in DVD now. Have you ever watched a movie designed for 3D but shown in 2D? It looks ridiculous.

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