A snippet from 3DNA’s interview with Grant Anderson, Executive Director, Sony 3D Technology Center, Sony Corporation of America, about 3D and 4k. Enjoy!
3DNA: Seen any good 3D movies lately?
ANDERSON: Yes, I have in fact. I was thinking about this the other night. ‘OZ’ was actually really good. I really enjoyed that. It was especially great when you see how the 3D was planned out in the movie, when they started with the 4:3 aspect ratio, and as soon as you get to ‘OZ,’ they open up the aperture, into color, the depth emerges, and it gets deeper. They used 3D as a storytelling tool. ‘Life of Pi’ was an amazing, great use of 3D. Again, you could totally see it in the planning… the effects, morphs, and dissolves were very successful. It was one of the first movies that wasn’t an action nor an animated film that proved that 3D in drama is not only viable, but emotional. ‘Gatsby’ needed more depth, and I kept wondering what it would be like to see it in 2D. My guess is that it would be a different movie. In ‘Gatsby,’ the 3D brought you into the roaring 20’s.
3DNA: What is your favorite 3D movie that you have seen these past 4 years?
ANDERSON: My favorite movie in 3D that I’ve seen these past 4 years was ‘Life of Pi.’ It really sucks you into the emotions of the story. Some really great planning and artistry of that film went into it in terms of 3D.
3DNA: Has the 3D gotten better? Are the conversions getting better?
ANDERSON: 3D has definitely gotten better, because of the fact that all these major directors (Ridley Scott, Peter Jackson, Baz Luhrmann, Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee…) are now see the effects of their actions behind the camera. On set, you see them go, “oh, wait — that’s not working,” and then switching it up to make better choices to tell their stories. With conversions, if you’re shooting your movie with an eye for how it is to be seen in 3D, then it’s better than tacking it on at the end. In the past, there were many “flat layers.” Now we are seeing round objects, dimensionality and layers in the shots. There are some points where it is too flat or too deep, but it has gotten much better. If you are going to shoot and convert, you have to shoot it with an eye pointed toward making in in 3D. 3D is a storytelling tool.
3DNA: What are the advantages of shooting a movie using 3D cameras?
The rest of the interview at international3dsociety.com. Subscribe to their monthly newsletter today!
Source: The I3DS and 3D@Home June Newsletter