Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die out?

[Robert Maxwell]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

For movies, people will want to have a choice. In TV, we may all end up being forced to watch 3D TV, since in that industry, advertisers and not viewers are in charge, and 3D ads will prove irresistible to advertisers.

The solution to that would be not to buy a 3D TV. Think about how many people still have standard-def TVs. Given that 3D isn't that big a leap over current HD, I don't think there's a compelling reason for the vast majority of people to upgrade.

Going to the movies is a different scenario entirely.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

As far as movies go, no. The extra money from 3D showings is what's driving them.

As far as TV goes you're safe. 3D TV sets are flopping.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

Yeah, it's hard to see 3D successfully moving to television in the immediate future.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

Here's where we need more 3D: travel documentaries, especially to places too expensive or inaccessible for personal visits. Go see Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3D. Wow! I want to see a doc like that about Lechugilla Cave in New Mexico.

Those kind of docs are more common on TV than in movies, but I could see 3D actually encouraging more of them to be created for movies. NatGeo should get their asses moving on that (if they aren't already).

As far as movies go, no. The extra money from 3D showings is what's driving them.

As far as TV goes you're safe. 3D TV sets are flopping.

Advertisers will drive demand by driving the production of 3D TV which will drive demand in the audiences. The audience won't be in front, they'll be at the tail end of the process. TV is the reverse of movies.

The solution to that would be not to buy a 3D TV.

Like people didn't buy color TVs 40 years ago? As we all know, Americans hate to buy fancy new gizmos they don't need.

 

[chardman]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

I can't imagine that any kind of "stereoscopic" 3D will ever be more than a passing fad, for the simple reason that it, by its very nature, causes severe eyestrain and headaches, by forcing your eyes to do something they simply aren't meant to do. That is: forcing the binocular sight-lines of your two eyes to converge at a distance other than the distance they are actually focused at. (which is what the whole 3D illusion is based on).

This kind of thing only rarely occurs in nature, and so the eyes (and brain) really aren't set up to do for more than just a few seconds at a time. Forcing someone to focus at one distance, while constantly making adjustment in convergence, for well over an hour? That's invariably going to cause severe eyestrain (at the very least) in the majority of the audience.

Most people go to the movies to be entertained, not to be subjected to terrible pain. It's the kind of thing that some people will willingly endure, but only until the novelty has worn off.

 

[Beagleman]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

Everyone is working on the holy grail right now: 3D without glasses once that is commercially viable, 2D will be deader than... something really, really dead. And honestly who will shead a tear, the only argument against 3D now are glasses and that some people get headaches (ok, prices too, but they'll go down eventually).
Personally I have nothing against 3D (only shodily converted movies), it's just the logical next step in the evolution of entertainment...

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

Forcing someone to focus at one distance, while constantly making adjustment in convergence, for well over an hour? That's invariably going to cause severe eyestrain (at the very least) in the majority of the audience.

Oddly, the majority of the audience isn't complaining.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

For movies, people will want to have a choice. In TV, we may all end up being forced to watch 3D TV, since in that industry, advertisers and not viewers are in charge, and 3D ads will prove irresistible to advertisers.

The solution to that would be not to buy a 3D TV. Think about how many people still have standard-def TVs. Given that 3D isn't that big a leap over current HD, I don't think there's a compelling reason for the vast majority of people to upgrade.

Going to the movies is a different scenario entirely.

Exactly. In fact, there's a broadcaster in Canada which was going to have dedicated sports broadcasts in 3d, but they recently announced that they're pulling back from that because it's just too expensive to produce with little return due to how few people are able to take advantage of it. The market just isn't there.

Temis, 3D Imax documentaries have been around for quite awhile now. I can recommend quite a few, and I do agree that it's where the medium is best used. Hubble 3D is amazing, and so is Born to Be Wild. Everytime I've come away from these, I've felt satisfied and impressed by the experience.

 

[Mutara Nebula 1967]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

I agree with you. There are only very few that have taken advantage of the technology properly. Very few movies have taken the time to be designed from the ground up to be 3D, with most 3D movies being the effect of it being added at a later stage, and then a lot of them are simply made up of gimmicks of things coming at the screen rather than a depth of field.


I was going to see Thor, but my Friend and I passed on it when we saw 3D was the only way to see it. I like having a choice. I don't like having the more expensive option forced onto me. The sad thing is, it was on a cheap night too, with the price of the 3D ticket offsetting the point of the cheap night. Unfortunately, I don't think 3D will go away anytime soon as long as they know they can make money from it, which seems to be really popular with kids movies.

We decided to wait and see it at the cheap theatre, but the sad thing is that even the cheap theatre has jumped on the 3D bandwagon and it can't be guaranteed that it will be shown in 2D when they know they can sell tickets to pay for the expensive projector.

Thanks for sharing.
I do hope you get to see it in 2D. One of the best movies out this year and one of the best superhero movies ever.

 

[Jax]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

Personally I prefer to see the majorty of movies in 2-D for the price rather than anything. I think it would be dangerous to be 3D the rule and not rather the exception, especially when you think about cramped summer movies where normally they are several movies in a short space of time any one person wants to see.

 

[Beagleman]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

Most people go to the movies to be entertained, not to be subjected to terrible pain. It's the kind of thing that some people will willingly endure, but only until the novelty has worn off.

Personally I know very few people who have a problem with 3D and those only because they have to wear the 3D glasses over their regular glasses which for some is somewhat uncomfortable, not because they were subjected to "terrible pain", well ok, I know a few people who saw Clash of the Titans in 3D, guess that counts.

 

[Harvey]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

Slate published an analysis of box office from 3D movies a year ago (http://www.slate.com/id/2264927/pagenum/all/#p2) that strongly suggested demand for the format was in serious decline, at least domestically, but I haven't seen any new numbers in the past year and if Dennis is right about international demand for 3D being on the rise, it will certainly be here for a while yet.

Personally, I can't stand 3D or digital projection, but I realize I'm a bit of a curmudgeon on the subject.

 

[Kegg]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

I find it hard to see the point of 3D beyond spectacle films like Avatar.

Obviously, Hollywood makes a lot of films with spectacle as a selling point, but is there really ever going to be a reason for intimate dramas, say, to go 3D?

As far as the format goes, I haven't seen a 3D film since Avatar but I saw Avatar twice. Frankly, I did have an issue with eye strain with that movie, so a 3D isn't going to be a regular thing for me. I suspect my next 3D film will be something like Avatar II.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

I avoid 3D movies because of the expense, especially upconverted, where the 3D is a waste and not particularly... 3Dish.

For me, Avatar was the most successful in it's use of 3D... now if only I cared about the characters in the movie, but that's a different thread.

 

[24thcenstfan]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

No, no hope. I think the 3D craze is still gearing up and before long every movie made will be in 3D...even comedies with no action.

 

[Set Harth]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

Has there been any indication so far that The Hobbit might be released in 2-D showings in addition to the 3-D ones?

 

[23skidoo]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

Has there been any indication so far that The Hobbit might be released in 2-D showings in addition to the 3-D ones?

A few weeks ago I posted to this board a statement that ended up being completely wrong.

I said that Pirates of the Caribbean 4 was not being shown anywhere in my city in 2-D, only 3-D.

Turns out I was wrong, that in fact the MAJORITY of screens in my city - the same city in which virtually ZERO screens showed 2-D versions of Resident Evil 4 and Toy Story 3 last year - showed the 2-D version. At least during the first week.

That's led me to revise my expectation of being unable to see Deathly Hallows in 2-D in the theatres as being more-than-likely being able to - and not having to wait till it shows up at a discount theatre, either.

I see that as proof positive that 3-D is not taking over, and in fact is reverting somewhat. Disappearing? Probably not - too much invested by the studios - but if it was the be all and end all, I should have not been able to find many screens showing POTC4.

So, yes, I would assume that you'll be able to see a 2-D version of The Hobbit. And if not, there'll always be 2-D Blu-ray (or Netflix, or whatever) later.

As a format, I have nothing against 3-D as an option. But not as a total replacement.

Alex

 

[Australis]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

If there was a truly kind and forgiving god running the universe, then yes 3D would go away. Unfortunately, I think we're screwed.

I wonder if they were saying this on the Chaplin forums back in the day?

 

[Starkers]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

I don't mind as long as there's a choice of 2D/3D, and I don't mind as long as the film's been made for 3D rather than being retrofitted afterwards.

Even so I don't see myself ever being a true fan of 3D, aside from things like rain/snow (which is cool) I find it less imersive than it is jarring, plus the loss of colour and the fact that the edges of the screen get all blurry annoy me--so I'm paying extra for inferior picture quality?

 

[Beagleman]

Re: Any REALISTIC hope that 3D MOVIES may soon LOSE popularity or die

Obviously, Hollywood makes a lot of films with spectacle as a selling point, but is there really ever going to be a reason for intimate dramas, say, to go 3D?

Yes, because we see the world in 3D. Is there a reason for intimate dramas to be in color? I don't know what the next step will be (smell-o-vision, touch-o-vision?) but I'm sure there will be the same kind of discussions.