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To: Clint Williams
The Colidge Corner Theater in Brookline, MA (possibly the most left wing location in America, judging from the bumber stickers) had a 3D festival a few years back. It was a reprise of a lot of older 3D movies. The first 3D movie, of course, was Bwana Devil, which should tip you off to the fact that for the most part the older 3D movies were pretty cheesy and 3D was just a gimick to get people to watch pretty awful movies.

The one my wife and I went to see was Kiss Me Kate. It's a movie well worth watching on its own. Unlike most cheesy 3D movies, which use color separation, and blue red filters, this one used polarization separation, which is considerably more expensive. The glasses appear to be grey if you look through either one of them. If you place a pair of them against each other they are either grey or opaque, depending on how the lens are oriented.

If you watch the movie on television or in 2D there are alot of scenes that lose a lot of their appeal. In the opening scene, Ann Miller's character tap dances on a table in Cole Porter's apartment, framed by three hinged dressing mirrors at about a 60 degree angle from one another. Filmed from different angles and with cameras at various angles, the effect of 3D is dramatic, with the multiple reflected Ann Millers appearing at different depths. During the dance, she whips off various pieces of her ensemble (garters, for instance) and flirtatously tosses them in direction of various observers, the camera angle moving rapidly from the prespective the thrower, Ann Miller, to the target. The effect in 3D is dramatic, you really feel like she is tossing her lingerie at you.

There are other shots, like the fire eaters blowing directly into your face that need to be seen in 3D to be appreciated.

I would say that it was the only 3D movie where 3D actually added some value and was used ingeniously, that I have ever seen. Still, it was more a stunt than anything else, but a clever one. In point of fact, 3D vision breaks down at about the distance of your finger tips. Outfielders don't use 3D vision to track fly balls, seamtresses us it to thread a needle. I seriously doubt that I will ever invest in 3D home entertainment equipment.

22 posted on 04/23/2011 7:51:38 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (Somewhere in Kenya a village is missing its idiot)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

Interestingly, one of the most recent productions that I thought really did a great job of using 3-D was Pixar’s “Toy Story 3”. Granted, it is an animated feature, but I thought their usage was very well done and enhanced the viewing experience. It didn’t seem to me that they just put the 3-D effects in there just to try to showcase the technology.


66 posted on 04/23/2011 12:56:49 PM PDT by rlmorel (Capitalism is the Goose that lays The Golden Egg.)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

***I would say that it was the only 3D movie where 3D actually added some value and was used ingeniously, ****

I like to watch the old 1950s movies. After a while you can spot a movie made in 3-D by the way some of the scenes are staged. I’ve never seen a movie in 3-D, only 2-D releases.


73 posted on 04/23/2011 4:53:47 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Click my name. See my home page, if you dare!)
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