GFF 2011: A New Dimension

There are various unimaginative, practical minded reasons for disparaging 3D but, rather than wasting time listing them, instead it is worth remembering that 3D film is an artistic medium. In this sense, it is no different from sound, lighting, colour, editing, mise en scène, close-ups, long takes, jump cuts, CGI, oil, watercolour, fresco, gouache, pen, pencil, paper, wood, marble, metal, or stone, to name just a tiny handful. All of these media have unique properties that people have utilised to create great works of art. Michelangelo used the translucency and fine texture of marble to create the beautifully naturalistic detail of his Pietà. Turner manipulated the subtle blending properties of oil paint to produce the disorienting light and shadows of his seascapes, and Hitchcock exploited cinema’s singular storytelling technique of combining sequences of moving pictures to thrill and traumatise their viewer in Psycho. So, what are the special attributes of 3D?

Three-dimensional film enhances the illusion of depth perception that already exists in so-called 2D cinema. The range of potential associations and applications of this characteristic are, as with all the media mentioned above, limited only by imagination. The success of utilising the technique varies from film to film, but there has already been evidence of some exciting, and increasingly improved, effects: the sinister menace of a shotgun slowly turning and poking out at the audience in My Bloody Valentine 3D; the physical exhilaration of watching dancing bodies float in deep space in Streetdance 3D; the sensation of being sucked into the creepy, swirly stop-motion world of Coraline, the majestic floating lands in Avatar. Many filmmakers are now exploring the possibilites of 3D technology and awaiting the results is electrifying. It may be a strange partnership, but who can resist seeing what Werner Herzog achieves using 3D for his latest documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams?