3D Cinematography.

The theory behind stereo perception, camera

work and how to create 3D imagery.

17th April, 2012

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Technological re-emergence

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A brief history ...

Current 3-D cinema has roots in 1950s 3D films.
The new way we view 3-D was initially
used in the 1950s later replaced by
anaglyph glasses (Red and Cyan).
3-D has had a number of revivals later in
the 20th century.
For technological and economical
reasons it never became a serious
genre.

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1950s Golden Age of Naturalvision

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1960s/70s/80s Revivals ...

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So, why has 3-D re-emerged?

There are certain motivations and technological forces that

brought about this new revival of 3-D.

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Cinema adapting to survive.

The widescreen format was a response to the advent of
television (16:9, cinemascope).

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Threats to the cinema experience.

The gameing industry has over taken the cinema industry in
recent years.

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File Sharing.
Prior example: The widescreen format was a response to the
advent of television (16:9, cinemascope)

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Stereo-cinema:
A site-specific experience

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Advances in Technologies also helped ...

Shooting technology
Post-production technology
Display technology

as did financial viability

Enough interest and ticket sales
Enough cinemas using the technology

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Financial milestone (Summer 2010)

$2.8 Billion worldwide box office takings

81% of that is from the 3-D version
64% regular 3-D cinema
17% IMAX cinema

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The future of 3-D?

Is 3-D really a new evolution of cinema?
Will 3-D come and go (again)?
Is 3-D now a necessity? And if so how will traditional 2-D be
regarded?

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There will be no 3-D cinema without

these two elements: stories really benefiting from 3-D and fully developed 3-D
cinematography
Bernard Mendiburu

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Why does 3-D work?

Evolution.

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Why does 3-D work?

We evolved from hunters we could judge distance.

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Why does 3-D work?

Our prey (and others) evolved different defense mechanisms.

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2 eyes = 2 different images (Stereopsis)
2 lenses = 2 different images (Stereoscopy)
Disparity the differences between the images
Convergence our eyes crossing and uncrossing
Accommodation (focus)

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Stereoscopic Zone of Comfort

The range, apparent depth behind and in front of the screen, in
which vergence can be achieved without discomfort.
Excessive parallax between the left and the right eye view on the
screen can cause eye strain (converge or diverge).
Zone of comfort varies slightly from person to person.

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Stereoscopic Zone of Comfort

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Polarized Viewing System

Low-cost eye-glasses which contain a pair of different polarizing
filters. As each filter passes only that light which is similarly
polarized and blocks the light polarized in the opposite direction,
each eye sees a different image.

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Polarized Viewing System

Each lens converts an un-polarized beam into one with a single

linear polarization. The vertical components of all waves are
transmitted, while the horizontal components are absorbed and
reflected.

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Stereo Cinematography

Monoscopic Depth

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Stereo Cinematography

There is now a new cinematic dialect in 3-D

Composition along three axes
Hyper-stereo Extremes of 3-D film
Depth Cuts

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DIY STEREOSCOPY
Anaglyph stereo in AE / FCP:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Overlay the clips

Add filters to each one modifying the RGB channels
In AE use curves adjustment
In FCP use RGB Balance filter
Right = Cyan / Left = Red
Change the top layers blend mode to ADD (or screen)

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Questions?