3-D Revolution: The History of Modern Stereoscopic Cinema

by Ray Zone

Overview

In 2009, Avatar, a 3-D movie directed by James Cameron, became the most successful motion picture of all time, a technological breakthrough that has grossed more than $2.5 billion worldwide. Its seamless computer-generated imagery and live action stereo photography effectively defined the importance of 3-D to the future of cinema, as well as all other currently evolving digital displays. Though stereoscopic cinema began in the early nineteenth century and exploded in the 1950s in Hollywood, its

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813136110
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	05/01/2012
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ray Zone is an award-winning 3D artist, speaker and film producer. He is the author of Stereoscopic Cinema and the Origins of 3-D film, 1838-1952 and lives in Hollywood. California.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Epochs of 3-D 1

I The Era of Convergence, 1952-1985

1 Bwana Devil 7

2 Dual-Band Cameras 17

3 Converging in Time 31

4 Deep Black and White 45

5 3-D Filmmakers and the Critics 51

6 Wider, Not Deeper 63

7 Single-Strip 3-D Systems 79

8 The Porno Boys 93

9 1980s 3-D Films 111

10 3-D at Home 125

II The Immersive Age, 1986-2005

11 4-D and the Ride Film 143

12 Creating 3-D for Theme Parks 157

13 The World of IMAX 3-D 171

14 A Large-Format 3-D Journey 183

15 Stereoscopic Outer Space 191

16 Big-Screen 3-D Dinosaurs 197

17 Large-Format Stereo Conversion 209

18 Speeding into 3-D 217

19 Riding on Digits 223

20 The Polar Express in IMAX 3-D 235

III Digital 3-D Cinema, 2005-2009

21 Two Anaglyph Movies 247

22 Threshold of the Future 257

23 Digital 3-D Cinema Begins 265

24 Meet the Robinsons 275

25 Rebuilding the Z-axis 283

26 Digital Live-Action 3-D 297

27 Aliens and Superpowers 307

28 Immersed in Coraline 317

29 Two 3-D Films by Robert Zemeckis 325

30 Digital 3-D Horrors 333

31 Perceptual Paradoxes 349

32 Cute and Fuzzy Dinosaurs 361

33 An Interview with Rob Engle 369

34 Brave New 3-D World 387

Epilogue: Now Is the Time 396

Acknowledgments 403

Notes 405

Index 421

Editorial Reviews

Explaining the development of the art form from novelty to near-industry standard, Zone's study details the fits and starts of 3-D cinema from its initial 1952 commercial breakthrough with Arch Oboler's Bwana Devil to James Cameron's 2009 technologically visionary achievement, Avatar. Acting as a sequel to his previous work, 3-D artist and producer Zone (Stereoscopic Cinema and the Origins of 3-D Film) illustrates in profuse detail the science, methodology, applications, and individuals behind the notable films that emerged in what Zone categorizes as three of the four evolutionary epochs of 3-D cinema: the Era of Convergence, the Immersive Age (arguably the book's strongest section), and the advent of Digital 3-D Cinema. His attempt to present a comprehensive modern history of 3-D is obfuscated by overwhelming details concerning the evolution of the technology behind the medium. Cursory cultural and historical contextualization leaves little for the lay reader to latch on to, resulting in a work that often reads like a technical manual designed for enthusiasts and industry professionals. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"It is indeed rare to come across a book that captures a revolutionary movement in film history as well as this tome has. In documenting the history of 3-D motion pictures, from the inception of film making up through the latest digital 3-D technology, Zone has produced an extremely significant legacy."—Susan Pinsky, proprietor of Reel 3-D Enterprises

From the Publisher