EventsRSS: News Maker LG and Framestore present ‘The Dazzling Future of 3D’

As we all know, 3D is the Next Big Thing – and seemingly has been for a while. Whilst the third dimension has been implemented into our cinema screens with such enthusiasm over the last year or so as to quickly become something approaching the norm (especially for animated features), 3D in the home is another matter. The uptake on 3D capable televisions has been slow, but LG intend to change that with their new advertising campaign, which consists of an amusing, 3D commercial to be shown in cinemas and a complimentary interactive trouble-shooting video.

The commercial is produced by London-based and Oscar winning visual effects company Framestore and directed by Richard Ayoade of The IT Crowd, Garth Merenghi’s Darkplace and The Mighty Boosh fame. It stars up and coming comedian and poet, Tim Key as an affable film director introducing the audience to the possibilities and accessibility of 3D in the home, aided by his hapless flatmate. The interactive video – see below – features the duo and attempts to answer any question you might have regarding 3D. Type in ‘passive 3D’, for example, and the pair explain what this means in a sardonic, humorous manner. There are also numerous visual quirks and sight gags to amuse users as well as a few Easter Eggs to discover, should you type in slightly more esoteric demands of the pair. Asking them to ‘strip’ for instance provokes an entertaining response.

As well as seeing the commercial and interactive video, the assembled bloggers and I were also treated to a show reel of Framestore’s work on Avatar, introduced by executive visual effects producer Tim Keene, which mostly consisted of shots of the hangers and robots from the human’s base. Avatar being such a massive undertaking, Framestore collaborated with other visual effects companies to create the Pandora in time for release. Our attention was drawn to a shot of an aircraft, for which Framestore created the ramp, WETA its wings and Industrial Light and Magic the sides. The presentation concluded with several minutes of James Cameron’s own 3D test footage, which involved American football, motorbikes, a Gwen Stefani concert and diving footage, the latter perhaps giving us a clue to how the Cameron-produced 3D cave-diving movie, Sanctum may look (in short, like some blokes in scuba gear in some small, underwater caves, in 3D).

There were also plenty of opportunities for the LG guys, led by Mike Woods, to explain the facts and their speculations on the future of 3D. They explained how their advert deliberately has a rough at the edges aesthetic to distance themselves from the overly slick and stylised 3D presentation we may be used to in cinemas. They were also keen to distance themselves from old-school, red and blue filtered 3D and explained how they were fighting a battle on two fronts in trying to market two different types of 3D – active and passive. The latter you will probably be familiar with from cinemas, the advantage being that the glasses used are cheap and easily replaceable, should ‘Little Jimmy’ (a presumably fictional infant to whom the presenters kept referring to) sit on them. Active 3D involves much more expensive specs that flicker frames across your eyes but offer much higher resolution picture that complements 3D gaming. Passive 3D is being aimed at more common or garden viewers, whilst the active 3D technology is marketed at more discerning tech-heads.

After the presentation, I asked the guys about the uptake of 3D, who admitted it was currently slow as early adopters test the technology. Currently, the lack of TV output available in 3D (apparently 20-30%, which struck me as high) and the cost of the televisions (£800-£1500) means that LG aren’t selling quite as many units as they would like to at the moment, but they seem to be enjoying the challenge of attracting an audience that has only just upgraded to HD. Woods was keen to stress how the shift to 3D is a much more noticeable improvement than the transition to HD. He also told me how, due to technological difficulties, 3D output is mostly in 720p rather than full, 1080p.

Personally, I’m rather ambivalent regarding 3D. I see it as like having a free toy in a packet of cereal – a nice little bonus, but hardly something that influences you whether or not to buy the cereal in the first place. Having seen football in 3D in a pub (an experience LG are seeking to bring to the home) has not changed this. Whilst set pieces such as corners look interesting in the third dimension, the angle of the camera during normal play is much lower than usual, allowing you to see the depth of the field of play rather than what is actually happening. However, it is important to remember that 3D is very much in its infancy. The fact that directors such as Werner Herzog and Martin Scorsese are experimenting with the technology instils faith that something more interesting than the latest Shrek sequel can be produced in 3D. Whether we all will one day be watching Countdown and Coronation Street in 3D in our living rooms is something only time, as they say, will tell.

Resident Evil: Afterlife Preview

It seems a curious practice to me, that when production companies invite you down to their often illustrious headquarters in order to see and then write about their latest films, they feel the need to confiscate any tools you may have with you in order to better record the experience. Surely they want their films promoting as accurately as possible? In any case, I’ll stop whinging and get to the beef: Resident Evil: Afterlife. This latest episode in Paul WS Anderson’s horror franchise – and first to be filmed in 3D – is coming to cinemas imminently. A brief behind the scenes feature was screened this afternoon, to whet appetites for its release, in which Anderson and stars Milla Jovovich and Ali Larter waxed lyrical about the movie and the joys of filming in 3D.

Anderson, who once again wrote and produced the film, also returns to directorial duties for the first time since the original film (this being the fourth instalment). He was keen to stress the importance of filming in 3D – a process done, essentially, by filming with two cameras simultaneously, one filming the action, the other filming the action in a mirror between the two lenses – and was derisive of post-production 3D retro-fitting techniques (as used in Alice in Wonderland and Clash of the Titans). Anderson used the same rig and technicians as James Cameron employed on Avatar. The film was apparently conceived and written with 3D in mind, hence the use of environments and set pieces with a sense of depth, such as a Matrix-like combat sequence and footage of the heroines plummeting down a shaft, firing guns that we caught glimpses of. The 3D techniques used allow for single shot action sequences to go into slow motion and back again easily and remove the reliance many action directors have on annoyingly fast edits.

After the ‘making of’ footage ended (during in which Anderson compared his film to Avatar on several occasions), we were treated to a full sequence from the film, in which an eight foot, axe-wielding zombie slaughters a wimpy sidekick, and then sets about offing the heroines in a shower room. Cue plenty of cascading water droplets, swinging blades, sliding around, shotgun blasts and slow motion footage of our leading ladies covered in water and breathing heavily, all in 3D. Bits and pieces appear to fly out of the screen and the pounding soundtrack completes a not unimpressive action sequence.

Despite regularly receiving overwhelmingly negative critical responses, the Resident Evil series remains commercially viable due to its legion of fans, no less rabid than the zombies in the films themselves. This latest version should more than satisfy the hordes then, perhaps more so than ever with the added dimension. Whilst 3D has not been without criticism, horror movies are well suited to the new medium. As Anderson said, with its explosions, action sequences and tentacles, Resident Evil and 3D may make the perfect pairing.