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IFC Films Bausch's unconventional approach to subject matter
and staging challenged Wenders when representing the work on screen. |
Today marks a turning point or transition and new beginning
in my journey as a storyteller. Today, I
begin my journey into digesting and learning the story structure and craft of
stereoscopic film making. I hope you the
reader will also learn and grow with me as I explore and I am sure at times
flounder in this exploration but I have learned that many of my greatest
discoveries as an artist have come from my failures so GERONIMO!! Let’s dive in!
“Because 3D is our natural way of seeing, it brings a
feeling of realism to the audience…By reducing the effort involved in the
suspension of disbelief, we significantly increase the immersion experience.” 1
The majority of the 3D that I have seen to date uses 3D as a
gimmick and not as a storytelling tool; there are exceptions to this statement
but the use of 3D as a storytelling tool is not unlike the introduction of
sound, color, or CGI and all of these cinematic tools took years to refine
before they were mastered as storytelling tools. “Ennio Morricone says, “What is important in
a film is that the spectator doesn’t perceive when the music come enters and
leaves.” That should be the same rule for the depth in a 3D movie. The 3D helps you tell a story but 3D is not the story.”2 Thus I hope to explore the use of 3D to
engage and immerse an audience emotionally with my characters and story through
the stereographic tools that I will explore through these blog posts.
Morricone’s sentiment was echoed by Wim Wenders in the recent
interview on Weekend Edition of NPR.
Wenders stated, “I wanted to
invent a 3-D that was all natural and was gentle to the eyes, and that you
would almost forget after a few minutes."3 The ideas that
Wenders expressed may be put into application through some of the depth
practices that stereographer Brian Gardner employs, “I use 3D to create
similar perceptual associations. If I want to show that one person’s life is
deeper than someone else’s then I actually make the space around them deeper. You associate that person with depth. I can put another person in a shallower
space, and you automatically think that person has a shallower life.” 4
Gardner’s depth techniques are an effective storytelling tool much in the same
way that a “Save the Cat” scene (a likeable characteristic of the protagonist
that is established in the set-up) is an effective devise to emotionally
involve your audience with the protagonist on a subconscious level.
Other effective tools in 3D include short lenses and
occlusion; “Occlusion occurs when objects overlap each other. Occlusions are the most powerful depth cues.”5
These are effective tools to utilize in stereography but there
are also things from traditional 2D cinematography to avoid. Things like, “…mismatched reflections and
nearby objects straddling the edges of the image.”4 This creates a “Discrepancies
between the two…” images in 3D which is referred to as retinal disparities.6 Another example in 2D is, “…to cut out the
top part of talents’ heads. This is actually
a plague in 3D…Remember to always leave some space above the heads.”7
I also realize that like staging a theatrical production, which
utilizes spatial levels and the blocking of the talent to focus emotional
emphasis of the scene; the composition of the 3D window must be used to frame
and focus the emotional impact of the story.
“You have to think in terms of volume composition, instead of pictures
composition. You will box the action
more than you will frame it.”8
Other things that I consider will be useful 3D storytelling tools are a depth
script to guide the emotional rhythms through the use of depth and overhead
diagrams to plan the story arc in terms of compositional volume.
Well, these are my opening reflections on stereography. I hope you find them useful and will join me
as I continue to explore new ideas in the world of 3D. Please, feel free to leave comments and let
me know your thoughts.
Cheers-
Russell McGee
1 B. Mendiburu, 3D Movie Making, (Focal Press, Burlington, MA, 2009), pp. 3.
2 B. Mendiburu, 3D Movie Making, (Focal Press, Burlington, MA, 2009), pp. 92.
3 P. Dowell,
Wim Wenders On 'Pina': A Dance Documentary In 3-D, WWW Document,
4 B. Gardner,
Perception and The Art of 3D Storytelling, WWW Document,
5 B. Mendiburu, 3D Movie Making, (Focal Press, Burlington, MA, 2009), pp. 18.
6 B. Mendiburu, 3D Movie Making, (Focal Press, Burlington, MA, 2009), pp. 17.
7 B. Mendiburu, 3D Movie Making, (Focal Press, Burlington, MA, 2009), pp. 97.
8 B. Mendiburu, 3D Movie Making, (Focal Press, Burlington, MA, 2009), pp. 92.
I'd like to get "Pina" on 3D Blu-ray.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it does seem like it would be very cool. I like how the dancers and director turned the production into a tribute.
DeleteI'm just glad it's coming to the IU Cinema in February. 8)
ReplyDelete