Chicken Little and the History of 3D
Over the weekend I did something I told myself, and you, that I would never do again. I took out a small loan and headed to my local theater to see *cough* Disney’s new movie Chicken Little. As a small disclaimer, you must know that this was strictly a trip for research. I am sure you are well aware by now that Chicken Little is also being shown in 3D. I found this out for the first time myself when I stumbled across an interesting little, and I mean little, article in Wired Magazine about the technology behind the movie. While the Wired article did summarize the technology well, I had a few questions, and I needed answers.
This brings us back to the theater where my brother (who also wants you to know that his viewing of the movie was also for research), our girlfriends (I swear, we have girlfriends), and myself all share the same shocked expression when we hear the ticket girl say, “that will be 36 dollars, please.” That’s right, the movie costed nine dollars a piece. I can’t imagine taking a family of five to a movie like this and forking over $45, plus the fortune you spend on “refreshments.” I will admit, the 3D glasses they give you are, what I would call, “the Cadillac” of 3D glasses. While posing in my new glasses, which cleverly look the same as Chicken Little’s, I was told by an eight year old girl that I shouldn’t be wearing my glasses unless I was in my seat. She then pointed to a giant sign that said, “Do not wear your 3D glasses until you are seated.” Taking advice from an eight year old girl, we took a seat.
3D movies go back to 1903, when Brothers Lumiére put together a short film (around one minute) featuring a train entering a station, seriously. It premiered at the World’s Fair, and was a huge success, though only one person could view it at a time. It took until 1953 for 3D to really hit the big time, when producer Sidney Pink debuted the move, “House of Wax.” This was the first movie to feature the infamous paper 3D glasses. Disney also release a couple 3D cartoons around the same time. The technology that was used in the making of House of Wax, was basically the same technology used for years to follow. It involved two projectors playing the movie in shades of red and blue simultaneously at 24 frames per second. Each projector targeted each eye, and tricked the brain into thinking the image was 3D. The only problem with this technology was that the two projectors were hard to synchronise, and was the main reason people left the theaters with a small migraine. For the next 50 or so years 3D movie technology slowly, and I mean slowly, became more advanced. Mainly, the 3D movie industry saw the release of widescreen 3D, single strip 3D, and Friday the 13th in 3D. Then, thanks to a company called Real D and Disney, came Chicken Little.
Taking a seat in a theater that we assumed would be empty, like the last movie we saw, turned out to be more of a challenge than we thought. The theater was packed, and the average age of the movie-goers was probably six, or possibly seven. We reluctantly decided on the forth row, took our seats, and I happily put on my 3D glasses. The first thing I noticed was that the glasses aren’t shaded in the classic red and blue glasses. They had appeared to be tinted, but actually seemed almost clear. After watching the Dolby Digital intro, I could easily have packed up, headed home, and been perfectly satisfied. If the feature film was as cool as the Dolby Digital intro, it was going to be a good movie.
Real D was founded in 2001, and in early 2005 they acquired StereoGraphics, the previous leader in 3D imaging technology. Real D was also busy around that time showing off their new technology to Disney. The Real D technology involves digital projection, a first in the 3D movie business. The digital projectors play the movie at 144 frames per second, compared to the old 24 frames per second. The old way involved showing both frames at the same time. Real D decided since they could play the movie at such a high frame rate, they would alternate the frames, one eye at at time. The best part is, this is the first 3D movie to be played in 1080i High Definition.
Real D isn’t the only company breaking the 3D movie barrier. Another company by the name of In-Three has a new system that makes it possible to turn 2D into 3D. George Lucus just signed a pretty large deal with In-Three, committing to turning all six Star Wars movies to 3D. Real D also claims they have 5 more movies coming out in the near future.
Chicken Little was an overall good movie. The story was classic Disney. A couple lovable characters, plenty of potty humor for the kids, and a few “adult jokes” thrown in for the parents and the four adults without children sitting in the forth row. Even though the new system is supposed to take care of the problem of eye strain, I had a minor headache at the end of the movie. It was also hard to walk out of the theater for some reason. The one thing my girlfriend noticed, and I have to agree with her, is that the 3D wasn’t the “in your face” 3D that we expected. In the end, the high definition 3D was a good experience, and you even end up with a pretty hot pair of 3D glasses. If you have got kids, or need to research a Disney movie for an article for your web page, look no farther than Chicken Little.
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