With this week’s RED202 course containing a discussion on stereoscopic as part of the class, I figured I’d post about a little film I saw last night. While Mike was in Sydney jetlagged and enjoying the Police live in concert, I also felt musically inclined and checked out the Chicago premiere of U23D in all its IMAX glory.

I wasn’t the only fxphd-er at the show…ran into member WillRyan outside who was nice enough to come up introduce himself. We both left the show pondering the possibilities of what this might mean to the mainstream industry.The film was both incredibly immersive…this coming from being a U2 fan who saw the live show twice….and yes, a bit gimmicky due to the 3D effect. But it was a blast to enjoy and the technology certainly has the desired effect of helping place you in the center of the action. It’s no surprise this was a fave at Sundance….

Overall, the medium to wide shots worked the best and felt the most natural when watching. Some of the craning and panning shots over the crowd gave a tremendous scale of depth that felt quite natural. There was one particular shot photographed with a robotic camera moving on wires above the crowd and stage that was simply fantastic. Moving from Bono — who was on one of the runways into the crowd — to bassist Adam Clayon on the other runway was incredible for the depth it gave. Even simple shots of Larry Mullen at the drumset had a certain life to them that wouldn’t have been there saver for the obvious depth given to the entire drum kit. The cuts between shots were comfortable, with little need for the eyes to re-adjust.For the encore, we had a glimpse at the upcoming possibilities for motion graphics in 3D theatrical releases. I can’t wait to have some fun with this.

With all the positives that can be said, I felt that the depth on many of the closer shots felt too exaggerated or forced and were actually borderline distracting. The first couple of times of having Bono in your face was kinda cool…but after several times of having him invade my 3D personal space it was a bit awkward. There is also the illusion on several wide shots with foreground crowd that the members of the audience close to camera seem a bit small — like miniature people. With the amount of depth in the shot it seems as though the performers on stage should have been smaller — or the foreground larger — it just didn’t seem quite right.

I’m interested in seeing the film on a standard screen to see if it changes my perception of the closeups. I can imagine that the 6 story tall screen could significantly impact my view on things — and it would be most disturbing on the closeups. As a concert film in general, it doesn’t displace my all time favorite Stop Making Sense — but it’s certainly set a new standard for the genre. If you have a chance to check it out….take the time.-John

Just to add to John’s comments the 3D work in the film was done by the team at 3ality Digital in LA. The primary box used for the post and 3D was Assimilate’s Scratch. I just spent some time in LA with the Scratch team and visited some other 3D productions either still shooting or in post. We will be covering some of that this term in the RED 202 class – and even more next term. The team at Assimilate could not have been nicer – and we look forward to really doing some cool stuff in this area over coming weeks and months. As for the 3D- U2 film – Congrats to 3ality Digital – the film was the hit of Sundance and a great technical achievement.- Mike