Boing Boing: 3D movies are doomed to gimmickhood

Posted by on under boing boing, airline entertainment, vanity project, 3d screens, satellite broadcast, giant robots, video demand, broadcast and cable, flipbook, auditoriums, blockbuster, entertainment systems, gimmick, no doubt, mey, punters, filmmaker, adjunct, sound eff |

My latest Guardian column, "Why economics condemns 3D to be no more than a blockbuster gimmick," discusses the difficulty of making truly 3D movies (that is, movies that lose something crucial in 2D) in a world where movies need to find a home on 2D small-screens in order to recoup. Movies, after all, rely on the aftermarket of satellite, broadcast and cable licenses, of home DVD releases and releases to airline entertainment systems and hotel room video-on-demand services - none of which are in 3D. If the movie couldn't be properly enjoyed in boring old 2D, the economics of filmmaking would collapse. So no filmmaker can afford to make a big-budget movie that is intended as a 3D-only experience, except as a vanity project. What's more, no filmmaker can afford to make a small-budget 3D movie, either, because the cinema-owners who've shelled out big money to retrofit their auditoriums for 3D projection don't want to tie up their small supply of 3D screens with art-house movies. They especially don't want to do this when there's plenty of competition from giant-budget 3D movies that add in the 3D as an optional adjunct, a marketing gimmick that can be used to draw in a few more punters during the cinematic exhibition window. I have no doubt that there are brilliant 3D movies lurking in potentia out there in the breasts of filmmakers, yearning to burst free. But I strongly doubt that any of them will burst free. The economics just don't support it: a truly 3D movie would be one where the 3D was so integral to the storytelling and the visuals and the experience that seeing it in 2D would be like seeing a giant-robots-throwing-buildings-at-each-other blockbuster as a flipbook while a hyperactive eight-year-old supplied the sound effects by shouting "BANG!" and "CRASH!" in your ear. Why economics condemns 3D to be no more than a blockbuster gimmick...


Tagi: boing boing, airline entertainment, vanity project, 3d screens, satellite broadcast, giant robots, video demand, broadcast and cable, flipbook, auditoriums, blockbuster, entertainment systems, gimmick, no doubt, mey, punters, filmmaker, adjunct, sound eff

Heavy Rain Previews Show Promise

Posted by on under quantic dream, mature game, heavy rain, somee, opposable thumbs, quiet moments, subtlety, storytelling, grabs, handful, release date, lighting |

As the February release date for Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain nears, several publications have gotten a chance for some hands-on time with the game and seem to be intrigued by what they saw. Quoting the Opposable Thumbs blog: "The game grabs you during the quiet moments where nothing 'happens.' When you look at a picture your child drew. When you're questioning someone about a crime. When you're trying to figure out how to react to a violent situation. The preview we were sent put me in different situations as I played a small handful of characters, and each one provided a few tiny moments that were surprising in terms of storytelling or subtlety." Eurogamer's previewer had a similar reaction: "To my great delight as well — Heavy Rain isn't a mature game because it has unhappy families and moody lighting, it's a mature game because it anticipates an adult response from the player and is prepared to receive it."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Tagi: quantic dream, mature game, heavy rain, somee, opposable thumbs, quiet moments, subtlety, storytelling, grabs, handful, release date, lighting