The Misunderstanding of 3D

Daniel Engber, writing for The New Yorker:

But the secret of 3-D — its central irony, let’s say — is that it isn’t any good for spectacle. Adding a dimension often serves to shrink the objects on the screen, instead of giving them more pomp; trees and mountains end up looking like pieces in a diorama; people seem like puppets. Action, too, suffers in the format, because rapid horizontal movements mess with the illusion and fast-paced edits in 3-D tend to wear a viewer out.

I spoke about this on last week’s episode of The Talk Show, with Rene Ritchie. I find when I watch 3D movies in the theater, when I walk out, I can’t remember half of what happened. I like 3D in short doses, like on attractions at Disney World, but for feature films I find it ruins the whole experience.

See also: Legendary film editor and sound designer Walter Murch, explaining why “3D doesn’t work and never will” in a 2011 letter to Roger Ebert. (Previously linked here.)

★ Thursday, 4 June 2015