To 3D Infinity ... and beyond

A busy Friday night on North Tyneside, the Odeon multiplex at Silverlink, near North Shields, to be precise: Toy Story 3 is a few days into its theatrical run, the crowds are flowing through the doors and the 3D cash register is rattling along nicely for distrubutor and exhibitor alike. The glasses are being bought and the adverts for 3D television (a major push by Sky is due in the autumn) are drawing gasps of wonder from the mass of spectators.

Sometimes the advent of a new medium (or fresh technology within an existing form) ushers in several uncertainties: will the newcomer establish itself or will it flounder after a brief flowering (as 3D did in the early 1950s)? Will it become dominant or one option among several for consumers? What of the older methods - are they to be rendered redundant, will they slowly be phased out or will there still be a place, say, in twenty years time for good, old-fashioned two-dimensional filmmaking? The one thing that can be said with any certainty is that there is a great push to make 3D happen, to make us go 3D. Counting the screeings planned for the next six days at Silverlink, according to the Odeon website there will be 14 screenings in 2D as opposed to 77 in 3D, a ratio of 1:5.5. The industry's assertion, then, that we can still see 3D films the old way if we wish may be true (although the new Shrek film is only showing at Silverlink in 3D - a format it seems to struggle with: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/To-3D-Or-Not-To-3D-Buy-The-Right-Shrek-Forever-After-Ticket-18630.html),

but is disingenuous as to the strenous efforts to push the new format as the only game in town, relegating the alternative to minumum visibility.

There's plenty to say about 3D in terms of its aesthetic potential and audience response (including such issues as the added ticket premium and the perceived qualitative impact), but my concern here is with the coercive project to make it succeed, as is consistent with Jonathan Rosenbaum's claim that such interests in the audience are 'cultivated, like so much else in this culture that goes under the guise of spontaneous combustion' (Rosenbaum, Movie Wars: How Hollywood and the Media Limit What Movies We Can See, A Capella, 2000, p.15). The block booking arrangements for 3D films clearly amount to an attempt to lead the audience where the industry wants it to go. Can we assess how audiences are responding? Well, Variety recently reported that the opening weekend figures for Toy Story 3 in America showed that only 60% of its gross was from 3D screenings, a share that is markedy down from Avatar's 71% - indeed, one blogger has charted the continuing decline in the 3D contribution to total box office of six films from Avatar onwards - see http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2010/07/21/is-3d-already-dying/

It's far too early to say how the 21st century push towards 3D cinema will succeed, but the concerted effort will continue for some time, aided this time around by the synergy of TV and gaming potential.

As for Toy Story 3, I loved it: the characterisation and thematic development were as rich as ever - go see, in 2 or 3D.