Computer Graphics World

November 2008 14 n n n n Stereoscopy for the gimmicks, the 'throw everything at the audience' approach." Now, filmmakers working with ani- mated and live-action features are using 3D more creatively. To learn what they are discovering, we talked with several 3D pioneers creating animated CG films, stop- motion features, and live-action films. Sculptural Movies "I talk about stereo 3D now as spatial moviemaking," says McNally. "e differ- ence is like comparing painting to sculp- ture. We have the potential to conceive the whole storytelling art form as a spatial art form, especially when we combine CG with stereoscopic moviemaking." Close-up shots provide one example of how 3D might differ from traditional moviemaking. In the latter, when a director shoots a star for his or her "close-up," the character in the film appears closer because it looks bigger. "It's part of the illusion you create when you're working in a medium that doesn't support distance," McNally says. "But, in a 3D movie, it's possible that the close-up could be shot with the framing quite wide, and with the character moving closer to us. Is that more powerful, or is it distracting? ese are questions we're try- ing to understand." When stereographers structure a 3D experience, they work within certain lim- its. "We have something we call the stereo budget, or the parallax budget," Engle says. "at's the technical limitation for how far away or close something can be before it becomes uncomfortable [to look at]. So, the creative aspect is in using that space to give the audience the best experience." Within that limitation, a director can bring objects out into the audience or use stereo 3D as a window into which the audi- ence looks deeply. "I've often heard James Cameron says he's keeping the subject of interest on the screen," McNally notes. "He's shooting live action, and you can un- derstand why you would want to edit with- out worrying about the subjects jumping around. e other extreme is Fly Me to the Moon. e space of the movie is detached from wherever the screen is, almost nothing plays at the screen, and almost every char- acter is within arm's reach. We're using both techniques and working between [them]." Don Hahn, who was the producer at Disney for a number of feature anima- tions, including Beauty and the Beast, e Lion King, e Nightmare Before Christmas, and e Emperor's New Groove, is currently the executive producer for Tim Burton's 3D Frankenweenie, scheduled for Decem- ber 2009. "Directors are entering a whole new space with new rules," he says. "For example, you might have a deep set, like a big ballroom, but you want the audience to focus downstage or way upstage. So, you converge the eyes to different points on the screen. Also, you can play with distance to create a child-like wide-angle perspective or a more normal adult sense of a room. But, I suppose pacing is the biggest difference. When you convert flat animation to 3D, there are times when you wish you could linger and let the eye adjust to a scene. e [stereo 3D] directors have extra time to fol- low objects to the z plane and back again." e possibility of such leisurely pacing is something that Adam Holmes, vice presi- dent of Wide Band Entertainment, finds enticing. Holmes is currently executive producer for a stereo 3D feature anima- tion, an independent production made feasible by the promise of 5000 theaters. "If we can design stereo 3D films in which we hold on to the scenes, we might be able to bring some artistry back into our ADD world," he says. "We may be able to extract emotion from films, not just fast cuts and fast pacing." Emotional Depth In designing the overall look through the arc of a film, the stereoscopic teams fre- quently compare the conceptual use of 3D to that of a sound track. "We constantly play with the depth like a symphony," Mc- Nally says. "We might start quiet, build to a crescendo, and then fall back so that depth is something that flows." e stereo- scopic artists consider depth within indi- vidual scenes as well. "When filmmakers went for the gim- mick of hurtling stuff at the audience, they pulled the audience out of the film, instead of creating an immersive experience," Neu- man says. "We're taking a more mature approach." For example, in the film Bolt (see "Back to the Future," pg. 20). Disney stretches the environment fully for action scenes, but when the dog Bolt talks with the cat Mittens, and it's a lighthearted mo- ment, the crew tones down the depth. e instruments that stereographers Director Eric Brevig filmed the live-action Journey to the Center of the Earth in stereo 3D. The July 2008 release into multiplex theater chains earned $100 million at the box office.

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