The new gold rush over 3D movies has begun
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Three new 3D films are being screened for audiences at the 61st annual Berlin Film Festival.
They are the first ever 3D movies shown at the festival since its founding in 1951.
The race for bringing 3D films to mass audiences began a few years ago with James Cameron's blockbuster "Avatar," the highest grossing film of all time. That film was quickly followed by movies such as Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," and the slasher film "Saw."
At the moment, however, the film on everyone's radar at the Berlin festival is "Pina," an extraordinary art house 3D documentary film about the legendary German choreographer Pina Bausch.
German director Wim Wenders, whose classics include "Wings of Desire" and "Buena Vista Social Club," has chosen for his latest film to interpret modern dance using the technological innovation of stereoscopic cinematography.
Wenders told Xinhua about his inspiration for choosing the aesthetic of 3D to film the choreography of Bausch.
"This film was driven by the need to make her art shine," Wenders said. "For so long...I always felt there was a wall between what I saw on stage and what my cameras saw. I waited for a revelation and the fact that it came in the form of technology was almost a shock to me. It was the dimension of space that was missing."
3D photography uses special cameras to record two perspectives, left eye and right eye, to create the depth illusion of a three-dimensional image.
The cinematic use of 3D technology, or stereoscopic photography, dates back to the early 1900s and was originally pioneered in the Lumiere brothers' film "The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat."
The Lumieres were able to capture the image using rudimentary 3D, but were not able to screen the film in 3D.
At the European Film Market, the first film market of the year, there were around 30 films screened in 3D, while last year there were just 11.
Becky Probst, managing director of the EFM, said she has her reservations about 3D movies.
"Avatar was a revolution but I think Wim Winder's 'Pina' is a work of art. It's an event. If 3D remains to create events, that will bring the shimmer to the industry but if 3D gets vulgar and misused, I think it's going to be the death of 3D."
On the floor at the EFM, the novelty of the trend caused buyers to circle around distributors offering a taste of 3D.
Bridget Pedgrift, marketing director of Protagonist Films, felt that one of the reasons her booth at the EFM had steady foot traffic was the 3D films they were offering. Last year the company sold Street Dance 3D.
"When we had 'Street Dance' last year, there was a huge amount of interest," Pedgrift said. "That was at the beginning of the 3D revolution. Now we find that 3D is embedded in everyone's psyche. You need to have a really strong film. You are not selling just on the fact that it is 3D."
Erwin Schmidt, the 3D producer on "Pina," told Xinhua that "for us, the incentive of earning more money was non-existent."
"There were only 25 screens on the market when we got into this," Schmidt said.
There is no shortage of discussion, speculation or opinion about the latest trend to wallop the film industry. There are, however, too few cinema houses with adequate projection and screen capabilities.
Festival attendee Margarete Semenowicz really enjoyed the French film "Tales Of The Night," which played in competition combining silhouette animation and 3D technology to tell the story.
"Right now it is very expensive to see 3D, because very few cinemas have it, but I think it's a good technology and I wish more movie directors would use it," Semenowicz said.
Wenders, whose art house film "Pina" will be released both in 2D and 3D, said the craft of 3D still has a long way to go but "we wanted to make the 3D disappear, and make itself invisible."
For the moment, 3D is anything but invisible. Audiences can enjoy the marvels of 3D films until the festival ends Feb. 20.
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