The Transparency of 3-D

So it’s safe to say that, if a blockbuster film is being released this year, it’s coming to a theater near you in 3D. But is 3D here to stay? Though it could be just a fad (I hope so) I don’t think the studios will let it die off as easily as it has in the past this time around because it’s a huge moneymaker.

But at $20 a pop, going to the movies is getting pretty expensive, and if a film’s in 3D, you’re rarely given any other choice, namely the cheaper 2D option.

It’s pretty simple to see the motives behind this. Obviously, they want more money, but I think what might be being overlooked is that the film industry has recently been losing a lot of money, mainly due to piracy and the ability to download a movie before it even reaches the cinema. One way to even things out is to jack up the price of the tickets, but that doesn’t get anymore arses on seats and still doesn’t solve the piracy side of things. What might be doing the trick though is giving the audience an experience that they can’t get at home on the same level. And I guess it’s working. Though I’m sure you can pirate 3D films, the experience just isn’t the same, and I know, I’ve got Freddy’s Dead on DVD, and it sadly cannot compete with the 3D on offer at the cinema.

The problem here is, though the film industry needs to stay afloat and this is a likely way of making sure that people keep going to the cinema, they’ve gotten too greedy too quickly and really rushed the whole thing. Rather than making it an event, a once in a while occurrence, every second film released today is in 3D, some of which weren’t even shot in 3D are being transferred into 3D and look god-awful—for those of you unfamiliar with the process, 3D films need to be shot in 3D to look 3D. If a film is transferred from 2D into 3D, it looks more like cardboard-cutouts than three-dimensional objects with depth and consistency.
Already a gimmick to begin with, the 3D experience and the way in which it is being handled cheapens everything about the venture… except the ticket-price, of course.