The entertainment world is ever expanding, and it appears as if the next big innovations are furthering the implications of 3-D in everything from movies to video games, even things as simple as television commercials.
Those working in the animation field have mixed opinions about the potential of new technology in filmmaking.
In the 2000s (specifically 2005-2009), around 25 movies were released under the RealD banner, according to www.reald.com. In the first two years of this decade, 36 movies are slated to have a 3-D release. These include the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" films, "Shrek Forever After," "Friday the 13th Part 2" and "The Smurfs"; even the next "Jackass" movie is getting the 3-D treatment.
"Avatar", the highest grossing movie of all time, can attribute $200 million of its over $2 billion in revenues to 3-D ticket sales, according to boxofficemojo.com. The extra money moviegoers pay to see these 3-D movies boosts the money that movie studios end up making, and if the movie makes money, there's a very good chance that other films will follow suit.
Andy Beane, assistant professor of art, weighed in on the possibilities of 3-D's future.
"I definitely think it's going to push storytelling in a different direction. Right now stereoscopic (3-D imaging) seems to be a gimmick," Beane, who teaches animation classes, said.
He said some movies are headed in the right direction from a storytelling standpoint, citing "Avatar" and "Up" as recent examples, but said the reason a film like "Up" utilized 3-D so well was because it was made with 3-D in mind.
"I'm a little afraid of ‘Clash of the Titans,'" Beane said. "That movie was more than three-fourths done and they up and decided to make it 3-D, so how good is it going to be?"
Beane said the main drawback of this new technology is that studios try to rake in more money by using 3-D as a selling device and don't focus on the story itself.
"In a couple years when that finally goes away and people look at it as another aspect of the filmmaking and storytelling, they'll be better off," he said.
Even with the changes in technology, Beane said he is mostly optimistic about 3-D.
"I don't think it's going away and I don't think it's going to be bad," he said. "I think it's going to be a while before we see the settling effect of what actually it's going to do. ... In the end, I think more people are going to use it."
Junior animation major Derrick Niehaus is also fairly optimistic about the future of 3-D.
"It's still in its baby stages," he said. "They'll eventually get it well enough that you won't get a headache while watching the movie."
Jennifer Hathaway, a junior animation major, said there is still a lot to be done with the technology.
"[With] ‘Avatar' and ‘Up' and those different kinds of movies, I think there's actually a drawback to the detail, because some of the detail gets blurred," she said.
Jon Bryson, an animation graduate student, said that in order to move forward, "(producers) have to stay away from the gimmicky stuff projected at you that seems so fake."
Despite the "gimmicky stuff," Hathaway said that 3-D adds to the overall movie experience.
"The parts that I like are the parts that make me feel immersed, make me feel like I'm part of that story ... make it special," Hathaway said.
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