Avatar...

James Cameron decided to make his comeback to the big screen with a project that has been dear to him for over 15 years: Avatar. His first full-length science-fiction film will blast you to the future with astonishing 3D graphics. Previously, this visionary director treated us with classics like Terminator, the second Alien and of course the mythical Titanic. This year he is opening the gates to the theatres for a ‘new generation’.

In 1995 Cameron started roaming the studios and asking them for a budget to make what would become the most expensive film in history. It didn’t really help that he had only a storyboard to convince the big bosses. Nevertheless, he managed to do so and after several delays and a cost of 320 million dollars the film is finally about to be released thanks to the help of Peter Jackson’s special effects studio, which already produced King Kong and I-Robot.

To make sure his return to the science-fiction genre would absolutely astonish everyone, Cameron surrounded him with the best professionals of every discipline he needed (linguists, behavioural psychologists, anthropologists,…). So note down in your agenda: 16 December, then this new adventure in space will be released. And those who already had the chance to experience the first 15 minutes of the film during the worldwide Avatar Day on 21 August, can testify that this is a new classic-in-the-making.

The dawn of 3D

Since its invention in 1838, stereoscopy has been used to create the illusion of the third dimension in cinema. The debate about which was the first film in 3D is still going on, but most of the connoisseurs agree that it was L’Arrivée du Train, directed in 1903 by the brothers Lumière, the inventors of cinema.

Following the first 3D adventures, over 250 films and TV-shows were shot in 3D. The technology of producing 3D-films already exists for over a century (almost two, in fact), but the methods of screening such films were hardly sufficient to fully render the 3D-experience.

After this first heyday, it was rather quiet on the 3D front… Until United Artists released Bwana Devil in 1952 and the film became a success. Suddenly, all major studios became interested in 3D which resulted in around 60 3D films, such as Dial M for Murder by Hitchcock or Hondo, starring John Wayne. Although the films were shot according to the rules of 3D cinema, the third dimension got mostly lost because of the poor circumstances for projection in the theatres and the complex equipment that was required to screen such films (silvered screens, polarized glasses, double-synchronized projectors, specials lenses,…)

Thus, the audience had already forgotten about this type of film, when it suddenly reappeared in the theatres during the seventies. Both big and small studios released their 3D pictures and soon it became a modest hit thanks to films like Jaws 3D, Comin at Ya! or Friday 13 – Part 3. But the sudden rise of 3D cinema was eclipsed again, with this time mostly the poor quality of the cardboard 3D spectacles to blame.

In 1986 however, the format returns in style: new spectators experience in Imax 3D theatres the film Transitions during the World Exhibition in Vancouver. New screening techniques ensure the new-found glory of 3D cinema.

This year 3D is overtly present in the theatres with, amongst many others, films like Final Destination 4, Humpty Dumpty or the special re-release of the first two Toy Story films.

At home, our ears already experience the 3D effect thanks to our Home Cinema, but in the near future our eyes will have the opportunity to enjoy the same thrill. Following the release of Avatar, the first real full-HD 3D television sets will be launched.

It is to be expected that the advent of 3D animation technologies, digital cameras and Home Cinema will contribute to a more common use of what was once called stereoscopy. It seems that 3D has finally started its carrier in film…