將于7.22登陸大銀幕的《唐山大地震》是馮小剛第一部用Imax制式拍攝的影片。不過,這并非意味著該片是一部3D(立體)電影。在接受采訪時,馮小剛特意聲明:“《唐山大地震》是Imax,也就是巨幕電影,但它不是3D(立體)電影,我看最近有媒體把他列入3D電影了,在這里說明一下。”
既然《唐山大地震》是偽3D,不知道它能不能像《阿凡達(dá)》一樣創(chuàng)出票房新高?現(xiàn)如今3D電影大行其道,搭上3D順風(fēng)車的電影都能票房飄紅。3D火爆是曇花一現(xiàn)嗎?未來大銀幕會是3D的天下嗎?
The technology is suddenly everywhere--heralded as the future of television and transforming cinema-goers' experience.
3D技術(shù)突然無處不在——預(yù)示著它將成為電視發(fā)展的未來并顛覆影迷們的觀影體驗。詹姆斯卡梅隆執(zhí)導(dǎo)的《阿凡達(dá)》票房收入已超過10億美元,證明它是有史以來最賣座的3D電影,而皮克斯公司的《飛屋環(huán)游記》則賺取了6.8億美元的全球票房。2010年,170部影片中約有20部將采用3D制作,數(shù)目比去年翻了一番。英國天空廣播公司則計劃于今年晚些時候推出一個3D頻道。
3D technology has been around for almost as long as cinema. In 1922, The Power of Love was the first feature film to be screened in 3D at the Ambassador Hotel Theatre in Los Angeles. The effect was achieved by projecting two films strips--one using reds, one using greens--on top of one another. Viewers watched the film using glasses with different-coloured filters in their lenses. The golden age of 3D was in the early 1950s, and began with 1951's Bwana Devil, an action-thriller set in Africa. Two prints were projected through polarising filters at the cinema screen, before being separated by glasses with differently-polarised lenses. The trend declined due to its expense. As well as duplicate prints, it required two projectionists.
3D技術(shù)問世時間幾乎和電影一樣長。1992年,《愛的力量》是首部以3D形式在洛杉磯的大使飯店劇院放映的故事片。其立體效果是通過放映一紅一綠相互疊加的兩條膠片實現(xiàn)的。觀眾在看電影時要佩戴有分色濾光片的眼鏡。1951年上映的以非洲為故事背景的動作驚悚片《非洲歷險記》開啟了上世紀(jì)50年代初3D電影的黃金時代。這部電影在放映時使用兩個拷貝通過偏振光濾光鏡投射到銀幕上,然后通過鏡片偏振方向不同的偏光眼鏡將兩個圖像分開。這股潮流后因費(fèi)用問題而衰落下去。因為它不僅需要成對的拷貝,而且還需要兩個放映員。
It was only a matter of time before the technology reached TV. In 2008 Samsung launched a £700 3D TV which requires glasses; specialist TV manufacturers like Alioscopy and Magnetic also already make glasses-free 3D screens.
這項技術(shù)后來被應(yīng)用到電視上也不過是個時間問題。2008年,三星公司推出了一款售價700英鎊、需佩戴眼鏡觀看的3D電視機(jī),Aliocsopy和Magnetic等專業(yè)電視機(jī)廠商也已制造出無需佩戴眼鏡觀看的3D電視劇。
So what's different now?
如今的技術(shù)有何不同?
Digital technology. Instead of using film, digital cinemas project images from a computer's hard drive. Special adapters are fitted to conventional digital projectors that rotate the light several times per second, mimicking the effect of two projectors.
數(shù)字技術(shù)。數(shù)字影院放映影像使用的不是膠片,而是電腦硬盤。只要在傳統(tǒng)的數(shù)字放映機(jī)上安裝特殊的轉(zhuǎn)換器,使光得以每秒轉(zhuǎn)動數(shù)次,就能模仿出兩臺放映機(jī)的效果。
A spate of films have ridden the 3D wave over the last year--among them Ice Age 3D and Journey to the Centre of the Earth 3D--re-igniting interest in cinema during a difficult economic climate. At CES, Panasonic unveiled a 152-inch plasma screen that produced a better image than many cinemas.
去年,一大批電影都迎3D熱潮而上,其中包括《冰河世紀(jì)》和《地心歷險記》,它們在經(jīng)濟(jì)蕭條之際重新燃起人們對看電影的興趣。在國際消費(fèi)電子展上,松下公司推出了一款152英寸的等離子屏幕,其影像效果比很多電影院還要好。
DreamWorks Animation chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg has described 3D as "the greatest innovation in film since colour" while Intel CEO Paul Otellini told crowds at CES that, "I think that 3D... is the next thing that's poised to explode in the home." Cupit, who is helping to develop the technology to be used to broadcast the Six Nations, says: "3D creates a richer, more engaging experience than a D flat image. I think it will become the new standard. As the technology sorts itself out it will become more prevalent."
夢工廠動畫制作公司首席執(zhí)行官杰弗里·卡琴貝格將3D描述為“自彩色電影以來電影史上最偉大的創(chuàng)新”,而英特爾公司首席執(zhí)行官保羅·奧泰里尼則在國際消費(fèi)電子展上對公眾說:“我認(rèn)為3D……勢將成為下一個炙手可熱的家用技術(shù)。”正幫助開發(fā)這項技術(shù)用于轉(zhuǎn)播六國賽的庫皮特說:“3D技術(shù)能營造出比數(shù)字平面影像更豐富、更迷人的體驗。我認(rèn)為它將成為新的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。隨著這項技術(shù)日臻完善,它將更加普及。”
Ironically Cameron, who has necessarily been one of 3D's most ardent standard bearers, recently merely issued a guarded approval of 3D TV technology. "As 3D starts to come into the living room, and come in at higher frame rates, then we're gonna have to up our game again. Cause movies can't look worse than what you're getting at home," he told Variety magazine.
具有諷刺意味的是,無疑是3D最積極的領(lǐng)軍人物之一的卡梅隆本人,最近只不過表示了對3D電視技術(shù)有保留的認(rèn)可。他對《綜藝》雜志稱:“隨著3D開始走進(jìn)客廳,并且實現(xiàn)更高的幀率,那么我們勢必要再次提升我們的游戲級別。因為電影不能比你在家看的效果差。”