3D. Love it. Hate it. It doesn’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. And to drive home that point, Sony is now offering classes to Hollywood cinematographers on the benefits and language of 3D.
Our biggest complaint at The Playlist has been the 2D to 3D conversion process, (most recently made famous by Warner’s “Clash of the Titans” and Disney’s “Alice In Wonderland”) in which quality is ignored for the sake of making a quick buck. Instructor Dave Drzewiecki had this to say about a studio’s choice for conversion: “The whole conversion thing is tricky,” he says. “It’s possible to do it well, but you go back to the old adage: good, fast and cheap. You really do have to pick two, not one. And a lot of them seem to be picking one: ‘Oh, we did it really fast!’ Okay, but maybe you should have spent a little more time.”
With that in mind, the 3Day (sorry, couldn’t resist) course, which is one day of class work and two days of hands on experience, allows filmmakers old and new to become familiar with a process around which there is misinformation and some intimidation.
Classes aren’t just limited to artists under the Sony umbrella either. DPs from all over are eligible to take the course, which is free and covered by the International Cinematographer’s Guild (ICG). The goal is to get DPs to understand the medium and to use what they’ve learned to make better 3D films. Sony claims they’re not making any money from providing these classes and that their overall mission is to promote quality in the format. Bad 3D by one is bad for all.
We’re glad to see a studio stepping up in an attempt to issue prestige to the format, but the fact of the matter remains, shooting films in 3D is more expensive than converting it in post and when all is said and done, until the public starts voting their dollars against cheapo 3D, it’s hard to believe this course will do much good.