Gimmicks and Technology

Levi's idea surprised everyone. 

After the surprise, Clark was the first to speak, "Are you talking about 3D technology? If you can take on this important task, you can only use 3D technology, but as far as I know, 3D technology is not very mature yet, right?"

After Levi finished speaking, Clark immediately thought of this technology, which was not surprising. 

It can be said that 3D movies have always been the direction of people's efforts. If there is any movie technology that can make people willing to pay, 3D technology is definitely the most likely.

Turning the movie into a three-dimensional one will undoubtedly attract a lot of viewers. The more movies are made, the more realistic they become, and the effects of 2D are not as realistic as 3D, no matter how realistic they are.

As early as the 1930s, 3D technology already had some prototypes. In the last century, 3D technology has been evolving. This is not a particularly mysterious thing. 

If 3D movies can really be realized, their value will naturally be immeasurable, but can 3D movies be realized? This is also a huge question.

For a long time, 3D technology has not been very mature. 3D movies have never been very accepted by traditional directors. 

Firstly, it is because the technology is immature and is suspected of fooling people. Secondly, it is also because the images you see will overlap if you do not wear 3D glasses. It is easy to be blurred and unable to reflect the details of the movie. 

For many directors, paying attention to details in movies is an inevitable pursuit. For this reason, they cannot even accept digital shooting, let alone technology such as 3D.

In Levi's memory, not to mention anyone else, Nolan is the best example. He is a person who firmly resists 3D movies. After 3D movies became very popular, he refused to accept them. 

Clark's suspicion was normal, after all. Unlike Levi, they were very clear about what was going to happen next.

"As far as I know, such a technological breakthrough is not difficult. Now, Warner is planning to produce a new animation movie, and the technology used is 3D technology. 

 Moreover, they thought of combining 3D technology with the IMAX playback system. This method may produce unexpected effects."

Levi's words made several partners immediately raise their heads at this news. It's a bit surprising. 

The combination of Imax technology and 3D technology will definitely produce excellent results. There is no need to doubt this - because countless people have tried it before.

Unlike 3D technology, which existed as early as the 1930s, IMAX playback technology only began to appear in the 1970s. 

Although this projection system can project better movie effects, it is expensive. Transportation difficulties have always eluded the film industry. They haven't been used enough.

However, as film investment costs continue to increase in recent years, these problems are no longer a problem. 

Last year, Apollo 13 released an IMAX version of the movie, and Star Wars has always wanted to be IMAX. Not to mention that just this year, The Matrix 2 broke through the technical problem of IMAX movies not exceeding two hours. 

Taking this technology one step further, The Matrix 3 claims to be released simultaneously in traditional theaters and IMAX theaters. This technology is also gradually maturing.

3D technology and IMAX technology are technologies that have only become mature in recent years. However, their effectiveness has indeed been verified long ago. 

These two things are pretty expensive; in the past, no movie would use them due to time constraints. However, in some places where no expense is spared, IMX technology and 3D technology have already begun to be combined. This kind of technology has long been used to shoot documentaries in some technological museums, planetariums, and other places.

If this technology were used to shoot movies...

"It would sound beautiful," Clark responded. He has been to a planetarium, and through the planetarium's technology, he has seen documentaries that combine IMAX technology and 3D technology. 

Those documentaries are indeed more amazing than traditional movies. What would movies look like if those technologies could be used in movies?

It's exciting just to think about it.

"If 3D technology and IMAX technology are combined... to what extent will the cost of the movie be increased?" Clark was fascinated by this technology, but Alexander immediately considered the cost issue.

3D movie shooting is twice as difficult, and the financial resources are doubled. Coupled with IMAX technology, the cost of such a movie becomes even greater.

Nowadays, the investment for a Hollywood blockbuster is about 100 million. 

If these technologies are used, the investment amount will have to be more than doubled. Plus the publicity, how much does the movie cost? Invest 300 million in a movie? Such a thing is really beyond Alexander's imagination.

Three hundred million US dollars...

In the 1990s, a movie with this box office could be considered a successful commercial blockbuster, but now, this is actually an investment in a movie. 

Levi's suggestion is not meant to challenge Titanic. If his suggestion simply cannot achieve the box office of Titanic, the movie is a failed attempt.

"This technology is not yet mature, so making a movie is a bit risky. No matter how I listen to it, I feel so distressed." Alexander frowned and shook his head again.

"Movies have to try and take risks. If you don't take risks, where will the new things come from?" Clark asked.

"But you have to consider the cost - if you really shoot this kind of movie, if the box office is less than 1 billion, it will be a failure."

Alexander's words also have some truth. The larger the investment, the greater the risk. Even though investment in Hollywood has been increasing over the years, such a large investment is still too risky.

"But I think it's still possible," Levi said.

"Why?"

"Because although 3D technology is not particularly mature, it has already had some pioneering attempts in some aspects. Hasn't it already been used in animation?" 

Levi's rhetorical question only made Alexander snort. He said, "I don't know about film production, but I know about investment issues. We have never done animation. But I still know some of the investments. 

 If you want to change the animation to 3D, you just need to spend some effort on post-production, and investing in additional technology is enough. 

 But if you want to shoot a movie in 3D, equipment, venues, and time all cost money. The cost of a movie has to be doubled. How can it be the same? 

 Moreover, not many people have tried shooting with 3D technology, right? They don't have any experience. How to shoot well?" 

The question raised by Alexander is very practical, and it is indeed something that must be considered. 

The biggest challenge with 3D technology lies not only in technology but also in lack of experience in shooting. 

Brand new technology means more than just technology. There are also shooting methods.

But Levi has already had an idea about this.

"We should use whatever experience others have. Who said that these superficial experiences now can't help us?" 

"These experiences? How can they help us?" Alexander asked puzzledly.

"In Three-Body Problem 2, humans have further contact with Trisolarans. As mentioned in the first part, the Trisolarans will arrive on Earth three hundred years later, so there will definitely be scenes of human life after three hundred years. 

 Secondly, Three-Body Problem 2 will definitely involve more shooting of cosmic environments, including cosmic wars. It also includes human space stations, and there are also some other parts of the imagination, so I am also thinking about how to make these pictures better presented in front of the audience. 

 Of course, when thinking about these, I will also consider what would happen if this movie was shot in a 3D version?

 Think about it. There must be a cosmic environment in our movie, right? Parts of the spaceship. Parts of the space station. These parts are originally in outer space. 

 The environment in outer space is naturally the best place to shoot special effects because those scenes can only be shot through special effects, and if the shooting is good, we can really recreate reality through stunts."

"This sounds very interesting." After listening to Levi's words, Clark immediately spoke, "Realistic reproduction of the weightless state, as well as the space background, these things, it sounds very good... it sounds very interesting to show these in the 3D state." 

"Furthermore, this movie will involve the situation of the earth 300 years later. This part is also a science fiction picture. If we design such a movie scene well, it can be very close to the animation effect. In this way, the use of 3D technology in movies will be one step closer." 

"In this way, in our movie, we can use our experience in animation and some space documentaries in many places. These things are enough to make our movie outstanding. And, the most important thing is - Alex, this is a perfect gimmick."

This time, Levi's words made Alexander's eyes shine. Compared with the shooting problem, this is something he can understand better.

He knows only too well how much benefit a 3D movie gimmick can bring to the movie.

Looking at Alexander, who understood, Levi smiled and stopped saying anything.

In fact, in his memory, even when Avatar was released, 3D movies were still not popular. When Avatar was shown, 98% of the screenings were still in 2D. However, that movie caused enough of a stir that it became the number-one movie in history.

The success of that movie was largely due to publicity and sophisticated production. 

On the one hand, the crew earned the title of the first 3D movie. On the other hand, they created a very delicate silhouette of the planet, which approximates the effect of animation, which made their movie a success. 

Although that movie is said to have a 3D effect, in fact, in scenes where human activities are the main focus, the 3D effect may not be much better than other movies. What really excels are the animation-like fantasy scenes.

And now, if Levi can produce a good or even better-quality movie and seize the sensational effect, then why not? What's more, what he shot was not a fantasy scene but a cosmic scene - isn't the success of Gravity just because he made the special effects real?

"What's more, I didn't say we have to shoot now... There is no script now, so what should we shoot? The shooting of this movie will take a while to prepare."

*****

Thanks and kudos for my patreons 

Marcelo Maia

Britanna

Mandy G

Scott DePaepe

Oluwatimileyin Olayemi

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