3D Media

by

Doris Baltruschat

• LAST REVIEWED: 15 January 2019
• LAST MODIFIED: 15 January 2019
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756841-0162

Introduction

Media content can now be experienced on various “screens,” be it in traditional theater space, at home, or in transit via digital distribution platforms like the Internet and mobile and virtual reality devices. With recent innovations in 3D, media applications now have added another dimension to their digital-convergent universe. However, it may be surprising to learn that stereoscopic imaging and more recent 3D innovations (especially in 3D animation) precede the development of 2D cinema and television. Discovered in 1838, 3D arrived nearly fifty years before conventional cinema made its first mark at the turn of the 20th century. Stereoscopic still images, depicting nature scenes and historic sites, highlight the popularity of this early form of 3D entertainment. In the 1950s, the “golden age” of 3D entertainment arrived with films such as Bwana Devil (1952) and Kiss Me Kate (1953). However, audience fascination with the third dimension soon dimmed due to poor production values, bad scripts, and 3D technology being used mostly for a few surprise effects. 3D cinema experienced a brief revival in the 1980s with blockbuster hits like Jaws 3D (1983), only to fade into the background again for another three decades. This all changed with the arrival of the new generation of 3D films such as Avatar (2010). Indeed, 2010 marked a new era in 3D media with the standardization of 3D technologies and the dramatic increase of 3D movies in the cinema, which were then released on 3D Blu-ray to be enjoyed at home around the 3D television set. To date, 3D has advanced beyond traditional stereoscopic imaging to embrace innovations, especially with regard to 3D capture and display technologies. Additional differences between previous eras of stereoscopic entertainment and the current 3D renaissance is that the technology is now being rolled out across media platforms, from large cinema screens to television sets, game consoles, the Internet, and the mobile phone. Thus, this new era of digital 3D must be seen within the context of 3D entertainment across the field, from increasing 3D film production to event programing (e.g., 2012 Olympics) and the use of new 3D technologies to create virtual online worlds, as in “machinima.” 3D media also play an increasing role in education, the sciences, and the arts. Many books and articles exist on the history and technological evolution of 3D media. However, the implications for aesthetic and narrative development through the use of 3D are only gradually emerging, as are research studies on virtual 3D worlds and their impact on social relations, online communities, organizational development, and society.

History and Technologies

A number of works have been published that cover 3D media from a historical perspective, in addition to detailing the evolution of stereoscopic technologies. Zone 2007 provides an introduction to early 3D technological developments and applications, highlighting the invention of the first stereoscopes as well as the 1950s “golden age” of 3D cinema. Early writings, such as Spottiswoode and Spottiswoode 1953, McKay 1953, and Lipton 1982, offer insight into how 3D media were interpreted by the mid- and late 20th century, while works like Hayes 1998 and Smith, et al. 2011 create the basis for studying 3D entertainment as an early-21st-century phenomenon. Karajeh, et al. 2014 provides an overview of the current stereoscopic 3D development as an entertainment technology. Moulton 2013 focuses on marketing techniques for 3D features. For a comprehensive overview of historical and recent development in 3D technologies, the annual conference proceedings of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) cover a wide variety of topics (Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers 1996–). Finally, Mayorov 2012 traces the development of Soviet 3D technology.

• Adler, Dan, Janine Marchessault, and Sanja Obradovic, eds. 2013. Special issue: 3D cinema and beyond. Public 47 (Spring).

  A journal issue dedicated to the history of 3D, from the early beginnings of stereoscopic 3D film to more recent innovations, such as 3D video games and augmented reality. The edited collection highlights emerging technologies, new approaches in film and documentary production, as well as perceptual experiences of 3D media. Also available as a print book, Dan Adler, Janine Marchessault, and Sanja Obradovic, eds., 3D Cinema and Beyond (Bristol, UK: Intellect, 2014).

• Hayes, R. M. 1998. 3-D movies: A history and filmography of stereoscopic cinema. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

  A comprehensive historical overview of stereoscopic cinema from its beginnings at the turn of the 20th century to its first boom in the 1950s to its ensuing decline and revival in the early 1980s. A detailed filmography is accompanied by black-and-white photographs of movie posters and film images.

• Karajeh, Huda, Mahmoud Maqableh, and Ra’ed Masa’deh. 2014. A review of stereoscopic 3D: Home entertainment for the twenty first century. 3D Review 5.26: 1–9.

  Authors review the current state of stereoscopic 3D development as an entertainment technology, from 3D cinema to 3DTV to 3D video content and 3D video games.

• Lipton, Lenny. 1982. Foundations of the stereoscopic cinema: A study in depth. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

  A historical overview of technological developments and innovations in 3D cinema, highlighting stereoscopic imaging and transmission systems as well as binocular symmetries and asymmetries. Includes an appendix of early conceptions of 3DTV. Black-and-white graphics, diagrams, and photographs. Downloadable from the Internet for research purposes.

• Mayorov, Nikolai. 2012. A first in cinema . . . stereoscopic films in Russia and the Soviet Union. Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema 6.2: 217–239.

  DOI: 10.1386/srsc.6.2.217_1

  The author traces the development of Soviet 3D technology at the Scientific Research Film and Photo Institute (NIKFI) in Moscow, from the initial stereo pairs with two frames next to each other on 35 mm to Stereo 70 and today’s digital projection systems.

• Moulton, Carter. 2013. The future is a fairground. Cineaction 89:4–13.

  Research into the marketing of 3D features through exhibit.

• McKay, Herbert C. 1953. Three-dimensional photography: Principles of stereoscopy. Minneapolis, MN: Jones.

  An early overview of the principles underlying 3D photography, from stereoscopic cameras to techniques, color, and trick photography. For the student interested in the history of 3D stereoscopic imaging and 3D equipment such as cameras and projectors. Downloadable from the Internet for research purposes.

• Smith, Michael D., Peter Ludé, and Bill Hogan, eds. 2011. 3D cinema and television technology: The first 100 years. White Plains, NY: Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.

  A compilation of fifty-five essays published in the Motion Imagining Journal by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) between 1919 and 2010. Essays provide insight into the development of 3D media ranging from technological developments and innovations to content creation, distribution, and display formats. Black-and-white photos and illustrations.

• Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. 1996–. Stereoscopic displays and applications conference proceedings volumes. Bellingham, WA: Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

  Technical papers and studies on 3D media from 1990 to 2012 resulting from the proceedings of the annual conferences of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

• Spottiswoode, Raymond, and Nigel Spottiswoode. 1953. The theory of stereoscopic transmission and its application to the motion picture. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.

  This electronic version of a classic text covers early theories underlying stereoscopic production and projection of 3D motion pictures. Includes anaglyph diagrams illustrating concepts presented throughout the book. Downloadable from the Internet for research purposes.

• Zone, Ray. 2007. Stereoscopic cinema and the origins of 3-D film, 1838–1952. Lexington: Univ. Press of Kentucky.

  DOI: 10.5810/kentucky/9780813124612.001.0001

  A key text on the historical and technological developments of 3D film, beginning with the invention of stereoscopic image projection in 1838 and continuing to the first 3D movies and 3D cinema in the 1950s. Black-and-white technical drawings, as well as photographs of historic stereoscopic materials and camera and projection equipment.