Look at me! Now in 3D!
Jan 9, 2010 Geeks and Gadgets, Science or Mad Science
I started responding to one of my friends through a thread on Facebook, and it turned into a rant and a long post. Since the purpose of this site is for rants and/or long posts, I felt it was appropriate to share here. 
In response to a question I asked about CES, my friend Erik responded:
@ Jason: I’m actually surprised 3-D has taken so long to go anywhere. The technology has been around forever… and it’s never been very successful. The weird thing is I don’t know why…I think people want to see it utilized well, but it just hasn’t effectively been executed ever in a way that people have taken to it. I remember as a kid thinking it was cool just looking through those cellophane red/blue glasses and seeing figures pop out. And then there was that “Virtual Reality” gaming product that never took off. I think people have been interested, but it’s just poorly executed or too expensive. You would think after decades 3-D would have found its niche by now. Avatar is probably the most successful venture I’ve seen to date… and it’s a movie not a product you would go buy.
First… I totally agree. WTF 3D? Ever since Lawnmower Man, NO, ever since TRON we have been waiting to immerse ourselves in a world better than our own. Now I know there is a big difference between Virtual Reality and 3D, but we aren’t being entertained by either at the moment so what does it matter?
I think the biggest problem with 3D is that content producers don’t know how to utilize it best. I find that when movie producers make a 3D movie, they have to add extra “features” for the 3D crowd just because they are watching it in 3D. It’s exactly like painting a turd gold. The script sucks but “that’s ok because we’re going to add 3D elements and the audience will ooh and ahh, hem and haw! Let’s send Brendan Fraser on a ridiculous mining-cart roller coaster because we have 3D! Let’s randomly throw shit at the camera just because it’s 3D!”
I have yet to see Avatar. I was excited to see it before it was released, and I’m still excited to go see it. I will see it eventually, there’s no rush. I’m waiting for the hype and the larpers to go away, and a babysitter. But I’m really afraid they added stuff just because it’s 3D. However, James Cameron is a half-decent director and I trust he’ll entertain me. If he added “fun things” just for those goofy 3D glasses, I’ll never see another one of his movies again.
I feel 3D is an enhancement, not a primary feature. If you go to a movie just because it’s 3D, you’re going for the wrong reason!
I think the most exciting thing to happen in 3D happened in the 80s: Michael Jackson’s Captain EO at DisneyLand. THAT was SO cool. I was also 10 years old and I still believed in Santa and Leprechauns. And yes, it threw a lot of stuff at the camera, but since it WAS a novelty, it was totally okay. The fact that a lot of producers are still using the same antics 24 years later is annoying.
I think the most exciting thing about 3D in the past year didn’t belong to James Cameron. It belonged to Pixar. The re-release of Toy Story 1 & 2 in 3D is a pretty big bet in the technology. The reason being that Toy Story was never written, produced or designed for 3D in the first place. The fact that they “enhanced” an original movie by re-rendering it with a 3D camera instead of the original 2D is actually very compelling. They took something good, made it better. It wasn’t a case of “so we have this 3D thing we can do…”
Where do I see 3D headed? Well until we can grasp the fact that just because we CAN utilize a Z-axis that it doesn’t mean that every producer needs to throw shit at the camera for “surprise” elements. We, as an audience, need to let producers know that we’re over the whole “Ak! Look out!” effect. Just make a good movie, and we’ll go watch it. I suspect this is what James Cameron has done with Avatar (I’ll find out in the very near future).
On the technology side, we have so many hurdles left to jump: no more 3D-glasses, holographic or multi-layered displays, and improved virtual reality goggles are all foreseeable technologies that we’ll most likely see in our lifetime. True virtual reality environments, the ones you plugin to another world while your body lays there…like Avatar, Tron, Matrix, Minority Report, Total Recall, etc, we may be centuries away.
And for that world, which we are preparing the foundation for right now, I’d like to apologize to my great-great grandkids in advance.
Tags: 3D
We Beat the Rock Band Endless Set List (and we’re just getting started)
Jan 2, 2009 Geeks and Gadgets
So my wife and I can scratch of one of the “Things TO DO in 2009″ from our list. We finally conquered the Rock Band Endless Setlist! No, this isn’t Rock Band 2 like everyone else is playing. This is Rock Band 1 for the 360. We’ve owned this game for over a year, but with two young kids it was just too difficult to find a 6 hour block that we could commit to playing this in one sitting. We’re weak too, we only played it at the Medium level. Again, I’ll blame the kids (because I’d hate to admit what my RB skillz are really at).
Sara played Bass and I played Guitar. We both play at Hard and sometimes Expert levels, but we decided to just play the darn thing finally because I didn’t have to work today. It was fun, exhausting, and ridiculous all at the same time. I can’t believe game designers think you’ll enjoy playing the same damn thing for 6 hours! Well, ok, we sorta did have fun. Going to bed at 4 in the morning and having young ones wake you up at 7 was less than fun though.
Next: We beat it on Hard. Once that happens we’ll justify purchasing Rock Band 2.
Emotionless Thriller?
Dec 13, 2008 30 Days Blogging, Geeks and Gadgets
Tonight, my wife and I ended up watching The Invasion, the remake of a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
What a waste of my time.
The Invasion of the Body Snatchers story is about an alien virus that is easily communicable and turns the infected into an emotionless, almost mindless, collective. The goal of the infected is to seek out and hunt down those that aren’t infected and, well, infect them. Or give them death. Whichever is easier. They can tell you aren’t part of the collective if you show emotion, if your heartbeats faster, or if you sweat. Show anything more than a stoic look on your face and you are theirs.
I remember seeing the original when I was much younger. Even in this remake, I still love the story line, but man did they miss the mark on this one. Normally I don’t think you can go wrong casting Nicole Kidman for a part, but this may have been one time when she wasn’t the right fit. Or perhaps we could blame the direction. It’s gotta be damn near impossible to film something where you can’t express emotion.
But Joss Whedon came damn close. And he did it for TV.
I haven’t seen many Buffy episodes, but there is one that is so thrilling, so defiantly creepy, that it sticks out in my mind. The episode was “Hush” and I think it is Joss Whedon’s masterpiece. It revolves around a fairytale. And I think it is the best adaptation of a Nightmare being brought to life through the magic of film making.
The Gentlemen come to a town and steal the voices of all who live there. You can’t talk, you can’t cry, you can’t scream. They then hover, yes hover, around town and look for victims and cut out their hearts. No one hears them coming. No one can hear the screams of the victims.
I searched and searched for a good clip of the episode, but unfortunately Hulu doesn’t have this season of Buffy on their service yet (give it time though). In mean time, I found the original trailer for your entertainment. If you have the DVD’s, load up Hush and enjoy!
So where am I going with this? There are several parallels: Classic story vs. fairytale; missing elements that make us human (voice vs. emotion); innocent beings being hunted down like prey; and nightmares.
I think Joss Whedon wins!
BTW, don’t get me started on the whole “I am Legend” vs. Bodysnatchers meme. Which I also think did a MUCH better job than “The Invasion”, and it was pretty much the same movie except staring a dude.
Ok, you got me started… Let’s compare those two movies: Infection rips through society turning humans into more than humans vs. Infection ripping through society turning humans into aliens; a doctor plays the lead in both movies; both try to get to an outpost of immune survivors; both find ways of surviving among the infected; both find cures and start to rebuild society (oops, sorry, that was a spoiler).
In the case of The Invasion vs. I Am Legend, I have to give this win to Will Smith.
For the title match: Sarah Michelle Gellar vs. fresh prince dance-off to “Gettin Jiggy Wit It”.
Tags: bodysnatchers, buffy the vampire slayer, hush, i am legend, invasion of the bodysnatchers, sarah michelle gellar, the gentlemen, the invasion, will smith
