It’s all about moderation

I’VE been wondering recently about the current state of film and where it’s ultimately headed.

The past few years have seen the decline in ‘film’ as a medium and the rise of digital technology, most notably, CGI and 3D.

With the hindsight of history, I was initially dismissive of 3D’s resurgence as a fad. Debuting in the fifties, it saw early popularity in that decade before disappearing. It came back in the 1980s before suffering a similar fate and has went on to return once more, achieve popularity and be considered, for the time being, as the industry standard. I saw my first 3D film earlier in the year, ‘Avengers Assemble’, which I enjoyed very much but was not overwhelmed with the format I watched it in; characters in the foreground were in focus, backgrounds were heavily blurred – for me it was disorientating and migraine inducing.

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On a recent trip to England, myself and two family members saw ‘Dredd’ in 3D, which cost almost £40 to see in the ‘RealD Cinema’ 3D format. While I was again very impressed with the film, I didn’t think the 3D added much, if anything, to the experience and I felt cheated by the inflated price of admission.

While I’m still not overly impressed by 3D, it has potential. I compare 3D to CGI in that I do feel there is a place for both, but they should not dictate the direction of the industry. For me, neither option has yet been perfected to the point of realism and should not be held as the norm. However, used along side traditional film-making methods they can add a great deal to the escapism that films should supply, helping to take down the boundaries of what is perceived to be possible. Its all about moderation.

By Kelan Headley

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