500 word rationale

In my small scale research project, I will explore the history of 3D films and their relevance within the film industry at the time. A suitable title for my project could be "The rise and fall of 3D films" as I will be discussing the way that 3D films have gone through many waves of popularity, with one major peak being in 2009 with Avatar. James Cameron's first 3D blockbuster seemed as though it could be the beginning of a new era of 3D films, but instead these types of films have reduced in popularity and quantity ever since. For these reasons, I have chosen Avatar as my main focus film, as I feel that I could go into lots of detail with the technologies it introduced and the ways it changed production, distribution and exhibition of films. I will also look into other films such as Ghostbusters (2016) which was actually filmed in 2D and then converted into 3D in post production, which could be argued to be a quick way of generating more profit for the producers without having to film in 3D. 

When Avatar was released in late 2009, most other 3D films at the time were also filmed in 3D, which is arguably the 'proper' way of doing it. This is with the exception of 3D re-releases of the Toy Story trilogy. However, in 2016 the vast majority of live action 3D films like Ghostbusters are filmed in 2D, and easily converted to 3D at a later date. This demonstrates a trend of producers spending less time and money on 3D technology nowadays as it isn't valued as importantly as it was just 6 or 7 years ago. 








This trend of both producers and audiences paying less attention to 3D could be that the technology is heading back to being known as a gimmick. There have always been some sceptics of 3D, and some who have never enjoyed it, but many people did take to the idea of exploring a new world through an added dimension with the release of Avatar. However, since then many people have failed to see the need to spend extra money and put on 3D glasses for two hours. Despite the step up from colourful paper glasses, cinema goers still view 3D as nothing more than an expensive gimmick. In Mark Kermode's The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex, he asks "How can 3D be the future of cinema when it's been giving audiences a headache for over a hundred years?" Kermode writes about how clever the human mind is at determining the distance between objects when just on a 2D screen, so why is there a need for 3D films?


In my small scale research project, I will also look into the early days of 3D films, with the first ever feature length 3D film being The Power of Love in 1922.