‘Monsters vs. Aliens’ Super Bowl commercial signals a 3-D invasion

Reese Witherspoon voices a friendly giant mutant monster in the upcoming “Monsters vs. Aliens.” Its 3-D technology is “the most revolutionary thing that has happened to film since the evolution of color,” says studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg.

DreamWorks Animation head honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg is having a hard time trying to exactly describe some of the 3-D features of his studio’s upcoming release “Monsters vs. Aliens.”

“There’s that wonderful expression: A picture is worth 1,000 words,” he finally begins. “Well, a 3-D picture is worth 3,000 words. It’s just a whole new unique way to enjoy a movie.”

“Monsters,” which hits theaters March 27, is part of an unprecedented flood of 3-D films being released over the next two months. For anyone who thinks the current resurgence will be a repeat of 1953 — when 3-D exploded onto the scene with “It Came From Outer Space” and “House of Wax,” then quickly faded away — Katzenberg says don’t count on it.

“Digital projection allows for a beautiful, pristine image and eliminates all of the imperfections that were such a presence in old 3-D and very annoying,” he says. “There are also new polarized glasses that are very comfortable to wear — they are cool glasses, not cardboard and cheesy.”

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Hollywood Finds Headaches in its Big Bet on 3-D

imminent full-bore return to 3-D filmmaking, upon which the movie industry is placing many of its hopes, is in danger of becoming Hollywood’s latest flub.

Some of the mightiest forces in film — Jeffrey Katzenberg, James Cameron, John Lasseter — think the multiplex masses will soon demand that all movies be shown in newly available digital 3-D. Mr. Katzenberg, in particular, has pushed the format, trotting the globe to herald the technology as a transformative moment for cinema akin to the introduction of sound.

His bandwagon has plenty of passengers, at least in Hollywood. The Walt Disney Company alone has 15 three-dimensional movies in its pipeline. Twentieth Century Fox is betting an estimated $200 million on “Avatar,” a 3-D space adventure directed by Mr. Cameron and set for December release, his first nondocumentary film since 1997’s “Titanic,” still the biggest moneymaker in movie history, without counting inflation. All told, the movie factory has over 30 3-D pictures on the way.

But analysts are starting to warn that all of that product could find itself sitting on a loading dock with no place to go. Studios, thrilled by 3-D’s dual promises of higher profits and artistic advancement, have aggressively embraced the technology without waiting for movie theaters to get on board. And without those expensive upgrades to projection equipment at the multiplex, mass market 3-D releases are not tenable.

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Katzenberg to 3-D movie fans: Open your wallets

Ever since Jeffrey Katzenberg boasted this September that sometime soon "all movies are going to be made in 3-D," I've had a nagging feeling that there must be a catch to all this 3-D ballyhoo, since, let's face it, do you really want--or need--to see "Doubt" or "Milk" or most of the other Oscar contenders in 3-D anytime soon? (Though I am looking forward to the first ad that trumpets: " 'The Reader': See It Now As You've Never Seen Before--In 3-D!")

As I've said before, I am not a knee-jerk 3-D detractor. I've sampled most of the 3-D reels in recent months and can imagine a host of movies being great candidates for 3-D, including the next "Ice Age," Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland,"and "Iron Man 2." It's just that in an era of preplanned obsolescence, where I'm supposed to toss out all of the electronic equipment in my home (computers, TVs, cellphones, etc.) every 15 minutes, I've become a little suspicious when someone insists that even my happy movie theater-going is suddenly in dire need of being entirely reinvented, based on the vague promise that 3-D will provide a far more dazzling experience, which has been Katzenberg's sales pitch so far.

Thanks to Variety, which did a good job of covering a recent meeting between Katzenberg and a scrum of Wall Street analysts, I'm beginning to see why the DreamWorks Animation chief is really so eager to push us all into 3-D paradise. Surprise: He wants to improve his profit margins. It turns out that Katzenberg envisions us paying a $5 premium every time we see a 3-D movie, greatly enhancing both DreamWorks' and theater owners' profits. As Jeffrey's chief financial officer Lew Coleman put it: "Because the costs of 3-D are fixed, there is substantial leverage and most of the extra revenue falls to the bottom line."

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3D Animation - The Next Frontier in 3D Animation

As the frontier of 3D animation expands, animation studios are preparing for the next big thing. An internship with one of these studios may be the best way to prepare for a career in animation. First things first: you’ll want training in 3D animation from an animation school.

Taking 3D Further

Dreamworks, one of the largest animation studios in the industry, announced recently that beginning in 2009, they will begin producing all of their movies in stereoscopic 3D.

Most animation features in recent years have included 3D animation, but this new development opens a new frontier in animation. Traditionally, stereoscopic 3D films and animation features have been considered novelties. Now, with a major animation studio making it the standard, the rest of the industry will either get on board too, or wait it out to see if it catches on with the public.

In related industry news, Dolby just announced its new 3D projection technology. It can be used with conventional movie screens as well as inexpensive 3D glasses. Anyone see a future industry partnership?

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3D films: the next film revolution?

They've been the next big thing for the past 50 years, but 3D films have finally come of age. Just the thing to get bums on seats, says Chris Evans

Cinema has already been through two major revolutions in its relatively short life. First there was the transition from silent to talkie, then from black and white to colour. Now Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, believes "3D is the next revolution in the cinema-going experience".

A bold statement, and one tinged with a distinct bias as DreamWorks is one of several Hollywood studios set to release their forthcoming animation projects in the new, digitised 3D format. Titles set to hit our screens include Monsters vs Aliens (2009), A Christmas Carol (2009), Toy Story 3 (2010), Shrek Goes Fourth (2010), and Avatar, due for release in December next year, which is hotly tipped to be the turning point in the 3D revolution.

It is important to point out that 3D is, of course, nothing new. It was first experimented with back in the 1950s and Imax cinemas have been showing films in 3D for the past 30 years. But now, with the advent of digital 3D technology being installed in cinemas worldwide, and the fact that the choice of films in 3D is not only broader but much better, audiences need only head to a multiplex and put on the glasses to immerse themselves in what is proving to be a wholly new way to enjoy the latest studio blockbuster.

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