3D Meet Bob Furmanek: HTF Golden Age 3-D Consultant (1 Viewer)

[Bob Furmanek]

The first demonstration of polarized 3-D was held on January 30, 1936 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.

 

[StephenDH]

I once worked with David Burder, the UK's top 3D photographer, who was so sick of people shooting tests on his 16mm 3D system that he swore never to put film in it again until someone came to him with an actual job.
Fortunately we were only shooting pictures for a Viewmaster disc.

The company I used to work for shot mostly on 16mm and it was a nightmare, particularly where animation was concerned, because you couldn't cut it without causing a jump in the picture so any errors or script changes meant that the entire scene had to be reshot. We used to pray for 35mm or videotape.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Sephen: do you recall which Viewmaster disc you worked on?

 

[StephenDH]

Sephen: do you recall which Viewmaster disc you worked on?

Sorry I don't know. It was a promotional item for a drug company and it was done for a different department of the company I worked for. We just took the pictures and handed them over. I never even saw the finished product.
David Burder is something of a genius: he took a bunch of Nimslo 3D cameras and joined them together horizontally to make one huge 3D camera which took large panoramic lenticular photos. He called it the "Burdlo".

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Here's one of the amazing stereo images from the 1939 New York World's Fair that you'll see fully restored on our upcoming 3-D RARITIES Blu-ray release from Flicker Alley!

Photo scan and restoration by Seth Bogdanove: http://bogframe.com/

 

[Bob Furmanek]

61 years ago.

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

61 years ago.

Capture_zpsf6c2ab23.jpg

61 Years ago! Time sure doesn't stop for anything!

The movie is most notable for originating the name of the "Wilhelm scream", a sound effect used in the Star Wars film series

Per Wikipedia:

 

[Bob Furmanek]

61 years ago this month, Lippert's second 3-D short was released. It was available to exhibitors in both dual-strip polarized 3-D and single-strip red/green anaglyph. It was one of the very few anaglyph 3-D releases in 1953.http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/home/top-10-3-d-myths/1953-anaglyph-films

 

[Bob Furmanek]

61 years ago, on May 8, 1953, the world premiere of FORT TI was held at the State Theatre in Ticonderoga, New York.

Produced in 3-D, Technicolor 1.37:1 and released with 3-channel stereophonic sound, it was also the first color 3-D film to be shown on a widescreen (1.85:1) when it opened at New York's Criterion Theatre on May 28, 1953.

Unfortunately, the stereophonic sound does not survive.

Directed by William Castle, it's not a very good film but the Natural Vision 3-D photography is excellent.

It has been preserved but Sony has not done an HD 3-D master so it sits in the vault.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I really hope to be able to see Fort Ti some day.

Does anyone know if any of the film was shot on location at the actual Fort Ticonderoga?

 

[Bob Furmanek]

No, it was a VERY quick shoot, from February 16 to March 4.

 

[Mike Frezon]

No, it was a VERY quick shoot, from February 16 to March 4.

And the weather can be kind of rough in upstate NY in February. Or even in April (see 2014)!

Thanks, Bob.

 

[Doug Bull]

It was a Sam Katzman production so it was probably shot out the back of the commissary during a lunch break.

Actually the movie was run in Anaglyphic 3D on commercial TV here in Australia many years ago.
I still have a copy of that wretched broadcast on VHS tape.
The 3D quality of the TV showing was dismal. (and my VHS doesn't improve things)

 

[StephenDH]

It was a Sam Katzman production so it was probably shot out the back of the commissary during a lunch break.

Actually the movie was run in Anaglyphic 3D on commercial TV here in Australia many years ago.
I still have a copy of that wretched broadcast on VHS tape.
The 3D quality of the TV showing was dismal. (and my VHS doesn't improve things)

UK's Channel 4 showed Fort Ti in anaglyph as part of their early 80s 3D experiment. It was so poor you'd think it was intended to put people off the idea of 3D forever.

 

[Doug Bull]

UK's Channel 4 showed Fort Ti in anaglyph as part of their early 80s 3D experiment. It was so poor you'd think it was intended to put people off the idea of 3D forever.

I think that's the same print we got here at the time.
I remember they ran the Three Stooges Short as well.

Pity my VHS gear is all packed away otherwise I'd try and do a few scans.

Doug.

 

[phillyrobt]

Following on an earlier message, Stalingrad comes out this Tuesday as a blu-ray with the 3D version included from Sony. This will be another game changer as it's a period piece as well as a foreign film. I saw it in the theater with subtitles but it will have an English dubbed version. Hopefully decent sales will spark more dramatic titles including the Golden Age ones. 2 years ago, when this thread was started, there was nothing until Dial M and Creature. Last year was House of Wax. This year we have Man In The Dark a black and white film noir (is that repetitive?) from an independent label. With the Bubble, Dragonfly Squadron and the 3-D Rarities all coming as well as Oscar wins for Life of Pi and Gravity, I am very optimistic! If Warner or any of the other studios are releasing anything, would it have been announced already, based on previous years at this time?

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Edit

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Sixty years ago - on May 18, 1954 - DIAL M FOR MURDER had its world premiere in Grace Kelly's hometown of Philadelphia. It screened five times in 3-D and was then pulled for the flat version.

To find out what happened, please visit http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/dial-m-blu-ray-review

 

[Reed Grele]

I read the article, but I still don't understand why the theater management had to pull the 3D version of Dial 'M' so quickly. Were audiences really that averse to have to wear the polarized glasses, or were there technical problems with the projectors that caused eye strain, or headaches?

Or was it perhaps that by the time Dial 'M' was released, so many people had experienced badly projected 3D films, that they stayed away just because of past experiences?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I read the article, but I still don't understand why the theater management had to pull the 3D version of Dial 'M' so quickly. Were audiences really that averse to have to wear the polarized glasses, or were there technical problems with the projectors that caused eye strain, or headaches?

Or was it perhaps that by the time Dial 'M' was released, so many people had experienced badly projected 3D films, that they stayed away just because of past experiences?

From the article -- it sounds like one theater complained that its patrons weren't interested in seeing the film in 3D based on the opening couple of days, and that once Warner allowed them to play "Dial M" in 2D, everyone else decided to open in 2D. So it doesn't seem like the issue was with "Dial M" itself so much as audience fatigue with 3D. I would suspect that the complaints people had about previous films were more about eyestrain and other issues related to the projection than 3D in and of itself, although maybe I'm misreading Bob's work here in coming to that conclusion.

I really don't get the aversion to the glasses - but it seems to be a real dealbreaker for a lot of people. For myself, I've worn regular glasses as long as I can remember, so I'm already used to seeing everything with a pair of frames on my head. The 3D glasses almost always fit just fine over my regular glasses, and before the trailers are even over, I've usually forgotten I'm wearing a second pair. Maybe there was a "learning curve" for getting used to having glasses on that I've long since gotten over, and that's why I don't notice. No disrespect intended to people who don't like wearing the glasses.