3D General Discussion of Anaglyphic Motion Pictures (1 Viewer)

[Mike Ballew]

Hi, everyone,


I was thinking we would do well to have a separate, dedicated thread devoted to discussions of anaglyphic 3-D movies and imagery. I did a search to see if there was an existing, explicitly dedicated thread and found nothing, so I reckon it's time to start one.


Even at this late date, this topic has relevance to those of us who collect Blu-Ray discs and enjoy 3-D in a home theater setting. Just a few weeks ago, one of the great achievements in anaglyphic 3-D, Julian Roffman's film The Mask, made its Blu-Ray debut, courtesy of Bob Furmanek, Greg Kintz, the 3-D Film Archive, and the Toronto International Film Festival. And some pretty important early stereo material on the 3-D Film Archive's 3-D Rarities disc was harvested from sole surviving anaglyphic materials. (Of course, both disks update the presentation to encompass "discrete" left and right, color-neutral 3-D, for those who may wonder.)


Call me crazy, I happen to like anaglyphs. Done well, they have their own peculiar magic. And of course the familiar red-and-cyan glasses have become an entrenched part of the iconography of stereoscopic cinema. In fact, I've seen instances (advertising, for example) where the image of anaglyphic glasses is meant as a kind of visual shorthand for the movies generally. Talk about pertinence!

 

[StephenDH]

I've only seen a few anaglyphs (It Came from Outer Space, Revenge of the Creature and We Are Born of Stars) on the big screen and, brace yourselves purists, they were very good.

On TV they're usually awful. Channel 4's anaglyph transmissions of Fort Ti, Friday the 13th. III and Flesh for Frankenstein were all diabolical, even allowing for the colour being messed up.

I have an anaglyph copy of Spy Kids 3D which looked dreadful on a CRT tv but much better on a flat screen LCD set. Why this should be I don't know, unless the improved definition has something to do with it.

If nothing else, the anaglyph prints have kept a few vintage 3D movies in circulation, at least for a while.

 

[aPhil]

Sorry, Stephen, but I cannot agree. I've seen "It Came from Outer Space" in anaglyph both in 16 and 35mm, and even the 35mm looked terrible.


I've seen "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" in anaglyph in both 16 and 35mm (twice in anaglyph in 35 over the past 5 years), and it looked poor in 35 and terrible in 16.


On the other hand, I've seen "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" in 35mm polarized and I have it on 3D Blu-ray, and I really like it that way.


I have seen the trailer for "It Came from Outer Space" on the 3D Rarities Blu-ray, and now I long to see it on 3D Blu-ray someday, but never again will I look at It Came from Outer Space or The Creature in anaglyph -- Never never again.


I do enjoy anaglyph photos, but that is about it.

 

[StephenDH]

Fair enough. Thinking back, I wonder if the anaglyphs I saw c.1981 were 16mm.? No way to find out I guess, after all this time.

 

[Mike Ballew]

I've just got time for two quick anecdotes: About ten years ago, my buddy and I went down to see a double feature of It Came from Outer Space and Creature from the Black Lagoon in single-strip anaglyphic 3-D at a revival theater in Los Angeles. (I had already seen both films in two-strip polarized format at the first World 3-D Film Expo.) I was impressed that It Came from Outer Space didn't look half bad—far from perfect, but not half bad. Creature, on the other hand, looked just terrible. But my friend and I were largely distracted from the doings onscreen by vulgar and completely unnecessary catcalls from certain audience members who thought themselves superior to both films. These weren't teenagers, but full-grown men, judging from the sound of their voices. They got shushed down from time to time by others in attendance, but after a lull would start right back up again. It was a weird scene. Lots of tension in the air. I've never been back to that place since.


Closer to 20 years ago, they held an outdoor screening of Creature in 16mm at a campus swimming pool at U.C. Irvine. My buddy and I joined about 15 others floating on inner tubes in the pool itself. It was the all-time coldest experience I've ever had watching a motion picture. And remarkably my cardboard glasses stayed completely dry. And, because someone reading this will wonder, there was lots of ghosting in the image. I think Creature and anaglyph must be a poor fit.

 

[pinknik]

The colors on anaglyph have to be just so and I imagine getting consistently correct colors on film prints (and that color not changing over time) must be a tall order. I seem to recall seeing Creature in a theater and it not being too impressive. I think Freddy's Dead is the only other anaglyph feature (partial in that case) that I saw on film in a theater. Also fairly meh. I think DVD or better video plus black and white original photography can look pretty good in anaglyph 3-D. I'll take polarized when I can get it, though.

P.S. I still love my dog eared copy of AMAZING 3-D! Probably my first exposure to anaglyph 3-D and the text that taught me the difference.