running towards the Veldt
When I was five or six years old, I read Ray Bradbury's 1950 short story, the Veldt. (Read here for the wiki entry.) (Additionally, two links back is the actual story itself, apparently transcribed into digital print by someone in Russia who is also a fan. I dislike linking to this potential copyright violation, but the story was first printed 60 years ago, and from what I think I know of Ray Bradbury, I don't think he'd mind.)
Anyway, ever since I first read this short story, I was interested in science fiction in general, and the nature of reality in particular. Thank you, Ray.
A few nights ago, my wife Cathy and I went to our local theatre and watched the movie "Avatar", in 3D Omnimax. The experience created for the observer by the technologies involved is as cataclysmic as the difference between B/W and Color Television. Really. One thing television does (or bad TV just tries to do) is immerse the viewer in the experience such that the fake reality of the Tube becomes more real relative to actual reality. The more real the fake experience becomes, the better. (I coulda just said the word Escapism, and you'da got it.)
Two things happened to me watching this movie in 3D.
One, there has been no digital experience I have seen that is remotely close in the high level of immersion of 3D tech today. Huge home monitors, high rez, high def, drop in price by half every couple years. The actual tech of the 3D movie looks onscreen (when you take the glasses off), much like old time 3D movies looked, so the tech built into the movie might transfer easily to the home monitor? I expect that most movies of the coming decades will have to become 3D, like this, or slip into the obscurity that B/W movies face. (Who even remembers anymore one of the best comedies of all time, Arsenic and Old Lace?) The low tech killed the viewership of the future. People want Color. Soon, they'll want 3D, maybe even "need" it. Even non-action movies will be in 3D, just because viewers will feel the implied lack of immersion that every 2D movie will soon face. The entertainment world has changed. We are one step closer to living the world of Bradbury's Veldt.
Two, I left the theatre very jittery. This may be because I have neurological issues that were exacerbated, or it may be that the tech is still so overwhelming, it takes some time to exit that immersion and come back to reality. Probably (in my case) some of both.
(As an unrelated aside, I had heard that some had issues with various racist elements of the film. I thought the film itself was just a bit above average, the plot was too predictable, 2D characters in a 3D world, but I thought one symbolic message of the plot was anti-imperialism, presumably American. I didn't see the racism as negative, but feel free to comment that direction if you wish, and I am curious about it.)
Regardless, the world of infinite virtual realities is numerous steps closer, now. If this movie doesn't set new, much higher standards for special effects artists, I'll eat a book.
Anyway, ever since I first read this short story, I was interested in science fiction in general, and the nature of reality in particular. Thank you, Ray.
A few nights ago, my wife Cathy and I went to our local theatre and watched the movie "Avatar", in 3D Omnimax. The experience created for the observer by the technologies involved is as cataclysmic as the difference between B/W and Color Television. Really. One thing television does (or bad TV just tries to do) is immerse the viewer in the experience such that the fake reality of the Tube becomes more real relative to actual reality. The more real the fake experience becomes, the better. (I coulda just said the word Escapism, and you'da got it.)
Two things happened to me watching this movie in 3D.
One, there has been no digital experience I have seen that is remotely close in the high level of immersion of 3D tech today. Huge home monitors, high rez, high def, drop in price by half every couple years. The actual tech of the 3D movie looks onscreen (when you take the glasses off), much like old time 3D movies looked, so the tech built into the movie might transfer easily to the home monitor? I expect that most movies of the coming decades will have to become 3D, like this, or slip into the obscurity that B/W movies face. (Who even remembers anymore one of the best comedies of all time, Arsenic and Old Lace?) The low tech killed the viewership of the future. People want Color. Soon, they'll want 3D, maybe even "need" it. Even non-action movies will be in 3D, just because viewers will feel the implied lack of immersion that every 2D movie will soon face. The entertainment world has changed. We are one step closer to living the world of Bradbury's Veldt.
Two, I left the theatre very jittery. This may be because I have neurological issues that were exacerbated, or it may be that the tech is still so overwhelming, it takes some time to exit that immersion and come back to reality. Probably (in my case) some of both.
(As an unrelated aside, I had heard that some had issues with various racist elements of the film. I thought the film itself was just a bit above average, the plot was too predictable, 2D characters in a 3D world, but I thought one symbolic message of the plot was anti-imperialism, presumably American. I didn't see the racism as negative, but feel free to comment that direction if you wish, and I am curious about it.)
Regardless, the world of infinite virtual realities is numerous steps closer, now. If this movie doesn't set new, much higher standards for special effects artists, I'll eat a book.