3D Movies

The search for three dimensional effects can be traced back to the beginning of photography when the stereoscope was inverted by a man called David Brewster in 1844. The stereoscope was new invention designed to take photographs in 3D, something that was later improved on by Louis Dubuque whose photograph of Queen Victoria was displayed in 1851 at the Great Exhibition. By the time war broke out in 1939 the stereoscope was in general use.

Achieving 3D effects on film dates back to 1915 when 3D glasses with 2 lenses of different colours that directed an image to each eye was introduced. The first publicly shown 3D film was called the Power of Love and was shown in 1922 and the first colour 3D film was shown in 1935. After the 1935 showing the technology behind 3D moved no further for more than ten years.

The 1950s saw a revival of interest in 3D film and a number of films were produced at this time, still using the 3D glasses brought out in 1915. The first 3D movie of the fifties was a film called Bwana Devil, produced by United Artists and shown throughout the United States, and this was followed a year later by House of Wax. These films were not shown everywhere because not all cinemas were equipped to show 3D films. Things changed with a new technology called Space-Vision in the nineteen sixties, this technology used two images printed on top of each other on a single strip and needed a single projector with a special lens. The first film using this technology attracted huge audiences enthralled by the notion of 3D but it was not appreciated by the critics.

The next stage in 3D film was Stereo Vision, brought out by Silliphant and Condon in 1970, who put two images side by side on a single strip of 35mm film. A special anamorphic lens was used and with a series of Polaroid filters, it widened the on screen image. Things moved on and IMAX technology was introduced over the next twenty years, a technology which concentrated on mathematical correctness that was designed to alleviate fatigue on the eye of the viewer. The first IMAX 3D feature film Wings of Courage, was released in 1996. Over the next ten years the IMAX technology was developed further and a number of 3D films were produced and shown. The first place to used digital 3D technology was the Mann’s Chinese 6 Theatre in Hollywood and in 2007 Scar 3D went on international release and was the first movie to use a completely digital process.

The move to 3D television in 2010 could bring this process into every home that has Sky technology, and no doubt the idea of three dimensional films, that has captivated photographers and film makers for more than 100 years will continue to develop.