3D is back, its hyped and it finally looks good. Thirty odd block buster films are going to be released in 3D this year, prosumer 3D cameras are just around the corner with consumer variants in the next few years. With such a shift towards 3D technology its worth looking at how not only audiences will warm to the new experience, but also how film makers will warm as well.

Film makers, who already have enough on their plate have just been dished a delicious new dessert called depth or at the very least a more realistic perception of depth. 3D Compositions seem to stretch towards the viewer and equally away into the distance. Will this extra attribute cause a fundamental shift in the way a cinematographer shoots a film? Or how a narrative progresses? Probably not, but it is worth thinking about a few ways that film makers will work with 3D. Here are a few trends I think we will see more of with the advent of 3D cinema.

Vanishing Point Compositions

Compositions that use vanishing points are already visually potent. But couple a vanishing point composition with 3D and things really begin to pop. Vanishing points are areas in a composition where what should be parallel lines converge due to depth, think train tracks running straight off into the distance. Cinematographers traditionally use vanishing points to create a sense of depth and the infinite.

Imagine this scene from 2001 A Space Odyssey in 3D

Vanishing point compositions will work exceptionally well in 3D because the parallel elements, be it a road, train track, wall..etc run from the very foreground right out to as far as the eye can see. This encapsulates the entire depth range of 3D spacial awareness. By placing characters or objects at different points of depth along this scale different effects can be achieved. In the shot above the black bars seem to radiate outwards from the character drawing our eyes to him and also perhaps implying that he has an expansive experience ahead of him. Whether or not you chose to read critically into these compositions or not, do expect to see many stunning 3D vanishing point compositions in the future.

Point Of View (POV)

Point of view shots in 3D will be more effective than 2D, think Being John Malchovih and the cinematic masterpiece that was DOOM. The POV shot is used to encapsulate what it is to be a character, to see and hear as they do. POV shots try to capture the subjective reality of the character and let us experience their reality. While in cinema we cant stimulate all the senses nor implant memories or subjective thought, the advent of 3D technology coupled with surround sound will give us a more realistic portal of the characters spacial awareness.

3.Breaking Fourth Wall

To break the forth wall in either cinema or theatre is to make a character self aware and address the audience. This shifts the audience member from the role of the humble observer to being self aware and often an active participant. Theatre tends to break fourth wall more often than cinema by virtue of being an interactive art, but I think we will see a more generous use of this technique in future 3D cinema. I noticed the fourth wall was broken in the trailer for Troy Story 1+2 3D

Here Buzz jumps up in front of the viewer as if he were an audience member sitting in front of them. Notice the bottom fifth of the screen is black to heighten this illusion.

Buzz literally jumps from the audience into the movie frame.

While this example is trivial and gimmicky I suspect we will see clever use of fourth wall breaking in feature length 3D films to come. While film lacks the interactive element of theatre, 3D allows film makers to allude to interaction and the depth that 3d provides allows for characters to acknowledge then break through the screen/wall. I foresee a character holding out an object towards the audience and asking them to scrutinize it, that sort of thing. Im sure it will take a smart indy film a few years down the track to perfect the non gimmick fourth wall break and Im sure 3D will be fundamental to its execution.