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Reviewed by: 3-D Rarities Jeremy Carr (bio) 3-D Rarities Blu-ray Distributed by Flicker Alley, 2015 In an age when 3-D projection (if not actual shooting) is almost a prerequisite for Holly-wood's blockbusters, and when the movies from 3-D's previous heyday of the 1950s are greeted with something akin to kitschy amusement, it is easy to forget—or not even to be aware of in the first place—that 3-D films were made decades prior, came in a variety of forms and formats, and were conceived for a multitude of purposes. This is where 3-D Rarities enters the picture. Presented by Flicker Alley and the 3-D Film Archive, and produced by Bob Furmanek, Jeffery Masino, and Joshua Morrison, this assortment of twenty-two rare films covers the years 1922 to 1953 and includes color and black-and-white promotional works, feature film trailers, animated shorts, and documentaries, running 147 minutes in all. The disc is supplemented by 3-D photo galleries, a brief snippet from The Bellboy and the Playgirls (1962), a "nudie cutie" with 3-D footage directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and commentary tracks by either Thad Komorowski or Jack Theakston on three of the films. An accompanying booklet includes exceptionally informative essays by Komorowski and Theakston as well as by Hillary Hess, Julian Antos, Donald McWilliams, Ted Okuda, and Mary Ann Sell. These articles provide concise detail concerning the exhibition of each film assembled for the set, along with illuminating notes on the context of their production and, in some cases, details about the source print for the respective inclusion. The films are divided into "Part 1: The Dawn of Stereoscopic Cinematography" and "Part 2: Hollywood Enters the Third Dimension." Following the repeated refrain that stereoscopic cinematography is more lifelike and mimics "natural vision," many of the earliest films tout candid, slice-of-life situations and their authentic representation when seen in depth. Explicitly flaunting the most obvious novelty of 3-D technology, most of the films also showcase an array of off-the-screen effects, with everything from baseball bats and bouncing balls to hot dogs and guns coming toward the camera (the gun image drawing an automatic association with The Great Train Robbery [1903], directed by Edwin S. Porter, who, incidentally, presented test footage at the first documented exhibition of a 3-D film on June 10, 1915). With national landmarks framed by rustling foliage, the aptly titled Thru' the Trees: Washington D.C. is part of the Kelley's Plasticon Pictures (1922/1923) segment, the "oldest surviving American 3-D film in stereoscopic form," according to Theakston's commentary. Photographed by William T. Crespinel, this portion contains a surprisingly sophisticated use of foreground elements to outline a static image, adding layers to a composition that would otherwise be lacking in markedly perceptible depth. As opposed to the stationary quality of a film like this, the John Norling/Jacob Leventhal Tests (1935) and the Pennsylvania Railroad's Thrills for You (1940) highlight examples of 3-D's impact on movement along the "Z axis," specifically a roller coaster in the case of the former and a locomotive in the case of the latter (trains being a natural—and early—fit for cinema's dimensional capacity). Additional titles in this first section include the fully animated films Now Is the Time (1951), Around Is Around (1951), O Canada (1952), and Twirligig (1952). Of note, here, is [End Page 144] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Thrills for You (Pennsylvania Railroad, 1940), from 3-D Rarities. Courtesy of Flicker Alley. Around Is Around, which depicts objects rotating in a cylindrical motion, accentuating the receding nature of 3-D, moving against a backdrop that flows from right to left, thus creating a distinct directional contrast. O Canada, which incorporates a traveling zoom technique invented by animator Norman McLaren, proved to be an inspiration for Stanley Kubrick, who later developed the process further for the Star Gate sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Rounding out the first half of features is New Dimensions (1940), an intriguing Chrysler promotion that shows stop...

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.