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Author Topic: Could 3-D hurt grosses sometimes? Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-01-2008 10:20 AM                        I had the following conversation last night while selling tickets to "Bolt:" Customer: 2 children. Me: You're not going in? Customer: No, I don't like 3-D. Me: Oh, we don't have 3-D; that's only in digital cinema theatres. Customer: (surprised) Really? OK, I'll go too then. This got me to thinking -- I wonder if other people (adults mostly) might have foregone seeing "Bolt" because it was in 3-D?  |  IP: Logged Mark Strube Master Film Handler Posts: 322 From: Milwaukee, WI, United States Registered: Feb 2007 posted 12-01-2008 10:28 AM                        We carried both 3D and 2D versions of the movie... and I experienced many people coming to the theatre, discovering it's 3D, and leaving - only to come back for one of the 2D showtimes. I did get a few people who specifically said they don't care for 3D, but with the other people it could've been the $3 bump in ticket price. However, the fact that our 3D house is one of the most consistently sold out, I'd say the few that snub their noses to 3D have little to no affect on grosses. [ 12-01-2008, 11:36 AM: Message edited by: Mark Strube ]  |  IP: Logged Tyler Potts Expert Film Handler Posts: 159 From: Anderson, SC, USA Registered: Sep 2008 posted 12-01-2008 11:58 AM                       We're getting three 3D digital projectors sometime between April & July (thank you economy). Ticketwise, I would assume families won't initially be keen to drop $10+ per ticket for a 3D show when its playing somewhere else in 2D for $3 cheaper.  |  IP: Logged Julie Lucero Film Handler Posts: 37 From: Valencia, California, USA Registered: Sep 2008 posted 12-01-2008 12:17 PM                     Does anyone know in how many theaters BOLT is playing, and how many of those are the 3-D presentations? I think 3-D is a gimmick and maybe shouldn't be used for entire feature films. I think 3-D can be great for things like an amusement park attraction. I thought Disneyland's CAPTAIN EO was great, for instance.  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 12-01-2008 12:27 PM                     Does digital 3D have the nauseating effect that film 3D has on a few people? I can only watch film 3D for 15-20 minutes before I have to look away for a while, others are not affected. I've never experienced digital 3D and I'm wary for that reason. Whenever we've done 3D there are a few in every audience who can't tolerate it.  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 12-01-2008 12:33 PM                        I have been a 3-D junkie since the early fifties. During that time, I have experienced both excellent and terrible presentations. I loved the two projection process in the fifties but did not care much for single projection that was introduced many years later. I love IMAX 3-D and the other kind I saw at Universal City and Disneyland. The current Real D is very good but in my opinion is not as good as the original two projection and IMAX. I have seen almost every Real D 3-D films and felt the presentations was excellent with the exception of JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE WORLD which I thought was too dark. I can see this being a 'turn off' for a person seeing his first 3-D film thinking the polaroid glasses was making the presentation too dark. The extra $2.50 for the glasses and having to wear them over regular prescription glasses can also be the reason why some people do not like 3-D films. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 12-01-2008 01:13 PM                        For those who are turned off by 3D, I would imagine that it's partially due to the older processes. I know that if I did not understand that Real D was different, I would be thinking about the eye strain from Spy Kids 3D and other similar movies and would definately opt out. I think there may initially be a need for theatres to offer some customers a money back guarantee just to be sure they understand the new process is different. Obviously we can't do much about the price objections.  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 12-01-2008 03:04 PM                    I absolutely love seeing movies in 3D. But I'm turned off by the single projector method because I can't get past my eyes being out of sync. If we watch Bolt (and we plan to) it will be in 2D.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 12-01-2008 06:49 PM                        I love photographing things in 3D, but I don't care much for 3D movies. Everything looks so tiny in 3D, even when watching an IMAX 3D movie. You take off the glasses and you think "Wow, this screen is huge, WTF?". Put the glasses back on and it's "Wow, everything is so small again, the screen doesn't seem huge".  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 12-01-2008 09:43 PM                     Mark, I'm curious...with a 144Hz refresh frequency...are your eyes really that atuned to them being out of sync? I'm not doubting that as I seem to interpret digital images a bit more dramatically (hyper-flat) than others. Note, Sony's single projector solution has both images in sync since they are effectively using their 4K imager as a 2K over/under imager. Steve  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 12-01-2008 11:08 PM                    Yeah, Steve, for some reason I can see that easily. As a guy who spent a bit of money to fly from the east coast to the west coast to see 35 movies in 3D in ten days, it's really frustrating that I can't enjoy the newer 3D fare. During the first 3D Film Expo in LA they had a problem with the "Gorilla At Large" prints. One of the prints had one single frame missing, which was really annoying. Of course everyone could easily see that after it went through. Cuts between scenes looked like very very fast wipes since they cut in one eye before cutting in the other eye. Later they showed that same print in NY and Fox still hadn't fixed it yet so Bob F. fixed it. But when they went to start the show the motors slipped slightly on the 35mm projectors and the show started very very slightly out of sync. Cuts didn't look like wipes this time, so it was nowhere near a full frame out of sync. But still I noticed it immediately - in fact I noticed it during the black film before the picture faded in on the Three Stooges short that was attached to the head. After a short time, the show was stopped, rethreaded and restarted. Again it slipped, but it was an even smaller amount than the last time, and again I saw it on the black leader. I spoke to Bob after the show and he confirmed that it did indeed slip again the second time, but they let it go because it wasn't so bad that many people would notice it. Every other show that weekend (including the second half of "Gorilla At Large") started absolutely perfectly. It was later determined that that movie (or at least that particular print) is cursed. That Sony 4K projector sounds interesting. Are there any installed in the Philly / Baltimore / DC area?  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-02-2008 11:03 AM                     Like I've been saying.... everyone perceives 3-D differently!  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 12-02-2008 11:57 AM                        During the '62 world's fair in Seattle, I got a tour of the Cinerama Theatre booth. Aside from the sheer number of (union) projectionists that it took to run the place, I remember that the "master control operator" had a position, with controls that could advance/retard some projectors frame by frame. On a multi-projector system, I wonder why you wouldn't want this kind of capability. Is it easy for a selsyn-locked system to "slip"?  |  IP: Logged Robert Crabtree Film Handler Posts: 91 From: Largo, FL Registered: May 2008 posted 12-03-2008 09:04 PM                     While I like 3-D in and of itself, it's a pain in the ass to watch. I've already got hearing aids and glasses on, so putting on the 3-D glasses makes it a bit crowded around the ears. Which makes use of the headsets really uncomfortable. If only there was a clip-on version of the glasses for folks already wearing prescription lenses.  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 12-04-2008 12:11 AM                    I wear glasses. I used the clip on 3D polarizers. They worked great.  |  IP: Logged

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