It is the most watched night in television, second only to the Su-

per Bowl. The Academy Awards stand as an object of profound change in a single actor’s, director’s,

filmmak-er’s (etc.) career. Each year the academy is faced with the task of

picking from the best in cinemato-graphic work and award-ing them a high honor and a substantial pay raise. This year, the Best Film category grew from five to 10 films. The list included Avatar, which was the highest grossing film in history, and The Hurt Locker, which was one of the lowest grossing films. When the award was announced, the majority of people sat in a state of shock when the name read off the card wasn’t Avatar. The Hurt Locker won Best Film, along with the Best Director award for Kathryn Bigelow. She was the first woman to win an Academy Award in this category. Avatar is a film that rockets people into a fantasy world that easily persuads them to believe what they see is real. It has effects, editing, make-up and cinematog-raphy unlike any movie before. Although it has a storyline that rings true in this day and age, it is not an original plot. It has been explored numerous times. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since a story about conserving a beauti-ful planet is something we all need to hear, but it’s still not original. The Hurt Locker is set in modern-day Iraq, which yes, has been done before, but it has never been done with such depth. For the first time, the audience follows two young men under a com-mander who has the most dangerous job of the war in Iraq, disarming bombs in the heat of combat. It deals with a veiled indifference toward death and the utterly deep emo-tions, both terrifying and gut-wrenching, behind the faces of these members of the war’s bomb squad. Audience members awaiting the winner of Best Film thought the award would be based on popularity. When thought is put into it, the truth is, The Hurt Locker is a higher caliber film with both an original plot line and film-making techniques, so for me. . . there was no sur-prise.

4entertainment wingspan • march 19, 2010

Beast it OutMovie awards not surprising

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Popularity of 3D technology leads to an expanding market

1. Superbad

2. Fight Club

3. Star Wars

4. Willy Wonka

5. Space Jam

6. Transformers

7. Spiderman

8. X Men

9. Finding Nemo

10. James and the Giant Peach

1903

1922 1983 2009

Brandi MartinJunior Editor

Over the past century, 3D has evolved through movies

TOPmovies thatshould be in 3D

L’Arrivée du train was the first 3D film for public viewing at the World Fair in Paris. The film, showing a train pulling into a station, lasted less than 30 seconds.

The Power of Love was the first 3D feature film. It was produced by Harry K. Fairfall and shown at the Ambassador Hotel Theater in Los Angeles.

Jaws 3D, directed by Joe Alves, reflected a revived interest in 3D movies. It was a remake of the original Jaws directed by Steven Spielberg in 1975.

Avatar, directed by James Cameron, became the highest grossing film in history. It was shown in three different formats: 3D, IMAX and traditional 2D.

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“

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If we could find a new high-tech market and corner it in America, we could reach the pinnacle of 3D technology for the world.

Thomas Kneppfreshman

Auguste Lumiere and his brother Louis watched with great anxiety as they saw a train swiftly approach-

ing the spot where they stood. Paralyzed by fear and unable to breathe, these men knew that in a few sec-onds, history would be made. Fortunately, the train that had come inches away from their faces was only an illusion. The Lumiere brothers had suc-cessfully created the first 3D short film, L’Arrivée du train, in 1903 at the World Fair in Paris. 3D experimentation started as early as 1838, but has fluctuated in popularity since the early 20th century. There have been five main eras in 3D film, including the “Golden Age” (1950-1960) and the “Re-naissance” (1973-1985). During the “Re-naissance,” popular 3D films including Jaws 3D and Comin at Ya! were produced. During the current era, the “Second Golden Age,” the highest grossing film in history, which made more than $2 billion, has been created. Avatar, a 3D adventure written and directed by James Cameron, has even surpassed his own 1997 phe-nomenon, Titanic. In early March, Alice in Wonderland set the record for highest grossing 3D film in its opening weekend, taking in $116 million. According to freshman Thomas Knepp, Avatar is worth seeing in 3D. Knepp drove to Charlotte to see the movie at an IMAX theater with friends and fam-ily. “The first time I saw Avatar it was amazing because of the IMAX,” Knepp said. “The seats shook and people in the audience were screaming at the exciting parts of the movie.” A concern for some viewers is the fact that watching a 3D film can cause dizzi-ness and headaches. 3D sickness is due to

a disconnection between what is seen and what the body feels. When senses are un-matched with the brain, dizziness, nausea and fatigue may occur. “I didn’t get sick from the movie, but many people around me did,” Knepp said. “My friend David got sick and one person in the theater threw up in his popcorn. The movie is still worth watching though.” Although the 3D technology, stereogra-phy, is not new, current techniques are ground-breaking. Fuji film in-troduced the first com-pact 3D digital cameras in the summer of 2009. Stacy Arminta, Best Buy camera specialist, said these new cameras are a revolutionary achieve-ment. “This camera has two sensors, and they take the picture at the same time, then it lay-ers the images together to create the 3D effect,” Arminta said. “It will also have 3D video capability, which is basically the same concept. It’s definitely a step forward in technology.” According to Arminta, 3D cameras will have no problem selling because of the high interest in 3D technology brought on by recent movies such as Avatar and Alice in Wonderland. “I think these cameras are going to be pretty popular,” Arminta said. “Every-one seems to be getting really into the 3D thing right now, especially with the new movies that are coming out.” Camera manufacturers are not the only ones that have caught on to the de-mand for a more sophisticated technique in technology. Because of the downturn in the economy, TV manufacturers have been looking for a way to spark declining sales. At the Consumer Electronics Show in

Las Vegas last year, Samsung Electronics, Sony, LG Electronics and Panasonic pre-sented their new 3D technology by show-ing movie clippings from Journey to the Center of the Earth and footage from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing on a 3D television. Some manufacturers started sell-ing their 3D TVs to the general public as

early as last year, but the top four leading competitors decided to postpone their sales un-til this year. These TVs will begin selling from $1,000 to $2,800, similar to the average price of HDTVs. “If we could find a new high-tech market and corner it in Amer-ica, we could reach the pinnacle of 3D tech-nology for the world,” Knepp said. “I think it would easily take the bite out of the recession.

It would also probably open up new jobs.” However, junior Hoon Lee said that having 3D TVs in homes would be a waste of money. “I think HDTVs are just fine. 3D seems pointless to me,” Lee said. “If it (3D technology) is meant to make watch-ing something like real life, you could just watch whatever it is in real life and not on a TV. Having 3D cameras resembling ho-lographs would be interesting, but not so much in movies.” Whether or not the public is ready to see a football game or an action movie in 3D, it appears that this technology is swift-ly approaching its peak. “I think that there will be a strong support for this because instead of be-ing an on-looker, you will feel like you are more part of the scene,” Arminta said. “It will instantly become more real for the viewer.”

2003Spy Kids 3D: Game Over was aimed to capture the attention of children and teenagers. It was the third in the movie series, but the only one produced in 3D.

1952Bwana Devil was the first 3D film to be shown in all color. The plotline was about British railmen working in Kenya being attacked by lions.

(compiled by the wingspan staff)