If there is one thing that has been more unjustly maligned than 3-D in the film world, it would probably be commercials. There hasn’t been a sold out show of a film in recent memory where someone hasn’t heard a fellow patron complain that there are a lot of commercials showing before the promised feature. What many patrons fail to forget (other than the fact that these commercials almost single-handedly keep theatres in business these days) is that many feature filmmakers get their start making commercials and music videos. These young filmmakers are often given far more opportunity to explore their own vision in the world of commercials and music videos than they would in the feature filmmaking world. Advances in technology make it even easier for young and aspiring directors to make a name for themselves in the small screen world.
On Thursday July 21 at 7 p.m., the TIFF Bell Lightbox will screen the latest installment in their Packaged Goods series of screenings, focusing on the latest in commercial, short, and music video productions. This installment looks specifically at commercials shot in 3-D for the newly blossoming world of 3-D projectors and televisions. To think these shorts are nothing more than commercials is to dismiss some really great filmmaking in a glib manner. This program is actually quite solid in terms of showcasing technical and narrative technique.
There is a short courtesy of Ridley Scott’s production team (made for Phillips, but with no active product placement) about a sorrowful young man in a circus freak show with a unicorn horn in the middle of his forehead. An Audi sponsored animated look at the workings of the 24-Hours of Le Mans race is thrilling, informative, and captivating. There is a great showcase of old-school anaglyph 3-D technology courtesy of Pitchfork, director RJ Bentler, and animator Stephen McNally as they create music videos for Deerhunter, Neon Indian, and Delorean. The biggest standout, though, is a skateboarding video funded by Levi’s entitled Unbeleafable that features not only some of the most fully rendered 3-D images ever on screen, but also some of the greatest skateboarding ever glimpsed on screen. Unbeleafable on its own is simply jaw-dropping in scope and it is made better by the credits where it shows the audience exactly how they pulled it all off.
The screening will also include a discussion with short filmmaker Arev Manoukian, director of the award-winning short Nuit Blanche (which screened earlier this spring as part of the Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto). Arev recently filmed a 3-D commercial for Sony and he will be talking about the showcase as well as his own experiences with 3-D technology.
Arev caught up with Criticize This! to talk about his feelings on the program and why 3-D still matters, especially in the world of commercial filmmaking.
“These commercials tend to be longer and a lot more cinematic, especially if you are aiming to have them shown on a giant 40 or 50 foot screen in a theatre.” Manoukian said. “The cool thing about 3-D is that because it is so new, everyone is coming to the table at an earlier stage. Because of that there are more opportunities to come up with well thought out and visually creative filmmaking. That’s exciting. You also get to play with some really great toys. Some of the stuff we are working on now has us trying to shoot underwater. We are trying to find ways to film skydiving; really interesting and hard to get footage, but in 3-D to make it a stunning experience.”
Manoukian does understand that some people are still skeptical of 3-D, but that it can be a great tool if used correctly. In his eyes, it is simply a matter of taking the time to plan ahead and taking time in the editing room.
“You have to be a lot more meticulous in the way you plan your shots. You can’t really “shoot the shit” out of a scene and take care of it in editing later. I mean, you can, but you don’t get as good of an experience if you don’t plan and craft something that will immerse the audience. You don’t want to draw attention to the technique. You want to place them in a new world and try to keep them there as long as you can.”
“There is a lot of bad 3-D out there and a lot of people are dismissing it because they have probably seen two or three of those. You want to make it as seamless as possible. There is a lot of 3-D that doesn’t use the full capabilities of 3-D. Most people think you just need something in the background and something in the foreground to create depth, but there is so much more to consider when you want to create something that is actually interesting.”
In an effort to reclaim 3-D before bad conversions and overpriced tickets threaten to drag down the entire process, maybe the best place to look in the future will be in the pre-show rather than in the actual movie. It might even be on your own television set. One thing is for certain, these are some of the most cinematic short films to ever use the 3-D process and they certainly look great on the big screen.
For more information of TIFF’s Packaged Goods series, visit tiff.net.
Top image: A scene from LG’s commercial Rare Butterflies. Courtesy TIFF.
