5. "3D Adds Nothing To The Story"
If you were paying attention, you would have seen that I put format between quotation marks in my introduction. That is because while still technically a format, 3D is gives a filmmaker a lot to consider and adjust to help convey an idea. In many ways I see it as a filmmaking tool as opposed to the idea of just a solid format. Too often I see detractors of 3D assume that 3D is a process of no choice. As if the filmmakers have an on and off button for 3D. However, having spent time on set shadowing some great stereographers (they are the ones who control the 3D), I know this is an utter fallacy. The 3D in a movie, when done well, is the culmination of hundreds of creative choices over the course of pre-production, production and post-production. Allow me to illustrate. If we have a protagonist on a long journey and he can see his destination in the distance and we want to emphasise that you can push the 3D further. This subtly bulsters the concept of the distance of that journey in a way a 2D print couldn't. Also choices such as, "will I push the 3D in more intimate scenes to enhance the shape of the characters or save my depth budget for my big set pieces?" Going one way or the other will deeply affect what the 3D says to a member of the audience. These are creative choices that directors have to make about their film and really highlights the 'format' as a tool.