Lasers, 3D, Scorsese and Lee highlight day 3 of CinemaCon

Day 3 at CinemaCon in Las Vegas featured two special highlights: an early look at the visual possibilities offered by a prototype of laser projection equipment, and a talk with two Oscar-winning directors about their experiences with 3D.

In a morning session, Todd Hoddick, VP of Barco's North American Entertainment Division, hosted a screening of content utilizing Barco's prototype DC 4K laser projector. The first clip was an excerpt from director Ron Fricke and producer Mark Magidson's globe-spanning, non-narrative documentary Samsara, which Oscilloscope Pictures releases in New York and Seattle on August 24. The footage encompassed an unidentified landscape dotted with exotic reddish-orange structures whose colors really popped on the 70-foot Harkness Unity matte white screen installed at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, sharply detailed aerial shots of skyscrapers, and time-lapse photography of pulsating traffic. The clarity and brightness of the laser technology make an ideal medium for Fricke's dazzling images. Even more awesome was RED Digital's 2K, 48-frame-per-second 3D footage of a helicopter aloft against a cityscape backdrop; one could almost believe the sharply delineated copter was hovering inside the theatre above the audience's heads.

Hoddick listed the many advantages of this evolving laser technology: improved color, higher contrast, uniformity up to the edges of the screen, unlimited dimming of 3D, low power consumption and, of course, greater brightness.  But he also expressed caution about the roadblocks ahead: removing archaic FDA restrictions on lasers, bringing down costs, and finding a business model that would make yet another expensive hardware upgrade appealing to exhibitors.

During a panel discussion immediately following the demo, Jim Reisteter, digital cinema general manager at NEC Display Solutions, assured the audience of exhibitors that this all was still in the exploratory stage and that manufacturers aren't about to pressure theatre owners who are just finishing their transition to digital projection. "Get comfortable with what you have," he urged. Michael Esch, senior director of entertainment solutions at fellow projector company Christie, concurred: "We're not trying to bombard you with technology for technology's sake."

Wim Buyens, senior VP of entertainment at Barco, said he considered it his company's "duty to come up with an upgradable solution," rather than start a laser projector from scratch. Anything else "would be disrespectful" to exhibitors, he believes.

Hoddick expects a "commercially viable" laser projector will be appearing by the end of 2013. Laser technology is yet another scary leap for the movie theatre industry, but this session proved that it can reap many tantalizing benefits (particularly on the 3D brightness front) and is well worth exploring.

The issue of 3D brightness was addressed by Martin Scorsese at a lunchtime Filmmakers Forum, moderated by Hollywood Reporter chief film critic Todd McCarthy, which also featured director Ang Lee. Scorsese warned the audience that if screens "are too dark and you can't see, why should [audiences] come back and watch another 3D film?"

Scorsese, who received the RealD Innovation in 3D Award at the lunch for his groundbreaking work on the Oscar-winning Hugo, said his interest in 3D was related to his fascination with the deep-focus shots (using wide-angle lenses) of the great cinematographer Gregg Toland of Citizen Kane fame. "In a sense, it's like 3D," he opined. Scorsese also noted that interest in 3D dates back to the early silent days, and that Russian master director Sergei Eisenstein had a book on 3D open nearby when he died in the 1940s.

Self-effacing Lee, who's preparing his first 3D film, Life of Pi, admitted that working in the format has been a difficult learning process. "It's its own thing," he said. "It's a new form of art, and we haven't gotten there yet." Lee's Pi cinematographer, Claudio Miranda, shot the 3D Tron and "he walks around like he knows," the director confided. "But we're all novices when it comes to 3D."

Before filming Hugo, Scorsese screened '50s 3D classics like House of Wax and Dial M for Murder for his crew, and decided the "stage play" look of Dial M was the way he wanted to go. His attitude toward his first 3D project was "Let's push it, let's see what happens... I kept asking for more [3D impact]."

Scorsese believes that when actors' faces lean out toward the audience in 3D, "I'm more interested in them, I'm immersed in them. It's like a moving sculpture of the actor."

The much-lauded director of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull invariably finds links to his life as an asthmatic child in New York's Little Italy. For him, 3D is like those old Viewmaster toys that "transported you to another world." Perhaps it's not so surprising after all that this enthusiastic convert to 3D finally made his first children's film.