Coraline Trailer on YouTube

Having purposely waited to see a 3-D feature, amongst the recent surge of films (started by Chicken Little in 2005) and since the announcement that Coraline would be made in 3-D, I can honestly say that it was worth the wait as I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The technology behind 3-D, such as the development of digital projectors and filters etc has moved on, but the 3-D experience in the cinema hasn’t really changed a great deal since I first witnessed polarized 3-D (as opposed to red and blue anaglyph 3-D) 10 years ago in the IMAX film Encounter in the Third Dimension (3-D) Although it has taken a while to arrive in regular cinemas, major film companies have now started to embrace the technology, producing films with great stories as opposed to simply showing off new technology. This is maybe due to the fact that they have realised modern cinema audiences are getting used to computer animation and want something more.

Coraline Crawls Through a 3-D Depth Enhanced Tunnel to the Other World

Other Dad and His 3-D Enhanced Piano Hands

Coraline is shown in RealD which uses circular polarized light for better performance. The 3-D effect was not used as just a gimmick as I first feared, rather to create a more immersive experience, to enhance the immaculately detailed character design and sets which make up the entire world in which the quirky storyline is set. It seems to succeed the most when the effect is pushed ‘into’ the screen, past the original screen plane to create depth. This depth is mostly noticeable in scenes such as the purple tunnel to the other world and when scenes have a narrow depth of field, such as at the dinner table. Although it is present, there is not too much strobing and bluring when the effect is pushed ‘out’ of the screen.

“If I was ever lost about how much 3-D to use, I would just look to the story. Very much of what is coming off the screen – once you start to go there, it really makes it difficult to edit and it hurts your eyes if you don’t do it right. Where it served the story, to just have a couple of moments, like a needle in your eye, the trapeze, a few things…but mainly I used it to try and get people to come into the world with Coraline.” - Henry Selick

Coraline in 3-D: magic and artistry come to life (Cineplex article)

However much I love computer animation, Coraline in 3-D lends itself to stop-motion and wouldn’t have been half as immersive if it was created entirely in CG. I am in two minds though whether I would rather watch a feature film in pristine regular High Definition digital format or whether I should embrace the new 3-D technology wholeheartedly. The trailer to Pixar’s new film UP did look fantastic in 3-D.

Future 3-D technology where polarized glasses are not required, which the boffins are calling Auto-stereoscopy 3-D is currently in development for both the cinema and LCD/Plasma screens. I don’t know if the existing 3-D effect will be successfully transferred to regular living room HD plasma screens, what with the special projectors, lenses, filters and depolarization screens involved in the RealD cinema process. Maybe a cut down, less advanced technique will emerge as twice the amount of existing Blu-Ray data has to be displayed.