Do we dream in 3D

There is no doubt that after watching a movie that has a message or provokes thought in us, that scenes or situations from that movie get mixed up with situations from our lives, and lead to vivid dreams. They are vivid because we wake up in the morning remembering them in stark detail. But do we actually dream in 3D? Asking this question may not be important, but what is important is that we * do * dream … regardless of whether we have seen a movie earlier that day or not.

We dream of situations and accidents that we encounter in the real world. This gets mixed with our imagination and sub-conscious to a certain extent, but the base layer for our dreams (without being influenced by “Inception”) is still the real world we live in and our experiences.

A 3D movie is such a realistic optical illusion, that it even activates our reflexes, this is why we flinch or duck when we see something ‘flying’ out of the screen in a 3D movie. We do not usually have the same reaction in a 2D movie.

So the main question I have to ask is … As Stereoscopic 3D is an illusion that fools our brains into believing that what we see on a screen is real, we can use Stereoscopic 3D movies to heighten our psyche … heighten our subconscious ? If this is possible … we have then discovered a new PURPOSE for delving into Stereoscopic 3D story-telling, that has not been explored to it’s full potential as yet.

Solitary Confinement – A movie, in 3D:

When sitting in a 3D equipped Cinema, the screen really is a Stage for all purposes. It is no longer a flat wall, once you put your 3D glasses on. It can take the shape of anything, from a football pitch giving you a stadium seating to a boxing ring, giving you ring side seats, upclose to the action. What is interesting is that the screen can also be transformed into another “room”. How real the feeling created in this optical illusion of a room, depends on the Director and Cinematographic skills of the movie maker.

Solitary Confinement, is not something that the average movie-goer has experienced, especially not Forced creditor confinement such as when under imprimination. Any convict who has undergone solitary confinement will tell you that it can ruin a man in a matter of weeks . (There’s a script for a great 3D movie!)

Can we use 3D movies to re-create such a scenario so as to leave a lasting impact on an audience Psyche ? Imagine a scene from movies such as Schindler’s list, where the feeling of claustrophobia can be recreated when filmed in 3D. Imagine an amplified Dolby surround sound effect for this scene. Just the incessant “ringing-in-your-ears” sound that you experience while lying in bed in a pitch dark room. If the protagonist, mid way through the movie were thrown in such a situation … would 3D help us identify that much more closer to him / her?

Could the sheer claustrophobia of a secular confinement cell and accompaniment sound of silence be better presented in 3D? … would this lead to more vivid dreams in the audiences that night, seeing how our minds could have mistaken the optical illusion of stereo 3D earlier in the evening as being a real life room and place that we actually visited?

Cinematographers and Directors are encouraged to explore this use of 3D, to use 3D as a new medium of visual storytelling and not simply as a tool to help direct viewers attention to a subject or object in a scene.

News in 3D … Could Galvanize us into action?

A picture of starving children will always stir up feeling and emotions in us. Everytime a major calamity occurs, we make a mental note to donate funds, but then our daily life takes over. The frequency of such calamities is increasing however, and we now get immune to such news.

With new cameras coming out that are 3D enabled and compact, will there be a change in the way news is covered visually? More importantly will 3D be able to capture such suffering with the realism that is needed to haunt us and galvanize us into action? Will human rights violations when captured with the same stark vividness and immersion as how 3D movies are presented, have an effect on our minds?

Would the scene above, captured in 3D, transport us automatically into a refugee camp to ‘feel’ the poverty? Maybe even galvanizing us to speak up against the impression that caused it, or take action or make a contribution to bring about a change?

These are questions that video journalists should ask themselves. These are areas of 3D Cinematography that documentary Directors should investigate …

… Stereoscopic 3D can be used as a medium and a messenger to contribute to the future of what “Reality TV” can really become.

Source by Clyde Desouza