Now, I was brought up reading all the Tintin comic books when I was a child. Tintin and Asterix were my favourite comics to read, superseding even the old Richie Rich-type comics of the time.
I'm a huge fan of 3D, but not so much in the cinema. When I saw Avatar, it left me with a huge headache, nausea, and you could see the crosstalk (ghosting double lines) onscreen. It was also far too dark and murky compared to seeing the same movie in 2D when the bright glorious colours popped out beautifully. It was also quite choppy and looked like a low resolution, very hard on the eyes. Other 3D movies I've seen at the cinema since, have had the same problem. Alice In Wonderland, Saw 3D, and more recently Thor and Pirates of the Caribbean (saw both in Anaheim USA this year) - all very dull and murky and hard to see. Nevertheless, I love the potential of 3D, and being a strong believer in futuristic technology, I bought a new tv this year - a 59" 3D plasma, the Samsung D6900.
Well, the first 3D movie I purchased for it was the 3D blu ray of Avatar (came with Panasonic 3Dtvs, so I had to buy it second-hand), and BOY the difference was far and away from when I saw it on Boxing Day 2009 with a workmate at the movie theatre. Gone were the double lines and ghosting - the picture was clear and crisp. The picture was colourful, clear and bright - even better than when I saw it in 2D. The picture didn't stutter, it was easy on the eyes, the 3D effect was amazing regardless if you were a couple of feet away from the tv or watching from the back of the room! A completely different experience to watching it at the theatre.
Now, I thought about this, and realised it's no wonder that 3D hasn't taken off like it should have. If people's first impression of 3D is sitting in a dull murky movie theatre then chances are they're going to be put off, and leave with headaches and nausea from trying to see thru the grey mist. It also hasn't helped that most of the 3D movies coming out tend to be for children, or horror movies. How about filming a drama, just a well-filmed movie with great cinematography (say, something like 'Atonement') and treat the technology with the respect it deserves? 3D should be treated as naturalism and realism, not as some gimmicky thing.
My tv also can do 2D-to-3D conversion on the fly, and this means you can also watch the nightly news in 3D if you like. It actually looks surprisingly good, though I wouldn't recommend it as it is a pain having to put the glasses on, especially if you're like me and prefer to multi-task and do a million other things, not sit in front of the tv like a zombie! But, reserved for special occasions, 3D in the home is a treat and should be more commonplace than it is. But I do think we've been held back technologywise, it's like the market has been milked as a niche and not treated seriously and the consumer has been put off by the gimmicky way it's been put across until now. I can't wait til the day comes when we have holographic televisions that will change perspective as we walk around them and allow us to 'see around corners' in the broadcast. This kind of tech is already on YouTube, this one for example has 57 different viewing angles - imagine having this in your home! -
I'd like to see the Tintin movie, but I'm worried the characters may not 'sound' the same as the way I imagined them when I was originally reading the comics. If the actors have American accents for example, it's going to completely ruin the film for me. Captain Haddock will be the key.. if he doesn't sound like a haggard old sea sailor, then I don't know how I'd be able to keep watching the film. Otherwise it will be like those films based on The Beatles where they don't look or sound like them at all!
