World
3-D Film Expo Film Festival, Sept. 12 - 21, 2003

World
3-D Film Expo to unspool at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood
with over 30 classic and rare feature length treasures and
over 20 short subjects, all screened using the original
Polaroid "Double-Interlock" 3-D System!
Sabucat Productions will present the largest 3-D tribute
show ever mounted anywhere in history, from Friday, Sept.
12 through Sunday, Sept. 21 at the Egyptian Theatre at 6712
Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.
The
10 day festival, which celebrates the golden era of 3-D
filmmaking, will include many of the best known 3-D titles
of the 1950's, such as HOUSE OF WAX, KISS ME KATE and CREATURE
FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, but will also offer fans of the format
an opportunity to see some of the more obscure 3-D movies,
many of which have not been seen in 3-D in over 50 years!
Some of these titles include: I, THE JURY, JESSE JAMES VS.
THE DALTONS, GOG and GLASS WEB.
In
all, 33
features and 21 short subjects will be shown along with
a "rarities" show consisting of rare, wonderful,
stereoscopic images, many of which have never been seen
in a public setting. In person guests will speak at selected
screenings. Guests will be announced as they are confirmed.
All prints will be 35mm and run in the "double-interlock",
Polaroid System, the original method (and still the best
method) for showing true 3-D.
Festival organizer Jeff Joseph says, "Many of the
prints that we're running are the last in existence...and
in some cases the original negatives no longer exist. Due
to the complexity of projecting these films in the stereoscopic
format, this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to
experience these movies the way they were meant to be seen."
Daniel Symmes, noted 3-D historian and 3-D filmmaker, is
working with Jeff in organizing the technical aspects of
the Expo, as well as providing background information on
the films. "This is a totally unique event in film
history," says Symmes. "It is my dream come true
to see all this wonderful, stereoscopic art at one time.
Nobody has ever seen all these films together - not even
when they were originally released."
It has been over 50 years (November 26th, 1952) since BWANA
DEVIL, opened at the Paramount Theater in Hollywood. While
not the first 3-D feature film (which was POWER OF LOVE,
U.S.A., 1922), the popularity of BWANA DEVIL was the direct
cause of the production of over 60 3-D films from 1952 through
1955, often referred to as the golden era of 3-D.
The 3-D format is often thought of as "gimmick"
filmmaking. While it was one of the many mid-20th century
inventions of the motion picture industry to give audiences
a big screen experience to compete with the new phenomenon
of television, for the most part 3-D, (like the Cinemascope
format for example), was used to great effect in high quality
studio productions with some of the most talented industry
professionals behind the camera. Such producers and directors
as George Sidney, Alfred Hitchcock, William Cameron Menzies
(THE MAZE), Budd Boetticher, Raoul Walsh, Ross Hunter and
Douglas Sirk photographed films in the third dimension,
as did cinematographers like John Alton (I, THE JURY), Karl
Struss and Lucian Ballard (INFERNO).
They often used depth as an integral aspect of the dramatic
narrative. Seeing these films flat today on television or
home video totally diminishes the impact of the original
stereoscopic cinematography. The filmmakers composed, designed
and intended these movies for 3-D presentation, and that's
the way in which they should be seen. This unique series
will give audiences that opportunity.
The presentation of 3-D has garnered a bad reputation over
the years, mostly due to anaglyphic (red/blue) presentation,
poor projection, lab problems and so on. When shown with
proper (Polaroid) presentation, using good prints and professional
projectionists, 3-D from the 1950's looks spectacular. The
feeling of depth actually tends to suck you inside the action.
It is not just a function of "coming at you" scenes,
such as when objects are thrown at the audience. 3-D is
also used effectively in smaller, more intimate settings,
such as in Hitchcock's DIAL M FOR MURDER.
This once-in-a-lifetime retrospective will give fans, historians
and critics the unique opportunity to re-assess one of the
most unjustly maligned aspects of cinematic history. Due
to an awful succession of gimmick films throughout the 1970's
and 80's, as well as poor quality re-issues of the older
films in the inferior red/blue anaglyph system on television,
3-D movies of the 1950's have basically gotten a bad rap.
Detailed information about the festival, film schedule
and more can be found at http://www.3dfilmfest.com.
There is a printable version of the schedule on the Web
site.
Tickets went on sale on May 1. Tickets are available online.
Tickets are $10 with the exception of the rarities show,
which is $15. A festival pass ($320) includes admission
to all 33 shows, plus a festival souvenir booklet.
The festival can be reached at (661) 538-9259 or by Fax
at (661) 793-6755.
Loreo
Lite 3-D Viewer 
Loreo
has a new Lite 3-D Viewer that allows you to share your
3-D photos a lot easier. The Loreo 3-D Lite Viewer is made
of plastic coated card paper. It is a Parallel Format (side-by-side)
Print Viewer. It also works well as a Computer Monitor Viewer
for medium sized images. Cheap, lightweight, foldable and
mailable, it folds flat to the thickness of its lenses (7
mm) and fits into a 4R (4 x 6) photo album sleeve. It is
suitable for viewing 3R and 4R (optimum) prints, and 5 to
7 inch wide images on a computer screen. It also comes in
a handy pocket case, which helps protect the lenses from
dust.
The viewer is being marketed in a "black and white"
version and a "fun colors" version. Loreo invited
3-D enthusiasts from around the world to test and evaluate
the prototype before the viewer went into final production.
Many useful observations were made, which contributed greatly
to improving the product.
The price is right, too. A 10-pack of viewers is only $9.50
plus $5 shipping. At such a low cost, 3-D enthusiasts can
send 3-D prints and images to friends and family using the
economical viewer. Both versions of the viewer are available
using an online order form on the Loreo Web site.
The Web site also has technical information, a user's manual
and development notes about the viewer. The Loreo Lite 3-D
Viewer is a product of Loreo Asia Ltd.
The
Hulk Magic in Motion Cards 
Kraft
Foods is including Magic in Motion lenticular 3-D cards
featuring images of Marvel Comics' lean, mean and green
superhero The Hulk in packages of several Kraft dinner and
snack food products. The cards are available when you purchase
Big Cheese Nips, Ritz Bitz Sandwich Crackers Pizza Flavor,
Ritz Bitz Sandwich Crackers Peanut Butter Flavor and Taco
Bell home dinner kits. One lenticular card is included in
each box. There are four cards in the series. Kraft Foods
has made it easy for you to collect all four cards, too.
Except for the Taco Bell dinner kits, each box is die-cut
to show the card right on the front of the box. The promotional
cards are a tie-in to the release of Universal's The Hulk
movie featuring the big screen debut of Marvel's green hero
who has a problem keeping his temper in check.
Daredevil
Magic in Motion Cards
Kraft
Foods goes the lenticular promotional card route again with
another Marvel Comics motion picture tie-in featuring 3-D
images from the movie Daredevil.
The Daredevil lenticular cards came in specially marked
Boxes of Kraft Cheese Nips and Ritz Bitz Crackers. The set
of three Magic in Motion cards feature scenes from the blockbuster
movie starring Ben Affleck as Daredevil and Jennifer Garner
as Elektra. Images featured on the cards include Daredevil
on card #1, Elektra on card #2 and a different image of
Daredevil on card #3.
Kodak
Dynamic Imaging Prototype Lenticular Card
Kodak
has produced quite a few unique images in its long history
and a lenticular card showing a girl with her hair on fire
is no exception. The exciting lenticular motion card image
is featured on a Kodak Dynamic Imaging prototype card. The
Kodak Prototype Dynamic Imaging card measures 3 1/2 inches
by 2 1/2 inches. Made by Kodak is printed on the back of
the card.
Galidor
Lenticular Card 
Galidor,
Defender of the Outer Dimension, enters the third-dimension
on a special promotional lenticular card. There are 4 different
cards in the set. When assembled, the cards make up a large
picture on the backs. Each are numbered 1 of 4 , 2 of 4
, 3 of 4, 4 of 4 on the front. Cards #1 , 2 and 3 are regular
card stock, only card #4 is lenticular and features the
character Nick Bluetooth.
Galidor is a science-fiction TV show aired on the ABC Family
Channel. Fifteen-year-old Nick Bluetooth is a dreamer with
a passion for adventure. Nick knows that there's more to
life than meets the eye, and after he finds a mysterious
craft capable of dimensional travel, his greatest adventure
begins! Nick discovers that the fate of the Outer Dimension
lies in his hands. If he is to stand a chance of ever defeating
the evil Gorm and saving the Outer Dimension, he must first
learn to master glinching, his mysterious, unique new power.
Spiderman
Lenticular Card Set from Dolci Gum in Italy and Mini 3-D
Cards from Mexico
The Italian set of Spiderman movie lenticular cards consists
of 10 cards. The cards measure 2 by 2 1/4 inches. Images
include Spiderman swinging across buildings and Spiderman
crawling down a wall. The back of each card is black with
a black web with Spiderman in black silhouette. The cards
came from Italy and were packaged in Dolci Gum.
Spiderman Mini 3-D cards came in Marinela Food Products
in Mexico. The mini 3-D card set is made up of 30 cards
released in 2002.
Disney
Store The Little Mermaid Lenticular Card
The Disney Store created a special lenticular promo card
for the theatrical release of the The Little Mermaid.
The card features Ariel surrounded by several of her underwater
friends and the villain hovering in the background.
The back of the card says, "See Ariel and her friends
on the big screen, then swim into The Disney Store for all
the Treasures of the Little Mermaid, November 14th only
in theatres."
Harry Potter K-Mart 3-D Card Set
K-Mart and Coca-Cola joined forces to offer a special 3-D
card set featuring young wizard Harry Potter during the
release of the second Harry Potter movie. There are 1 of
4 different 3-D cards in the set offered from K-Mart stores
when you bought a 12 pack of Coca-Cola and a Harry Potter
toy. Each card measures 4 x 6 inches.
- The Flying Ford Anglia following hogwart Express
- Harry catching the Golden Snitch
- Harry, Ron, Hermione at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft
and Wizardry
- Hermione discovers the Polyjuice Potion Spell
"X-Men
2, X-Men United" 3-D Poster 
A
Chromatek 3-D poster with glasses featuring characters from
the movie "X-Men 2, X-Men United" is available
as a special order premium from Kraft Foods. Order forms
are available on Chocolate Creme Oreos, Chewy Chips Ahoy,
Cheese Nips Four Cheese and Ritz Bits. Each product will
have special 3-D packaging featuring film graphics. The
actual graphics for the poster features Wolverine surrounded
by Storm, Professor X and other characters from the movie.
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