There are concerns that the rush to 3D film-making could lead to inferior productions, writes IAN CAMPBELL

ON SOUND stage seven on the Columbia Pictures lot, two stuntmen work through a fight scene in an alleyway left over from the last Spider-Manfilm. The cameraman shoots them with one eye on the flat screen monitor to the side of the set.

When one of the actors throws a punch towards the lens, he adjusts the two-camera rig to maximise the effect and the fist bursts out of the screen to the delight of a small audience wearing dark glasses. Welcome to 3D training school.

The spectators are made up of about 30 of the world’s media, invited to Hollywood by Sony to show off its “lens to living room” leadership in what it says is the biggest revolution since sound killed off silent movies. Normally, it would be cinematographers and film crews learning how to work with the new medium.

Shooting 3D calls for new techniques which Sony’s 3D Technology Centre sets out to explore from its base inside Columbia Pictures, the film business Sony bought back in 1989. On the sound stage, the cameraman adjusts the configuration of a “splitter rig” that uses two cameras, one on top of the other.

The “stereoscopic” effect is achieved by adjusting the space between the two lenses, emulating the way we look at the world.

The rig is built by 3ality, a digital film company that also makes the software that corrects the aberrations that occur in a potentially complex shooting situation. Using Sony cameras, 3ality worked on the 2007 U2 concert film, U2 3D, the first live action concert film now considered a landmark achievement in the journey to mass-market 3D.

“Not all 3D is the same,” says Sandy Climan, chief executive officer at 3ality. “When it’s done badly it can give you a headache.”

There are concerns that the rush to follow the success of Avatarwill lead to inferior productions that could damage the long-term future of the medium. Climan is working with Sony to ensure high quality prevails, making 3D central to the future of the film and broadcast industries.

He says 3D is part of a wider digital revolution that is sweeping through Hollywood. CGI and motion capture are transforming film entertainment where film is increasingly absent from the process, but it is also about the economics.

DVD sales have plummeted, prompting Michael Lynton, chairman and chief executive of Sony Pictures, to describe 3D as “a blazing bright spot” for an industry anxious to resuscitate the home entertainment market, particularly with a format that has so far eluded piracy.

Buzz Hayes produced seven of Sony’s eight 3D pictures and is chairman of the Technology Centre which opened in January. He says hundreds of cinematographers have got their names down for three-day training programmes that teach how to shoot stereoscopic films and live events. Post-production and 3D computer gaming courses will follow.

Sony hopes the centre will position the company at the heart of 3D development and expects to extend its training services to encompass medical imaging and other non-entertainment applications. Now though, the onus is on helping filmmakers achieve the best possible results.

Brand new jobs are opening up for “stereographers” and “convergence pullers”. New principles for film storytelling are starting to emerge. “We have to understand how to tell 3D stories because we’re not fully there yet,” Hayes says. He adds that 3D films require fewer edits to establish spatial relationships and lighting is used to focus attention on a part of the screen rather then traditional depth-of-field techniques.

Sports broadcasters need to rethink camera positions. Stereoscopy works better when shot diagonally across a football pitch, for example, rather than from the halfway line and, because one rig provides more depth, fewer camera positions are needed.

Video games are easier to make in 3D because they are rendered using virtual cameras. However, even greater care is required because gamers will play for hours at a time and will be more susceptible to feeling the effects if developers fail to get it right.

For film, Hayes says 3D has already outgrown the pop-out screen effects and has the potential to develop into something much more dramatic, not just for blockbuster action sequences. "The psychological impact has not been explored yet. When you think of the prison scene in The Silence of the Lambs, when Hannibal Lecter steps forward to intimidate Clarice Starling, he stays in the frame. Imagine it with 3D and he would step out of it and be in your space."

Hayes says it is “entirely ridiculous” to describe 3D as a gimmick. “We see our world in three dimensions and should build our entertainment into that.” However he is not expecting everything coming out of Hollywood in the near future to be 3D, pointing out that it took a long time for colour to fully replace black and white.

When it comes to home entertainment, and the launch of 3D TVs and Blu-ray players, he says it will not necessarily be inferior to the cinema experience. “You can tailor the effect much more to the home because we know all the variables, the TV screen sizes and where people will sit. It could be better than cinema.”

There is also much talk around Hollywood of converting classic old films to 3D, but Hayes has reservations. "Some would be great fun," he says. "Some would be like spray painting the Mona Lisa."

3D: COMING SOON FROM 'BATMAN' TO 'TINTIN'

• Ninety-nine new 3D movies are planned by 2012 and there are expected to be 7,000 3D cinemas by the end of this year.

• This weekend Sky will launch its 3D channel, Sky 3D, with live coverage of the Premier League clash between Manchester United and Chelsea.

• The first 3D TVs and Blu-ray players from Samsung, Panasonic and LG will be available in the coming weeks and Sony products from June.

• Downloadable upgrades to the PS3 will enable it play 3D games and films. The first games will launch this summer.

• There will be a rush of 2D to 3D film conversions despite mixed results. Look out for classic films retrofitted for the new format including James AvatarCameron's reworking of Titanic.

• Superman, Batmanand Popeyeare all to get the 3D treatment. The Adventures of Tintin, out next year, will be Steven Spielberg's 3D debut.