That extra dimension seen in today’s superhero films and animated marvels may have found its true calling in an unlikely source.
Documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog’s latest film, “Cave of Forgotten Dreams,” uses 3-D cameras to bring rarely seen caverns into your local movie house.
The film explores Chauvet Cave, a crystal-encrusted expanse sealed off to humans for more than 20,000 years. In 1994, scientists entered the cave for the first time and found exquisitely preserved cave paintings dating back more than 30,000 years – nearly twice as old as all previous cave art. The paintings captured thirteen different species, from bears to hyenas, giving researchers a new glimpse at a very old chapter in the earth’s history.
This isn’t about leaves cascading down in the foreground or knives jutting out from the screen and into your lap. “Dreams” wants 3D technology to bring audiences into surroundings they might otherwise never experience. The caves are rather inhospitable even if you managed to secure entry, since the high levels of carbon dioxide and radon mean people can’t safely be inside them for more than a few hours a day.
Is 3-D economically viable for most cash-strapped documentary productions? That remains to be seen, but on the 2-D surface it sounds like a logical way to leverage the technology at our disposal.
(Photo: Director Werner Herzog, center, gained access to rarely seen cave paintings as part of his latest production, “Cave of Forgotten Dreams.”)
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m pretty sure if it was really important we could come up with a way to filter the air, and they’re working on ways to recycle carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen, so spaceships won’t have to carry air tanks along with their fuel.
But, there being no pressing need to go and see these caves, I incline to agree, showing people things they’ll never get to go see is a great use for 3d. That was actually a big part of the early appeal of movies; some of the older silent movies don’t have a story, they’re just “we filmed a bunch of stuff in America, or Mongolia, or (pick locale that seems exotic to the film’s audience)”.
I like Herzog’s documentaries so I really want to see this…3-D would be a plus. How cool is it to make us feel like we are there with the scientists/explorers experiencing what they experienced? Considering the very, very unlikely chance anyone reading this blog will ever get permission to enter these caverns, this is a great alternative.