Flatland 3D - has 3-D finally gone too far?

[23skidoo]

Back in 2007 a half hour adaptation of Flatland was produced, featuring the voices of Martin Sheen and Kristen Bell.

According to its Wikipedia article, a 3-D version of the film is being released to IMAX in October.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland:_The_Movie

OK, does no one else see what's wrong with this picture?

(And if you don't know what I'm talking about, google Flatland by Edwin Abbott. It's in the public domain and should only take you an hour or so to read. Or read the synopsis here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland )

You know 3-D has gone too far when they're trying to make Flatland into a 3-D movie! (And a 3-D conversion to boot!)

Now that's funny.

PS. Since the main source for Wikipedia's article dated from April I took into account the possibility of an April Fool's Joke, but apparently the film's director announced it at a conference or something. Could still be a joke.

Alex

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Flatland is one of the few stories I can think of where dimensionality is the point of the story, so why wouldn't 3D be appropriate to it? It could be applied creatively to make clear how the inhabitants of a 2D universe would perceive the "real world," or maybe expand the story into trying to depict a 4D universe.

3D is actually very artificial looking in how it presents reality as distinct planes. That's not how I see reality. But it might be useful in depicting unreal realities or unreal perspectives.

But they should start from scratch, not shoehorn 3D into a movie that wasn't made with it in mind.

 

[RoJoHen]

I need to read Flatland.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'd love to see them try doing Rudy Rucker's Spaceland as a film.

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

According to its Wikipedia article, a 3-D version of the film is being released to IMAX in October.

OK, does no one else see what's wrong with this picture?

A big part of the story of Flatland is when the protagonist gets introduced to the 3-Dimensional world by a sphere. As much as I am normally not interested in this 3D fad, I can see 3D really enhancing that section of the story.

I haven't seen the movie, though.

 

[Holdfast]

If it's used intelligently, this is probably the best choice of movie ever to use 3D to illustrate differing concepts of dimensionality.

 

[David cgc]

The 3D would also come in handy if there were any POV shots from the perspective of the flatland characters. After all, the two dimensions they perceived were were not width and height, but width and depth. The way flatland is traditionally depicted gives one a god's-eye view of the environment which isn't anything like how it is for the characters.

But please, by all means, continue complaining about 3D on principle, and giggling about how silly it is to have a 3D film about a 2D world, ignoring the entire sequence with the sphere. Next, we can all share a jolly good laugh about how aeronautical engineers are stupid because they don't make the whole plane out of the stuff they make the black box out of.

 

[JarodRussell]

2D vs 3D is an actual part of the story. 3D would actually enhance the experience.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

3-D has gone too far with the upcoming release of this.