Ben Stassen, CEO of nWave, gives his view of the next step for 3D and 4D cinema
“T
he future of 3D depends on the increase of the frame rate. If we don’t do that,
there’s no future for 3D. It won’t come to maturity until we increase the frame rate from 24 frames per second to 48 or possibly even 72. There are too many technical limitations with a slower frame rate. It would have a big impact on theme park attractions because we can make them much more dynamic in 3D once the frame rate is increased. I hope it’s going to take place in the next year or two – or 3D will be dead in the movie theatre. Because of the limitations with frame rates, many 3D films shown at the cinema are actu- ally quite bad and it can’t be used in action scenes. I saw a study in the US recently that said 37 per cent of mov- iegoers in North America already say
nWave’s latest project is a 3D adventure film based on the book The Little Prince
they don’t want to pay extra to see 3D and more than a quarter of moviego- ers are saying they’d rather see the film in 2D. The danger is that this fig- ure will only increase if quality isn’t improved. We need to react and we need to do something very quickly. When it does happen, because it will be expensive, there’s a good chance that theme parks will be used as a pilot project for the higher frame rate before it’s rolled out into cinemas, so our industry will be the first to benefit. I am often asked why we do fea-
ture films in 3D and why 3D has found a new life in theme parks. 3D was around in the 50s and the 70s – it came and went. Then we started doing film-based 3D attractions in theme parks, museums and IMAXs and 3D became a revolutionary language of cinema. For the first time 3D was ena- bling film-makers to totally immerse the audience in the film and position the viewer within the film space itself.
There’s no better place in the world to see 3D films than in theme parks. When we create a 3D film, we try to explode the frame around the pic- ture, and make people forget they’re watching a film – instead they’re par- ticipating in the story. Our latest project is The Little Prince, which is based on a TV series of the famous book. Our story is that the little prince’s rose has disappeared so he goes to three different planets to find it – the planet of time, the planet of music and the planet of the sleep- ing giant. The film’s been designed to work well as both an immersive 3D and 4D attraction. We’ve designed many moments in the film, such as water spray and wind, for exhibitors who have physical effects in their the- atres so they can programme them. There’s no better way of taking the audience on a journey throughout space and into the fantastic world of The Little Prince than in 3D.”
Christmas production, Sleigh Ride, for the 2010 festive season. This adven- ture saw viewers being splashed with slushy snow and smelling mince pies. nWave launched The Little Prince, a
13-minute, 4D film based on the French novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupery at IAAPA in November. For CEO Ben Stassen, The Little Prince was an obvi- ous subject choice. “The book sells between seven and 10 million copies a year worldwide. This gives operators who show it a big marketing advantage, as visitors already know the story and
ISSUE 1 2011 © cybertrek 2011
the characters,” he says. “We spent E5m (£4.16m, US$6.4m) making the film, which is a huge amount for an attraction, and have really raised the bar with the animation.”
Kraftwerk has developed a 4D/5D
theatre which is aimed exclusively at waterparks/wet environments, where people can experience a 4D/5D attrac- tion in swimsuits. The system looks similar but is totally different, as it needs to work properly and be long- lasting in wet environments with chlorine and other chemicals involved.
The whole steelwork is high grade stainless steel, the entire electronics system is situated outside the audito- rium and the speakers are waterproof. The theatre’s films are mainly based on water and pirates themes. The first installation will open in spring in Aquapulco Bad Schallerbach, Austria, and more are currently in planning. Kraftwerk has also recently signed a global partnership for distribution with Polin Slides from Turkey, which has a global network of more than 50 local representatives. l
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