A review of Ray Zone’s STEREOSCOPC CINEMA AND THE ORIGINS OF 3-D FILM 1838–1952
The University Press of Kentucky, 2007
By Betsy A. McLane, Ph.D.
Note: although 3-D and Stereoscopic are different, for purposes of this review the terms are used interchangeably.
If it was acceptable to begin a book review with WOW! that’s what I would say about Ray Zone’s STEREOSCOPIC CINEMA AND THE ORIGINS OF 3-D FILM: 1838–1952. The book is a thorough, precise, comprehensive and deeply revealing analysis of its subject. And perhaps, surprisingly, it is engaging and, to me, inspirational. Did I mention that I like it? The length of the title hints at the level of scholarship in STEOSCOPIC CINEMA. Both title and text would make any film scholar proud. Zone’s research is awe-inspiring; he has followed the path of 3-D cinema via a meticulous history of patents, extant example of technology and published contemporary reviews in a triumph of primary research. What is more, he has linked these sources together to create a seamless narrative. His exhumation of the myriad number of scientific and practical efforts to achieve visual depth in movies amplifies our understanding of film history. Zone then allows the reader to understand how these efforts have come to shape present day filmmaking. Two of many examples:
Note: although 3-D and Stereoscopic are different, for purposes of this review the terms are used interchangeably.
If it was acceptable to begin a book review with WOW! that’s what I would say about Ray Zone’s STEREOSCOPIC CINEMA AND THE ORIGINS OF 3-D FILM: 1838–1952. The book is a thorough, precise, comprehensive and deeply revealing analysis of its subject. And perhaps, surprisingly, it is engaging and, to me, inspirational. Did I mention that I like it? The length of the title hints at the level of scholarship in STEOSCOPIC CINEMA. Both title and text would make any film scholar proud. Zone’s research is awe-inspiring; he has followed the path of 3-D cinema via a meticulous history of patents, extant example of technology and published contemporary reviews in a triumph of primary research. What is more, he has linked these sources together to create a seamless narrative. His exhumation of the myriad number of scientific and practical efforts to achieve visual depth in movies amplifies our understanding of film history. Zone then allows the reader to understand how these efforts have come to shape present day filmmaking. Two of many examples:
- The famous Lumiere Brothers L’ARRIVE du TRAIN, an iconic film, which, shot originally with one of the first motion picture cameras, startled 1895 audiences with its 2-D image of a locomotive rushing toward them. What most film histories leave out is that the Lumiere Brothers were trying to achieve a 3-D image even prior to this first-ever public exhibition of motion pictures. As early as 1800 they patented an “Octagonal Disc Stereo Device” meant to shoot for 3-D projection. Although Zone cites dispute about its production date, Louis Lumiere eventually reshot L’ ARRIVE du TRAIN in 3-D and exhibited it at a 1935 meeting of the French Academy of Science. This and other 3-D tidbits are cited in some film history books, which most of which have fallen out of favor (i.e. James Limbacher’s once mandatory FOUR ASPECTS OF THE FILM, 1969). It is to Zone’s credit that he carefully compares such existing texts to each other and to his own findings, making clear the contradictory accounts that plague early cinema and pre-cinema accounts.
- Greg Toland’s justly famous deep focus cinematography was clearly linked to his fascination with 3-D. He shot test footage using a device built by William Alder of Cal Tech that attached to a regular camera. The results were shown to no less a personage than Samuel Goldwyn on the giant screen at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Although impressive, the experiment yielded no commercial follow-up. Toland outlined the artistic problems of lighting, camera work and editing for 3-D in a 1935 article published in THE NEW YORK TIMES. His interest in creating a 3-D experience seems obviously linked to his masterwork in many films, including, most famously, CITIZEN KANE.