Three-dimensional stereoscopic film (known as 3D film) is a motion picture, or movie, with an added sense of depth to appear as though it has three dimensions. 3D film techniques have matured over the last century, starting with the anaglyph format, and maturing to the use of polarized lenses, which is what is commonly used today. (See definitions below.)
Timeline Origins and Beginnings 3D film started out in the late 19th and 20th century, first patented by William Friese-Greene as having two films projected side by side onto a screen in the late 1890s. Later in 1915, Edwin S. Porter showed tests to an audience in New York City using red-cyan anaglyph. The first 3D film to be viewed by an out-of-house audience goes to The Power of Love, shown in 1922 to the Ambassador Hotel Theatre. It also used the red-cyan anaglyph format with glasses. As the Great Depression swept through the States in the early 30s, 3D movie production slowed down with it, but still leaving the odd success story, as with Audioscopiks, which won an Academy Award in 1936. Polarization was also developed in the thirties, by Edwin H. Land, but because of the cost, it never really took off. It wasn't until the 50s when 3D started to have a big boom.
3D film boom, "golden era" The fifties started off the first 3D film boom with the first ever colour 3D film, Bwana Devil, made in 1952. Other films followed, those such as House of Wax, and Dial M for Murder. House of Wax was also the first 3D film to use stereophonic sound. Later, in 1953, Walt Disney Studios started producing films in 3D. The most common way to show these movies was by dual strip, which involved the use of two projectors. The end of this "golden era" happened around 1954-1955, when 3D films went into decline.
3D film revival and rebirth 3D made a bit of a comeback in the start of the 70s with the creation of single strip format, which printed the two images side by side, but really didn't come back until the early 80s with the creation of more 3D films as well as some 3D movies from the 50s being brought back into theatres. The real beginning though of the popularity of 3D films didn't start until IMAX joined the scene in 1985. IMAX introduced the use of polarized glasses at the Expo 86 in Vancouver in a short presentation film called Transitions, with the 1990 film Echoes of the Sun being the first film to use alternate-eye shutterglass technology since the screen that the film was being viewed on already included the polarization technology . This phase went on until 2003.
Today Today's film technology has been advanced since 2003 with the use of higher quality computer animation alongside digital video capture and digital production. The Polar Express was a real turning point as IMAX's first full-length 3D animation feature and before that, the Titanic documentary Ghosts of the Abyss which was made with a reality camera system. 3D films continued to be made all throughout the 2000s, with Avatar being one of the most expensive films ever, and also the highest grossing. Currently though, among all the popularity of 3D, statistics show that its viewings are declining, with films such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Captain America: The First Avenger and Brave all having lower 3D viewings compared to 2D, though many filmmakers are still keen on re-releasing previously 2D films into 3D, such as Titanic, the first six Star Wars films, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King.
Anaglyphic Film Anaglyphic Film is the use of complementary colours (most commonly used are red and cyan) to create the illusion of 3D when viewed through corresponding lenses in glasses. The glasses will use the same complementary colours that are being applied on the film and each of the lenses will be shaded with one of the colours (ex. red on the left and cyan on the right.) Doing so, your brain is given a different perspective from each eye, from where it will combine the 2 to create the 3D image you see in front of you.
Polarized Film To create the 3D effect, polarized film uses the fact that light can be polarized, which means to give it different orientations, so what will happen is that there will be light projected horizontally into one eye, while the other has light projected vertically into it. A problem is created though when you move your head off-center, as then the light is not being projected correctly, so to fix this problem polarized films use rotational polarity, which sends one wave of light to one eye clockwise, and the other counterclockwise so that your head can move and not have the viewing of the film messed up.