Exploring Creativity and Technology

This past weekend I went to see the new “U2 3D” (http://www.u23dmovie.com/) concert film at my local AMC. Very cool movie! 3D has definitely come a long way with this new technology developed by 3alitydigital. U2 is one of my favorite bands, however I believe that the 3D tech far outshined the concert itself. Definitely worth seeing in the theater to get the best experience from the effect.

The concert itself, from the Vertigo tour, was okay – sort of a stripped down version of the PopMart and ZooTV tours the past. Shots of Bono in messianic poses, Edge sporting standard skull cap, and Mullen looking sort of robotic on the drums are all really cool in 3D – especially the overhead shots of the drums. However that’s basically the whole concert – not a lot of visual variety other than the lighting effects and different angles on the crowd and stage. I found that the 3D had the side effect of making the band appear rather small and more human rather than “larger-than-life” as in most concert films. You got a sense of just how freaking huge the stadium is, how much space there is between members of the band on stage, and the depth of people in the audience. At times I felt like I was viewing the concert via Google Earth, which was great, but somehow left me feeling more of a “detached observer” than intimately engaged in the show. It was really cool to see each cone of spotlight in deep perspective. Truly, this is realistic 3D. It’s a long way from “Spacehunters: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone”… (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacehunter:_Adventures_in_the_Forbidden_Zone)

It was also cool to see the 3D space used by graphics and video collage – transitions between shots were often interesting as some elements faded in/out in the foreground (appearing to float in the middle of the theater) and others in the background. A couple sequences used words flying out at you in 3D, mirroring the graphics on the stage displays. Overall, the 3D effect and the cinematography itself was more often the star of this movie than the band or the music. There didn’t feel like any real progression or climax to the film – it just sort of ended at some point. I was too involved with watching the visuals to get stirred up by the music, and from what I could tell most of the crowd in my theater were transfixed and quiet, not seemingly too excited by the music end of it. Not to say the band wasn’t good – they are extremely well-polished at this point, and Bono’s vocals were awesome, especially a bit of operatic voice he showed off at one point. I guess the movie was presented more as just a realistic view of the show. You are here, watching it as it happened (although from what I’ve read, it was stitched together from a few different shows in South America and Australia, and even one show without an audience to get close-up shots of the band – so maybe that’s one reason the concert seemed to feel “flat” to me). There’s no behind-the-scenes or anything to give it the sort of dramatic framework or momentum toward a climax as most concert films. But if you like U2, or are just interested in seeing a really incredible 3D effect, you should really check this movie out while it’s still around. Most theaters only have one or two viewings of it because I believe they are actually streaming it live via satellite, so check it out soon!