FILMS AND THE STUDIOS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 478, 6 October 1928, Page 25

FILMS AND THE STUDIOS

HE THIRD DIMENSION—QCREENLAND is a realm where there are but two dimensions. To-day, when the world is watching the enormous strides being made by motion pictures in the direction of sound- and speech accompaniments , it is interesting to reflect that science has not been able to fill solidly the gulf yatoning between the image of reality and. photographic reproduction. A film study has length and breadth but no depth. No matter how clever the photography or how cunning the lighting and arrangement of the setting, the trouble cannot be overcome. Like any picture in any magazine, the scene remains as flat as the homely pancake. The root of the difficulty lies in the fact that all pictures are printed on or projected to a flat surface. Our eyes recognise that all details are at equal distance and, without mechanical trickery operated between the eyes and the picture, it is impossible to deceive them. Sometimes a touch of genius will make a picture "stand out " more clearly than usual. The beauti-fully-achieved perspective of a famous painting, or the remarkable so-called trick photography introduced by Continental directors, may minimise the loss of the third dimension. Nevertheless, the best of pictures do not stand out in the bold relief of a natural scene. It is possible to create a third dimension by the use of the stereoscope, a mechanical device by which the eyes are made to function separately, and all sorts of experiments have been made with the object of adapting this to the cinema. It has been recognised, however, that such schemes are impracticable.