Well, it seems the discussion is less about light sabres (vfx reputedly done by a South Korean animation studio for George Lucas) than just what exactly Princess Leia’s message was really about. Last week at ShoWest, stumping for Texas Instruments’ DLP Cinema projectors and digital 3D projection, James Cameron said, I’m a man on a mission when it comes to 3D. I will be making all of my films in 3D in the future… Soon audiences will associate 3D with the highest level of visual content in the market, and seek out that premium experience…

Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
The success of a 1952 low-budget live-action 3D adventure feature, Bwana Devil — go figure — sparked a run on “stereoscopic cinema,” as it was known then. Hollywood has long been a lover of gadgetry and science. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I mean, scratch and sniff films? Jaws 3D was one of the only movies I have ever walked out on. Bored or scared, you ask? Bored silly. But the effect worked. (Sort of like when I saw Burnt Offerings in high school one weekend and then went back a second weekend and they showed the reels out of sequence.)

‘Will the Jamaican flag colors of holography (from the Greek holos, “whole,” and gramma, meaning “message”) finally merge live, animation and visual effects? And what we will bring from cyberspace into our space? That is the question because cyberspace is where the rules are being established, as we speak, for the physics of virtual cinema.

Muybridge’s work was essential in the evolution of animation.

In an online article called “Mudding: Social Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual Realities” by Pavel Curtis, I found this description of a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon or Multi-User Dimension): “…a network-accessible, multi-participant, user-extensible virtual reality whose user interface is entirely textual. Participants (usually called players) have the appearance of being situated in an artificially-constructed place that also contains those other players who are connected at the same time. Players can communicate easily with each other in realtime. This virtual gathering place has many of the social attributes of other places, and many of the usual social mechanisms operate there. Certain attributes of this virtual place, however, tend to have significant effects on social phenomena, leading to new mechanisms and modes of behavior not usually seen ‘IRL’ (in real life.)” Online gaming, videoconferencing, telecommuting, VR goggles/gloves, etc. are the warm up to commercial, industrial telepresence… over here. The blending of inner and outer space. As well as individual, customized storytelling and uncustomary role-playing. Cyber-psychiatry, even.

The Matrix triptych was the start of preparing our collective psyche for the leap to Ubermensch on the live side… and Batman, Spider-Man, The Hulk, X-Men and scores of other films have been preparing us on the other, cartoon side. (You know, in most countries in the world, most comicbooks are religious? And, believe me, the Marvel pantheon, for example, says no less about the human condition and aspirations than The Mahabharata.)

Polar Express, Sky Captain, the latest Star Wars trilogy, Harry Potter, The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings… it’s amazing how many of these movies have become sequels. Franchises. Fables. Has Hollywood found the Yellow Brick Road? What would Joseph Campbell say?

Somewhere, over the rainbow, is holography. But, for the moment, “integral stereograms,” the only type of holography to feature conventional movie technology and moving images, are where we left off the discussion in the Mainstream on holography. Digital vfx pioneer and author, Isaac Kerlow (The Art of 3D Computer Animation and Effects), says “I have followed holography since its early days, and I am still waiting to see an example that delivers on all of the early promises. I think that holography is a great idea and a cool gadget, but it does not have the resolution or dynamic range to handle high quality animation or visual effects.” The desire for “virtainment” (virtual reality entertainment), however, will drive cyberspace into the waiting arms of technology and consumerism, the garden variety and the intellectual kind.