Wen 丨 Bian Zhengsi
Editor丨Keva
"The screenwriter wrote the script in ChatGPT", "I announced that this is the canonical sequel to "Star Wars movies", "returned to the normal level of Marvel, the ending is wonderful enough"...
As the opening work of the fifth phase of the Marvel Universe, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Frenz" (hereinafter referred to as "Ant-Man 3") has received mixed reviews in the mainland film market, with a Douban score of 6.1, creating a new low in the series. In terms of global markets, the film's IMDB score has dropped to 6.6 points.
In addition to the quality of film content, the film's mainland cinema screening format has also attracted some heated discussions. Some netizens reported that "the 3D version of the film is a 2D conversion for mainland special supply", and they "resolutely defend the right to watch the original 2D version".
Prior to this, there have been similar phenomena in the market, such as the original 2D format "Blade Runner", "Dune", and "007: No Time to Die" when they were released, all of which had a special 3D version in China.
Between the original 2D and the special 3D version, what will consumers and cinemas choose?
China Special Edition 3D Format "Ant-Man 3"
According to data from the two major online ticketing platforms Maoyan and Taoqiao, the current mainland film market "Ant-Man 3" is mainly arranged in 3D versions. For most audiences, it is not easy to find a theater near their residence that screens the original 2D version of the film.
"I don't go to the cinema to see the 3D version because it's pseudo-3D." In an interview with 1905 Movie Network, audience Xiao Wu gave his answer. She believes that the visual effects of this 2D-to-3D movie, which is not shot with a dedicated camera, is not much different from the original.
Of course, there are some viewers who are not sensitive to this. Audience Ms. Wang believes that generally "blockbusters with special effects, go to see special versions of visual effects presentation", and usually do not pay special attention to theatrical film schedules.
"First of all, the special effects of Marvel movies are definitely first-class, so I personally feel that the domestic release of 2D to 3D has a certain role in relying on visual drainage, after all, there are certain fans who still pursue special effects. In addition, in terms of price, the 3D version itself is not much different from the 2D version release price, but it can be operated as a differentiated arrangement for theater operations. In an interview with 1905 Film Network, Ma Yuwu, manager of Shengjia Youshi Cinema, said.
At present, the company's "Ant-Man 3" scheduled at Xiwang International Cinema in Beijing's Mentougou District is a 2D version, and the ticket price is 43 yuan per scene. According to Maoyan Professional Edition theatrical data, from February 17 to February 19, the first week of the release of "Ant-Man 3", the film had a total of 34 screenings in this theater, with a cumulative box office revenue of 7,468 yuan.
Xiwang International Cinema "Ant-Man 3" arrangement
Ma Yuwu said frankly, "The theaters are currently rehearsed in 2D versions, mainly according to the viewing habits of local audiences in the surrounding areas, and 3D films are not too popular." He believes that respecting the viewing habits of surrounding audiences is an important reference for theaters to choose the scheduled version.
In addition, he also said that "there are many theaters that release both 2D and 3D versions, and netizens can still choose the version they like according to their needs." If the film wants to cover up the shortcomings of the content story with gorgeous special effects scenes, it will make the audience visually fatigued, and "netizens are right to defend the right to watch the 2D version".
Located in Fuzhou Gandong Laser Giant Screen Store in Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province, there are both 2D and 3D versions of "Ant-Man 3". Among them, the difference between the two fares is 5 yuan.
Yue Mu Cinema (Fuzhou Gandong Laser Giant Screen Store) "Ant-Man 3" arrangement
"We ranked 2D based on some conditions in the local market, since the film has a 2D version, and there are indeed customers around who recognize 2D. In fact, some moviegoers are reluctant to watch 3D. Chen Lin, the person in charge of Yue Mu Cinema, bluntly said that in addition to some 3D movies with very good post-production effects that are worth watching, I personally still think that the 2D version looks more relaxed and intuitive. For some viewers, 3D glasses are sometimes inconvenient to bring.
In addition, if the 2D version can attract more price-sensitive audiences into theaters, most studios are more than happy to row more or even all of the films. Because the current business philosophy of many theaters is "the number of people is better than the ticket price", compared with the face price of a movie, the theater pays more attention to the number of moviegoers.
According to the fare information combed by the 1905 movie network, the 3D version of "Ant-Man 3" in ordinary cinemas in first-tier cities has a difference of up to about 10 yuan compared with the 2D versions of "The Wandering Earth 2" and "Manjiang Red" in the same period. In second-, third- and fourth-tier cities, the price difference is within 5 yuan.
Under the premise that the difference in ticket prices is not large, theaters are more willing to make small profits and sell more. With limited attendance, theaters may prefer to schedule a 3D version with relatively high ticket prices.
There is a threshold for converting 2D movies to 3D
At present, there are two main mainstream 3D film production modes in the market.
One is to use two 3D cameras to shoot left and right eye images when shooting with a real camera, which is generally called "true 3D"; The other is to post-process 2D images through digital technology to produce left-eye and right-eye images, which is called 2D to 3D, and many people also call it "pseudo-3D".
At present, the operation process of 2D to 3D for theatrical movies is usually divided into three steps.
The first is keying, which simply means that the picture is decomposed into various parts according to the structure, also known as blue-green screen keying synthesis technology; The second is to make depth of field, that is, the decomposed picture is equipped with depth information, mainly divided into depth information extraction and depth map generation, which is also the most important part of converting the flat picture into three-dimensional; The third is matching, the depth map is matched to the original picture for synthesis, and the 3D effect begins to take shape.
In general, there is a big difference between true 3D and converted 3D cinematic effects, the latter cannot achieve 3D effects in many places, and the picture is dark. Therefore, not all 2D movies are suitable for converting to 3D versions. For example, the 3D version of "Dune" released in the mainland in 2021. Due to the fact that the film itself has more night scenes, the light is already insufficient, and the 3D version amplifies the shortcomings of the dark picture of the movie. Therefore, the 2D version of some movies is better than the 3D version.
Of course, there are also some excellent works in 2D to 3D movies.
For example, on the 15th anniversary of the release of "Titanic", director Cameron and his team of hundreds of staff took more than a year to convert the original film into a 3D version. In April 2012, this version of the film was released in mainland China and achieved a re-screening box office of 946 million yuan.
"My personal view has always been that compared with today's 3D films, many technical problems have not been fundamentally solved compared to the 50s of the 20th century: such as corner distortion, perspective relations, and especially foreground distortion. To this day, I have not seen an effective attempt to explore 3D as a new language, or even the emergence of universal self-awareness. 3D is still just a means to enhance visual effects, and it's no wonder it's just a plus in Marvel superhero movies. Previously, in an interview with the media, Peking University professor Dai Jinhua said so.
In Dai Jinhua's view, 3D conversion is a relatively leading mature technology in China today, and the cost is not high, coupled with the latecomer advantage of Chinese films in hardware and market scale, resulting in the unique 3D version of the Chinese market "news".
In addition to the broadcast system, some imported blockbusters even tailor some content to cater to Chinese mainland audience, which is called "China's special version of the movie" by the industry. For example, the Chinese version of "Iron Man 3" has 3 minutes more content than the original version, but domestic audiences do not buy it.
With the increasing aesthetic level of domestic audiences, people's inspection standards for the quality of blockbusters at home and abroad are converging, and good content is always a scarce product in the market. The visual effects presentation of a 3D version of a movie should be to better serve the content expression, and cannot put the cart before the horse.