An Elevation in Digital Cinema: U2 in 3D

Jan 7 2008 5:36PM EST

An Elevation in Digital Cinema: U2 in 3D

When Peter Shapiro, a producer at 3ality Digital Entertainment needed a rock band to showcase the company's new Digital 3D camera technology, for him, there was only one: U2.

"U2 is the greatest live band in the world," he said.

The resulting film, U2 3D—which makes its debut at the Sundance Film Festival this month—is the beginning of a new era in live event cinema.

I just returned from a press screening at the Dolby 88 theater in midtown Manhattan, and I can tell you that the film—which was culled from 100 hours of live 3D concert footage shot during U2's 2006 Vertigo tour—is the most intense live concert film I've ever seen.

"This is first live action film to be shot and exhibited in Digital 3D format," Shapiro said in an interview. "It's a new way to experience music and a new way to experience cinema." Wearing 3D glasses, I felt as if I could reach out and touch Bono and the Edge during raucous performances of Elevation, Beautiful Day, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Where the Streets Have No Name, and the film's climax, One.

Viewing the film, which is garnering rave reviews one feels less as if one is at the concert, and more as if one is in the concert - or more precisely hovering above it.

At several points, the camera peers down over drummer Larry Mullen's kit at what feels like a distance of about three feet. At other times, Bono appears to literally reach through the screen as if he is about to touch the film's audience. At one point, I actually flinched as bassist Adam Clayton swung his instrument toward the camera.

The 3D cameras swoop around the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, displaying stunning 3D footage of nearly 100,000 U2 fans. Shapiro said the choice of Buenos Aires was critical, because South American rock audiences are on "another level" than North American and even European audiences.

Overlaid on top of the concert footage are visual effects. Various song lyrics are flashed on the screen, for example, and at one point Bono appears to be drawing florescent images in the air, at a distance of a few feet from the audience.

At another point, the text of United Nations Declaration of Human Rights is overlaid on top on the concert footage, as Bono reads portions of it.

Shapiro, one of the film's producers, said that seven camera systems were used, each one containing two separate cameras to provide the 3D effect. He declined to say how much the film cost, but the film's budget is believed to be north of $10 million.

The potential for 3D films of live events is enormous. Imagine watching a live football game in 3D, or a 3D video news story from the front lines of a major breaking story.

"We're looking at an array of other uses for this technology," Shapiro said, including sports, live events, theater, and feature films.

The film will debut at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, before opening in Imax theaters on January 24. On February 15, the film will begin its wide release on some of the 1000 digital 3D screens in North America.

Sam Gustin

http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/daily-brief/2008/01/07/an-elevation-in-digital-cinema-u2-in-3d