Sample Page: 3D Advertising

From Metapedia

1 "Believe Your Eyes" - 3D Marketing
2 3D Films
3 Past 3D Advertising
- 3.1 1950s
4 References

"Believe Your Eyes" - 3D Marketing

Image source: 3D Stereo

As Avatar smashes every record known to man and 3D further proves itself to be a viable technology (or at least, one that is being applied to several upcoming films), I find myself interested not just in the process itself, but in the way it's being marketed to us loyal film fans. Says Joe Producer:

"We want to make the process, as well as the film itself, interesting. 3D is not restricted to the film alone; it can be recognized as an individual technique."

Usually, 3D is promoted in the film's trailer. We see the preview, say "ooh and ahh," and then the studio adds a cherry on top (or induces a groan, depending on the film) by stating, "In 3D!" This will also appear on the poster and other promotional materials, and rightly so. No movie studio is going to make a film in 3D and then let audiences figure out the process for themselves. Furthermore, they want to emphasize how awesome the process actually is (or how they want us to believe it is), lending to the use of terms like "Amazing 3D," "Eye-Popping 3D," and the like. It reminds me of old-time marketing where terms like "In Glorious Technicolor" were all the rage. On a side note, wouldn't it be fun to add such advertising to the most basic or common of film elements? "Marvelous editing!" "Fantastic focus!" "Luminous lighting!" But I digress.

The reverse dependence is emphasized here visually, as the 3D process promotes the films in this standee

What I find really interesting, though, is that 3D advertising is not relegated simply to the film in question. In theaters today you will find promotion for the technology itself. I've gone to many a theater where posters and standees advertising 3D technology alone are mixed in with the movie promotional materials. The fact that the technology is being detached from specific films themselves really speaks to 3D's staying power, or at least, the desire of film studios to increase this power. Rather than present the format as something dependent on a film, it is almost creating a reverse dependence, in that it is a burgeoning technology that films are lucky to possess. It's an independent entity that is growing in prominence and popularity, and everyone - films and audiences alike - should see it as such.

Furthermore, the language of current 3D marketing fascinates me in the context of viewing 3D as the creation of cinematic virtual realities. Most of the advertising I see for the technology emphasizes it as an "experience." Such language suggests that this is not something one simply sees; rather, one is completely immersed in a given narrative's progression as if the progression were his or her own. Thus, there (potentially) exists a greater connection with the film in question than found when one simply "watches." This language also expands to what studios actually call the 3D process. While still largely referred to as "3D," several advertisements tinker with the name to include such titles as "RealVision 3D" and, my personal favorite, "Real-D." Even the 3D Dolby slogan, "Believe Your Eyes," demonstrates the desire of these companies to emphasize the realistic qualities of the 3D process, almost suggesting that the process is making real(istic) what was previously seen as pure construction and fantasy.

Just how realistic these worlds actually become is left to the individual audience member. Most people do not actually believe that these 3D worlds are real, but then again, they also know that any virtual reality construction is just that - virtual. For the time being, though, these virtual constructions provide a bit of an escape into a fantasy world, one that requires our imagination for its existence to seem valid, but one that also helps its audience along with various technological advancements. It seems that the marketing campaign behind 3D views the technology as one that helps with the viewing of cinema as a virtual reality - or at least, would like us to think so.

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