Cave of Forgotten Dreams

[Mike Yonts]

I saw this last night and found the subject very interesting. The 3D, however...

For the first ten minutes or so, it seemed to me that something was seriously wrong with the 3D. (I'm speaking as a guy with no experience in 3D production.) It was like the world was turned inside out, with far-away things coming out at me and the rest of the frame just a jumble. I tried putting the glasses on upside down and that seemed to help on some shots. I went out and said something to the manager. A guy with a walkie talkie came in, and somewhere in there the 3D seemed to be better. I honestly don't know if there was something going on with the projection, or if my brain just wasn't putting the 3D together at first. It was shown in the RealD system. I'd love it if anybody has an idea about why it could have looked the way it did.

After the 3D sorted itself out, for whatever reason, I did think that on many shots it helped give a sense of the contours of the cave. Other times I longed for a nice clean 2D shot.

I got to see some of the cave art of southern France several years ago (the ones that tourists could go in), so if nothing else it was great to be reminded of that.

 

[Zac C]

I saw this last night and found the subject very interesting. The 3D, however...

For the first ten minutes or so, it seemed to me that something was seriously wrong with the 3D. (I'm speaking as a guy with no experience in 3D production.) It was like the world was turned inside out, with far-away things coming out at me and the rest of the frame just a jumble. I tried putting the glasses on upside down and that seemed to help on some shots. I went out and said something to the manager. A guy with a walkie talkie came in, and somewhere in there the 3D seemed to be better. I honestly don't know if there was something going on with the projection, or if my brain just wasn't putting the 3D together at first. It was shown in the RealD system. I'd love it if anybody has an idea about why it could have looked the way it did.

After the 3D sorted itself out, for whatever reason, I did think that on many shots it helped give a sense of the contours of the cave. Other times I longed for a nice clean 2D shot.

I got to see some of the cave art of southern France several years ago (the ones that tourists could go in), so if nothing else it was great to be reminded of that.

I know nothing about projecting 3d..

But when wearing Anaglyph (red+blue) glasses viewing a anaglyph image, flipping the glassed around will make the rear of the image pop out, while the front is pushed to the back..

So maybe they had the polarizing filters switched?

 

[Mike Yonts]

That's what I thought it was at the time, and why I tried turning over the glasses. But I don't know if that's a mistake that's even possible to make in the projection booth.

 

[Greg Huson]

We had pretty much the same experience - though I don't remember the 3d being backwards, exactly, but regularly confusing and whacked out. I really would of preferred a 2-d version of this movie. We've also been lucky enough to visit one of the smaller caves in the Dordogne about 1998- obviously not the same cave- and my fuzzy memory was sharper than this film!

I was very excited to see this pic, but came out of the film a little queasy, and even less enthusiastic about 3d. There were actually a few shots that looked like they'd been given a hand-made 'kid stays in the picture' rotoscope 3-d... err... what's it called? Post-extraction? Where the roto work was 'loose,' so the focus change was in mid-air, rather than on a natural boundary. Almost trippy- like the original 'predator' effect.

Not to mention, the film was low contrast and color, overall kinda brown. Definitely a case where the 3d detracted from the subject, rather than added to it. The radio control helicopter stuff was pretty cool, at least conceptually.

Go to France, see the real thing. As much as I'd like to help keep theaters that show art films stay in business, I'd wait for the 2D dvd on this one.

 

[Mike Yonts]

'kid stays in the picture' rotoscope 3-d... err... what's it called? Post-extraction? Where the roto work was 'loose,' so the focus change was in mid-air, rather than on a natural boundary.

Yeah, that was pretty weak--he mentioned at the beginning that their first trip inside the cave was with a non-professional camera, so that scene must have been made out of that footage.

 

[Joe Taylor]

I saw it last week and found the 3D so poorly shot/projected and distracting that I could not stop myself from wishing that I was experiencing an otherwise fine film in 2D. By the halfway point, I was taking the glasses off for the scenes that weren't shot in the cave. The interviews were especially misdirected and made some of his subject look like grotesque caricatures. 3D in movies is not a representation of reality... far from it, and when done below par is a disaster. It's a cheap gimmick and I hope Herzog chocks this one up as a learning experience.

 

[Paul Lee]

Dissapointing to hear, but I'll still see it. Maybe they make a nice clean Blu Ray?

 

[Mike Yonts]

I can't help but picture those Cro-Magnons sitting around the fire:

"Did you see Og's 2-D animals in the cave?"

"Yeah, they're certainly less dangerous than 3-D animals, but somehow not as satisfying."

"A Neanderthal could have done better!"

(Laughter all around.)

 

[Wolfgang Woehl]

That's what I thought it was at the time, and why I tried turning over the glasses. But I don't know if that's a mistake that's even possible to make in the projection booth.

Yes, absolutely. Either server/media block side or pola filter side (dual projector setup). Get your money back.

Peter Zeitlinger's account (2nd article down the page) is a blood-curling story about the problems they had to tackle in the making of Cave of Forgotten Dreams. One could argue that if you realize that the level of problems is too high you should simply step back and return when in better shape. But that is not how Herzog ticks. He does not flinch, ever.

They did have better cameras in the second part and it shows, of course. Also probably none of us will ever be able to go inside the cave, with access being strictly limited. So I'm grateful to have seen what Herzog and crew managed to get out of it.