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U2 3D, by Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington

FESTIVAL OPENS NEW ERA OF 3D CINEMA

The 60th Cannes Festival registered an embarrassing occurrence in the press screening on May 19. Something similar happened when cinema was born, with improvised projections in pubs in Paris and the audience running out when a train coming closer seemed to be breaking into the room. At the special screening of U2 3D, by Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington, there were people calling on the spectators in the front to put their hands down… The hands and arms were of the audience in the film U2 3D, that leapt forward with the excellent third dimension resources specially used to document the U2 concerts around Latin America. The result is this U2 3D, a great 56-minute preview, in the special presentation in Cannes, that will come to theaters in November with total 80 minutes of length. Cinema really moves, not to lose its inventive calling of attracting audiences.

The 3D cinema, nowadays using more sophisticated glasses, has already been more popular, in the 1950’s. It was then an extra attraction to fight the popularization of television. 3D is back in the 21st century to reconquer cinema audiences that have been dragged by other media such as DVD, internet and piracy.

There are advantages in this new birth of 3D. Sophistication lies not only in the new glasses, U2 3D’s production says the film reflects the long tendency of the band to embrace new technologies in their live concerts, and add: “This film has the potential to be as revolutionary for 3D digital cinema as THE JAZZ SINGER was for spoken cinema”.

U2 3D is the first 3D digital film captured live and opens new perspective for cinema with the well-succeeded experiences here. Producer Steve Schklair, a pioneer in 3D digital, says the film is a challenge to the digital cinema era. He used 18 Sony F950 CineAlta Digital cameras, what means the broadest use of cameras with 3D technology that have been used in only one project till now.

The main moments of the U2 show were registered for the film on the band’s concerts in Buenos Aires, with over 80 thousand people in the audience of the River Plate stadium. There are also excerpts of the tour in Santiago de Chile and São Paulo. The film will be shown in theaters with IMAX system.

U2 3D is not only an advance in this new era of 3D cinema. The film, in many moments, convinces us that we are actually seeing the live concert, with big advantage: on the first row, floating over the registered spectators, who we really have the feeling we could ask to get out of the way… That much realism provoked another unseen reaction in the Cannes audience. During the songs the stadium spectators flicker their lighters, the film spectators followed the emotion with the lights of their mobile phones.

Load your mobile for the next screenings of U2 3D. Over 1000 prints will be launched in the USA in theaters with Real D and IMAX 3D technologies...

More information in :
www.festival-cannes.org

English version: Laura Rebessi