CG Animation

Abstract

The previous chapters have been concerned with stereoscopy’s optical illusions and its hyper-haptic field screen. In each case, the embodied relationships produced between viewer and film in flat cinema are modified by, and contingent upon, enhanced illusions of depth and the placement of the film body within an expansive screen space. In the films discussed thus far, emphasis on live action filming (even in films with extensive CG content such as Avatar) conditions discussions of depth relations in the film. The indication of a once live referent that was mechanically recorded (even when known to be heavily manipulated in digital post-production processes) frequently focuses our perception so that we compare our expectations of real-world depth relations with the presentation of depth within the screen space. Within this context, shooting 3D cinema ‘native’ (with two cameras), as opposed to converting single images into stereoscopic sets in post-production, has emerged as a type of gold standard within many debates in 3D cinema’s digital era. In public discussions, trade reports and even critical scholarship, stereoscopic illusions are thus measured by their ability to reproduce reality, no matter how fictional and mediated that reality may be. It is for these reasons that this final chapter turns towards films that are developed entirely through CG imagery, to understand what happens when the relationship between a live referent or pre-existent pro-filmic is more clearly abandoned.¹