STEREOSCOPIC FILM

Gisborne Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 10189, 29 December 1925, Page 3

STEREOSCOPIC FILM

THIRD DIMENSION ON SCREEN'.

THROUGH COLOURED SPECTACLES. ■■

UNCANNY EFFECTS,

Practically everyone lias looked through a stereoscope and seen figures standing out as if they were real. “Stereoscopic,” a new method of taking films, is based on the same principle, but instead of looking through a stereoscope one looks through spectacles in which. there are . two gelatin discs—a blue one for the left eye, and a red one for the right. The effect is uncanny.

A private exhibition of the apparatus, for which it is claimed that it puts the third dimension on the screen, was described recently by the New Zealand Times. The first film shown was extremely comic. Those present were instructed to look through the blue disc only, and on doing so saw a beautiful bathing girl disporting herself on what appeared to be an ice pack. “Now look with the right eye,” Avas the order, and the bathing girl changed to a Kaffir woman and her child doing the family Avashing. On opening the left eye the bathing girl reappeared. THROUGH BOTH DISCS.

After that the fun started. The audience were told to look through both discs. Far in the distanpe were seen tho head and arms of a' young woman. Nearer and nearer they came, until they seemed to he only a few inches from the eyes. Thereupon the damsel started to. stretch, the gum which she was chewing. Her hand appeared to be in mid-air. She stretched the gum, and her head and arms then disappeared into the distance once more. Then there appeared a skull, the eyes of which came out from the screen. After that came a man who was pointing a gun at those watching. When he approached to what seemed about six inches from the eyes lie fired, and the smoke seemed to fill the air. Everyone gave an involuntary shudder.

The most realistic of all the subjects followed next. A cowboy, sauntered out from nowhere, and stood stilt for a moment. He stooped . down, picked up a lariat and threw it out. So natural was this that the frightened audience drew; back in their chairs, and several gave cries of alarm. SCENERY IN PERSPECTIVE. Tho next film was entitled “The Runaway Taxi,” and served to illustrate how well the third dimension is suited to scenic films. The effect was novel and beautiful. Hitherto on the silver sheet, no matter how beautiful tho scenery may be, there, has always been a flat look about objects. There is not the true sense of distance that one sees when looking at real scenery. By looking through the glasses one sees everything “stand out” in detail. In one part of this film the audience is taken for a. ride on a switch-back railwav. Those who fear sea sickness or train sickness should not look at this. . The views taken from the tons ot high buildings are wonderful. Those who get giddy when looking down from a height will soon realise that they are not looking at an ordinary film. Seen without the colored spectacles the pictures are nothing but a confused mass of blue and red shadows and blurs. Stereoscopic films are probably the greatest novelty of the kind since the “movies” began. They give true perspective to all figures, and should it improved a little go a long way towards making the pictures an even greater source of delight than they are now. The amusement which they caused to about twenty people "as sufficient to show liow popular they will become.