Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: U2 3D

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Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 01-28-2008, 02:42 PM:

I dont know if this belongs here or in the LARGE Format Forum.

I saw this this afternoon at the "Verizon IMAX 3D at Jordans Furniture in Reading, Massachusetts". I thought this was PHENOMINAL! I thought the use of 3D was excellent and the sound quality was great! I would reccomend any fan of U2 go out and see this.

Posted by Brian Michael Weidemann (Member # 2243) on 01-28-2008, 04:38 PM:

We had a great turnout for it over the weekend.

I, too, was impressed by the 3D. Lots of slow dissolves and composite shots put something in the background and something else from a different angle in the foreground, so there's a lot of depth to look at.

And the music is strong. While I wouldn't call myself a fan of the band, I don't hate U2 enough to say that it sucked. Watching from the booth, though, it's hard to sit through the whole 85 minutes.

It was shot in digital 3D. I'm pretty sure some of the visual artifacts don't happen any other way. For instance, if there are colored lights behind a white fog, the color is intensified. It doesn't look natural; as if a Photoshop saturation filter is overcompensating. Also, lots of lens flares looked funky.

But, considering the ton of cameras they had to be using, they did pretty good shooting and editing this thing.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 02-04-2008, 08:50 PM:

I enjoyed this and found it entertaining. Having said that, it could have been better. I don't think that the image quality really held up on an Imax screen, and I thought that the sound mix used a bit too much dynamic compression (or maybe that is just the way that the concert sounded). This is not to say that the image and sound quality were bad...just that they weren't as perfect as they could have been.

Still, it was fun, and the 3D effect actually did seem to add to the experience. I can't really comment on the quality of the 3D (my 3D vision is somewhat lacking), but everyone seemed to enjoy the screening.

I can definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys U2's music, but I do hope that if and when this is done again it is actually filmed in Imax instead of whatever this was shot with (some form of HD video?).

Posted by Brian Michael Weidemann (Member # 2243) on 02-05-2008, 04:51 AM:

The sound was definitely compressed. I've managed to boost the volume from preset quite a few clicks, and none of the amps peak in the red. Before opening this film, we got memos from the distribution folks saying to crank it up higher than normal (along with some other "suggestions" for "improving" the presentation). While it was by no means quiet at "normal" volume, the mix can definitely be run a bit higher without blowing anything out ... at least, so far, for us.

The whole show is equally loud, to simulate a real concert, I imagine. A concert venue has the speaker arrays that can blow ours out of the water; after all, we're a movie house, not a 10,000-seat amphitheatre.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-05-2008, 04:20 PM:

To me, the lower sound level would be the best reason to see a rock concert in a movie theatre. Live concerts are more about being in the same room with the artist for many people, less about listening.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-23-2008, 12:26 AM:

Location: Carmike 8, Lawton, OK
Auditorium: #4 (THX)
Format: Real D/2K DLP Flat/LPCM 5.1
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 4

I watched U23D this evening and had a great time. For some odd reason not too many people attended the 9:30pm show. Perhaps there's not that many U2 fans in Lawton, Oklahoma. But that's their loss. I want to see this show again. U2 did an excellent job on stage. Those guys are starting to get old, but they still have all their chops.

The 3D quality was very good. Somehow the 3D effect held up very well despite lots of cameras dissolves from one shot to another and various shots with multiple camera angles superimposed in the same image. Some of the best 3D shots were long lensed shots looking at Bono and other band members through layers and layers of people in the crowd. The only time the 3D got iffy was when bright spotlights would shine directly into the camera.

My favorite song performances in this concert movie were New Year's Day, Pride (In the Name of Love), Sunday Bloody Sunday and The Fly -which featured layers of 3D animated text and graphics on screen superimposed over the band and the giant LED jumbotrons on the stage.

There's some political and religious overtones in this show, but I think the messages sent by the band are very positive. Some of what took place in this concert reminds me of the incredible halftime show U2 performed at the Super Bowl in 2002 (which, IMHO, was the best Super Bowl halftime show ever).

This show had a great sounding audio mix. Very active use of the surrounds. Vocals are even placed in the surrounds from time to time. Pretty good bass quality. If there's one criticism that can be made, it's that the audio sounds a lot more clean and clear in this "re-engineered for surround" mix than what you would hear if you were there watching this concert live.

The reason why I don't give this a perfect 4 out of 4 stars review is I felt the concert was too short in length. Some big hits like I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For and Desire were omitted. I would have also liked to see some of the band's earliest hits performed, such as I Will Follow.

Anyone who considers themselves a fan of U2 has to see this show. I think lots of people into good rock music will find at least some of it enjoyable. The concert movie is Rated G and family friendly. So take the kids and force some "old school" rock music onto them!
[evil]

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 02-23-2008, 10:35 PM:

Today at Regal 15 in Eugene, #15, in Real D, NEC 2K DLP.

"Rattle and Hum" remains one of my more memorable moviegoing experiences to this day. It played in Dolby SR in a THX-Certified house, back when THX still meant something (Edwards Charter Centre) and they played it as loud as possible without putting the system into "distress". It was a totally immersive concert film experience and it sounded pretty damn good.

"U2 3D" rises almost to that level. U2's old-school music still holds up very well and this concert footage captures the magic. The 3D definitely adds to the experience. It was plenty loud, but if it were up to me I'd have played it a little louder. [Smile]

About 10 or 12 years ago, U2 was gearing up for a big concert tour, and they played a sort of warmup gig here in Eugene at Autzen Stadium. Although I didn't go (regrettably), it was reportedly the loudest such event ever in Eugene. The stadium is about 3 miles from where I live as the crow flies, and I could hear most of the music well enough from my backyard to recognize it all. Some grumpy residents living nearby the stadium were up in arms over the noise, and I believe Eugene passed a new noise ordinance as a result of the complaints about U2. [Big Grin]

Need I say it: Play it LOUD! [beer]

Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 02-25-2008, 12:55 AM:

I've been anticipating this coming to our theater for weeks. I saw it tonight and was not disappointed! I was the only one in the theater, which was fine by moi. It didn't have the 3-D look like Hannah Montana (stuff flying thru the air, drum sticks coming at you, etc). But it looked crisp and I don't think the U2 auidence was geared to that kind of fluff anyway. The words popping out during The Fly was fun.

The only let down for me was the end. I wish they would have picked a bit more of a upbeat song to end the concert with. It seemed like it just ended without a big bang. As for the sound, it was fine, but I was tempted to sneek upstairs and hook up the hearing assistance headphones for myself just to see how it would sound [Smile]

Kudos to U2 for playing Miss Sarajevo from the Passengers soundtrack! Never thought I'd hear that one in this 'movie'. Now if they could only do a Rush or Pink Floyd 3-D concert and I'd be set.

Did anyone watching it have the Fly Me To The Moon trailer on it? I've seen that trailer twice and each time it hurts my eyes.

Posted by Mike Schindler (Member # 1309) on 02-25-2008, 01:59 AM:

I recently read this article on 3D that James Cameron wrote for HD Video Pro Magazine (yeah, yeah). In it, he describes how the new philosophy behind HD photography, which movies like U23D are using, differs from 3D movies of the past. I'm sure all of this has already been discussed at great length, but for whatever reason this was the first time it really clicked with me.

Basically, the old way of thinking was that the point of convergence should be equal to the viewing distance. In other words, since the average viewing distance is approximately 30 feet from the screen, the point of convergence was set to 30 feet as well.

The result is stuff like the FLY ME TO THE MOON trailer. Most objects that you're looking at are "closer" than 30 feet, so your eyes have to converge them, which isn't a natural thing for them to do.

The new way of thinking is that the point of convergence should be set to whatever object you're actually looking at, much like focus. For example, if the point of interest is Bono, and he's standing 10 feet away from the camera, the point of convergence is also 10 feet. By doing this, your eyes don't have to converge the image, because it's already converged in the footage.

I'm sure I'm not doing a good job of explaining this, but I think that's why U23D looks so great, and FLY ME TO THE MOON causes eye strain. Luckily, it seems like most movies these days are adopting the new way of thinking.

P.S. Allison, I got a can with one of your robots a few weeks ago.

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 02-25-2008, 02:02 AM:

quote: Allison Parsons
Now if they could only do a......Pink Floyd 3-D concert and I'd be set.

Heyyyyyyyyyy, now you're talkin'! [thumbsup]

We've yet to show this, starts April 10 here (we have Hannah Montana open in a few weeks) and despite not being a U2 fan I'm very interested to see how the 3D suits a live concert. Considering it was only the 3D immersion factor which made Beowulf great, I suspect it will do wonders for a concert movie.

Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 02-25-2008, 02:37 AM:

quote: Mike Schindler
P.S. Allison, I got a can with one of your robots a few weeks ago.

Woohoo! My robots live on! Highly doubt you remember the date I put in there, but if you do please let me know.

I hope they can fix whatever is killing my eyes in Fly Me To The Moon. If not, I'll probably have to skip that one.

Posted by Mike Schindler (Member # 1309) on 02-25-2008, 02:41 AM:

I don't remember a date, but it did say something like, "Digital sucks. Viva La Film."

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 02-25-2008, 01:36 PM:

At least once in the concert, Bono's 3D image appears very close to the audience while he's performing. But the vocals are (naturally) coming from well behind him, behind the screen. Kind of like having 3D video but 2D audio. Someone needs to work on that. [Wink]

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-25-2008, 03:01 PM:

quote: Allison Parsons
I hope they can fix whatever is killing my eyes in Fly Me To The Moon. If not, I'll probably have to skip that one.

There definitely is something pretty screwed up in that movie trailer. The 3D just seems really exaggerated. I felt like I was going cross-eyed looking at the imagery.

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 02-26-2008, 02:30 AM:

I've seen it three times now at three different venues and in both formats.

1st Screening: Universal Citywalk; Universal City, CA (Imax)
2nd Screening: Arizona Mills; Tempe, AZ (Imax)
3rd Screening: AMC Burbank 16; Burbank, CA (Digital)

Obviously, I think the film is great! Much of what I'd say about the film has already been said by others. Presentation-wise, I give a performance edge to the digital version. In the Imax presentations, the sound had that compressed characteristic others have mentioned.

[fu]

to the AMC Burbank 16 for playing several family-friendly trailers (in 2-D) and the first five minutes of "Hannah Montana..." before realizing they started the wrong movie! And then, once "U2 3D" began a few minutes later, the first couple of minutes were in 2-D and with houselights up. Oh, the joy of two movies sharing a screen.

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 02-26-2008, 08:37 PM:

I'm actually glad I didn't make it to the IMAX showing. The presentation at the Edwards Bakersfield 14 was great, and the sound was as well (were these different mixes? Imax vs Digital 3-D? I thought IMAX used uncompressed digital as well). I've soured a bit on IMAX presentations as of late. Even the 15/70 originals seem to be less clear than before ( are they using digital intermediates these days for true Imax?)

Anyway, appropriate previews were shown (the Rolling Stones/Martin Scorcese project, for one). Interestingly, as I went to the first show of opening night, I too was aprehensive if they would show Hannah Montana by mistake, but they didn't).

Posted by Phil Ranucci (Member # 3820) on 02-26-2008, 11:25 PM:

[QUOTE] [fu] to the AMC Burbank 16 for playing several family-friendly trailers (in 2-D) and the first five minutes of "Hannah Montana..." before realizing they started the wrong movie! And then, once "U2 3D" began a few minutes later, the first couple of minutes were in 2-D and with houselights up. Oh, the joy of two movies sharing a screen.

That's one of my beefs with the Kodak Cineserver-movies are listed as 'Playlist 1' and 'Playlist 2'. They don't actually use titles.

Posted by Brian Michael Weidemann (Member # 2243) on 02-27-2008, 03:29 PM:

quote: Paul Linfesty
I thought IMAX used uncompressed digital as well

True, the IMAX DTAC system uses an uncompressed WAV format to store the digital sound information (as far as I know). But that's not to be confused with dynamic compression in the original waveform, which is common enough in sound editing, way before the mastering process.

Posted by Mike Schulz (Member # 4297) on 02-29-2008, 05:16 AM:

I saw this at The Bridge in imax here in Los Angeles. The audio was fan-freaking-tastic and you could tell they really worked hard mixing it to sound like you were at the venue. I wasn't impressed with the picture as much. The 3D looked really good, but the image was soft. The blowup from the HD source looked like, well, a blowup from an HD source [Smile]

This is also playing at the Arclight in Dolby 3D with a NEC 2k projector. I enjoyed it much more there. The picture was sharp and looked great and the audio was ever bit as good as the imax.

U2-3D = 8/10
Imax presentation = 7/10
Dolby 3D presentation = 10/10

I will let you know that I might be somewhat biased due to the fact I am not a fan of any of the imax dmr blowups, but this film was especially noticeable.