Missing Link (2019) [No 3D Blu-ray]

[rwc]

Originally Posted by BLMN

thats not how it works, if the studio doesnt make you show in at least one screen its up to the theaters at that point and theaters have to see if there is anything they can cancel to fit this in without getting in trouble with other studios it is not as simple as you think.

All I know is that here, from experience, writing to them does work, though not all the time. I have literally lobbied cinema programmers into showing 3D when they weren't planning any slots, or did not show any the previous week. They don't cancel anything else to fit it in, as once the first week is programmed they can't change it; but they can the second week. Also when you say studios I think you mean distributors; they're not always the same.

I will never forget the example of M:I Fallout, where one regional programmer literally disagreed with me by email when I told him it was a 3D film; he replied saying "you're wrong, it's 2D only". I replied with online evidence and he then apologised, saying he had misunderstood the distributor's info (which was provided to him in a new format apparently). He then programmed several 3D slots for the second week, when there had not been any before. You can't make this stuff up.

For Spider-verse, all cinemas in the entire region offered the 2D and 3D only in dubbed French (usually there are some subtitled screenings), and for that a main regional programmer directed my complaint to the guy representing Sony in Switzerland, so I wrote to him and he acknowledged it for the future.
Whatever way you think it works, speaking up is worth a try I think.

[robtadrian]

Had to travel to another state for the only 3D showing in my area (also saw Shazam 3d earlier same theater). Only one there. Enjoyed it - someone mentioned this was a conversion? Very British humor similar to Pirates Band of Misfits

[rwc]

Originally Posted by robtadrian

someone mentioned this was a conversion?

Yep, like all Laika films and also unfortunately it seems all stop-motion films in 3D... Now stop-motion animation produced in native 3D, that would be unmissable! And insanely difficult work to produce, so never going to happen...

[Rickyrockard]

Pretty sure all of Laika’s movies are native 3D

[rwc]

Originally Posted by Rickyrockard

Pretty sure all of Laika’s movies are native 3D

You mean that all their stop-motion animators use 3D cameras, taking 24 images in 3D for every second of film and adjusting the settings of the 3D cameras regularly as well as the animated objects on set?

(*Obviously any CGI they add later is digitally native 3D, but these are stop-motion films and so by native I mean 3D cameras)

[Paul H]

Originally Posted by rwc

You mean that all their stop-motion animators use 3D cameras, taking 24 images in 3D for every second of film and adjusting the settings of the 3D cameras regularly as well as the animated objects on set?

(*Obviously any CGI they add later is digitally native 3D, but these are stop-motion films and so by native I mean 3D cameras)

Yes. Starting with Coraline 3D (2009)

Coraline was shot in stereoscopic 3D, basically doubling the amount of shots needed with each snap taken from a slightly different angle; this was a first for a stop-motion animated feature. The 140,000-square-foot warehouse was divided up into 50 lots, encompassing 150 stages/sets, which included a miniature Victorian mansion (in triplicate to allow for multiple scenes to be animated simultaneously) and a 40-by-60-foot long apple orchard.

Source

[thestrangestick]

Originally Posted by robtadrian

Had to travel to another state for the only 3D showing in my area (also saw Shazam 3d earlier same theater). Only one there. Enjoyed it - someone mentioned this was a conversion? Very British humor similar to Pirates Band of Misfits

What did you think of the 3D?

Know thy audience

[Rickyrockard]

Originally Posted by rwc

You mean that all their stop-motion animators use 3D cameras, taking 24 images in 3D for every second of film and adjusting the settings of the 3D cameras regularly as well as the animated objects on set?

You may be interested to read https://theasc.com/ac_magazine/Septe...ngs/page1.html

The shooting methodology called for a single camera to get both the left- and right-eye views for each frame. The cameras were always mounted to 3D sliders, which remain similar to those used during the production of Coraline; for Kubo, some sliders required extra travel distance in order to accommodate a larger interocular (I/O) — the distance between the left and right "eyes" of the taking cameras — and all of the sliders have been made slightly more compact. Passingham notes that the sliders have a very fine pitch to enable the cameras to travel a fraction of a millimeter with extreme accuracy. "Sometimes [the camera] would be required to move between the left-eye and right-eye position for as many as six separate exposures for a single frame," he explains. "You can imagine the tens of thousands of left- and right-eye movements that were required from these stereo sliders throughout the duration of the production!"
To take full advantage of the 3D effect, the team would sometimes even "animate" the I/O and alignment. "Alignment and convergence are [essentially] the same thing in our world," Passingham clarifies, "although we shoot parallel and do not 'converge' our lenses as was done in films like Avatar. Our [alignment] is constructed after shooting our stereo and is something that is easily changed at the post stage."
As an example, Passingham offers, "There is a scene where Kubo discovers the armor underwater. As he puts the armor on, we increase the I/O and animate the alignment point farther back so he pops forward, in front of the screen plane, for an exaggerated 3D effect.
"Sometimes it's best to play down the most obvious 3D gags and to creep up on the audience," the cinematographer continues. "The effect does not have to be obvious, but it might have more of a psychological effect. I believe that playing with the transitory I/O and alignment effects is the best way of doing this. We've come a long way since the early Fifties when 3D was used in a much cruder and more sensationalist way. These days our approach is with far more subtlety and stealth. You can certainly have your big 3D moments, but it's [about] choosing when to unleash them."

[rwc]

Originally Posted by Paul H

Yes. Starting with Coraline 3D (2009)
Source

Originally Posted by Rickyrockard

You may be interested to read https://theasc.com/ac_magazine/Septe...ngs/page1.html

I stand corrected, thanks for providing the links for Coraline and Kubo - I searched online for native 3D info about Missing Link and all that came up was about their use of new 3D printing techniques for the models. I checked IMDB and saw no one was hired for stereoscopy, and the reports were that Laika's 3D is always weak, so figured it couldn't be native (other than the digital stuff). I confess that I bought all the Laika 3D blu-rays last year but have yet to watch any of them! The reports on the 3D forum haven't been good.

I just checked and Coraline did indeed have two Stereoscopic Consultants credited in 2009, but none of Laika's subsequent films did. I guess they figured the lighting cameramen had learnt all they needed to learn. As it says later in that ASC article about Kubo:

The LCs were then responsible for executing the stereo effects. "We all knew the parameters that we needed to work within to give the audience a good 3D experience," says Passingham. "You want to keep 3D comfortable.

Unfortunately this and 3D reviews in the forum - and again I have yet to judge Laika's 3D for myself - together make it sound as though the LCs (only 4-5 of them at Laika) err on the weak side of 3D, which is a real shame given the significant extra effort, time and money involved...
Given the poor 3D showings for Missing Link I wouldn't be surprised if they don't even bother with stereoscopy on the next film

[jabba359]

I saw Missing Link in 3D and the depth was minimal. There were several times I removed my 3D glasses to see if the scenes were even in 3D and the picture had only very minor blurring without the glasses on, which tells me it was a mild effect. There were a few parts that benefited from 3D (I don't recall exactly which ones, but remember thinking several parts looked great from a 3D perspective). Overall, I don't think this is one that I'll miss that much if there isn't a 3D release.

[Rickyrockard]

Originally Posted by rwc

I searched online for native 3D info about Missing Link and all that came up was about their use of new 3D printing techniques for the models. I checked IMDB and saw no one was hired for stereoscopy

Here ya go: https://www.vulture.com/2019/04/insi...sing-link.html

“Depending on the shot length, it takes about an hour to get the shots into editorial so Chris [Butler] can cut in real time, and we can also view them in the theater in 3-D,” explains Dan Pascall, Laika’s marketing production manager. “We’re shooting in 3-D but we can’t get two cameras close enough together because our increments are tiny.” To solve the problem, Laika developed an automatic slide mount for the camera for Coraline, and have used it ever since. The camera will take one image for the right eye, slide across a couple of millimeters to shoot the same image for the left eye, and then slide back.

[Damon1281]

Originally Posted by jabba359

I saw Missing Link in 3D and the depth was minimal. There were several times I removed my 3D glasses to see if the scenes were even in 3D.

You could have saved yourself all that effort and just closed one eye.

[robtadrian]

Originally Posted by thestrangestick

What did you think of the 3D?

Know thy audience

My favorite shot was the ice bridge. The best 3D scenes were actually the closing credits. To be honest I think my eyes were a bit fatigued after sitting through 2 hours of 3D Shazam just before this, but it was probably the last 3D showing and I definitely wanted to support it.

[rwc]

Originally Posted by robtadrian

My favorite shot was the ice bridge.

That sequence was the most complicated and took about a year to shoot apparently. But the actual shot you may be referring to is probably this shot, which is heavily CG and digital 3D (everything other than the rigged character models), so not surprisingly stronger 3D than the rest of the film:

Missing Link - LAIKA - VFX breakdown - Ice bridge - YouTube

[Smaugone]

Originally Posted by jabba359

I saw Missing Link in 3D and the depth was minimal. There were several times I removed my 3D glasses to see if the scenes were even in 3D and the picture had only very minor blurring without the glasses on, which tells me it was a mild effect. There were a few parts that benefited from 3D (I don't recall exactly which ones, but remember thinking several parts looked great from a 3D perspective). Overall, I don't think this is one that I'll miss that much if there isn't a 3D release.

When we saw Shazam 3D at the local Cinemark, they had a Missing Link 3D 'intro' film clip (a Cinemark 3D presentation or something like that) that looked kind of nice. Made me think the 3D might be good, but the movie wasn't playing in 3D anymore.

[leeza]

No 3D means no purchase for me

[Smaugone]

@rwc, Coraline has a nice 'making of' feature on the BD. Watch the movie first, though.

[bud_brigman]

Originally Posted by leeza

No 3D means no purchase for me

I’ll pull a BumbleBee and buy the 4K for $13.

[mredman]

This movie is only getting a BD release no 3D no 4K. Its one of the biggest flops. 100 million budget it only made 16 million.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by mredman

This movie is only getting a BD release no 3D no 4K. Its one of the biggest flops. 100 million budget it only made 16 million.

no 4K disc, but there is a 4K streaming version available