ewp (08/31/82)
I think back in the 50's there were a number of movies made in both 2-D and
3-D because it was thought that 3-D was the wave of the future. As we
know 3-D fever died out resulting in very limited runs of 3-D versions of
many well known movies. Hitchcock's "Dial 'M' for Murder" is another
movie filmed in both 2-D and 3-D (someone else already mentioned
"Kiss Me, Kate"). Periodically 3-D's are revived for a while but don't
last long. The problem with them, I have read, is the fact they strain
your eyes and are therefore uncomfortable to watch. The eye strain is
a result of the fact that your eyes normally coordinate focusing and
parallax to give 3-D vision. In the double image projections of 3-D
movies, you are forced to focus at a fixed distance to the screen and move
your eyes as if the objects were at varying distances. This is why some
people have trouble seeing the 3-D effect or lose it during the movie.
Ed Pawlak
Bell Labs
Indian Hill West