Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

From stereoview cards to large-format IMAX films, 3-D technology's heightened realism and powerful visual allure have held audiences captive for over a century and a half. The technology, known as stereoscopy, creates an illusion of depth by presenting two slightly different images to the eye in print or on-screen. The advent of stereoscopic film technology excited both filmmakers and audiences, as a means of replicating all of the sounds, colors, movement, and dimensionality of life and nature for the first time. The origins of 3-D film are often linked with a proliferation of stereoscopic films in the 1950s. By the time films like Man in the Dark and House of Wax was attracting large crowds, however, the technology behind this form of filmmaking was already over a century old. Stereoscopic Cinema and the Origins of 3-D Film, 1838-1952, examines this "novelty period" of stereoscopic film, charting its progression from Charles Wheatstone's 1938 discovery of 3-D to the 1952 release of Arch Oboler's innovative film, Bwana Devil. Stereoscopic specialist Ray Zone argues that the development of stereoscopic film can best be understood through a historical analysis of the technology rather than of its inventors. Zone examines the products used to create stereoscopic images, noting such milestones as David Brewster's and Oliver Wendell Holmes's work with stereoscopes, the use of polarizing image selection, and the success of twin-strip 3-D films, among others. In addition, Zone looks at the films produced up to 1952, discussing public reception of early 3-D short films as well as longer features such as Power of Love in single-strip anaglyphic projection in 1922 and Semyon Ivanov's 1941 autostereoscope Robinson Crusoe. He integrates his examination of the evolution of 3-D film with other cinematic developments, demonstrating the connection between stereoscopic motion pictures and modern film production. Stereoscopic Cinema and the Origins of 3-D Film, 1838-1952, is an exhaustive study of not only the evolution of 3-D technology and the subsequent filmmaking achievements but also the public response to and cultural impact of 3-D movies. Zone takes the reader on a voyage of discovery into the rich history of a field that predates photography and that continues to influence television and computer animation today.

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CHOICE Review

Beginning with photography in the 1840s, creative individuals tried to develop methods for viewing images as humans see objects in real life--that is, in three dimensions. The three-dimension film was among those developments, and Zone (an artist and film producer) does an admirable job of tracking the origins of 3-D and describing how elements of early experiments led to stereoscopic cinema, which had its heyday in the 1950s. Zone's research was extensive and in places he goes into minute detail about the processes and devices invented to provide "real-life," 3-D imagery for the cinema. He provides illustrations of many of these creative milestones--and the reader will appreciate these graphic aids--but for others he does not, and in these cases the reader may have difficulty envisioning what he is talking about. Accordingly, those who are already familiar with the developments Zone describes will find the narrative compelling, but less-experienced readers will find the discussion difficult to follow in places. Although digital technologies have replaced all of the devices Zone describes, this remains an interesting trip back to the origins of three-dimensional film. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, and professionals. J. M. King emeritus, University of Georgia