3-D Dance Flicks May Give Genre A 'Step Up'
ENO Ballet -
From Avatar and its blue aliens to Despicable Me and its loyal, excitable yellow blobs, 3-D movies have been all the rage recently. But another spate of new films suggests that 3-D's immersive effect can be harnessed for more than mere entertainment. It may offer a revolutionary new opportunity to put the beauty of dance on the silver screen.
Movies like Step Up 3D, released this weekend, show on-screen dance in a whole new way. As a story, it's pretty lame. But the dancing is pretty astounding. The plot -- if you can call it that -- revolves around a huge break-dancing tournament in which crews of gravity-defying dancers compete against each other.
In one face-off, a crew dances in about an inch of water -- limbs are popping and locking, bodies are falling and rolling, and the spurts of splashing water just add to the intensity. You do feel like you're there -- you might even find yourself flinching to avoid the drops of water flying off the screen.
(Oli Scarff / Getty Images)
"It's not just a gimmick," argues John Chu, director of Step Up 3D. "If you use 3-D right, there's a residue that is emotional about it."
Chu has been dancing and making movies since he was a kid. He directed Step Up 2: The Streets, which was a surprise hit for Disney a few years ago, but it was only with this latest project that he got his hands dirty with 3-D for the first time.
"As much research as I did, and how many lectures I went to ... you really don't know 3-D until you're in front of it and playing with it," Chu says.
Step Up 3D is not a movie about ballet or even modern dance. It's about hip-hop, and in that world, the faster the better -- which made it even more technically challenging for the filmmakers.
Chu explains that he had to give his cast 3-D glasses so they could follow themselves on screen.
"I turned their monitor around so [the dancers] could see themselves in 3-D," says Chu. "Within just 10 minutes of them playing around, they understood it right away."
Across the Atlantic, the same 3-D craze has taken hold. A movie called Streetdance 3D, about a London street crew forced to collaborate with a ballet troupe, is in theaters across the continent.
"I thought [Streetdance] was enormous fun; I thought it had great energy," says Sarah Crompton, arts editor and dance critic for the London-based Daily Telegraph. "Arguably I think the 3-Dness of it increases the energy because you do have a sense that it's this vigorous activity unfolding before your eyes."
Crompton wasn't totally sold on the film, though, joking that it had the same fundamental flaw as almost every other dance film, whether in two or three dimensions -- "a complete lack of plot."
In other words, it's a lot like Step Up 3D.
Break-dancers aren't the only ones trying to add a third dimension to their films. Acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders is working on a 3-D movie about the late choreographer Pina Bausch, and in the same high cultural arena, the English National Ballet is working on a 3-D version of Swan Lake to be aired on a new 3-D TV channel this fall. Sarah Crompton was allowed to watch five minutes of the film, and was impressed with what she saw.
"You had these vistas of dancers, where you had swans coming towards you, and legs coming towards you, and arms coming towards you," she says. "You do feel that you're there, and it's quite exciting."
But while she found these moments thrilling, Crompton ultimately thinks these 3-D dance films aren't much more than intriguing experiments. Great dancers and great choreography, she argues, will stand up in any format.
"The joy of it is the talent of these young dancers," she says.
If she's not a 3-D devotee, Crompton does think the technology will help filmmakers get better at capturing the beauty of physical movement.
"One thing that 3-D does make [directors] do is think about how to film movement itself, rather than just [facial] expression -- and I think that is an asset."
Step Up director Jon Chu agrees.
"Every rule that they say about 3-D we threw out the window with dance, because it's just about motion, it's just about weight, it's just about creating poetry with body -- and the 3-D gets you to be there with them."
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A: the third dimension. A movie released this weekend, "Step Up 3D," is one such experiment, and NPR's Elizabeth Blair has been asking if this will be the next big thing in dance.
ELIZABETH BLAIR: As a story, "Step Up 3D" is pretty lame. But the dance is pretty astounding. The plot, if you can call it that, centers around a big hip- hop break-dance competition. In one face-off, a crew dances in about an inch of water. Limbs are popping and locking. Bodies are falling and rolling, and splashing water just adds to the intensity. You do feel like you're there. I thought I was gonna get wet.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "STEP UP 3D")
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JON CHU: It's not just a gimmick. If you use 3D right, there's residue that is emotional about it.
BLAIR: Jon Chu directed "Step Up 3D." Chu has been dancing and making movies since he was a kid. He directed the first "Step Up" movie, which was a surprise hit for Disney a few years ago. But he'd never done 3D before.
CHU: As much as, you know, research I did and how many lectures I went to - how many whatever - you really don't know 3D until you're in front of it and playing with it.
BLAIR: Now "Step Up" is not a movie about ballet or even modern dance. It's hip-hop, and in that world, the faster the better. But that was a problem for filming in 3D.
CHU: And so when I tell them, like, can you guys slow down a bit - because when it goes too fast, my eyes can't keep up with it in 3D, they didn't understand that.
So I was like, well, everyone put on 3D glasses. This is what we did in a test. And I said, OK, just freestyle to the music, and I'm going to turn around the monitor. So I turned the monitor around so they could see themselves in 3D. And within 10 minutes of them just playing around, they understood it right away.
SARAH CROMPTON: I can't weigh up whether 3D is just a craze or whether it really is going to change culture.
BLAIR: Sarah Crompton is arts editor-in-chief and dance critic for The Daily Telegraph in the UK. The big dance movie in theaters across Europe right now is called "Street Dance 3D."
CROMPTON: Well, I thought it was enormous fun. I thought it had great energy, and arguably, I think, the 3D-ness of it increases that energy because you do have a sense this is vigorous activity unfolding before your eyes. So I enjoyed it. But I thought, actually, what it suffered from is what most dance films - whether in 3D or not - suffer from, which is complete lack of plot.
BLAIR: In other words, it's a lot like "Step Up 3D."
Now, break dancers aren't the only ones trying to add dimension to their films. Director Wim Wenders is working on a 3D movie about the late choreographer Pina Bausch. And the English National Ballet is working on a film that will air on a 3D TV channel that launches in the UK in the fall. Sarah Crompton saw five minutes of it, a performance of Swan Lake.
CROMPTON: You had these vistas of dancers where you had swans coming towards you, if you like, and legs coming towards you and arms coming towards you. And when the (unintelligible) ballet ran off, they run toward you. You know, it's pretty good. You do feel that you're there, and it's quite exciting.
BLAIR: But Sarah Crompton is pretty sure these 3D dance films are nothing more than intriguing experiments, and that great dancers and great choreography is good in any format. She does think it'll make filmmakers better at capturing the beauty of movement itself. "Step Up 3D" director Jon Chu agrees.
CHU: Every rule that, you know, they say about 3D, we threw out the window with dance, because it's just about motion. It's just about weight. It's just about creating poetry with your body. And the 3D gets you to be there with them.
BLAIR: Just don't go expecting much of a story.
Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.
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: This is NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.