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e. These days, it's near impossible to be the former without beingthe latter, what with the conveniences and opportunities that come withthe likes of high-definition cameras, advanced editing software, andthe Internet as a distribution tool.
So it's no surprise that the 2008 festival--an increasingly star-studded 10-day indie-film showcase in snowy Park City, Utah--has stepped up its technology-related programming.Amid the buzz about which films will be picked up by Hollywood studios,there will also be talk of 4K digital cameras and how to meet consumerdemand for mobile content viewed on index-card-size screens.
"Over the years we've always tried to feature emerging tech and newmethodology and approaches in film," said Ian Calderon, the SundanceInstitute's director of digital initiatives. "This year that alsoincludes 3D."
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The film making Sundance history is U2 3D, a feature-length compilation of U2 concert footage shot using a new generation of digital 3D cinema technology in which those goofy blue and red cardboard shades of yesteryear's 3D films have been replaced by sleeker polarized black specs.The film's technology is the work of two companies: Burbank,Calif.,-based 3ality on the content side, and Beverly Hills,Calif.-based Real D on the exhibition side. And the Sundance premiereof the film will actually be shown in Dolby 3D Digital Cinema.
Also employing surround-sound technology, directors CatherineOwens and Mark Pellington take viewers on the band's South AmericanVertigo tour that attempts to "capture the band's relationship witheach other and the resonant response of their fans," according to thefilm Web site. 3ality shot more than 100 hours of footage with "thelargest collection of 3D camera technology ever used on a singleproject," the site says.
The film, which screened in May at the Cannes Film Festival, isscheduled to open in select U.S. and Canadian cities on January 23.
Coupled with the U2 3D screening, Sundance will be hosting a ticketed panel discussion on 3D technology led by BusinessWeek media columnist Jon Fine.
A couple of other 3D films were submitted to the festival this year, but U2 3D was the only one selected for screening, according to festival staff members, who expect even more such submissions next year.
The way Calderon sees it, the filmmaker's job always remains thesame--to tell a story through the use of moving pictures. Advances intechnology, however, continue to expand the creator's toolbox, and thefestival has always been the place for conversation around such toolsand shifts in the culture of film.
"The festival is really the ultimate form of social networking," he said.
Blazing the new frontier Also in line with its spotlight on technology, for the second year in a row Sundance will feature a prominent venue called New Frontier on Main,which has become a sort of media center 2.0. Like the film category ofthe same name, New Frontier is meant to be a showcase of film and artand the cutting edge of cinematic culture.
To that end, the space will feature 15 installations by artists working in the moving-image medium.