Three D

The most ironic aspect of 3-D moviemaking jumps into the foreground with the opening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: Depth-of-field works most effectively when you hardly notice it.

“David’s guiding aesthetic was that a 3-D film should be no more than a richer visual telling of the story and never a distraction,” Murray said. “If you’re reacting to a 3-D gimmick, you can’t simultaneously be lost in the narrative.”

Unlike the eight-week rush job that delivered a critically underwhelming Clash of the Titans conversionlast year, Murray and the 3-D vendors spent seven months on Deathly Hallows Part 2, adjusting their calibrations to conform with a two-pronged, story-driven approach.

one can only hope other filmmakers learn from Harry Potter’s final trick: Start with a good film, dust with subtle stereoscopic visuals and stir gently to make movie magic.



Subtle 3-D adds to fantastic scenes in the final Harry Potter movie.
The formula could come straight from the Deathly Hallows Part 2 style guide. Titled “Keeping It Real,” the filmmakers’ manual stressed the notion that even in a fantastical universe, certain rules of perception dictate whether the human eye is going to buy a given effect as an organic enhancement or reject it as cheesy exaggeration.

“The Potter universe requires you to believe that this is a real world, parallel to ours, that just runs by a different set of rules,” Murray said. “It’s critical that the 3-D doesn’t undo that sense of the magical version of the ordinary. So no gimmicks, no impossible spaces.”