Tag Archives: alice

Review: Alice In Wonderland 3D Doesn’t Need the 3D [Review]

Having read the original many times, watched multiple films and TV series, and collected every object imaginable, I must confess that I'm an Alice whore. Here's my review of Tim Burton 's sequel : I love it. But not on 3D. Spoilers ahead In fact, I like everything about the movie except the 3D. I don't hate it, but it's obnoxious and distracting through most of the film. It just doesn't add anything to the experience beyond the post-movie dizziness. It's the antithesis of Avatar. The movie itself—a simple, delightfully wacky, adventures movie set in Lewis Caroll's crazy world—is good. The story, the dialogs, the photography, the direction, and the acting are all spot on. The digital effects are perfect for the story, from the delicate details of the White Rabbit's embroidered vest to the intricate scenarios. The design—like all Tim Burton's movies—couldn't be better: The characters, the costumes, the settings... everything exudes the spirit of the original John Tenniel's book illustrations. And then there is the adult Alice—who returns after her first adventures in Wonderland. By the end of it, you will fall in love with Mia Wasikowska, especially when she gets into her shiny armor. Focus! The only problem with Alice in 3D is that the film doesn't seem to be directed with 3D in mind. And that's fucking great (if you watch the movie in a normal theater and avoid the 3D). Burton plays with camera moves, angle changes, depth of field, and different scene planes like he usually does, framing shots perfectly. One example of this is the first action sequence in the movie, when the Knave of Hearts—eerily played by Crispin Glover—and his card soldiers chase Alice through the woods. As the camera frantically races with the action, Burton plays with the foreground—twisted plants and branches—to increase the anxiety levels of the audience. In 2D, this frames the action, making everything more exciting visually. In 3D, it becomes distracting. The same goes for every time the camera moves, and every time the depth of field changes: The illusion of 3D is broken by the distraction, because that's not how your brain processes the real world. In the real world, nobody forces you to change the depth of field. When you are focusing on something, you just focus, it comes naturally to you. But when you shift this around in a 3D movie, your brain just gets confused, as if it's saying "hey, I want to keep looking at that thing." In a normal film, a shift in focus is a device that is part of the story telling and the aesthetics of the film. In 3D, it just gets annoying. Thinking Inside the Box And that's precisely my problem with 3D: Whenever you move the camera, whenever you play with the traditional cinematic language, 3D can often get in the middle. I realized it while watching the credits, which roll inside a box in which fantastic mushrooms and vegetation grow. I was truly amazed by it, as if a new world had opened in front of my eyes. I had a hard time distinguishing the weird plants from reality. And it wasn't only me: My wife was next to me and I could hear her exclaiming "Wow. Oh, wow." So how can I love that 3D but hate the 3D during the movie? Because during the credits, the camera point of view is fixed. The illusion is complete. Nothing bothers you. Your brain completely buys the experience. It's like being in the theater watching a play: Everything is there. What is the solution to this? Since the invention of cinema, humans have developed a language that has evolved into different paths. All of them revolve around the idea that everything is projected in a bidimensional plane. Directors frame their movies in their minds, then with their cameras, and it's all related to that single flat silver screen. Perhaps directors need to invent a new language for 3D altogether, where everything is in focus, nothing overlaps the action, and the depth of field never changes. Maybe they should look into the rules of theater and fixed cameras. Or maybe they should watch Up! if they really want to film a movie in 3D. But while we all wait for that to happen, you should go and see Alice in 2D. You will enjoy it a lot more.
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Through the Looking Glass: The Tech Behind Alice

Step through Tim Burton's looking glass for the making of Alice in Wonderland. Burton explains how he realized his vision on screen, and the cast weighs in on green screen acting.
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Clothing the Mad Hatter

Oscar award winner, Colleen Atwood, has worked on numerous Tim Burton films, including Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney Todd. We asked her how she came up with the clothing designs for Alice in Wonderland.
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Alice in Wonderland: Tea Party

Can you blame the Mad Hatter and his friends for being so excited to see Alice arrive at the tea party after all these years?
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Alice in Wonderland Clip

In this clip from Alice in Wonderland, see what happens when The Red Queen first encounters Alice, or Um from Umbridge as the case may be.
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Aging Rocker Turns Pitchman in Germany

An advertising campaign featuring Alice Cooper that both satirizes and promotes modern technology has helped rescue sales at Saturn, a chain of electronics outlets that belongs to Metro Group.
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Johnny Depp’s Approach to The Mad Hatter

Johnny Depp discusses his role as the Mad Hatter in this behind-the-scenes featurette for Tim Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
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Alice in Wonderland Superbowl TV Spot

The Alice and Wonderland trailer that was released during the superbowl.
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Alice’s App Pardons Taking Your iPhone to the Lil’ Girls Room [Apps]

Thanks for making an iPhone app , Alice. Now I can finally excuse my bathroom iPhone usage with "Uh, I'm just ordering toilet paper. It should ship by tomorrow." Whether the associated service is decent or not, the app is awesome. The Alice app is basically a repackaging of online shopping service Alice . The basic concept is that you can order the random household stuff generally not stocked by most online retailers—toothpaste, trash bags, feminine care products—and get them shipped right to your door. Sounds like most of the grocery-shipping services we've heard of in the past, but it was about time that someone made a decent, snappy app for it. I haven't tested out the service—only the app and how well it works—so your mileage may vary. That said, the Alice app and the registration required to use it are free. The excuse gained from them is freakin' priceless though. [ Itunes ]
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LHC First Particle Beams Collision Doesn’t Obliterate World, Universe [Science]

Hey, we are alive! In the end we didn't need any escape pods : The Large Hadron Collider has smashed two particle beams together for the first time. However, the unknown is still ahead of us , as they ramp things up: Next on the schedule is an intense commissioning phase aimed at increasing the beam intensity and accelerating the beams. All being well, by Christmas, the LHC should reach 1.2 TeV per beam, and have provided good quantities of collision data for the experiments' calibrations. 1.2 tera-electro volts? Great. Hookai, so, until Christmas you have two options: One, you can keep going on with your normal beige life, not taking any chances or risks, typing away in your hamster wheel. Two, remember that life can end at any moment, and get out of the wheel. To a beach. Preferably with another hamster. One with a nice butt and a pretty smile. These are the computer images showing the first collisions: Two circulating beams bring first collisions in the LHC Geneva, 23 November 2009. Today the LHC circulated two beams simultaneously for the first time, allowing the operators to test the synchronization of the beams and giving the experiments their first chance to look for proton-proton collisions. With just one bunch of particles circulating in each direction, the beams can be made to cross in up to two places in the ring. From early in the afternoon, the beams were made to cross at points 1 and 5, home to the ATLAS and CMS detectors, both of which were on the lookout for collisions. Later, beams crossed at points 2 and 8, ALICE and LHCb. "It's a great achievement to have come this far in so short a time," said CERN* Director General Rolf Heuer. "But we need to keep a sense of perspective – there's still much to do before we can start the LHC physics programme." Beams were first tuned to produce collisions in the ATLAS detector, which recorded its first candidate for collisions at 14:22 this afternoon. Later, the beams were optimised for CMS. In the evening, ALICE had the first optimisation, followed by LHCb. "This is great news, the start of a fantastic era of physics and hopefully discoveries after 20 years' work by the international community to build a machine and detectors of unprecedented complexity and performance," said ATLAS spokesperson Fabiola Gianotti. "The events so far mark the start of the second half of this incredible voyage of discovery of the secrets of nature," said CMS spokesperson Tejinder Virdee. "It was standing room only in the ALICE control room and cheers erupted with the first collisions," said ALICE spokesperson Jurgen Schukraft. "This is simply tremendous." "The tracks we're seeing are beautiful," said LHCb spokesperson Andrei Golutvin, "we're all ready for serious data taking in a few days time." These developments come just three days after the LHC restart, demonstrating the excellent performance of the beam control system. Since the start-up, the operators have been circulating beams around the ring alternately in one direction and then the other at the injection energy of 450 GeV. The beam lifetime has gradually been increased to 10 hours, and today beams have been circulating simultaneously in both directions, still at the injection energy. Next on the schedule is an intense commissioning phase aimed at increasing the beam intensity and accelerating the beams. All being well, by Christmas, the LHC should reach 1.2 TeV per beam, and have provided good quantities of collision data for the experiments' calibrations. I'm happy it worked for you, people, because I'm for sure glad of not being sucked in by a Black Hole right now. Life is good, my dear boys and girls. Life is good.
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