My 10 year old television went pop the other day and I had to go out and buy a new one, (courtesy of the wife’s credit card!) I decided to make the most of the inconvenience so I got a 47″ 3D TV and also a 3D Blu-ray player. The problem I had then was, I have no films on Blu-ray to watch, let alone 3D Blu-ray. So I took the family on a trip to the nearby newsagents that is about the only place to rent DVD’s on the Isle of Wight now Blockbusters has gone. Here I encountered my next problem, they stock very few Blu-ray films to rent with only about three being 3D. Eventually we chose the only film that seemed semi-decent for us all to watch. the Nicholas Cage/Marvel Comic sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
Although, not a great film, I didn’t think it was as bad as most of the critics made out. I watched the 3D version. (which isn’t very effective) The only 3D bit that really stood out was one part where black embers from the Ghost Riders fires were floating through the air. These did (very nearly) feel like you could reach out and touch them.
There was, however, one very distinctive sequence in the film, which really stood out to me. It is quite near to the start of the film where Ciaran Hinds’ devil character “Roarke” is having a telephone conversation with Johnny Whitworth’s character “Ray Carrigan”. The reason why it stood out was not the script or the acting but the editing. Brian Berdan, the editor, has used different shots overlaying each other at different angles and sizes to show dominance of one character over the other but he has also used unusual ways to get these shots on and off the screen. While I was watching the film this sequence stood out to me more than what was happening in the film and I think it stands as an excellent example of what can be done with creative split-screening by an editor, rather than just having two shots stuck side by side.
Creative Sparks 