Creating a Homogenous 3-D Auditory Image

Abstract

With the recent emergence of digital 3-D stereoscopic films, the image has been increasingly the focus of the immersive experience for the cinema audience. With surround sound having been introduced from as early as Disney’s 1940 release of Fantasia (1940) in Fantasound, cinema sound has traditionally been at the forefront in the creation of an immersive cinematic experience, however now appears to be foreshadowed. Over the past 2 years, parallel to the changes in screen technologies, cinema sound has been attempting to provide a true 3-D aural immersive experience. Some in Hollywood argue that cinema sound has been in 3-D since the initial introduction of surround sound, and it is only now, that the film image has become 3-D and has finally caught up. Cinema sound practices have not seen a shift with the introduction of the 3-D imagery, with the exact same soundtrack being shared by both the 2-D and 3-D release of the same film. The introduction of surround sound provided an additional dimension to cinema allowing the sound practitioner to move sounds from apparently within and beyond the visual frame. With the introduction of 3-D visuals, the image is no longer sitting on a 2-D plane, and it can now artificially detach from the screen itself. utilising the z-space of the cinema. However, the z-space is also occupied by the soundtrack, often creating a dislocation between image and sound. Although there is a shift with cinema sound technologies to increase channels and speakers, does this provide an effective 3-D sound solution or does it actually contribute to a breakdown in relationship between the soundtrack and the image?