U2 3D
Encyclopedia
U2 3D is a 2008 American-produced 3-D
concert film
featuring rock
band U2
performing during the Vertigo Tour
in 2006. The film features performances of 14 songs, including tracks from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
(2004), the album supported by the tour. The concert footage includes political and social statements made during the shows. It is the band's second feature film, following their 1988 rockumentary
Rattle and Hum
. Among several cinematic firsts, U2 3D was the first live-action digital 3-D film.
The project was created to experiment with a new type of 3-D film technology pioneered by producer Steve Schklair. After considering shooting American football
games in 3-D, Schklair's company 3ality Digital
decided to create a concert film with U2. The band were hesitant to participate, but agreed to the project mainly as a technological experiment rather than a profit-making venture. Although set in Buenos Aires, U2 3D was shot at seven concerts across Latin America, and two in Australia. The film's complex setup involved shooting with up to 18 3-D cameras simultaneously and capturing the footage digitally.
After a preview screening at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
, U2 3D premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
and was shown at over 600 theaters internationally following its wide release in February 2008. It peaked at number 19 at the United States box office, and has earned over $23 million internationally, ranking as one of the highest-grossing concert films. It received mostly positive reviews, with many critics praising the 3-D technology and innovation. Some went as far as saying that viewing the film's 3-D effects was better than attending a concert. U2 3D won several awards, and its reception convinced some of its creators that the project marked a paradigm shift
in filmmaking.
. In the beginning of the film, a voice is heard chanting "everyone" in a crowd-filled stadium, followed by fans running through the venue. U2 begin the concert with "Vertigo", followed by ten more songs in the main set. Images are shown throughout the concert on the stage's LED display
. Political and social statements are made during some songs, including "Sunday Bloody Sunday
"—during which the word "coexista" is spelled out on-screen through various religious symbols—and "Miss Sarajevo
", during which an excerpt from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
is read aloud by a narrator. The main set ends with "One
", after which the group leave the stage. They return for an encore
and perform "The Fly
", during which a succession of words and phrases appear on the stage's LED display and are superimposed into the film. U2 end the show with "With or Without You
" and leave the stage for the final time. As the closing credits begin, a live performance of "Yahweh" is heard as animations from the stage's LED display are shown. U2 reappear on stage in a post-credits scene
performing the end of the song.
Jon and Peter Shapiro created a 2-D IMAX
concert film titled All Access, which featured live performances of several musicians. While looking for a new 3-D technology medium, the Shapiros met producer Steve Schklair, founder of Cobalt Entertainment in 2000. Schklair had recently developed a digital 3-D filming technique known as "active depth cut", which allowed for smooth cuts between shots that would normally not line up when filmed in 3-D. This was done using motion control photography
and real-time image processing
to create a realistic 3-D experience without subjecting the viewer to excessive motion sickness
or eye strain
. It was intended to be an inexpensive and effective way to shoot live events such as concerts or sports. With the help of John and David Modell
, former owners of the Baltimore Ravens
American football team, the digital 3-D technology was tested at several National Football League
(NFL) games in 2003, including Super Bowl XXXVIII
. Cobalt showed the footage to the NFL, hoping to create an NFL-based 3-D IMAX film. While waiting for a response, the Shapiros proposed the idea of creating a 3-D concert film for IMAX theaters. Although All Access had showcased several artists, the Shapiros now wanted to focus on a single act, and being U2 fans, suggested the band as a potential subject. Schklair felt U2 would be a good choice for the film due to their large concert setups and their constant movement while performing, both of which would provide good depth of field
for 3-D effects.
The Modells' collaboration with U2 for the film was facilitated by their involvement with the band in researching LED display technology in 1997 for use at Ravens Stadium at Camden Yards
. At the time, the first and only giant LED display in existence was being used by U2 on their PopMart Tour
. To learn about the technology, David Modell toured with U2 on-and-off for a period of six months. During that time, he befriended Catherine Owens, who served as the group's art director since their 1992 Zoo TV Tour
.
Unable to contact U2 manager Paul McGuinness
, Peter Shapiro instead proposed the idea to Owens. The latter was researching art content for the upcoming Vertigo Tour and thought the concept could be used to show 3-D video as part of U2's concerts. Shapiro explained that the technology was not that developed and simply wanted to document the tour itself in 3-D, but Owens was not interested in making a film of the band, fearing it would interfere with the tour, so she declined the offer. After Shapiro showed Owens the 3-D footage of the NFL games, Owens expressed interest in directing
the proposed film, despite having no previous experience. According to bassist Adam Clayton
, U2 were not interested in making another concert film, but Owens "pushed it down [their] throats". Once the band viewed the test shots, frontman Bono
expressed interest in the project and convinced his band-mates to commit. Since U2 had already experimented with video technology in the past, they were interested in the project mainly as a technological experiment rather than a means to make profit. They wanted to create the film to share the live experience with fans who could not afford concert tickets.
In early 2004, pre-production
for U2 3D was officially started by 3ality Digital
, a company formed from Schklair's Colbalt Entertainment and his partnership with the Modells and the Shapiros. Midway through the year, Bono agreed to let the 3ality Digital crew record test footage, which was accomplished using a single 3-D camera at one of U2's Vertigo Tour concerts in Anaheim, California in March 2005. U2 were dissatisfied with their 1988 rockumentary
feature film, Rattle and Hum
, which mixed backstage footage and interviews with concert performances. The filmmakers decided that U2 3D would only have concert footage. The producers originally wanted to shoot in Los Angeles where all the filming equipment was located, but Owens and the band decided they needed a more enthusiastic audience. U2 ultimately chose to film in five cities in Latin America from February to March 2006, believing their absence from the region for eight years would foster an energetic atmosphere. The only one of the eight Latin American shows that was not shot was the first in Monterrey, Mexico. The project enabled U2 to share the outdoor stadium concerts with audiences in the US, where the band only performed at indoor arenas on the Vertigo Tour.
began in February 2006; two shows were filmed in Mexico City to capture medium shot
s during a practice run for the crew to learn the choreography of U2's performances. The crew captured additional medium shots using two camera setups at the two São Paulo concerts, and captured overhead footage of drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. using a single camera setup at the show in Santiago. During preparations for the Buenos Aires concerts, U2 performed a 10-song set without an audience, so that the crew could capture close-up
footage using a wide-angle lens
; doing so in-concert would have interfered with the show. Owens dubbed the session the "phantom shoot". During the Buenos Aires shows, all nine camera setups were used, capturing shots of U2 from the B-stages. The Buenos Aires shoot was the largest of the project, requiring a crew of 140 people.
In March 2006, the remaining Vertigo Tour concerts were postponed when the daughter of guitarist The Edge
fell ill. During the interim, footage from the seven filmed shows was edited together, but the crew realized that several shots still needed to be filmed—including the stage's LED display and the audience. When the tour on its fifth leg in November 2006, an additional two shows were filmed in Melbourne to capture the necessary footage, including close-up shots. At the time, the songs appearing in the final cut of the film had already been selected and therefore only specific songs from the concerts were filmed.
U2 3D production featured the first 3-D multiple-camera setup
and was shot using every digital 3-D camera and recording deck in existence. The crew had two days to set up the filming equipment before each concert, which required running fiber optic
cables and hooking up an electrical generator to supply power at each venue. The 3-D filming equipment consisted of nine custom-built digital movie camera rigs. The project's large scale prompted 3ality Digital to work with director James Cameron
—their chief competitor at the time. 3ality used their own 3flex TS1 camera rigs for filming, in addition to five Fusion 3D rigs, designed by Cameron and camera operator
Vincent Pace. A total of 18 Sony
CineAlta
HDC-F950 cameras were used for filming, with two cameras on each rig. The cameras were fitted with Zeiss digital zoom lens
es, making U2 3D the first 3-D film shot using a zoom lens. One of the Fusion 3D camera rigs was used as a spidercam
and became the first 3-D aerial camera. The cameras on each rig were spaced eye-distance apart to create a 3-D effect in post-production. Using a beam splitter
mounted to the camera rig, one camera shot through a 50/50 mirror, while the other shot the image reflected from that mirror. Each rig weighed an average of 200 pounds (90.7 kg). All of the concert footage was shot with twin-camera setups, except for the two Melbourne shoots, where a single CineAlta camera with a steadicam
was also used to capture close-ups. The cameras captured high-definition video
onto HDCAM SR recording decks, which enabled the crew to capture an entire concert; older technology required physical film stock
that had to be replenished every three minutes of shooting.
Five crew members were required to work on each rig simultaneously to ensure that the focus
on both cameras were synchronized. After one camera was destroyed when a concert security guard tossed buckets of water onto the audience, the crew waterproofed the remaining cameras. Due to Owens' limited directing experience prior to production, some of the filming in South America was directed by Mark Pellington
, who previously worked with U2 on the "One" music video. Pellington was not involved in post-production, leaving Owens responsible for the remaining aspects of the project, including creative direction and editing.
The concerts were filmed in a style which Owens described as "very unorthodox"; no storyboard
s or shooting script
s were used to ensure footage of U2's performances was improvised. Instead of being directed, U2 performed each of their concerts as usual, with the filming crew capturing footage in real time for the full -hour concerts. The shoots were planned such that the band's performance and the audience's view was uninterrupted. To avoid capturing other camera rigs in the footage, the crew would either film from the back of the stage, or alternate each night between shooting left-to-right and right-to-left. Several shows were edited together to create one performance; therefore, U2 were required to wear the same clothes every night to maintain continuity. Additional spotlights were focused on the audience during filming, and the lighting was dimmed on the stage's LED display. 110 microphones were used to record the concert audio, which included microphones placed on the main stage and around the two B-stages to record the band, and microphones placed throughout the venue to record the audience.
Post-production
began in February 2006 and occurred concurrently with ongoing principal photography. Editor
Olivier Wicki led post-production, working closely with Owens; the two had previously collaborated on the "Original of the Species" music video. Over 100 hours of footage were filmed, featuring performances of 26 different songs. To appeal to a mainstream audience, 14 tracks were chosen for the final cut, including 12 of U2's singles and two non-singles from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
, the album that the Vertigo Tour supported. Although "City of Blinding Lights
" opened most shows on the tour, "Vertigo" was selected as the opening song of U2 3D. Other tracks that were performed at most of the filmed concerts that did not make the final cut include "Elevation
", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
", "Original of the Species", and "Zoo Station
". "With or Without You" was chosen as the last song before the closing credits, although it closed only one concert on the tour.
When selecting songs for the project, the crew had to ensure that the performances of each track fit with one another. U2 wanted to include "Mysterious Ways
" and "Until the End of the World
", but they were left out since Owens felt that those songs were out of place with the rest of the film. She stated that the main focus of the film was based upon U2's relationship with one another and with their audience, and the challenge of selecting the songs was to create a narrative
within the band's performance. After the songs were selected, the footage was edited in 2-D for eight months in New York City. Video post-production continued in Burbank, California at 3ality Digital's 3-D production facility, which opened prior to the completion of shooting. Wicki worked with 3ality Digital to create the 3-D and computer-generated effects. Footage from the nine filmed concerts, mostly from the Buenos Aires shows, was edited together with the footage from the "phantom shoot". Although the Mexico City shows were practice runs, footage from those concerts was used, including a scene where Bono reaches out to the camera during "Sunday Bloody Sunday". Most of the footage from the Melbourne concerts was not used except for some close-ups of Mullen.
Creating the 3-D effect involved taking the edited 2-D footage for the right eye and matching it up with footage for the left eye. Editing the Melbourne footage that used only a single camera involved a separate process to create 3-D effects, known as "virtual second eye perspective". Several software programs were used to convert footage from 2-D to 3-D. The primary editing software, 3action, was developed at 3ality Digital during principal photography. It allowed the post-production team to change convergence points
in each shot, and to create multiple convergence points. Left-eye and right-eye footage was assembled on separate layers, then edited together with color grading
added, and eventually output in a 3-D stereoscopic
format for review.
U2 developed a style of editing in their previous concert films that involved fast cutting
between shots, which Owens wanted to retain in U2 3D. Because fast cutting in 3-D would lead to motion sickness or eye strain, the film was edited to incorporate dissolves
of at least four frames between shots. Many of the transitions were created by layering several frames of footage on top of one another into composite images
. Each of the layered frames featured a different depth of field to enhance the 3-D effects, and up to five images were layered together in a single shot. This made U2 3D the first 3-D film to feature composite images with more than two layers, and the first to be edited specifically to prevent the viewer from experiencing motion sickness or eye strain. Software did not exist at the time to layer the 3-D images, so new software had to be developed. Because the project was captured in high-definition video, each frame used nearly 20 megabyte
s of data on 3ality Digital's servers, and the entire film used almost a petabyte
(1015 byte
s). The 3-D editing process took longer than Owens expected, and consequently, the project went over budget, costing $15 million to produce. Video editing took 17 months, and the final film was cut to a length of 85 minutes—seven shorter than originally announced.
Audio editor Carl Glanville worked on the soundtrack, mixing the audio
into a 5.1 surround sound
mix with audio engineer
Robbie Adams in New York City. Video footage was compiled into files by Wicki, which were given to Glanville for compiling the soundtrack. Glanville and Adams said the audio editing was difficult mainly because the selection of video footage was limited, as only one to two cameras angles were captured at most of the shows. Further, the lyrics and music from the song performances differed slightly each night. To avoid lip sync
and instrumental sync issues, the editors had to use the exact audio that was recorded during each shot. Mixing the vocals required that Glanville layer the audio recorded from the stage microphones with that from the audience microphones and to add a short delay
between the two to compensate for any echos or delay that occurred in the venue. The sound from the subwoofer
channel was mixed inside two IMAX theaters in Los Angeles to ensure the volume of low-end frequencies was consistent with the rest of the soundtrack. The edited video footage featured 10- to 20-second-long shots, in contrast to the shorter shots usually found in concert films. Extended gaps were added between songs to slightly slow down the pace of the film. All audio and video footage used was recorded live in concert, with no added overdubs
. Following post-production, U2 3D became the first live-action film to be shot, posted, and exhibited entirely in 3-D, the first live-action digital 3-D film, and the first 3-D concert film.
U2 were committed to preserving the film's 3-D format and decided to only release it in digital 3-D. To help promote this film format, U2 3D was first screened at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
on May 19, 2007. It was one of nine films to be screened out-of-competition at the 2007 festival, and was the first live-action 3-D film shown at Cannes. Following a brief song performance by U2 at the festival, the film was screened at midnight inside the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès
, using Dolby 3D
technology and a silver screen
installed by RealD Cinema. John Modell referred to the premiere as "the most high tech film screening that's ever been done in history." At the time, the 3-D post-production process was incomplete; therefore, a shortened, 56-minute version of the title was screened, featuring nine of the completed version's 14 songs. The completed version premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
on January 19 at the Ellen Eccles Theatre
.
U2 3Ds limited release
was on January 23, 2008, when it was shown in 61 IMAX theaters in the US and Canada. The IMAX release took place much earlier than the film's wide release
, as many IMAX theaters had booked The Spiderwick Chronicles
, which was released on February 15. U2 3D was U2's second feature film, following 1988's Rattle and Hum, and the third concert video release from the Vertigo Tour, following the direct-to-video
concert recordings Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago and Vertigo 2005: Live from Milan. The wide release was originally scheduled for February 15, 2008, but the date was pushed back one week when Walt Disney Pictures
decided to extend its release of the 3-D concert film Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert
, which was initially scheduled to be in theaters for only one week. On February 15, U2 3D had a second limited release in select theaters in the US with RealD Cinema technology. The film's European premiere took place on February 20, 2008 at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival
, and on February 22, it had its wide release into over 600 theaters internationally. A theatrical re-release in the US took place in March 2009 to coincide with the release of U2's studio album, No Line on the Horizon. In October 2009, the film had a single IMAX showing at a U2 academic conference, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
celebrated the opening of its new theater by showing U2 3D at its museum. Film distributor Mobz re-released U2 3D into over 100 theaters in Brazil in March 2011 for a three-day event prior to U2's concerts in the country during the U2 360° Tour
.
U2 3D was slated to be screened only in IMAX 3D theaters, but the large increase in the number of digital theaters
following post-production prompted the filmmakers to expand the release to include those cinemas. Two different types of polarized glasses were used for the IMAX and digital 3-D showings. The IMAX 3D version of the film used glasses with one lens polarized horizontally and one polarized vertically, while the digital 3-D version used glasses with two circularly polarized lenses. John Modell described the IMAX version as a "more immersive experience", and stated that the digital 3-D version features more vivid colors. Owens said that 3ality Digital plans to release the film to a 3-D home video
format in the future, where the viewers would still wear 3-D glasses to watch. U2 control the ancillary rights to U2 3D along with their record label Universal Music Group
, and they have stated that additional rights such as those for a home video release will not be optioned until home video technology can meet the same digital 3-D standards as cinema.
The trailer for the film was released and first screened at the ShoWest trade show in March 2007, along with footage of "Sunday Bloody Sunday". Clips from the "Vertigo" and "The Fly" performances were featured in the trailer, which was edited by creative director
John Leamy
, who also designed the wordmark logo and title sequence for U2 3D. The film poster, which featured a collage of images from the film, won Leamy an award for best poster art at the Giant Screen Cinema Association's annual international conference in 2008. The trailer was shown in 3-D theaters before Meet the Robinsons
, the only 3-D film released in theaters in early 2007.
Originally scheduled for the third quarter of 2007, the film's release was delayed when a distributor could not be found. In October 2007, the National Geographic Society
announced the creation of National Geographic Entertainment, a new unit within the society featuring various entertainment divisions. U2 3D was the first film released through their new division, National Geographic Cinema Ventures, in January 2008. National Geographic CEO John M. Fahey, Jr.
stated that U2 3D was chosen as the division's first release because they felt that U2 is "a band of the world" and "world music is something the Geographic as an institution is really interested in". National Geographic chose Best Buy
as the film's American sponsor, and offered passes to select members of the retailer's loyalty program to view U2 3D before its wide release. U2 3D was promoted through the internet, print, radio, television, on a JumboTron
in Times Square
, and as a sponsor on NASCAR
's #19 Best Buy Dodge stock car
driven by Elliott Sadler
.
in the top 100 for worst openings, . Comparing the box office performance of the film to Disney's Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus 3-D concert film, The Spokesman Reviews online magazine 7 said U2 3D was "failing miserably". Three weeks into its wide release, U2 3D was playing in less than 100 theaters internationally. At the time, it had only grossed $6.6 million, while Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus—still playing in many theaters since its February 1 release—had brought in over $60 million.
Prior to its Japan premiere in February 2009, U2 3D grossed $20 million in box office revenue. Following its limited release, the film's distributors stated there was no predetermined limit to the length of the title's run, and the overall length would be determined by box office sales. Because of this, U2 3D has remained in theaters for several years, and been re-released into theaters where it was previously shown. The film's run in the US ended August 26, 2010, bringing its total domestic gross to $10,363,341, after showing for 947 days. During the week of the three-day re-release in Brazil in March 2011,
the film grossed over $360,000, which made the total worldwide gross over $23 million, and became the highest-grossing week since 2008.
For its genre, U2 3D was successful and set several box office records. The film became the highest grossing documentary
to be eligible for an Oscar nomination at the 81st Academy Awards
. U2 3D set a record in Ireland for the highest screen average of any film playing during its opening weekend, and it took in almost €
90,000 at eight theaters during its first three days. In February 2011, Forbes
ranked U2 3D as fifth-highest-grossing concert film, earning $14 million more than Rattle and Hum, which was ranked as the seventh-highest.
gave U2 3D a 92% approval rating. The website assigned it an average score of 7.5/10, with a consensus that U2 3D was "an exhilarating musical experience at the price of a movie ticket". At Metacritic
—which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics—the film received an average score of 83, based on 19 reviews, which translates to "universal acclaim" on the website's rating scale. The film received positive reviews from Toronto Star
and Variety
following its 56-minute premiere at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival when the final 85-minute cut was months away from completion. Critics from publications such as the Irish Independent
, The New Zealand Herald
, Reno News & Review, Toronto Star, and USA Today
said that the film's 3-D experience was "even better than the real thing"—a reference to U2's song of the same name
. Reviews by Rolling Stone
and Total Film
stated the film seemed to appeal to fans and non-fans of U2 alike, just as the filmmakers had intended.
U2 3D was praised by Variety for its straightforward concert footage, compared to the interviews and behind-the-scenes footage included in Rattle and Hum. In an episode of the TV series At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, Michael Phillips
called the film "a genuine eye-fill" and Richard Roeper
described it as "spectacular". The New York Times
designated U2 3D as a "Critics' Pick" and stated in the review that the film was "the first IMAX movie that deserves to be called a work of art". U2 3D appeared on many critics' lists of the top ten films released in 2008 including The Austin Chronicle, Culpeper Star-Exponent, OhmyNews International
, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
, The Sydney Morning Herald
, and River Cities' Reader. Bono was satisfied with the outcome of the film and said his favorite sequence was the performance of "Miss Sarajevo". When interviewed about the PopMart Tour in 2009, Bono said that the PopMart: Live from Mexico City
video was the best project U2 had done from an audio and visual perspective, and was "[e]clipsed only by U2 3D". The Edge was pleased that the footage did not show any of the distress he felt from his daughter's illness during filming.
However, the film received more critical reviews. The A.V. Club
graded it a B− and stated that U2's performance was less thrilling than the 3-D effects. Online magazine FilmSlash criticized The New York Times statement about U2 3D being the first IMAX art film, stating that some of the first IMAX titles were "experimental works of art". Music critic Joel Selvin
wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle
that seeing U2 on the big screen was "more distracting than illuminating", and Time Out London criticized Bono's political statements, stating he "should refrain from ramming his preachy political meanderings down our throats and let the music do the talking". The Daily Telegraph
favored Rattle and Hum over U2 3D and called U2's performance "unexciting", criticizing how "the cameras, not the band, are doing all the work". The Guardian
, which gave a rating of one out of five stars, claimed that U2 appeared to be "four conceited billionaires who are further up themselves than ever".
, and the Pioneer Award for Film & Television at the 2008 3D Film and Interactive Film Festival. In February 2009, U2 3D received an award for "Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project" from the Visual Effects Society (VES) at the 7th Annual VES Awards.
The extensive use of technology during production was featured as the cover story in the December 2007 issue of the high-definition video magazine HDVideoPro, a month before the premiere of U2 3D. Its usage of evolutionary technology led to Catherine Owens being selected as a featured guest speaker at the SIGGRAPH
2008 conference, which took place several months after the film's release. After U2 3D received praise from fans, critics, and the film industry, several of the filmmakers stated that they felt it helped create a paradigm shift
in cinema history, due to the technological advancements used in the production.
Following the success of U2 3D, 3ality Digital continued to pioneer 3-D projects. After previously experimenting with filming American football games in 3-D, 3ality Digital successfully broadcast the first live 3-D NFL game in December 2008. In 2009, 3ality Digital aired the first live 3-D sports broadcast available to consumers, the first 3-D television advertisement, and the first 3-D episode of a scripted television program. U2 show director Willie Williams recruited U2 3D director of photography Tom Krueger to design the photography and video coverage for the band's 2009–2011 U2 360° Tour. Krueger directed their subsequent concert film, U2 360° at the Rose Bowl
, which was released in 2010.
).
Encore
Closing credits
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
concert film
Concert film
A concert movie, or concert film, is a type of documentary film, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by a musician ....
featuring rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
performing during the Vertigo Tour
Vertigo Tour
The Vertigo Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock band U2. Launched in support of the group's 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, the band visited arenas and stadiums from 2005 through 2006. The Vertigo Tour consisted of five legs that alternated between indoor arena shows in...
in 2006. The film features performances of 14 songs, including tracks from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is the eleventh studio album by Irish rock band U2, released in November 2004. Much like their previous album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb was commercially successful and critically acclaimed and maintains a more traditional rock...
(2004), the album supported by the tour. The concert footage includes political and social statements made during the shows. It is the band's second feature film, following their 1988 rockumentary
Rockumentary
The term rockumentary is a neologism denoting a documentary about rock music or its musicians. The term was used by Bill Drake in the 1969 History of Rock & Roll radio broadcast, and by Rob Reiner in the 1984 mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap....
Rattle and Hum
Rattle and Hum
Rattle and Hum is the sixth studio album by rock band U2 and companion rockumentary directed by Phil Joanou, both released in 1988. The film and the album feature live recordings, covers, and new songs...
. Among several cinematic firsts, U2 3D was the first live-action digital 3-D film.
The project was created to experiment with a new type of 3-D film technology pioneered by producer Steve Schklair. After considering shooting American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
games in 3-D, Schklair's company 3ality Digital
3ality Digital
3ality Digital is a Burbank, California based company specializing in high-definition, live-action stereoscopic digital 3D. The company develops production systems, image processing software and other technologies that enable the creation, post-production and distribution of live-action 3D...
decided to create a concert film with U2. The band were hesitant to participate, but agreed to the project mainly as a technological experiment rather than a profit-making venture. Although set in Buenos Aires, U2 3D was shot at seven concerts across Latin America, and two in Australia. The film's complex setup involved shooting with up to 18 3-D cameras simultaneously and capturing the footage digitally.
After a preview screening at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
2007 Cannes Film Festival
The 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the sixtieth, ran from 16 to 27 May 2007. Wong Kar-wai's My Blueberry Nights opened the festival, and Denys Arcand's The Age of Ignorance closed...
, U2 3D premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
2008 Sundance Film Festival
The 2008 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 17, 2008 to January 27 in Park City, Utah. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was In Bruges and the closing night film was CSNY Déjà Vu.-Films:...
and was shown at over 600 theaters internationally following its wide release in February 2008. It peaked at number 19 at the United States box office, and has earned over $23 million internationally, ranking as one of the highest-grossing concert films. It received mostly positive reviews, with many critics praising the 3-D technology and innovation. Some went as far as saying that viewing the film's 3-D effects was better than attending a concert. U2 3D won several awards, and its reception convinced some of its creators that the project marked a paradigm shift
Paradigm shift
A Paradigm shift is, according to Thomas Kuhn in his influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions , a change in the basic assumptions, or paradigms, within the ruling theory of science...
in filmmaking.
Synopsis
U2 3D depicts a U2 concert in Buenos Aires during the band's Vertigo TourVertigo Tour
The Vertigo Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock band U2. Launched in support of the group's 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, the band visited arenas and stadiums from 2005 through 2006. The Vertigo Tour consisted of five legs that alternated between indoor arena shows in...
. In the beginning of the film, a voice is heard chanting "everyone" in a crowd-filled stadium, followed by fans running through the venue. U2 begin the concert with "Vertigo", followed by ten more songs in the main set. Images are shown throughout the concert on the stage's LED display
LED display
An LED display is a flat panel display, which uses light-emitting diodes as a video display. An LED panel is a small display, or a component of a larger display. They are typically used outdoors in store signs and billboards, and in recent years have also become commonly used in destination signs...
. Political and social statements are made during some songs, including "Sunday Bloody Sunday
Sunday Bloody Sunday
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is a song by U2.It may also refer to:*Sunday Bloody Sunday , a 1971 film*"Sunday, Bloody Sunday"...
"—during which the word "coexista" is spelled out on-screen through various religious symbols—and "Miss Sarajevo
Miss Sarajevo
"Miss Sarajevo" is the only single from the 1995 album Original Soundtracks 1 by U2 and Brian Eno, under the pseudonym Passengers. Luciano Pavarotti makes a guest vocal appearance, singing the opera solo. It also appears on U2's compilation, The Best of 1990-2000, and was covered by George Michael...
", during which an excerpt from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
is read aloud by a narrator. The main set ends with "One
One (U2 song)
"One" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the third track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby, and it was released as the record's third single in March 1992. It was recorded at three recording studios, Hansa Ton Studios, Elsinore, and Windmill Lane Studios...
", after which the group leave the stage. They return for an encore
Encore (concert)
An encore is an additional performance added to the end of a concert, from the French "encore", which means "again", "some more"; multiple encores are not uncommon. Encores originated spontaneously, when audiences would continue to applaud and demand additional performance from the artist after the...
and perform "The Fly
The Fly (song)
"The Fly" is a song by rock band U2. It is the seventh track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby and it was released as the album's first single on 12 October 1991. "The Fly" introduced a more abrasive sounding U2, as the song featured hip-hop and industrial beats, distorted vocals, and an elaborate...
", during which a succession of words and phrases appear on the stage's LED display and are superimposed into the film. U2 end the show with "With or Without You
With or Without You
"With or Without You" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the third track from their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree, and was released as the album's first single on 21 March 1987...
" and leave the stage for the final time. As the closing credits begin, a live performance of "Yahweh" is heard as animations from the stage's LED display are shown. U2 reappear on stage in a post-credits scene
Post-credits scene
A post-credits scene is a short clip that appears after some or all of the closing credits of a film have run...
performing the end of the song.
Background
In 2001, producersFilm producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
Jon and Peter Shapiro created a 2-D IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
concert film titled All Access, which featured live performances of several musicians. While looking for a new 3-D technology medium, the Shapiros met producer Steve Schklair, founder of Cobalt Entertainment in 2000. Schklair had recently developed a digital 3-D filming technique known as "active depth cut", which allowed for smooth cuts between shots that would normally not line up when filmed in 3-D. This was done using motion control photography
Motion control photography
Motion control photography is a technique used in still and motion photography that enables precise control of, and optionally also allows repetition of, camera movements. It can be used to facilitate special effects photography. The process can involve filming several elements using the same...
and real-time image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...
to create a realistic 3-D experience without subjecting the viewer to excessive motion sickness
Motion sickness
Motion sickness or kinetosis, also known as travel sickness, is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system's sense of movement...
or eye strain
Asthenopia
Asthenopia or eye strain is an ophthalmological condition that manifests itself through nonspecific symptoms such as fatigue, pain in or around the eyes, blurred vision, headache and occasional double vision...
. It was intended to be an inexpensive and effective way to shoot live events such as concerts or sports. With the help of John and David Modell
David Modell
David Modell is an American business executive, attorney, and sports team owner who has served as President and CEO of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens...
, former owners of the Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...
American football team, the digital 3-D technology was tested at several National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(NFL) games in 2003, including Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game played on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 2003 regular season....
. Cobalt showed the footage to the NFL, hoping to create an NFL-based 3-D IMAX film. While waiting for a response, the Shapiros proposed the idea of creating a 3-D concert film for IMAX theaters. Although All Access had showcased several artists, the Shapiros now wanted to focus on a single act, and being U2 fans, suggested the band as a potential subject. Schklair felt U2 would be a good choice for the film due to their large concert setups and their constant movement while performing, both of which would provide good depth of field
Depth of field
In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image...
for 3-D effects.
M&T Bank Stadium
M&T Bank Stadium is a multi-purpose football stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. The stadium is immediately adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles. Served by the Hamburg Street station of...
. At the time, the first and only giant LED display in existence was being used by U2 on their PopMart Tour
Popmart Tour
The PopMart Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Launched in support of the group's 1997 album, Pop, the tour's concerts were performed in stadiums and parks from 1997 through 1998...
. To learn about the technology, David Modell toured with U2 on-and-off for a period of six months. During that time, he befriended Catherine Owens, who served as the group's art director since their 1992 Zoo TV Tour
Zoo TV Tour
The Zoo TV Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Staged in support of their 1991 album Achtung Baby, the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 1992 through 1993...
.
Unable to contact U2 manager Paul McGuinness
Paul McGuinness
Paul McGuinness is the main shareholder and founder of Principle Management Limited: an artist management company based in Dublin, Ireland, which has managed U2 from the start of their successful career...
, Peter Shapiro instead proposed the idea to Owens. The latter was researching art content for the upcoming Vertigo Tour and thought the concept could be used to show 3-D video as part of U2's concerts. Shapiro explained that the technology was not that developed and simply wanted to document the tour itself in 3-D, but Owens was not interested in making a film of the band, fearing it would interfere with the tour, so she declined the offer. After Shapiro showed Owens the 3-D footage of the NFL games, Owens expressed interest in directing
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
the proposed film, despite having no previous experience. According to bassist Adam Clayton
Adam Clayton
Adam Charles Clayton is a musician, best known as the bassist of the Irish rock band U2. Clayton has resided in County Dublin since the time his family moved to Malahide when he was five years old in 1965...
, U2 were not interested in making another concert film, but Owens "pushed it down [their] throats". Once the band viewed the test shots, frontman Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
expressed interest in the project and convinced his band-mates to commit. Since U2 had already experimented with video technology in the past, they were interested in the project mainly as a technological experiment rather than a means to make profit. They wanted to create the film to share the live experience with fans who could not afford concert tickets.
In early 2004, pre-production
Pre-production
Pre-production or In Production is the process of preparing all the elements involved in a film, play, or other performance.- In film :...
for U2 3D was officially started by 3ality Digital
3ality Digital
3ality Digital is a Burbank, California based company specializing in high-definition, live-action stereoscopic digital 3D. The company develops production systems, image processing software and other technologies that enable the creation, post-production and distribution of live-action 3D...
, a company formed from Schklair's Colbalt Entertainment and his partnership with the Modells and the Shapiros. Midway through the year, Bono agreed to let the 3ality Digital crew record test footage, which was accomplished using a single 3-D camera at one of U2's Vertigo Tour concerts in Anaheim, California in March 2005. U2 were dissatisfied with their 1988 rockumentary
Rockumentary
The term rockumentary is a neologism denoting a documentary about rock music or its musicians. The term was used by Bill Drake in the 1969 History of Rock & Roll radio broadcast, and by Rob Reiner in the 1984 mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap....
feature film, Rattle and Hum
Rattle and Hum
Rattle and Hum is the sixth studio album by rock band U2 and companion rockumentary directed by Phil Joanou, both released in 1988. The film and the album feature live recordings, covers, and new songs...
, which mixed backstage footage and interviews with concert performances. The filmmakers decided that U2 3D would only have concert footage. The producers originally wanted to shoot in Los Angeles where all the filming equipment was located, but Owens and the band decided they needed a more enthusiastic audience. U2 ultimately chose to film in five cities in Latin America from February to March 2006, believing their absence from the region for eight years would foster an energetic atmosphere. The only one of the eight Latin American shows that was not shot was the first in Monterrey, Mexico. The project enabled U2 to share the outdoor stadium concerts with audiences in the US, where the band only performed at indoor arenas on the Vertigo Tour.
Filming
Principal photographyPrincipal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
began in February 2006; two shows were filmed in Mexico City to capture medium shot
Medium shot
In film, a medium shot is a camera shot from a medium distance. The dividing line between "long shot" and "medium shot" is fuzzy, as is the line between "medium shot" and "close-up"...
s during a practice run for the crew to learn the choreography of U2's performances. The crew captured additional medium shots using two camera setups at the two São Paulo concerts, and captured overhead footage of drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. using a single camera setup at the show in Santiago. During preparations for the Buenos Aires concerts, U2 performed a 10-song set without an audience, so that the crew could capture close-up
Close-up
In filmmaking, television production, still photography and the comic strip medium a close-up tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots . Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene...
footage using a wide-angle lens
Wide-angle lens
From a design perspective, a wide angle lens is one that projects a substantially larger image circle than would be typical for a standard design lens of the same focal length; this enables either large tilt & shift movements with a view camera, or lenses with wide fields of view.More informally,...
; doing so in-concert would have interfered with the show. Owens dubbed the session the "phantom shoot". During the Buenos Aires shows, all nine camera setups were used, capturing shots of U2 from the B-stages. The Buenos Aires shoot was the largest of the project, requiring a crew of 140 people.
In March 2006, the remaining Vertigo Tour concerts were postponed when the daughter of guitarist The Edge
The Edge
David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
fell ill. During the interim, footage from the seven filmed shows was edited together, but the crew realized that several shots still needed to be filmed—including the stage's LED display and the audience. When the tour on its fifth leg in November 2006, an additional two shows were filmed in Melbourne to capture the necessary footage, including close-up shots. At the time, the songs appearing in the final cut of the film had already been selected and therefore only specific songs from the concerts were filmed.
| № | Date | Location | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | February 15, 2006 | Mexico City Mexico City Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole... , Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... |
Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca is a stadium in Santa Ursula, Mexico City, Mexico. It is the official home stadium of the Mexico national football team and the Mexican team Club América.The stadium was the venue for football soccer in the 1968 Summer Olympics.... |
| 2 | February 16, 2006 | ||
| 3 | February 20, 2006 | São Paulo São Paulo São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among... , Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... |
Estádio do Morumbi Estádio do Morumbi Estádio Cícero Pompeu de Toledo is a stadium in São Paulo, Brazil, home of São Paulo Futebol Clube and its formal name honors Cícero Pompeu de Toledo, who was São Paulo FC's chairman during most of the stadium construction, and died before its inauguration.... |
| 4 | February 21, 2006 | ||
| 5 | February 26, 2006 | Santiago Santiago Santiago is the capital city of Chile. Santiago may also refer to:*Santiago *Santiago , a Spanish given name*Santiago!, a shortened form of the Reconquista battle cry "Santiago y cierra, España"... , Chile Chile Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far... |
Estadio Nacional de Chile Estadio Nacional de Chile The Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos is the national stadium of Chile, and is located in the Ñuñoa district of Santiago). It is the largest stadium in Chile with an official capacity of 47,000, and is part of a 62 ha sporting complex which also features tennis courts, an aquatics center, a... |
| 6 | March 1, 2006 | Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent... , Argentina Argentina Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires... |
River Plate Stadium Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, is a stadium in the Belgrano district of Buenos Aires, Argentina at the intersection of Figueroa Alcorta and Udaondo. It is the home venue of Club Atlético River Plate and is named after former club president Antonio Vespucio Liberti... |
| 7 | March 2, 2006 | ||
| 8 | November 18, 2006 | Melbourne Melbourne Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater... , Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
Telstra Dome |
| 9 | November 19, 2006 |
U2 3D production featured the first 3-D multiple-camera setup
Multiple-camera setup
The multiple-camera setup, multiple-camera mode of production, or multicam is a method of filmmaking and video production. Several cameras—either film or professional video cameras—are employed on the set and simultaneously record or broadcast a scene...
and was shot using every digital 3-D camera and recording deck in existence. The crew had two days to set up the filming equipment before each concert, which required running fiber optic
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
cables and hooking up an electrical generator to supply power at each venue. The 3-D filming equipment consisted of nine custom-built digital movie camera rigs. The project's large scale prompted 3ality Digital to work with director James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
—their chief competitor at the time. 3ality used their own 3flex TS1 camera rigs for filming, in addition to five Fusion 3D rigs, designed by Cameron and camera operator
Camera operator
A camera operator or cameraman is a professional operator of a film or video camera. In filmmaking, the leading cameraman is usually called a cinematographer, while a cameraman in a video production may be known as a television camera operator, video camera operator, or videographer, depending on...
Vincent Pace. A total of 18 Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
CineAlta
CineAlta
Sony's CineAlta 24P HD Cameras are a series of professional digital video cameras that offer many of the same features of a 35mm motion picture film camera.- Concept :...
HDC-F950 cameras were used for filming, with two cameras on each rig. The cameras were fitted with Zeiss digital zoom lens
Zoom lens
A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length can be varied, as opposed to a fixed focal length lens...
es, making U2 3D the first 3-D film shot using a zoom lens. One of the Fusion 3D camera rigs was used as a spidercam
Spidercam
The Spidercam is a system which enables film and television cameras to move both vertically and horizontally over a predetermined area, typically the playing field of a sporting event such as a cricket pitch, football field or a tennis court...
and became the first 3-D aerial camera. The cameras on each rig were spaced eye-distance apart to create a 3-D effect in post-production. Using a beam splitter
Beam splitter
A beam splitter is an optical device that splits a beam of light in two. It is the crucial part of most interferometers.In its most common form, a rectangle, it is made from two triangular glass prisms which are glued together at their base using Canada balsam...
mounted to the camera rig, one camera shot through a 50/50 mirror, while the other shot the image reflected from that mirror. Each rig weighed an average of 200 pounds (90.7 kg). All of the concert footage was shot with twin-camera setups, except for the two Melbourne shoots, where a single CineAlta camera with a steadicam
Steadicam
A Steadicam is a stabilizing mount for a motion picture camera that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement, allowing a smooth shot even when moving quickly over an uneven surface...
was also used to capture close-ups. The cameras captured high-definition video
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
onto HDCAM SR recording decks, which enabled the crew to capture an entire concert; older technology required physical film stock
Film stock
Film stock is photographic film on which filmmaking of motion pictures are shot and reproduced. The equivalent in television production is video tape.-1889–1899:...
that had to be replenished every three minutes of shooting.
Five crew members were required to work on each rig simultaneously to ensure that the focus
Focus (optics)
In geometrical optics, a focus, also called an image point, is the point where light rays originating from a point on the object converge. Although the focus is conceptually a point, physically the focus has a spatial extent, called the blur circle. This non-ideal focusing may be caused by...
on both cameras were synchronized. After one camera was destroyed when a concert security guard tossed buckets of water onto the audience, the crew waterproofed the remaining cameras. Due to Owens' limited directing experience prior to production, some of the filming in South America was directed by Mark Pellington
Mark Pellington
-Life and career:Pellington was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He directed The Mothman Prophecies, a 2002 film starring Richard Gere dealing with mysterious deaths foretold by a strange red-eyed flying creature, Mothman, as well as Arlington Road in 1999 starring Tim Robbins and Jeff Bridges....
, who previously worked with U2 on the "One" music video. Pellington was not involved in post-production, leaving Owens responsible for the remaining aspects of the project, including creative direction and editing.
The concerts were filmed in a style which Owens described as "very unorthodox"; no storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
s or shooting script
Shooting script
A shooting script is the version of a screenplay used during the production of a motion picture. Shooting scripts are distinct from spec scripts in that they make use of scene numbers , and they follow a well defined set of procedures specifying how script revisions should be implemented and...
s were used to ensure footage of U2's performances was improvised. Instead of being directed, U2 performed each of their concerts as usual, with the filming crew capturing footage in real time for the full -hour concerts. The shoots were planned such that the band's performance and the audience's view was uninterrupted. To avoid capturing other camera rigs in the footage, the crew would either film from the back of the stage, or alternate each night between shooting left-to-right and right-to-left. Several shows were edited together to create one performance; therefore, U2 were required to wear the same clothes every night to maintain continuity. Additional spotlights were focused on the audience during filming, and the lighting was dimmed on the stage's LED display. 110 microphones were used to record the concert audio, which included microphones placed on the main stage and around the two B-stages to record the band, and microphones placed throughout the venue to record the audience.
Editing
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
began in February 2006 and occurred concurrently with ongoing principal photography. Editor
Film editing
Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
Olivier Wicki led post-production, working closely with Owens; the two had previously collaborated on the "Original of the Species" music video. Over 100 hours of footage were filmed, featuring performances of 26 different songs. To appeal to a mainstream audience, 14 tracks were chosen for the final cut, including 12 of U2's singles and two non-singles from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is the eleventh studio album by Irish rock band U2, released in November 2004. Much like their previous album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb was commercially successful and critically acclaimed and maintains a more traditional rock...
, the album that the Vertigo Tour supported. Although "City of Blinding Lights
City of Blinding Lights
"City of Blinding Lights" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the fifth track on their 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and was released as the album's fourth single on 6 June 2005. The song was a top ten hit in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and several other countries...
" opened most shows on the tour, "Vertigo" was selected as the opening song of U2 3D. Other tracks that were performed at most of the filmed concerts that did not make the final cut include "Elevation
Elevation (song)
"Elevation" is the third track and third single release from U2's 2000 album, All That You Can't Leave Behind. Featuring a thunderous beat, a variety of sound effects on the central guitar riff, and an easy rhyming lyric for the audience to shout along with, it was highly effective in its...
", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is a song by rock band U2. It is the second track from their 1987 album The Joshua Tree and was released as the album's second single in May 1987...
", "Original of the Species", and "Zoo Station
Zoo Station
"Zoo Station" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the opening track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby, a record on which the group reinvented themselves musically by incorporating influences from alternative rock, industrial, and electronic dance music...
". "With or Without You" was chosen as the last song before the closing credits, although it closed only one concert on the tour.
When selecting songs for the project, the crew had to ensure that the performances of each track fit with one another. U2 wanted to include "Mysterious Ways
Mysterious Ways (song)
"Mysterious Ways" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the eighth track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby and was released as the album's second single on 25 November 1991. The song reached the top ten of the singles charts in several countries, including Ireland, where it went to number one...
" and "Until the End of the World
Until the End of the World (song)
"Until the End of the World" is a song by rock band U2 and the fourth track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby. The song began as a guitar riff composed by lead vocalist Bono from a demo, which the band revisited with success after talking with German filmmaker Wim Wenders about providing music...
", but they were left out since Owens felt that those songs were out of place with the rest of the film. She stated that the main focus of the film was based upon U2's relationship with one another and with their audience, and the challenge of selecting the songs was to create a narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
within the band's performance. After the songs were selected, the footage was edited in 2-D for eight months in New York City. Video post-production continued in Burbank, California at 3ality Digital's 3-D production facility, which opened prior to the completion of shooting. Wicki worked with 3ality Digital to create the 3-D and computer-generated effects. Footage from the nine filmed concerts, mostly from the Buenos Aires shows, was edited together with the footage from the "phantom shoot". Although the Mexico City shows were practice runs, footage from those concerts was used, including a scene where Bono reaches out to the camera during "Sunday Bloody Sunday". Most of the footage from the Melbourne concerts was not used except for some close-ups of Mullen.
Creating the 3-D effect involved taking the edited 2-D footage for the right eye and matching it up with footage for the left eye. Editing the Melbourne footage that used only a single camera involved a separate process to create 3-D effects, known as "virtual second eye perspective". Several software programs were used to convert footage from 2-D to 3-D. The primary editing software, 3action, was developed at 3ality Digital during principal photography. It allowed the post-production team to change convergence points
Convergence (eye)
In ophthalmology, convergence is the simultaneous inward movement of both eyes toward each other, usually in an effort to maintain single binocular vision when viewing an object. This action is mediated by the medial rectus muscle, which is innervated by Cranial nerve III...
in each shot, and to create multiple convergence points. Left-eye and right-eye footage was assembled on separate layers, then edited together with color grading
Color grading
Color grading or colour painting, is the process of altering and enhancing the color of a motion picture, video image, or still image either electronically, photo-chemically or digitally. The photo-chemical process is also referred to as color timing and is typically performed at a photographic...
added, and eventually output in a 3-D stereoscopic
Stereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
format for review.
Fast cutting
Fast cutting is a film editing technique which refers to several consecutive shots of a brief duration . It can be used to convey a lot of information very quickly, or to imply either energy or chaos...
between shots, which Owens wanted to retain in U2 3D. Because fast cutting in 3-D would lead to motion sickness or eye strain, the film was edited to incorporate dissolves
Dissolve (filmmaking)
In the post-production process of film editing and video editing, a dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another. The terms fade-out and fade-in and are used to describe a transition to and from a blank image. This is in contrast to a cut where there is no such transition. A dissolve...
of at least four frames between shots. Many of the transitions were created by layering several frames of footage on top of one another into composite images
Compositing
Compositing is the combining of visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously called "chroma key", "blue screen", "green screen" and other names. Today,...
. Each of the layered frames featured a different depth of field to enhance the 3-D effects, and up to five images were layered together in a single shot. This made U2 3D the first 3-D film to feature composite images with more than two layers, and the first to be edited specifically to prevent the viewer from experiencing motion sickness or eye strain. Software did not exist at the time to layer the 3-D images, so new software had to be developed. Because the project was captured in high-definition video, each frame used nearly 20 megabyte
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
s of data on 3ality Digital's servers, and the entire film used almost a petabyte
Petabyte
A petabyte is a unit of information equal to one quadrillion bytes, or 1000 terabytes. The unit symbol for the petabyte is PB...
(1015 byte
Byte
The byte is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, a byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the basic addressable element in many computer...
s). The 3-D editing process took longer than Owens expected, and consequently, the project went over budget, costing $15 million to produce. Video editing took 17 months, and the final film was cut to a length of 85 minutes—seven shorter than originally announced.
Audio editor Carl Glanville worked on the soundtrack, mixing the audio
Audio mixing (film and television)
Audio mixing for film and television is a process during the post-production stage of a moving image program by which a multitude of recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels...
into a 5.1 surround sound
5.1 surround sound
5.1 is the common name for six channel surround sound multichannel audio systems. 5.1 is now the most commonly used layout in both commercial cinemas and home theaters. It uses five full bandwidth channels and one low frequency enhancement channel . Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS, and...
mix with audio engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
Robbie Adams in New York City. Video footage was compiled into files by Wicki, which were given to Glanville for compiling the soundtrack. Glanville and Adams said the audio editing was difficult mainly because the selection of video footage was limited, as only one to two cameras angles were captured at most of the shows. Further, the lyrics and music from the song performances differed slightly each night. To avoid lip sync
Lip sync
Lip sync, lip-sync, lip-synch is a technical term for matching lip movements with sung or spoken vocals...
and instrumental sync issues, the editors had to use the exact audio that was recorded during each shot. Mixing the vocals required that Glanville layer the audio recorded from the stage microphones with that from the audience microphones and to add a short delay
Delay (audio effect)
Delay is an audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time. The delayed signal may either be played back multiple times, or played back into the recording again, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.-Early delay...
between the two to compensate for any echos or delay that occurred in the venue. The sound from the subwoofer
Subwoofer
A subwoofer is a woofer, or a complete loudspeaker, which is dedicated to the reproduction of low-pitched audio frequencies known as the "bass". The typical frequency range for a subwoofer is about 20–200 Hz for consumer products, below 100 Hz for professional live sound, and below...
channel was mixed inside two IMAX theaters in Los Angeles to ensure the volume of low-end frequencies was consistent with the rest of the soundtrack. The edited video footage featured 10- to 20-second-long shots, in contrast to the shorter shots usually found in concert films. Extended gaps were added between songs to slightly slow down the pace of the film. All audio and video footage used was recorded live in concert, with no added overdubs
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
. Following post-production, U2 3D became the first live-action film to be shot, posted, and exhibited entirely in 3-D, the first live-action digital 3-D film, and the first 3-D concert film.
Screenings and releases
2007 Cannes Film Festival
The 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the sixtieth, ran from 16 to 27 May 2007. Wong Kar-wai's My Blueberry Nights opened the festival, and Denys Arcand's The Age of Ignorance closed...
on May 19, 2007. It was one of nine films to be screened out-of-competition at the 2007 festival, and was the first live-action 3-D film shown at Cannes. Following a brief song performance by U2 at the festival, the film was screened at midnight inside the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès
Palais des Festivals et des Congrès
The first Palais des Festivals et des Congrès was a building built in 1949 to host the Cannes Film Festival. The original building was located on the boulevard of Promenade de la Croisette on the present site of the JW Marriott Cannes...
, using Dolby 3D
Dolby 3D
Dolby 3D is a marketing name for a system from Dolby Laboratories, Inc. to show three-dimensional motion pictures in a digital cinema.- Technology :...
technology and a silver screen
Silver screen
A silver screen, also known as a silver lenticular screen, is a type of projection screen that was popular in the early years of the motion picture industry and passed into popular usage as a metonym for the cinema industry...
installed by RealD Cinema. John Modell referred to the premiere as "the most high tech film screening that's ever been done in history." At the time, the 3-D post-production process was incomplete; therefore, a shortened, 56-minute version of the title was screened, featuring nine of the completed version's 14 songs. The completed version premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
2008 Sundance Film Festival
The 2008 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 17, 2008 to January 27 in Park City, Utah. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was In Bruges and the closing night film was CSNY Déjà Vu.-Films:...
on January 19 at the Ellen Eccles Theatre
Ellen Eccles Theatre
The Ellen Eccles Theatre was built in 1923 on Logan, Utah's Main Street. Then known as the Capitol Theatre, it was a home originally to vaudeville and opera. As vaudeville died out, it became used primarily for community events, and increasingly, movies...
.
U2 3Ds limited release
Limited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
was on January 23, 2008, when it was shown in 61 IMAX theaters in the US and Canada. The IMAX release took place much earlier than the film's wide release
Wide release
Wide release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing nationally . Specifically, a movie is considered to be in wide release when it is on 600 screens or more in the United States and Canada.In the US, films holding an NC-17 rating almost never have a...
, as many IMAX theaters had booked The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Spiderwick Chronicles (film)
The Spiderwick Chronicles is a 2008 fantasy film adaptation of Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi's bestselling series of the same name. Set in the Spiderwick Estate in New England, United States, it follows the adventures of Jared Grace and his family as they discover a field guide to faeries, battle...
, which was released on February 15. U2 3D was U2's second feature film, following 1988's Rattle and Hum, and the third concert video release from the Vertigo Tour, following the direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
concert recordings Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago and Vertigo 2005: Live from Milan. The wide release was originally scheduled for February 15, 2008, but the date was pushed back one week when Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
decided to extend its release of the 3-D concert film Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert
Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert
Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert is a 2008 American concert film from Walt Disney Pictures presented in Disney Digital 3-D. Released in the United States and Canada originally for one week, February 1–7, 2008, with release in other countries later on...
, which was initially scheduled to be in theaters for only one week. On February 15, U2 3D had a second limited release in select theaters in the US with RealD Cinema technology. The film's European premiere took place on February 20, 2008 at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival
Jameson Dublin International Film Festival
The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival is a film festival that is held annually in February over the course of ten days in Dublin, Republic of Ireland-History:The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival was established in 2003...
, and on February 22, it had its wide release into over 600 theaters internationally. A theatrical re-release in the US took place in March 2009 to coincide with the release of U2's studio album, No Line on the Horizon. In October 2009, the film had a single IMAX showing at a U2 academic conference, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
celebrated the opening of its new theater by showing U2 3D at its museum. Film distributor Mobz re-released U2 3D into over 100 theaters in Brazil in March 2011 for a three-day event prior to U2's concerts in the country during the U2 360° Tour
U2 360° Tour
The U2 360° Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Launched in support of the group's 2009 album No Line on the Horizon, the tour visited stadiums from 2009 through 2011. It was named for a stage configuration that allowed the audience to almost completely surround the stage...
.
U2 3D was slated to be screened only in IMAX 3D theaters, but the large increase in the number of digital theaters
Digital cinema
Digital cinema refers to the use of digital technology to distribute and project motion pictures. A movie can be distributed via hard drives, optical disks or satellite and projected using a digital projector instead of a conventional film projector...
following post-production prompted the filmmakers to expand the release to include those cinemas. Two different types of polarized glasses were used for the IMAX and digital 3-D showings. The IMAX 3D version of the film used glasses with one lens polarized horizontally and one polarized vertically, while the digital 3-D version used glasses with two circularly polarized lenses. John Modell described the IMAX version as a "more immersive experience", and stated that the digital 3-D version features more vivid colors. Owens said that 3ality Digital plans to release the film to a 3-D home video
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
format in the future, where the viewers would still wear 3-D glasses to watch. U2 control the ancillary rights to U2 3D along with their record label Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
, and they have stated that additional rights such as those for a home video release will not be optioned until home video technology can meet the same digital 3-D standards as cinema.
Marketing
Creative Director
A creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well....
John Leamy
John Leamy
John Leamy was a member of New York noise band Surgery from 1987–1995 and is the drummer for Masters of Reality since 1999. Leamy is a member, as a multi-instrumentalist, of the New York collective Brand New Skin as well as Dr...
, who also designed the wordmark logo and title sequence for U2 3D. The film poster, which featured a collage of images from the film, won Leamy an award for best poster art at the Giant Screen Cinema Association's annual international conference in 2008. The trailer was shown in 3-D theaters before Meet the Robinsons
Meet the Robinsons
Meet the Robinsons is a 2007 American computer-animated family film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures on March 30, 2007. The forty-seventh animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, the film was released in both the United States and the...
, the only 3-D film released in theaters in early 2007.
Originally scheduled for the third quarter of 2007, the film's release was delayed when a distributor could not be found. In October 2007, the National Geographic Society
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...
announced the creation of National Geographic Entertainment, a new unit within the society featuring various entertainment divisions. U2 3D was the first film released through their new division, National Geographic Cinema Ventures, in January 2008. National Geographic CEO John M. Fahey, Jr.
John M. Fahey, Jr.
John M. Fahey, Jr. became the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Geographic Society in 1998, succeeding Reg Murphy. Fahey also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees, as well as Chairman of its executive committee....
stated that U2 3D was chosen as the division's first release because they felt that U2 is "a band of the world" and "world music is something the Geographic as an institution is really interested in". National Geographic chose Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
as the film's American sponsor, and offered passes to select members of the retailer's loyalty program to view U2 3D before its wide release. U2 3D was promoted through the internet, print, radio, television, on a JumboTron
Jumbotron
A JumboTron is a large-screen television using technology developed by Sony, typically used in sports stadiums and concert venues to show close-up shots of the event. Although JumboTron is a registered trademark owned by the Sony Corporation, the word jumbotron is often used by the public as a...
in Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, and as a sponsor on NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
's #19 Best Buy Dodge stock car
Stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, Brazil and Argentina. Traditionally, races are run on oval tracks measuring approximately in length...
driven by Elliott Sadler
Elliott Sadler
Elliott William Barnes Sadler is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Impala for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the Nationwide Series. He is one of only 23 drivers to have won in each of NASCAR's top three series...
.
Box office
U2 3D began its limited release in January 2008 in 61 theaters in the United States. It grossed $964,315 during its opening weekend, averaging $15,808 at each theater, and ranking at number 20 at the box office. The film was widely released on February 22, 2008 into 686 theaters, and ranked number 19 at the box office in the US. The first week of the wide release was the highest-grossing week of its theatrical run, grossing $1,026,121, averaging $1,496 per theater. The wide release is ranked at website Box Office MojoBox Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...
in the top 100 for worst openings, . Comparing the box office performance of the film to Disney's Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus 3-D concert film, The Spokesman Reviews online magazine 7 said U2 3D was "failing miserably". Three weeks into its wide release, U2 3D was playing in less than 100 theaters internationally. At the time, it had only grossed $6.6 million, while Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus—still playing in many theaters since its February 1 release—had brought in over $60 million.
Prior to its Japan premiere in February 2009, U2 3D grossed $20 million in box office revenue. Following its limited release, the film's distributors stated there was no predetermined limit to the length of the title's run, and the overall length would be determined by box office sales. Because of this, U2 3D has remained in theaters for several years, and been re-released into theaters where it was previously shown. The film's run in the US ended August 26, 2010, bringing its total domestic gross to $10,363,341, after showing for 947 days. During the week of the three-day re-release in Brazil in March 2011,
the film grossed over $360,000, which made the total worldwide gross over $23 million, and became the highest-grossing week since 2008.
For its genre, U2 3D was successful and set several box office records. The film became the highest grossing documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
to be eligible for an Oscar nomination at the 81st Academy Awards
81st Academy Awards
The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2008 and took place February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST...
. U2 3D set a record in Ireland for the highest screen average of any film playing during its opening weekend, and it took in almost €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
90,000 at eight theaters during its first three days. In February 2011, Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
ranked U2 3D as fifth-highest-grossing concert film, earning $14 million more than Rattle and Hum, which was ranked as the seventh-highest.
Critical response
Based on 87 reviews by critics, Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gave U2 3D a 92% approval rating. The website assigned it an average score of 7.5/10, with a consensus that U2 3D was "an exhilarating musical experience at the price of a movie ticket". At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
—which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics—the film received an average score of 83, based on 19 reviews, which translates to "universal acclaim" on the website's rating scale. The film received positive reviews from Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
and Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
following its 56-minute premiere at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival when the final 85-minute cut was months away from completion. Critics from publications such as the Irish Independent
Irish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...
, The New Zealand Herald
The New Zealand Herald
- External links :* * *...
, Reno News & Review, Toronto Star, and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
said that the film's 3-D experience was "even better than the real thing"—a reference to U2's song of the same name
Even Better Than the Real Thing
"Even Better Than the Real Thing" is the second song on U2's 1991 album Achtung Baby. It was released as the album's fourth single on 7 June 1992.-Writing and recording:...
. Reviews by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
and Total Film
Total Film
Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features...
stated the film seemed to appeal to fans and non-fans of U2 alike, just as the filmmakers had intended.
U2 3D was praised by Variety for its straightforward concert footage, compared to the interviews and behind-the-scenes footage included in Rattle and Hum. In an episode of the TV series At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips (critic)
Michael Phillips is a film critic for the Chicago Tribune newspaper. Previously he was the drama critic of the Tribune; the Los Angeles Times; the St. Paul Pioneer Press; the San Diego Union-Tribune; and the Dallas Times Herald....
called the film "a genuine eye-fill" and Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper is an American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM...
described it as "spectacular". The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
designated U2 3D as a "Critics' Pick" and stated in the review that the film was "the first IMAX movie that deserves to be called a work of art". U2 3D appeared on many critics' lists of the top ten films released in 2008 including The Austin Chronicle, Culpeper Star-Exponent, OhmyNews International
OhmyNews International
OhmyNews International is the worldwide, English-language site of the South Korean online citizen journalism newspaper OhmyNews. OhmyNews International was established by OhmyNews founder Oh Yeon Ho on February 22, 2004 on the principle that "Every citizen in the world is a reporter." It currently...
, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
, The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
, and River Cities' Reader. Bono was satisfied with the outcome of the film and said his favorite sequence was the performance of "Miss Sarajevo". When interviewed about the PopMart Tour in 2009, Bono said that the PopMart: Live from Mexico City
PopMart: Live from Mexico City
Selections from the Mexico City concert were released on the live album Hasta la Vista Baby! U2 Live from Mexico City. The album was and released exclusively to members of U2's fan club magazine, Propaganda, in 2000. It features 14 songs from the band's 25-song performance.-Track listing:...
video was the best project U2 had done from an audio and visual perspective, and was "[e]clipsed only by U2 3D". The Edge was pleased that the footage did not show any of the distress he felt from his daughter's illness during filming.
However, the film received more critical reviews. The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
graded it a B− and stated that U2's performance was less thrilling than the 3-D effects. Online magazine FilmSlash criticized The New York Times statement about U2 3D being the first IMAX art film, stating that some of the first IMAX titles were "experimental works of art". Music critic Joel Selvin
Joel Selvin
Joel Selvin is a San Francisco-based music critic and author known for his weekly column in the San Francisco Chronicle which ran from 1972 to 2009. Selvin has written books covering various aspects of pop music and has interviewed a large number of musical artists...
wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
that seeing U2 on the big screen was "more distracting than illuminating", and Time Out London criticized Bono's political statements, stating he "should refrain from ramming his preachy political meanderings down our throats and let the music do the talking". The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
favored Rattle and Hum over U2 3D and called U2's performance "unexciting", criticizing how "the cameras, not the band, are doing all the work". The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, which gave a rating of one out of five stars, claimed that U2 appeared to be "four conceited billionaires who are further up themselves than ever".
Recognition and legacy
U2 3D was recognized favorably after its release, earning several awards. In 2008, it earned three awards, including "Best Film Produced Non-Exclusively for the Giant Screen" at the Giant Screen Cinema Association's 2008 Achievement Awards, "Best Musical Film" at Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2008Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2008
The seventh annual Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2008 took place on October 16, 2008 in Guadalajara, Mexico at the Auditorio Telmex for the first time.Jose Tillan was the Executive Producer of the event.-Artist of the Year:* Babasónicos* Belanova* Café Tacuba...
, and the Pioneer Award for Film & Television at the 2008 3D Film and Interactive Film Festival. In February 2009, U2 3D received an award for "Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project" from the Visual Effects Society (VES) at the 7th Annual VES Awards.
The extensive use of technology during production was featured as the cover story in the December 2007 issue of the high-definition video magazine HDVideoPro, a month before the premiere of U2 3D. Its usage of evolutionary technology led to Catherine Owens being selected as a featured guest speaker at the SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH is the name of the annual conference on computer graphics convened by the ACM SIGGRAPH organization. The first SIGGRAPH conference was in 1974. The conference is attended by tens of thousands of computer professionals...
2008 conference, which took place several months after the film's release. After U2 3D received praise from fans, critics, and the film industry, several of the filmmakers stated that they felt it helped create a paradigm shift
Paradigm shift
A Paradigm shift is, according to Thomas Kuhn in his influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions , a change in the basic assumptions, or paradigms, within the ruling theory of science...
in cinema history, due to the technological advancements used in the production.
Following the success of U2 3D, 3ality Digital continued to pioneer 3-D projects. After previously experimenting with filming American football games in 3-D, 3ality Digital successfully broadcast the first live 3-D NFL game in December 2008. In 2009, 3ality Digital aired the first live 3-D sports broadcast available to consumers, the first 3-D television advertisement, and the first 3-D episode of a scripted television program. U2 show director Willie Williams recruited U2 3D director of photography Tom Krueger to design the photography and video coverage for the band's 2009–2011 U2 360° Tour. Krueger directed their subsequent concert film, U2 360° at the Rose Bowl
U2 360° at the Rose Bowl
U2 360° at the Rose Bowl is a 2010 concert film by Irish rock band U2. It was shot on 25 October 2009 on the band's U2 360° Tour date at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Rose Bowl concert featured an audience of over 97,000 people, and was broadcast live over the Internet via YouTube...
, which was released in 2010.
Setlist
All titles written by U2, except "Miss Sarajevo" (co-written with Brian EnoBrian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
).
- "Vertigo"
- "Beautiful DayBeautiful Day"Beautiful Day" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the first track from their 2000 album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, and it was released as the album's lead single. It was a commercial success, helping launch the album to multi-platinum status, and is one of U2's biggest hits to date...
" - "New Year's DayNew Year's Day (song)"New Year's Day" is a song by rock band U2. It is on their 1983 album War and it was released as the album's lead single in January 1983. Written about the Polish Solidarity movement, "New Year's Day" is driven by Adam Clayton's distinctive bassline and The Edge's keyboard playing...
" - "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your OwnSometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own-Charts:-See also:*List of covers of U2 songs - Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own-References:* - last accessed on October 26, 2005* [ All Music - U2 Charts and Awards] - last accessed on October 26, 2005\...
" - "Love and Peace or Else"
- "Sunday Bloody SundaySunday Bloody Sunday"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is a song by U2.It may also refer to:*Sunday Bloody Sunday , a 1971 film*"Sunday, Bloody Sunday"...
" - "Bullet the Blue SkyBullet the Blue Sky"Bullet the Blue Sky" is the fourth track from U2's 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. The song is one of the band's most overtly politically toned songs, with live performances often being heavily critical of political conflicts and violence....
" - "Miss SarajevoMiss Sarajevo"Miss Sarajevo" is the only single from the 1995 album Original Soundtracks 1 by U2 and Brian Eno, under the pseudonym Passengers. Luciano Pavarotti makes a guest vocal appearance, singing the opera solo. It also appears on U2's compilation, The Best of 1990-2000, and was covered by George Michael...
" / U.N. Declaration of Human RightsUniversal Declaration of Human RightsThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled... - "Pride (In the Name of Love)Pride (In the Name of Love)"Pride " is a song by Irish rock band U2. The second track on the band's 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire, it was released as the album's lead single in September 1984...
" - "Where the Streets Have No NameWhere the Streets Have No Name"Where the Streets Have No Name" is a song by rock band U2. It is the opening track from their 1987 album The Joshua Tree and was released as the album's third single in August 1987. The song's hook is a repeating guitar arpeggio using a delay effect, played during the song's introduction and...
" - "OneOne (U2 song)"One" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the third track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby, and it was released as the record's third single in March 1992. It was recorded at three recording studios, Hansa Ton Studios, Elsinore, and Windmill Lane Studios...
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Encore
- "The FlyThe Fly (song)"The Fly" is a song by rock band U2. It is the seventh track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby and it was released as the album's first single on 12 October 1991. "The Fly" introduced a more abrasive sounding U2, as the song featured hip-hop and industrial beats, distorted vocals, and an elaborate...
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- "With or Without YouWith or Without You"With or Without You" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the third track from their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree, and was released as the album's first single on 21 March 1987...
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Closing credits
- "YahwehYahweh (song)"Yahweh" is a song by rock band U2 and the eleventh track on their 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. It was mainly recorded in one take, and was performed live by the band during the Vertigo Tour. The song received mixed reviews from critics....
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External links
- U2 3D Live: The Official Blog for U2 3D, the Movie
- News – U2 3D at U2.com
- U2 3D at The Numbers