Sometimes it pays to do what you are told.
Wednesday, 80 Park City High School students were sent to the Eccles Center lobby but had no idea why. “We guessed it might have something to do with Sundance,” said junior class member Courtney Bell. “When they invited us, they just said it was something we would definitely enjoy.”
A few minutes later the kids were leaning forward in their seats wearing the latest high-tech 3D glasses and applauding before the opening credits — that appeared to float over the row in front of them — had even stopped rolling.
Just before the house lights dimmed, Park City Performing Arts Foundation Executive Director Teri Orr explained, “This Saturday there will be two sold-out shows in this theater for the world premiere of U2 3D. But, in fact, this is the world premiere, right now. You are going to be the first in the world to see it all the way through.”
The screening actually served several purposes. For the film’s crew, it was a tech rehearsal. According to Producer John Modell, it was the first time any of them would see the film all the way through and he warned that they might have to stop and adjust things. It was also a first-time run-through of the state-of-the-art Dolby sound system installed at the Eccles especially for U2 3D’s Sundance premiere.
Russell Allen of Dolby Labs said, “This is the most high-tech film that has ever been done.”
It may have been just a rehearsal for the filmmaker, but for the Park City Performing Arts Foundation and the Sundance Institute, Orr said, it was a perfect way to celebrate the Eccles Center’s 10th anniversary, its decade-long relationship with Sundance and both organizations’ commitment to student-outreach programs.
“We wanted to do something just for the kids. It took months of planning,” said Orr.
In addition to touting exciting new advances in 3D technology, Orr emphasized the film’s human-rights message, telling the students that Bono, the rock star know also for his humanitarian work in Africa, had turned “doing well into doing good.”
After 84 minutes of surround sound and 3D eye candy, the students had an opportunity to talk to the filmmakers and one of the first questions was, “Where do you see this technology going?”
Modell didn’t hesitate.
“It’s always about making it more realistic, about bringing you closer to the story. It would be just as stunning in a one-on-one dramatic scene, martial arts and horror films. I think you can expect to see things like the World Cup soccer finals being filmed in 3D It’s coming a lot faster than people think. We are hoping it becomes ubiquitous.”
And when it does, those Park City High School students will be able to say they saw it first.