The stage cleared in a twinkle and the lights went up.
Martin Hammer leaned across the seats and spoke to the standing woman. "What's wrong, Mrs. Foster?"
"That won't do," she said. "Bad shot!"
Hammer thought for a moment. "There's nothing wrong with a close-up," he said. "It's done daily."
Jenny Foster smiled. "Yes," she agreed, "the screen fills up from top to bottom with the face, and the eyes look softly into the camera lens as the girl murmurs, 'I love you' and it is effective because in the two-dimensional cinema, the trick of looking into the camera lens makes it appear as though the girl were gazing softly into your own eyes—no matter where you are in the theater. But this is solid, Hammer. When the gal looks at you, I can tell that she's looking at you from here."
"So?"
"So I'm resentful of the guy who has the preferred seat," she said.
Martin Hammer smiled. "You can't have all the seats in the theater within a two-foot circle," he said. "But there must be some way to lick it."
"You'll remember what I had to say?" she asked.
Hammer nodded. "We'll work on it," he said. "Like all other media, solid performances require their own techniques. But until we locate the techniques, people will take to solids for their novelty."