Jon Landau, “Avatar” Producer, did a video interview with CBS News on the state of 3D today and where it is going. When asked, “is the honeymoon with 3D over”, he simply replied: “I don’t think it’s over at all. I think we are in the beginning stages. If you look back historically it took a while even for Color to find it’s place in the theaters. Right now it’s about making good movies. 3D does not make a bad movie good.”
“3D is not an alternative format, it is the definitive format.” Of this he means that 3D films should go in the way of color, as it is a sensory change. When used properly and not in place of an actual quality story, 3D is an enhancer, a way to pull you in. And Jon Landau was very careful to make this point clear.
Then the question about audience attendance came up. Is there a disconnect for consumers? Why is there so much push-back? The answer was not that the audience has done anything wrong, but that they have been tricked into thinking something that is NOT 3D (such as “Clash of the Titans”) is 3D, and so they are forced to assume that 3D is not worth the extra cost. “You have many movies coming out now and they are converting their films to 3D without shooting them and they don’t take the time to convert them properly…. I think the consumers pick up on that. It’s not in 3D. it’s in 2.6D.”
Landau goes on to praise Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 for taking the time to convert the material properly. He also mentions Martin Scorsese for actually filming his next feature with a 3D camera “because [Scorsese] knows that narrative story telling is enhanced by 3D.”
A guest on the show was Jon Favreau, director of the “Iron Man” movies. What they agreed upon was that “good 3d makes the technology disappear.” By this they meant that 3D should feel so much like the dimensions in our real life that they are almost undistinguishable. When you cant see the technology forcing the 3D then it is good 3D.
Something important to Landau was to discuss the 3D rerelease of Titanic, stating that they are spending months, more than a year, on the conversion process to make sure it is “done right.”
“Like color, 3D will take it’s hold when we bring it into our homes, whether by movies or gaming…. When more filmmakers become comfortable with the ida of filming in 3D they will become the impetuous to drive it.”
On asked about glasses-free technology: “When it comes to the home and computer screens I think we are going to get to glasses-free technology. [Most Macs and PC’s are already] a poorman’s version of 3D, using layers upon layers. [As for theaters] I think glasses will be a part of it for a while. The question is, how do we make them an opportunity and not a deterrent? How do we make them the same glasses you wear when you go to the beach?”
Source: CBS News
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