Last night I had the opportunity to attend a 30 minute preview of the new Brendan Fraser film Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D. We were able to see both the 3D version of the trailer as well as a number of completed scenes from the movie.
The big deal about this film is that it is the first live action, digitally shot 3D movie, and it was “filmed” using James Cameron’s new 3D Fusion camera system.
Now here’s the thing to keep in mind about Journey 3D: It’s goal is to be the film that ushers in the 3D movie revolution. It’s going to provide amazing 3D visual effects and (literally) a rollercoaster ride for the audience.
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The target audience for this PG-rated film is kids, and I think they’re going to eat it up. It will basically be a longer version of the sort of experience you usually have to travel to Disney or Universal Studios to see.
It’s being brought to us by Walden Media, which is known for it’s family friendly films. (I shudder to think of the opposite end of the scale and 3D movie technology).
So what was it like? Imagine Beowulf 3D, but in live action and even higher quality. Think of the difference between watching your TV at home, and then walking into a Best Buy and watching a 60″ plasma Hi-Def picture, and then multiply that by two.
It looks like they’ll probably follow the original story for the most part but with a few additions and twists. I’m sure that some people will find it silly, and there is certainly some stuff that warrants that (like the boy, while at the center of the Earth, receiving a cell phone call from his mom. Now THAT’s cell phone reception!). But again, this is a movie targeted more at kids and created to provide a great visual experience.
I won’t get too technical, but part of the “new and improved” aspect of the system as that it has a varying convergence point capability. What that means is that just as your eyes cross slightly when focusing on something nearer than something farther away, the lenses on the camera can do the same. What this means is that instead of everything in a scene being in sharp 3D focus, objects that are either in the background or not the center of attention can be slightly blurry, just as in traditionally shot movies.
Even just the watching the trailer in 3D was a vastly different experience. Seeing the YouTube version is really pretty silly in trying to capture what this movie will be like.
Personally I’m a fan of 3D and while this one, as an introductory film will be quite gimmicky in it’s use of the visuals, I look forward to seeing more and more movies produced this way.
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D opens on July 11
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5 Comments
James Cameron himself wrote about the technology in this month’s HD Video Pro magazine. He’s on the cover–check it out!
heath
Hurray! I’ve totally been in love with the 3D (or as I prefer, RealD, per one of the 3D company’s name), and am glad to see so much support and adoption for the technology.
This isn’t the same as the red/blue glasses (or red/green for you Europeans) folks, this stuff looks fantastic and gives the movie a totally different look.
Here’s an explanation on how technology works for anyone who’s interested (from Cinemark):
To create a 3D effect on a movie screen, there are actually two images – one for the right eye and one for the left eye. As humans, this is how we see 3D. Each eyeball sees a slightly different image; the brain fuses these two separate images together to form a single image having depth. A realistic digital 3D system replicates the way a human eye perceives depth by delivering a separate image to each eye. The brain does the rest by fusing the right and left mages together and allowing us to see a single image that has depth.
The 3D images are “decoded” by viewers wearing comfortable, lightweight glasses that are similar to sunglasses. With these special glasses, movie-goers can enjoy realistic 3D effects that can only be seen in movie theatres equipped with the special 3D digital projectors and specially made silver screens.
Content for 3D films are created several different ways. First, films produced using computer-generated imagery (CGI)—such as many animated features – are naturally created in 3D. Another way to capture a 3D image is by using two cameras, side-by-side, to take two streams of content – one for each eye. Finally, 3D content can be created by converting traditional 2D content to 3D during the post-production phase. This 2D to 3D conversion process is a viable solution for existing films.
Source:
http://www.cinemark.com/digitaledge.asp
Sounds interesting (the technology, not the movie), but still gimmicky.
Is everyone happy wearing “comfortable, lightweight glasses”? How the heck is this going to translate to home video versions?
Just bring on Avatar and let’s see what this 3D Fusion camera tech can really do
The gimmicks will be nice for awhile but it will wear out fast so I hope it is not overdone with these higher budget movies as there will be plenty of lower budget movies made with them. 3D must be done RIGHT this time around. I think there is enough momentum to really make a huge difference this time in Hollywood and I see a new standard for making films. Even dramas.
Only time will tell, but it seems to me to be the next logical progression in the movie theater experience.
Now if they could do away with those glasses… (and the technology IS being developed for that, but it’s not ready for prime time).
Vic
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