James Cameron and the Third Dimension

It could easily be argued that we are now in the 3D age and it is difficult not to speak of James Cameron and 3D in the same breath as, “James Cameron is the biggest advocate for 3D working in Hollywood today.”¹ James Cameron, the same innovative director that dazzled audiences in 1997 with the blockbuster “Titanic” and pushed the technical limits of special effects in such classic films from the ‘80s as “Terminator”, “Terminator 2”, and “Aliens”. He is yet again leading the way by ushering the world into a new age of 3D following on the success of Avatar, “which ranks as the highest-grossing film with a worldwide box office take of $2.8 billion.”²

“Tired of waiting for technology to catch up, he co-developed a new generation of stereoscopic cameras…” with Emmy Award-winning director of photography, Vince Pace.³ After the success of “Avatar” the Cameron Pace Group set out to improve the quality of 3D by offering, “the Cameron | Pace name to productions that use the company's technologies. Like THX before it, it's set to become a symbol to consumers that the 3D in the movie they are about to watch is the best it possibly can be.”¹ “That certification allows a studio to promote the quality of its films to investors and potential distributors, said Lyndsay Harding, chief financial officer of Evergreen Films, the first studio to be CPG certified.”²

By offering a certification, Cameron is also helping to create the standardization of 3D, where at the moment there is none. The issue of this lack of 3D standardization is that when 3D is used as a gimmick or to crank out poor 3D conversions of 2D films then 3D as a cinematic storytelling tool is left with a black eye in the opinion of consumers that do not know the difference between good and bad 3D. There have been many bad quickie 3D conversions that have been made to cash in quickly on 3D without consideration of the long term consequences on the reputation of 3D as an emerging storytelling tool.

James Cameron recently spoke about the conversion process for “Titanic”, “and why post-converting 3D is one of the toughest things he's ever had to do...”.¹ Cameron said that the “Titanic” conversion took a year because the process needed to take that much time. “I said I'm not doing it in less than a year,” part of his rationale for taking his time on the conversion was to make sure that, “Leonardo DiCaprio's face wasn’t flat in any particular shot. Quickie conversions handle that poorly. But when it's done right,” he said, “it's gorgeous.”⁴ He went on to add that handling the 3D conversion process well could mean that “those legacy library titles that we love, whether they are 'Jaws,' 'Star Wars,' name your favorite film, can and should be done -- but they have to be done right and the filmmakers have to be involved.”⁴

When Cameron was asked about how he felt that he could improve the 3D process for "Avatar 2", he expressed an interest in shooting the film at a frame rate of 45 to 60 frames per second and that he wanted to focus on the light levels that a projector throws on the screen because he saw these two areas as greater obstacles to overcome to ensure the future of 3D film-making over the further advancement of the camera equipment that captures the film. “People talk about feeling sick or something like that, and I think it’s because the image is strobing,” postulated Cameron.⁵ “That’s a function of the 24 frame frame rate, which has actually got nothing to do with 3D. It’s just made more apparent because the 3D is otherwise such an enhanced, realistic image, that all of a sudden you’re aware of this funky strobing which you weren’t aware of.”⁵

The next few years will be crucial in the development of 3D and anyone with an interest in 3D would be wise to keep an eye on the innovations that James Cameron institutes as we embrace this new reinvention of a cinematic storytelling art-form.

Russell McGee

¹ M. Chacksfield, James Cameron on 3D: the TechRadar interview, WWW Document, http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/james-cameron-on-3d-the-techradar-interview-1023538

²Bollywood, James Cameron, Hollywood's 3D entrepreneur, WWW Document, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1208038/Avatar-How-James-Camerons-3D-film-change-face-cinema-forever.html

³E. Wrenn, Avatar: How James Cameron's 3D film could change the face of cinema forever, WWW Document, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1208038/Avatar-How-James-Camerons-3D-film-change-face-cinema-forever.html

⁴J. Weinstein, James Cameron on 3D, "Titanic" and all things "Avatar", WWW Document, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/22/us-jamescameron-3dmovies-idUSTRE78L0HS20110922

⁵T. Gilchrist, James Cameron Explains Why the 3D Experience Will Be Better On ‘Avatar 2’, WWW Document, http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/01/31/james-cameron-explains-why-the-3d-experience-will-be-better-on-%E2%80%98avatar-2%E2%80%99/