There is probably no bigger cheerleader on the planet for 3D than James Cameron, but he’s also been the loudest voice when it comes to half-hearted, unartistic use of the format. And he recently had a lot to say about 3D and moviemaking in general, sitting down with Alfonso Cuarón for a conversation at Mexico City’s technology forum TagDF on Wednesday. Why were they paired up? Well, it turns out Cameron lent Cuarón some technology assistance on his upcoming 3D space adventure “Gravity,” a movie will undoubtedly meets his approval, 3D-wise. But as for some of the other blockbusters this summer? Not so much.
“I do not think Hollywood is using the 3D properly,” he said at the conference, with Laverdad (via The Film Stage) recapping the higlights. “The reason I say that Hollywood is not doing well is because it is automatic. For example, ‘The Man of Steel,’ ‘Iron Man‘ and all those movies should not necessarily be in 3D. If you spend 150 million on visual effects, the film is already going to be spectacular, perfect.” You would think that the same logic would apply to Cameron’s already expensive “Avatar,” but it was shot in 3D, whereas the superhero flicks were conversion jobs, and that’s where the difference lies.
“One thing is shooting in 3D and another to convert to 3D. After ‘Avatar’ changed everything, good and bad movies, everything has to be in 3D since ‘Avatar.’ The problem I see now is that instead of it being a filmmaker issue is a matter of the studios to make money and are pushing 3D to directors who are not comfortable or do not like 3D,” Cameron elaborated.
But hypocrisy and ego or not, Cameron isn’t wrong — both “Man Of Steel” and “Iron Man 3” weren’t particularly made better by 3D. But the big question is what is Cameron going to do with the format and special effects in the developing “Avatar” sequels to push the envelope again? Well, he isn’t aiming to top himself in that department exactly. “…we are not going to invent a new 3D or (new system of) CG. We’re going to go a little more to strive for creativity,” he said.
And what’s after those “Avatar” movies? Well, Cameron is still going on about making “Battle Angel,” which he says will start moving in earnest in 2017, and will be about “trans-humans” or something. We think 2017 is an optimistic time frame, but sure, we’ll go along with that for now. Anyway, check out an excerpt from the Cameron/Cuarón chat below.