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DreamWorks plans a 3D-film revolution in 2009, beginning with its latest sci-fi animation. Real.com’s Lisa Keddie gets a sneek peek…
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Cinema has undergone two major revolutions in its history. The first was the move from silent films to films with synchronised sound in the 1920s. The second was the transformation into colour in the 1930s. Now, the movie industry is in the wake of a third revolution: 3D, according to Jeffery Katzenburg , CEO of DreamWorks Animation, and best known for producing the much-loved animated films such as Shrek, Madagascar, Over the Hedge, Bee Movie, and Kung Fu Panda.
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However, this isn’t just any old 3D that previously involved wearing uncomfortable, goofy glasses, causing many to feel quite nauseous, claims Katzenburg, speaking in London on Monday 24th November. This is 3D, or Real D, that’s ‘3D gone digital’. If 2D movies are like vinyl, the new 3D ones are digital. The new 3D brings the audience right into the film action, using a single projector for a flicker-free image. But you still need the new polarized specs to enjoy the full experience, though. The idea of the new technology is to enhance the story, not disconnect from the storytelling and identification with the characters, says Katzenburg.
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DreamWorks is so totally committed to this new 3D revolution that it has completely re-equipped its studio for the medium. Every new theatrical release in 2009, from the very first storyboard, right up until the final print, will be produced using proprietary technology called InTru 3D. The new technology, co-developed with partners Intel and HP, uses authoring tools to create ’stereoscopic’ 3D. Previous 3D films were originally created in 2D and adapted - much like turning a black-and-white flick into colour. Katzenburg says the ‘D’ in 3D is all about ‘dimensionality’, not just visual, but emotional, as many film-makers such as Robert Zemeckis, James Cameron, Peter Jackson and George Lucas commit to using 3D today, and pushing the possibilities of the film-making medium - basically, pushing film into a new frontier.
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So, how does the first of many DreamWorks’ new 3D experiences look? We were shown three scenes from the new sci-fi animation, Monsters vs. Aliens, out 3rd April 2009 in the UK. The plot: When a meteorite from outer space hits a young California girl named Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) and turns her into a giant monster, she is taken to a secret government compound, where she meets a ragtag group of monsters also rounded up over the years. As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland), on a desperate order from The President (voiced by Stephen Colbert), the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction…
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The first snippet shows the bungling President trying to make contact with a gigantic alien that has just landed in America - as the only country that UFOs ever seem to land in, quips a waiting TV reporter. The US leader tries out some tunes on his Casio keyboard, including Faltermeyer’s Axel F, much to the alien’s horror (and our amusement). We then move into the top-secret compound, where the President nearly starts a nuclear meltdown by choosing the wrong red button when trying to get a latte coffee, and we are introduced to General W.R. Monger and his alien-crushing solution: Monsters. On first impressions: The animation is clean-looking; the gags are aimed at adults; and the human characters are like a cross between those from Headcases and Shrek.
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Snippet two introduces a drowsy, monster-sized Susan Murphy to her new compound ‘roommates’ and future best buddies: Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. (voiced by Hugh Laurie), the brilliant scientist and big-brained cockroach; The Missing Link (voiced by Will Arnett), the missing link between prehistoric man and our underseas ancestors; B.O.B. (voiced by Seth Rogen), an indestructible gelatinous blob with a huge appetite for anything; and the ‘tower of power’ Insectasaurus who can only be understood by his best friend, The Missing Link. On first glance, the fur effects could even rival those from Pixar’s Monsters Inc., which is an exciting prospect indeed.
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The final action-packed scenes show a ‘car-skating’ Susan trying to make it to downtown San Francisco in time to stop the alien probe from destroying the city and the Golden Gate Bridge, with a little help (rather hindrance) from her new Monster friends. This is where the new 3D experience comes into its own, with character point-of-view shoots and a variety of different camera angles not normally witnessed in animation that put the audience on the stricken bridge and, at times, in danger of sliding down into the murky depths of the Bay. Exhilarating stuff, and not an unwell, 3D-specs-clad viewer in sight…
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Jeffery Katzenburg Q&A:
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Obviously this (film) will go onto DVD later, but what plans have you got to provide a similar 3D experience to home viewers?
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JK: The answer is: you can’t… What you do in a movie theatre today, you don’t actually do in the home, although the experience has got closer and closer. This actually pushes that away again, and makes what happens here singular and unique. The analogy is the difference between going to Wembley and watching a football match with 80,000 people and watching it at home - it’s the same, and yet it’s completely different… For 3D in the home to be really effective, it has to hit your peripheral vision, so with a 50 inch screen, you’d have to sit 50 inches away… and unless you are a crazy-arsed gamer, you don’t sit 50 inches away. Secondly, the light, any light, diminishes how well 3D plays…
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How many screens can project in 3D in the US, and how many in the UK comparatively?
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JK: There are just under 1,400 screens (in the US)… By the time Monsters vs. Aliens comes to theatres, it will be closer to 2,500 in the States. I think here, in the UK, probably about 200 cinemas will have 3D capabilities. This going to take a couple of years - it is not going to happen overnight… We have made the commitment, and there are about nine or ten 3D releases coming in 2009, and twice that in 2010… Another question I’m asked more often is: what kinds of movies will be in 3D? I say “All movies…” The reason I say that is… like Technicolor in 1930s, five or six years later there were no more black-and-white movies being made. Why? We see in colour. It’s a better tool for storytelling. It has more texture, more detail, and more dimensionality to it. Colour enhances the emotions and feelings about pictures. Well, guess what - we see in 3D and it is the best way to do it…
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Can you back-date films and ‘3D’ them, and see them in 3D, for example, Ghostbusters and Back to the Future?
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JK: Not ‘yet’. And I stress ‘yet’. There are tools now that allow that post-production process to become more effective and for the quality to get better. Right now, today, I have not seen a quality yet that we are ready to do with our movies. Others say they have, like Disney who is doing both Toy Story films, but I don’t know what kind of quality they are getting… For us to do it today, it’s almost as though we would have to go back and remake the movie. George Lucas is very much committed to doing it on the entire Star Wars series. He wants to go back and taking all six films and converting them to 3D… The tools to do this are brand new - they are literally a year or 18 months (or less) old… The answer is, “It’s coming…”
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Monsters vs. Aliens is out in UK cinemas from 3rd April 2009. Watch the trailer:
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