|
James Cameron’s box-office behemoth Avatar has created hype on 3-D movies unseen since the genre’s so-called heyday in the 1950’s.
But what makes Avatar such a movie game-changer is that it finally shows how 3-D technology can be mastered if put in the hands of a talented team of filmmakers. 3-D movies may be all the hype over the next year or so, but Avatar solidified the genre’s position of being the new frontier of movie-making technology.
How was Cameron able to create fluid cinematography that steered far away from the cheesy “jack-in-the-box” type of 3-D film that has kept the genre gaining true credibility? Lets look into how Cameron’s technique differed from Avatar’s less-successful predecessors.
The Focus
Cameron shot the film in a way that guided your focus to one central image in the shot. This caused much of the background of the shot to be blurred.
Using this technique made the 3-D technology much less abrasive on the eyes because it allows the viewer to focus on the 3-D central image without straining your eyes.
Those that are used to searching the background of the shot might experience eyestrain because of the blurred focus, but Cameron’s technique was geared towards guiding the audience to focus on the most important image in the action.
Use Of 3-D
Much of the recent 3-D animation films have used 3-D technology as a gimmick by throwing images in the audience’s face.
“Avatar” took a more realistic approach to the 3-D technology by using it to enhance the realism of the shot rather than project objects in the audience’s face. The biggest complaint for 3-D movies is that “in-your-face” images become overbearing on the eyes during the coarse of a 2-hour movie.
Even during the heaviest action, Cameron’s film didn’t excessively project any images that were not necessary for showing the environment of the scene.
Motion-Capture
“Avatar” is also the first 3-D film that created its main characters with motion capture technology and digitally animated a completely different world.
In this case, the use of 3-D technology wasn’t used as a shtick but a way to illustrate the characteristics of a foreign race of people and an alien world. They 3-D aspect put the audience inside this world in a way that enhanced the colors and details of the film’s stunning digital animation.
Cameron showed how much 3-D technology could enrich the movie-watching experience when it is paired with motion-capture digital animation.
|
