My concern about the 3D in Avatar
If you’ve been to a theater in the last week or so, or if you pay attention to any of the chatter surrounding the film industry, you’ve probably heard about the James Cameron Sci-Fi epic, Avatar. This film has been promising to be the greatest demonstration of both CGI and 3D technology in any film ever and if you read any of the reports from people who have been lucky enough to see footage, it’s going to deliver on that promise. This weekend, however, I got my first glance of the trailer in 3D (attached to The Final Destination 3D) and I have some concerns about the quality of what Cameron will be bringing to the table.
Let me first say that the CGI is absolutely everything that everyone has been saying it is. The full CG environments look amazing, the CG Avatars look like people wearing prosthetics, and everything just looks incredible. Even though I know very little about the story, I’m still really excited to experience the world that has been created for us. Unfortunately, the “3D-ness” I saw in the trailer has me a little less excited.
Now don’t get me wrong, the 3D isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. It is, for the most part, very good. I just don’t think it’s better than anything that has come before it and, more significantly , not on par with what I saw when I watched Henry Selick’s Coraline in theaters.
Coraline only ever uses the 3D to create depth and constant’y gives you the feeling that you’re actually in the environment. Never does it feel like elements of the frame were artificially stacked on top of one another. Avatar, on the other hand, had several shots in the trailer where it felt like elements in the frame had been lifted or composited on top of the scene.
Every time I’d see a shot like this, it would bring me out of the trailer and remind me that what I was watching was all built inside of a computer. Obviously, in a film that is supposed to transport me to the planet of Pandora and make me believe that what I’m seeing is real, this isn’t a good thing.
My name is Christopher Schnese
and this has been my reel perspective
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Hopefully it's just the fact that it's a trailer and the final version will be better…?
One would hope, but I have a feeling it is going to be the way the final one would look too.
It's not completely terrible and it isn't going to ruin the film for me, but this is supposed to be the best possible example of both 3D and CGI. If they're going to hold it as setting the new standard, it's only fair that I judge it by the same standards.
Yup, I agree with that. Here's to hoping that the 3D effects haven't been finished yet…