FILM : Journey’s 3-D immerses viewers
Posted on Sunday, July 6, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/230610/
DALLAS — “It’s not grandpa’s 3-D,” says Brendan Fraser.
The star of Journey to the Center of the Earth says the film, opening Friday, is the first ever live-action adventure to be conceived, shot and presented in digital 3-D. Yeah, you still have to wear special glasses while watching it to get the effect of depth, but not those cheap cardboard red and blue lenses that came with 3-D movies in the early 1950 s. These are more comfortable and less headache-inducing than old versions of the format.
Stereoscopic (3-D ) movies are made by using two cameras to film the same scene from slightly different angles. The images are combined when they’re projected. Aided by the glasses, you perceive them as a single image that seems to jump out at you.
“It not only invites you into the movie, it drags you in,” Fraser says. “You’re immersed.”
Although stereoscopic imagery has been around for more than 100 years, “This is absolutely new technology,” says director Eric Brevig of the Fusion System, dual high-definition 3-D video cameras mounted side by side, developed by filmmaker James Cameron and cinematographer Vince Pace to be lightweight and portable.
“This has not been used in a theatrical motion picture before,” Brevig continues. “It existed but had not yet been installed in theaters when we started the movie. We hoped that as
1 we took 1 / 2 years to make the movie that the rollout of the technology would get there, and it just barely did. The film was designed from day 1 to be a 3-D experience.” The process, he says, is that “you’re making two movies: a left eye movie and a right eye movie. It’s only in the projection system that it’s combined on the screen.”
The cameras he used “were finished from the machine shop a week before we started shooting.” Unlike the dramatic original 1959 version of the film (with Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl and James Mason, which won an Oscar for Best Effects ), this Journey brings a sense of humor along for the ride. Fraser plays geology professor Trevor Anderson. His brother Max disappeared while researching volcanic passages in Iceland that he suspected might lead to the center of the earth. Trevor, who’s continuing his brother’s work, pairs with Max’s 13-year-old son Sean (Josh Hutcherson ) and heads out to investigate seismic activity in Iceland that’s similar to what Max noticed before he was lost. There they meet mountain guide Hannah Asgeirsson (Anita Briem ) and head into a rugged mountain area on what starts out as a low-key factfinding mission and turns into a perilous adventure rife with prehistoric creatures, man-eating plants, sea monsters, bad weather, and an out-of-control ride on a mine car.
A FRASER TO SAVOR From the opening scene, which makes the most of 3-D capabilities, “you know right away it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Fraser says. “We’re not trying to be pretentious. We want people to enjoy themselves.” Adding to the visual experience are myriad computer-generated effects that, along with 3-D, puts the audience in the middle of the action. “The post-production phase had never been done before for a stereo movie,” Brevig says. “This is probably the most complex visual effects film ever made because of the 3-D and the CG.” Another factor to consider is that, because of the CG, much of the actors’ work is done in front of a green screen. “If there was a set piece, if you could walk on it or pick up a prop, we built it,” Fraser says. “But I couldn’t pick up a piranha fish that’s flying through the air. There’s tension and energy there. The fish is trying to bite you and you have to react. You have fun doing it; that’s the golden rule. And believe what you’re doing. If you’re an actor, that’s your job.”
Brevig gives Fraser high praise for his performance. “He’s the best at this,” he says of his star, who has experience at crafting a character without sets or support in three CG-laden Mummy films (the newest, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, will be in theaters Aug. 1 ). “It’s a skill not everyone has. It’s like singing; everyone can try to sing but some people are really good at it. When you watch it on the screen, you believe he [Fraser ] sees it, then the CG people put in the digital parts. It’s believable because of his reaction.”
There are some 1, 400 theaters in the country that can show films in 3-D, so there will be plenty of audience members watching it in its alternate 2-D version. “The movie plays wonderfully in 2-D,” Brevig says. “You’ll still be immersed in it. It’s still going to be entertaining. The 2-D version, I believe, is the left eye.”
Brevig, best known for creating visual effects in such films as Total Recall, Men in Black, and The Day After Tomorrow, is pleased with the look of Journey. But, he adds, “The thing I’m most proud of has nothing to do with visual effects — it has to do with the fact that we’re telling a story about characters. You have an emotional attachment to each of these three misfits. That’s why the effects matter to you. It doesn’t matter how much money you throw at it, if you don’t care about the people it’s a waste of time. We put our efforts in making it about three people. The visuals are the icing — really cool icing you’ve never seen before — but the cake is what matters.”
‘CONCERT EXPERIENCE’ The tone of the film may feel like a throwback to the serials of the 1930 s and ’ 40 s. “It wasn’t intentionally an homage,” says Brevig. “But there’s something about that classic entertainment, both on the screen as well as the fact that audiences came [to those films ] as a group and experienced it together. That’s what’s unique about this movie. People come together, put on their glasses, and it’s almost like permission to get engaged in the story. People are talking to their neighbors, jumping out of their skin, grabbing each other. It’s almost like a concert experience instead of going to a movie theater.” Asked to define the target audience for Journey, Brevig replies: “Human beings with two eyes. There isn’t anyone that isn’t the audience. I specifically wanted to make a movie — as a parent myself — that didn’t talk down to adults but was accessible to kids. We’ve crafted this in a way that it’s not a kids’ movie but kids are totally into it. And adults feel like ‘This is how I felt when I was a kid and I had a great time going to the movies.’ Because of technology, it’s innovative and something that nobody has seen before — the best of all worlds.”
Is Brevig hoping to make a sequel ? “Yes.”
If he does, is Fraser obligated to participate ? “No,” he says. But, he adds, “Interested.”
“It might be easier around the time we try to do another one,” Brevig says. “We’re the first one out of the gate, preconceived in HD 3-D from start to finish. We’re the trailblazers. If we go back down the trail it’ll be so much easier. Except for the storytelling part; that’s the most important and it’s hard to get it right. But I would love to watch these three characters again — three personalities who don’t like each other in the beginning and you’re really rooting for them to get together. I find them so entertaining, so much fun. I would love to find out what happens next.”