
If you haven't seen the interview with James Cameron by Variety, you need to take a look, as it's as good a look at 3-D, storytelling and filmmaking as you're going to get.
Much of the interview centers around the meaning and value of 3-D as it relates to cinema, along with its limitations as well. Cameron gives a dream lesson in how it all fits together, along with technical lessons and insights into how to make it work better.
Cameron wisely stated when asked about the reality that there is no 3-D TV at this time, and how that will impact the growth rate of the technology.
"All films are made to serve many masters. Every director knows his film will be seen by more people on DVD or network TV on a small screen than in a theater. Does that change the way we direct? Not much. First and foremost the film must be a good movie. It needs to be firing on all eight cylinders whether it is conceived as a 2-D or a 3-D film. As a result, a 3-D film when screened in 2-D, on a screen of any size, should still deliver. The 3-D should always be thought of as a turbocharger, an enhancer, to a work whose raison d'etre is vested in its story, its characters, its style, etc."
He concluded near the end of the interview he "would never change the stereospace of a film to fit different screen sizes. In fact, for photographic films, it can't be changed. The interocular is set at the moment of photography. People will tell you they can fix it later, in post, by changing the convergence, but they are wrong. Convergence does not change stereospace, it only changes the ease with which viewers can fuse a shot after it appears onscreen."
The bottom line is while everything is changing, much still remains the same. There will be a far better visual experience in the years ahead according to Cameron, but that will mean nothing if a compelling story isn't included with that experience. Who wants to watch a great visual experience without a story that grabs you?
That's one of the reasons Battlestar Galactica has drawn such a dedicated following. You have the visual experience, but it's wrapped around a story that matters to you. That's something that will never change.







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