In the world of film, 3D is the latest buzz word – thanks largely to the overwhelming success of James Cameron’s Avatar.
The other next big thing in Hollywood is Australian actor Sam Worthington.
Worthington trod the red carpet in London overnight for the premiere of his latest blockbuster Clash Of The Titans.
The film’s release was delayed so it could be converted to 3D.
Cameron has criticised this approach as a marketing afterthought.
Worthington, however, has no problem with filmmakers using 3D technology – as long as it enhances the story being told on the big screen.
“Jim showed you with Avatar, it immerses you in a world. If used correctly, we can get lost. That’s what movies are,” Worthington told the ABC’s London reporter Rachael Brown.
“You’re sitting in a darkened theatre with a bunch of strangers with light being projected on a sheet – that’s all it really is,” he said.
“Suddenly the 3D can [make us] forget where we are. We think we’re in ancient Greece, we’re think we’re on Pandora. As an audience we forget our troubles for a minute and get thrown into these kind of magical fantasies – and I think that’s where it [3D] helps.”
Worthington’s Titans co-star, Denmark’s Mads Mikkelsen, agrees.
“3D is meant for certain films and certain films do not benefit from it. I don’t want to see Taxi Driver in 3D,” Mikkelsen said.
“I might be really old fashioned and it’s going to change in 10 years, but I don’t see it like that.
“I mean you will always have different genres of films and there will always be a reason for them to be there, and this kind of film – 3D – that is definitely the future.”
Mikkelsen jokes after 3D, the next big trend in Hollywood might be smellovision.
“Didn’t they do that smell thing once? … I don’t know, I don’t know what’s after [3D]. You always have theatre. There’s nothing that can beat real life,” he said.
Arts renaissance
Theatre also is entering a new era.
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Liz Thompson says directors are working to adapt and shoot plays which can then be put on the internet for a price.
“There’s nothing wrong with accessible Shakespeare,” she said.
“That’s something that we celebrate and it’s absolutely at the core of what the Royal Shakespeare Company is all about.”
London’s Royal Opera House, meanwhile, is about to embark on making Carmen in 3D.
“Cinema enhances sound. You benefit from the surround sound that cinemas have these days and I think that kind of engages you on a different level,” he said.
“As well as, you’re getting closer [to the performers], which you don’t have necessarily when you’re sitting in the theatre.”
