Focus on the frame rate and light levels of exhibition

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James Cameron, producer of the new movie “Sanctum,” said that advances in technology will make his follow-up to the 2009 blockbuster “Avatar” an even better 3D viewing experience than its predecessor. “For ‘Avatar 2,’ what I’m most interested in is getting theaters to up their light level,” Cameron told Speakeasy in an interview Saturday in Los Angeles, Calif. “And we want to shoot the movie at 48 or maybe even 60 frames a second, and display it at that speed, which will eliminate a lot of the motion artifacts that I think are causing some people problems.”

Cameron proved that 3D production and presentation was a viable option for filmmakers with the original “Avatar,” which went on to earn more than $2 billion world wide. He said that director Alister Grierson used the same camera system Cameron used on “Avatar,” and indicated that the challenges the film faced were related to its subject mater and locations rather than and issues with 3D technology.

“‘Sanctum’ was a cookie-cutter of the camera technology we used on [‘Avatar’],” Cameron explained. “It literally was, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, use it. But it will be in all of these different environments, water and all of that, where specific problems have to be solved that are external to the camera.”

Meanwhile, Cameron said that he wanted to focus on the frame rate and light levels of exhibition because those were larger obstacles to the ongoing success of 3D filmmaking than any of the actual camera equipment used to capture it. “People talk about feeling sick or something like that, and I think it’s because the image is strobing,” Cameron observed. “That’s a function of the 24 frame frame rate, which has actually got nothing to do with 3D. It’s just made more apparent because the 3D is otherwise such an enhanced, realistic image, that all of a sudden you’re aware of this funky strobing which you weren’t aware of.”

Cameron’s “Avatar 2” is currently scheduled for release in December 2014. Grierson’s “Sanctum” opens nationwide in theaters on Friday, February 4, 2011.

See the original story here: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/01/31/james-cameron-explains-why-the-3d-experience-will-be-better-on-‘avatar-2’/