James Cameron Talks Sanctum 3D

From Executive producer and Avatar director James Cameron, comes the new flick Sanctum that’s about to get released next month. Promoting the film is the ‘Mobile Viewing Experience’ which is traveling across the country to get the word out to moviegoers and offer a preview of the spectacle of the 3D experience. The Press were recently invited to the mobile theater when it was at Universal Studios to watch select scenes with director Alister Grierson, writer Andrew Wight and James Cameron who were on hand to field questions.

Shot on location in Queensland Australia, ‘Sanctum’ was made with the same 3D camera systems developed for Avatar. Designed to take advantage of the extreme conditions, the technology allows the audiences to go on a journey across plunging cliffs and into the deeps of the subterranean world.

Sanctum was inspired when the film’s co-writer Andrew Wight experienced a similar event when leading a diving expedition into a system of underwater caves. When a freak storm collapsed the entrance, they had to find another way out.

Similarly in the film, Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh) who is exploring the South Pacific’s Esa-ala caves with his 17-year-old son Josh (Rhys Wakefield) and financier Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd) the exit is cut off in a flash flood. They must then try to navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out.

Check out the trailer here:

James Cameron was attracted to the project as compared to Avatar it was striving to create high quality 3D on a ‘modest budget’. He felt the 3D works well for a claustrophobic survival tale as the technology is more effective for confined, close shots. Cameron added that anything more than about 20 feet away does not really take advantage of the 3D medium.

Most of the film was shot on a sound stage with underwater work done in a tank as it would be impractical to shoot on actual locations where there is limited control over the elements. The story was physically demanding requiring actors to be on cables in dangerous situations as well as extreme temperatures, but the most complicated aspect was the tons of water required. This much water near the cameras made the 3d photography tricky especially from a stereoscopic perspective where water would splash onto one lens and not the other.

In the following videos James Cameron, Andrew Wight and Alister Grierson speak about the technology used in this underwater setting, where 3d is headed and how they hope the drama based on true events will impact audiences.

Check out the interviews here:

Sanctum hits cinemas February 4,  2011.

via: ScreenRant