Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

"I just saw Avatar" Thread

I first saw this in 2D and loved it. I went back to see the 3D and really liked a lot of the 3D but I have to say during a lot of the dramatic dialog stuff the 3D kept taking me out of the movie. I was noticing too much stuff. I noticed the audience reaction was very different than the 2D show I saw. Not as many laughs or tears. Maybe they've seen it before too.

Anyway, the movie is actually strong in 2D. Many of the CG visuals are cooler in 3D along with some story points. My sister told me she had a big headache after seeing the IMAX version.

I'm still really skeptical 3D makes sense for everything.
 
Joel Kaye said:
I'm still really skeptical 3D makes sense for everything.
Click to expand...

The big thing at CES was the push to 3D....

I still have clients that want VHS tapes. LOL....
I admit they are corporate types not entertainment types.
Now at least some of my clients want to shoot HD when last
year they did not. They are seeing that HD web delivery
is the norm now. No more 360x240 .wmv files!!!!

I think for big (Over $10 Million budgets) it will be 3D for
future proofing. The initial release may not be 3D but
Blu-Ray or Broadcast a few years after.
 
"Avatar" is now #2 film of all time, and finally, now, analysts are beginning to openly discuss the possibility that it can sink "Titanic."
 
Michael Schrengohst said:
I still have clients that want VHS tapes.
Click to expand...

You can't compare 3D to the jump from SD to HD. HD is just more resolution... the viewing experience is the same. 3D was a lot of work for me to watch. Maybe I'm just one of those guys that's bothered a bit by it physically.

Avatar is simply a great movie. It's going to kill worldwide. How is it not a huge hit in Asia? Yeah, I'd say it'll top Titanic. And the merchandising? OMG.
 
I saw Avatar.

Decent movie.

This past year I saw several 3D movies for the first time in my life. I must say, I am quite unimpressed by 3D in general. You constantly have the feeling you are watching a gimmick, nothing more. It doesn't offer you the sensation of real-life depth etc In fact, it reminds me of those "3D" postcards that you have to stare at for a long time until you see a 3D image.

What I personally don't like, is that you are constantly aware of the couple of layers in front of you. That's my best description. You are not seeing the full depth of a real-life image (layer after layer after layer after layer after layer etc etc etc), you are only seeing 2-3 layers all the time, at most. At least that's the sensation. I think it takes you OUT of the movie.

I definitely think that 3D will not be a good choice for a large number of movies. I just saw ROSETTA (Dardenne Brothers) tonight, for example, and I believe it would be ridiculous to watch something like that in 3D.

My two cents.
 
Medavoym said:
I saw Avatar.

Decent movie.

This past year I saw several 3D movies for the first time in my life. I must say, I am quite unimpressed by 3D in general. You constantly have the feeling you are watching a gimmick, nothing more. It doesn't offer you the sensation of real-life depth etc In fact, it reminds me of those "3D" postcards that you have to stare at for a long time until you see a 3D image.

What I personally don't like, is that you are constantly aware of the couple of layers in front of you. That's my best description. You are not seeing the full depth of a real-life image (layer after layer after layer after layer after layer etc etc etc), you are only seeing 2-3 layers all the time, at most. At least that's the sensation. I think it takes you OUT of the movie.

I definitely think that 3D will not be a good choice for a large number of movies. I just saw ROSETTA (Dardenne Brothers) tonight, for example, and I believe it would be ridiculous to watch something like that in 3D.

My two cents.
Click to expand...


Did you see it in RealD on a regular size screen? If so, id urge you to see it in IMAX and tell me if your opinion has changed.
 
Medavoym said:
you are only seeing 2-3 layers all the time, at most. At least that's the sensation. I think it takes you OUT of the movie.
Click to expand...

Good way of putting it. I was constantly noticing layers... which is not a good thing for a viewer to be doing. The person I was out with liked the movie but was unsure if the 3D helped or hurt their experience. I was careful to get their opinion before I said anything. The 3D thing is interesting... but I still feel like it's lot more interesting to industry people who think they smell money one way or another than it is to average folks.
 
Joel Kaye said:
Good way of putting it. I was constantly noticing layers... which is not a good thing for a viewer to be doing. The person I was out with liked the movie but was unsure if the 3D helped or hurt their experience. I was careful to get their opinion before I said anything. The 3D thing is interesting... but I still feel like it's lot more interesting to industry people who think they smell money one way or another than it is to average folks.
Click to expand...

When I saw it in IMAX I didnt have that feeling at all. It was completely immersive. On the smaller screen I guess I can see what your saying. Did you see it in IMAX? I really think there is a MASSIVE difference in IMAX vs RealD. The 3D is the same, but the screen size is what immerses you into the 3D.
 
I saw it on a regular screen (although a very big one) in 3D. Not on an IMAX screen. Will give it a try, but isn't the 3D the same? The IMAX advantage is that you lose the edges of the frame.
 
I didn't get the layers effect. I did in movies where they went back through and remade it into 3D. Not sure what would cause it in a movie like Avatar. Pretty sure they rendered in stereo for the vast majority of passes. Maybe some dust hits etc were 2D cards.
 
Emery Wells said:
When I saw it in IMAX I didnt have that feeling at all. It was completely immersive. On the smaller screen I guess I can see what your saying. Did you see it in IMAX? I really think there is a MASSIVE difference in IMAX vs RealD. The 3D is the same, but the screen size is what immerses you into the 3D.
Click to expand...


I've seen it in 2D and regular 3D. I intended to see the IMAX but my schedule didn't fit their show times that day.

Ok Emery, you talked me into it. I'll check the IMAX version out. I trust you've got a very good sense for this stuff and I know I haven't paid much attention to 3D so I'm open to experiencing more. I just remember a lot of the live action dramatic scenes felt weird to me, like the 3D wasn't helping the storytelling. But down on the CG planet it was working for me well.
 
An incredible feat of engineering. I hope it makes enough money to encourage more filmmakers to push 3d to the next level. I'm still hoping for holographic theater in the round.

Definitely would recommend the 3D but IMAX might be too much, unless you like crazy giant 3d roller coasters.
 
Medavoym said:
What I personally don't like, is that you are constantly aware of the couple of layers in front of you. That's my best description. You are not seeing the full depth of a real-life image (layer after layer after layer after layer after layer etc etc etc), you are only seeing 2-3 layers all the time, at most. At least that's the sensation. I think it takes you OUT of the movie.
Click to expand...

I noticed the same thing but not so much and I soon let go.

I think the issue you are describing may be caused by image being created through fixed non realtime-responsive and non mind-controlled medium - glass, and that this issue is intensified by "unrealistic" focal and inter-ocular distance choices.

Our eyes are constantly adapting to the image at fast speeds and mind combines data into "real". When we are watching an object or a scene our eyes are not glued to one point or detail, they are "scanning". I think that "layers" issue is caused by "burnt-in dead-depth" unlike "realtime-scanned alive-depth". We don't have the additional data for the mind to build realistic depth, so the mind draws only the obvious elements > layers, lacking the depth transition between them. When speaking about perceptive limitations in 3D it is also important to take into consideration DOF & convergence limited depth viewing range.

Or...maybe it's just the longer lens issue...


It would be interesting to test if using smaller sensors, like 1/2" or 1/3" has any effect on this issue.



Tom L said:
"Avatar" is now #2 film of all time, and finally, now, analysts are beginning to openly discuss the possibility that it can sink "Titanic."
Click to expand...

Really insightful bunch. :-)
 
Dear Hrvoje,

I agree with everything you said.

Additionally, I honestly believe 3D - no matter how good - will not work for 90% of the films, in the future. It will work for films like TITANIC, AVATAR, JURASSIC PARK, etc etc.
 
AVATAR looked nice and sharp when I saw it. To those who say it looked soft maybe your theater showed it slightly out of focus. I could see a projectionist doing that to "hide" the pixels of a digital projection. Many here know how narrow that sweet spot is on a projectors focus knob. I've seen many films with the focus "soft" and asking them to adjust during a show is hit and miss as most of the time they focus on a full face shot Vs some wide shot with text in the frame and will make the focus worse. Every IMAX film I have seen has been in focus.
 
Yeah and now, funny in off people are not saying that I'm completely out of my mind when not long ago aI started saying, that after seeing a demo footage of Avatar, it would be the Biggest Movie in cinema History, well is already second biggest, and still playing, and it will play for a while.

Times are changing, and those that were considering my move to produce every project in S3D, tough I had lost my mind cause I suffer the closing of the studio do to my health, back then and economy, off course and so went about S3D as if I was looking for a way to redeem my self, well now those same very people are phoning me daily to ask questions, and seek opportunity to participate in my venture, life is truly funny some time.

As far as Avatar, I'm very happy for Cameron, and also happy that this time He didn't give up his rights of Pay as He did for Titanic, and his compensation will surely not be a gift check of 75Mil as in Titanic.

Also it is thanks to him, that this push continues to move forward, I had believed him, since early 07, but fully decided to follow in the S3D in early 09, and figured that since I'm starting, I don't have any bad 2D shooting habits that I will carry over, he he.
 
Awesome film.

Technically incredible, graphics and design is something staggering, camera work for 3D is great, slow and easy on the eye, they were spot on ensuring nothing was too fast. Imagery is mind blowing...

This film will change the way people perceive 3D movies. Finally there will be a strong demand for 3D films! Thanks JC!
 
Well...

For associations that don't need to be discussed, I am one of those who had seen many of the available bits of Avatar before anybody else, not just what was shown on "Avatar Day" but a few more things most people outside of the crew did not see. I even read Jim's original scriptment of 10 years ago and his subsequent passes of it until he shelved it. And I've been saying it for the past year that Avatar would be monumentally important in many aspects. I think I even managed to convince Tom about it back then :-) So, with how close I am to this film's material, given the fact that no part of the script was a surprise to me in any way, and that the look of Pandora wasn't new to me, I still was stuck to my seat for the full 160 minutes totally immersed into the experience that is Avatar. And with Turkish subtitles to boot, since I've been in Europe for the past month and happened to catch my first screening in Turkey. So I honestly cannot comprehend those who were bothered by looks, effects, the 3D feel, etc, and not just let themselves be absorbed by the film, much the same way we used to do when we were kids and knew nothing about technology, we just knew whether a film blew us away or not. And Avatar delivers that "wow" factor in spades, and then some.
Thus, I have to conclude that those people who were "bothered" by so many aspects of the film as they were watching it, and yes, Avatar is far from being perfect (it is not even the best film Cameron has ever made in all fairness), have just lost the capacity to let entertainment entertain them, to let movies fascinate them, to truly suspend their disbelief, because if Avatar can't do that for them, then nothing else will. Because if there's something this film is, is UNIQUE, plain and simple. Nothing in it looks like anything you've seen elsewhere. Pandora, the Navi, the machinery, it's all absolutely original, even if the script isn't. And what script is anyway? All the pundits faulting Cameron for writing something so "predictable" forget the fact that stories, whether written or filmed, follow established formats and are based on themes we can identify with, thus making them nothing but predictable. What story is more predictable than Star Wars, and yet, that film touched us so much because it utterly fulfilled those expectations to perfection.
This is not to say that Avatar couldn't be better in many ways, and the first one to know this is Jim Cameron, but alas, like many of us should learn to do at some point in life before we die, perfection is a quest for fools, and attaining a large number of objectives at the expense of other less numerous and less important objectives is all we can hope to achieve instead of derailing our projects into a mad, and stupid, search for "originality" that is anything but, as many annoyingly vacuous films that get released today and get instant praise for their uniqueness, when they're nothing more than visual manure. So rock on with your weak and predictable work Jim, because man, you knocked it out of the park once again, and I for one, was moved and touched by the message, without needing to establish parallels to any current or past situation, and felt transported to an awesome world and enthralled by the imagery and the plot, without giving a damn about the obviousness of certain effects, and thoroughly enjoyed myself without stopping to deconstruct every scene as I watched it, which is more than I can say for almost anything released within the last 25 years. You got my money for my 3 viewings, and the BluRay, and whatever else comes out...
 
Some friends of mine just saw Avatar IMAX 3D on LSD. Their comments:

"Tremendous! It was like being a kid again! WOW! My third viewing and by far the BEST!"

"I've seen it 4 times and this felt like a whole new experience. Best eye-fcking ever!"

"My consciousness expanded vastly. I became one with Pandora. The spiritual side of the movie really came through - I could feel it in my being."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top