Source & Photos Credit: 20th Century Fox
“Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams. And it was. It really was...”
In 1997, James Cameron’s TITANIC set sail in theaters - and one of the world’s most breathtaking and timeless love stories was born. The film’s journey became an international phenomenon as vast as its name, garnering 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and grossing over $1.8 billion worldwide.
On 5 April 2012, precisely a century after the historic ship’s sinking and 15 years after the film’s initial theatrical release, TITANIC resurfaces in theaters in state-of-the-art 3D.
The artistic process of re-visualizing TITANIC in three dimensions was overseen entirely by Cameron himself, along with his long-time producing partner Jon Landau – who both pushed the conversion company Stereo D literally to unprecedented visual breadth.
Cameron guided them to use the latest visual tools not only to intensify the film’s sweeping race for survival, but to reveal the power of 3D to make the film’s most stirring emotions even more personal. “The 3D enriches all of TITANIC’s most thrilling moments - and its most emotional moments,” summarized Cameron. “More than ever, you feel you’re right there going through all the jeopardy that Jack and Rose go through. The 3D kicks the experience up to another level.”
The filmmakers believe the 3D conversion will speak with a fresh voice to a wide range of moviegoers, including a 21st century generation who have never had the chance to see the film on screen.
THE 3D CONVERSION
Cameron collaborated closely with Stereo D’s founder William Sherak to inspire the team towards visual excellence. Sherak understood his mission. “It was very simple: set the gold standard with the best 3D conversion yet done,” he said. “The technology has arrived at the point that we were now able to deliver what James Cameron wanted at a quality level he was happy with. He wanted the sense that the audience is part of the movie and not just a bystander.”
That meant never settling for good enough. “I believe this is the deepest conversion ever done,” stated Sherak. “We had around 295,000 individual frames to work with and every one of those frames had to have the same complexity and depth."
The process required time, but more than that, it required inspired artistry. “It takes true artists to do this work,” Sherak explained. “Every frame has to be looked at as a piece of art and it takes a creative vision to see how we’re going to add depth to that frame.”
“Cameron approaches 3D as a real tool. He doesn’t use tricks, because when you have such a great story, there’s no reason for tricks. But I think his films convert especially well because as a filmmaker, he perceives depth better than almost anyone. Even in 2D, his films feel like they have depth. I remember when I saw TITANIC for the first time and in that famous, sweeping shot of the ship, you really felt like it was real. That’s where the technology allowed him to go back then and this is where the technology allows him to go now.”
[Watch the related featurette with James Cameron below!]
TITANIC 3D opens InCinemas 5 April 2012. Rating to be advised.