'3D is definitive, not alternative'

Oscar winning producer Jon Landau reiterates that future of both western and Asian films is 'three dimensional'

Oscar winning producer Jon Landau reiterates that future of both western and Asian films is 'three dimensional'

Jon Landau, the 50-year-old former executive vice president of Feature Film Production at Twentieth Century Fox and the man to reckon for movies like Titanic and Avatar is emphatic that 3D is the future of cinema.


Jon Landau produced movies like Avatar and Titanic


The last edition of Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise was in 3D


Avatar (2009) was released for traditional viewing, 3D and 4D viewing


Beowulf (2007), is a must-watch for all the fanatics of three dimensional

At ScreenSingapore, a film business event organised by the Media Development Authority of Singapore from June 5-12, Landau drives home the point that this advanced format is emerging as the definitive form of filmmaking, not just an alternative.

"3D is not an alternative form, it is the definitive form of cinema," says Landau.

"All our (visual) entertainment in future will be on 3D in our theaters, homes, mobile phones. When home TV goes 3D, everybody will be forced to do 3D. So the more directors we have working on the technology now, the better."

More shelf value
Landau said that the films made using the technology also has more shelf value. "Hollywood is based on long term library value.

Just as a colour film library has greater value than that of black and white films, 3D film libraries' value will have greater value than those on 2D." But Landau is against the idea of converting 2D films into 3D saying it doesn't really make it a 3D one.

"3D has a place in all types of storytelling, not only action. Most film people assume that the plot is paramount, but the theme is more important," said Landau.

Cost factors
According to him, the main extra costs for making a film in 3D are from camera equipment (about double) and visual effects.
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By the end of this year, 40,000 screens worldwide will be 3D-capable, he said. Asia's biggest potential is that, as its rate of digitizing screens is greater than even in the US, there are more options to project in 3D.

No choice
Yu Dong, CEO of Bona Film Group and producer of John Woo's Red Cliff and The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate said, "After Avatar and Pirates 4, major Asian movies have no choice but to be on 3D. Last year, we weren't sure about making such films, but in 2011 we realise we have no choice."