Landau: Cameron’s 3D approach

Scott Hettrick — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:03:14 +0000

“Titanic” and “Avatar” producer Jon Landau likes to say the approach he and director James Cameron take to 3D is to provide the audience a window into a world.
He provided his audience at the first 3D Gaming Summit Thursday morning with his own window into the world of 3D filmmaking during a keynote interview with show co-producer Bob Dowling. (Story continues below the following 4-minute video highlight of his comments.)

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Landau described how he and Cameron first fell in love with 3D and how Cameron and Vince Pace began designing customized 3D cameras on a plane trip back from an underwater dive that would later be used for “Avatar.”

He also implored filmmakers and videogame developers to take on the work of preventing audience eye strain by keeping the two images converged on the primary focal point so that eyes are primarily focused on an image on the screen rather than trying to adjust to multiple images and those artificially floating behind or in front of the screen.

Landau also described the evolution of the approach to the Avatar videogame, which you can read at this site by clicking link in this sentence.

– By Scott Hettrick

Paramount’s “Thunder” at Speedway

Scott Hettrick — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:19:49 +0000

Paramount Digital Entertainment brought the “Thunder” to Toyota Speedway Saturday (Jan. 30).
And that’s saying a lot since the noise of the short-track race cars at the annual NASCAR All-Star Showdown could be heard for several miles surrounding the venue in Irwindale, Ca.

But there was plenty to see off the track to as PDE executives previewed the studio’s upcoming “Days of Thunder” multiplayer arcade videogame from Piranha Games tied to the 20th anniversary of the movie starring Tom Cruise, Michael Rooker, Nicole Kidman, and Robert Duvall. Attendees played the game in several demo areas and were given a DVD of the movie — which was shown in its entirety on a giant 40-foot screen facing the grandstands — with Rooker on hand to meet with consumers and media and kick-off the race by announcing “Drivers, start your engines.” The media got an even closer look at the game, one-on-one interviews with Rooker and PDE execs, and a ride-along in the pace car by well-known NASCAR driver Brett Bodine.

- By Scott Hettrick
(Game details following fast-paced 3-minute video highlights of Saturday’s event below.)

The “Days of Thunder” videogame will be introduced this summer (2010) for PlayStationNetwork, Xbox LIVE Arcade, PC and Mac, allowing up to 12 players to compete in stock-car racing against each other and the film’s characters such as Cole Trickle, Rowdy Burns, and Russ Wheeler.

Key features:

Four single-player modes:

- Quick race
- Time trial: determine starting position in future races
- Career mode: four different circuits at varying difficulty levels
- Derby mode: win by dealing the most destruction without breaking down

Head-to-head with Trickle, Burns, Wheeler
Three car types based on cars in film:

- Accelerator: accelerates fastest but most vulnerable to damage
- Regulator: balance of speed and power
- Intimidator: slowest acceleration but fastest top speed and can deliver most damage

Drop the Hammer: Draft behind other cars
“And rubbin’, son is racin’!”: damage meter to determine when it’s time to pit for repairs
Pull into pit for tune-up: mini-game to build up your hammer meter
SIXAXIS support: steer your car with motion control
Customize your ride: choose from hundreds of colors, logos, decals, body types, performance upgrades
Trophies and achievements

Hollywood in HiDef » Game event

Landau: Cameron’s 3D approach

Paramount’s “Thunder” at Speedway