Geeks on Film: Avatar – The 3D Agenda

Tonight on the eve before Avatar Day I thought I would reflect a bit about just what has transpired in the last few days, and how long this has been in the making.  In what has to be some of the smartest marketing for a film and an industry in the last few years – and will be a new template for film promotion in the years to come. Because they are not just marketing a film here they are marketing a new technology as well and the hopes of keeping the cinema alive in a home theater nation for years to come.

See Avatar started out its life with a delivery date of 2007, there were rumors of a “super secret” James Cameron project taking advantage of 3D Reality Camera System technology, he had developed for his undersea documentaries Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep. This technology was unlike past 3D and mimicked more how the human eye actually worked, replacing the blue and red 3D glasses with polarized ones. These glasses work by creating the illusion of three-dimensional images by restricting the light that reaches each eye. If you have been to see any of the recent 3D films in the last few years(like Coraline for instance) you have no doubt experienced this new technology not knowing James Cameron’s Avatar was the seed for all of this. The reason being that at Cameron’s insistence that Avatar will only be released theatrically in 3D.

The delay from 2007-2009 was not only  just so Cameron could fine polish his CG on his sci-fi epic but to allow theaters to upgrade to the new projection system to be able to show Avatar.  See, back in 2007 all the theater/Hollywood types got together and realized they were in trouble.  With piracy, high ticket prices and not to mention a sub-par product people were not going to the movies. So how do you get people back in the cinema and curb piracy? Well first you need to give them an “Experience”, simply watching a normal 2D film just doesn’t cut it for almost $10, you have to give them something a bit more, something they can’t just get from Netflix or Blockbuster.  Then along comes James Cameron with a little idea he is working on Avatar.

The 3D technology was already road tested with his documentaries and offered the “Experience” they were looking for, and not only that they could charge a premium for the 3D, to help offset the costs of upgrading their projectors. But here is the kicker, you can’t pirate 3D films. This probably is one of the biggest reasons the theater industry is pushing for this. Wonder why that Avatar SDCC footage never hit the web, unlike the Ironman 2 footage – well its probably because it’s basically un-watchable.  See the polarized lenses wont work with a home setup due to the specialized projection methods used, so even if you watch a cammed 3D movie, all it will accomplish is giving you a grade A headache.

So the theater owners decided to upgrade their systems and wait for their slumbering savior Avatar and, honestly if it was anyone other than James Cameron who tried this I doubt they would have gotten quite the same reception. But if you owned a theater would you want to be left out of showing the next great movie by one of the greatest directors of our time? The man that gave us The Terminator(one and two!), Aliens, The Abyss and Titanic and to tell you the truth the fact that he is coming out of 12 years out of the game with something as new and as original as Avatar that says a lot. I mean Ridley Scott is tapping his old buddy Alien to help him get by in this tough theatrical climate. Needless to say a lot is riding on this film and not just the 200 million plus budget. It is attempting to take 3D from a novelty to sell tickets to kids movies to another way to genuinely tell a story.

Well, the Avatar marketing machine awoke from its 4 year slumber at San Diego Comic Con in late July this year. Until then, Avatar as a film(if we can still call it that since it will probably never meet celluloid) plot wise was mostly rumors and speculation and for a film in this day and age, that is almost unheard of. Of course sketches of the Na’vi  leaked out and bits and pieces of the plot synopsis, but not a whole lot and for something as big as this, it reached an almost Apple level of secrecy to keep it under wraps this long. And, what does James Cameron do at Comic Con but screen 25 minutes of the film, yes you heard me 25 minutes of the finished film. James Cameron then announced Avatar Day where he would be showing for FREE 16 minutes of Avatar in IMAX 3D.

As promised Avatar Day tickets were given out this Monday via, the Avatar website. Needless to say the servers were slaughtered and chaos ensued, when a 2D trailer was finally released today those poor servers took another hit and were down for the count yet again, feeding the publicity fire. This is where the “Experience” comes in, and why Avatar Day is what it is, you need to “Experience” this for yourself according to Cameron and this is the purpose of Avatar Day. He is so convinced that once you see this you will be converted, he is more than willing to give you your first taste for free.

I mean you have to give the man something because he is taking a page from the social media ethic of giving something for free in hopes your audience will not only pay money to see the film, but encourage others to do so as well. That kind of faith in a film is hard to come by in this day and age, and I have to say I am a lucky ticket holder myself and can’t wait. My only reservation in all this is, what happens after Avatar? If Avatar does live up to our expectations, what is the chance of someone as talented as Cameron taking the technology to this level to tell a great story again? Only time will tell I guess. I will be posting a review after I see the footage tomorrow and hope you will post your experiences here as well. See ya there!