Disney released a third trailer today which incorporates a lot of the footage we have already seen in the Daft Punk "video" montage and some other clips that already been floating around. But there were other details that caught my eye. I'll explain.
 
Part of the reason that 3D animated films (including "Avatar") have been more successful than live action 3D films is that the animators modeling the characters and landscapes are thinking in 3D space, the software they use forces them to, and the fact that the films are finally being shown in 3D is more of a logical afterthought of the process than an end to the means.

Traditional live action filmmakers however, have over one hundred years of tradition and teaching that tells them to think of the screen as a "canvas", AKA, a flat plane. They compose their visual information in those terms and may be inadvertently trapping themselves in that plane, as opposed to thinking of their new canvas as a cube instead of a rectangle.
 
If you'll notice, almost every shot in this trailer has lines that lead the eye into the distance or set up barriers that give a sense of depth. Even watching it in 2D, it's apparent that they are thinking in 3D. Fitting and perhaps ironic that such a CGI centric movie like 'Tron: Legacy' may become the example of how to shoot live action in 3D.
 
What do you think? Is Joseph Kosinski the guy to do it?
 
Tron: Legacy opens in theaters December 17th
 

Alex Dorn

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