DreamWorks Sees 3D as Key for Future

This is my second time interviewing Mr. Katzenberg (far right above). Like many geniuses, he's quick, brilliant and sligtly irritable because he's so smart. I mean, people around the world are asking him the same questions so it's totally understandable (but he was nicer this time; I asked him more creative ones). Anyway, I thank him for bringing Shrek, Poe and other great characters to life.

Animation maestro Jeffrey Katzenberg sees 3D animation as the key to the future. DreamWorks Animation presents ``Monster vs. Aliens,’’ which, shot entirely in 3D with a completely new technology, is its most ambitious project yet. This can be seen as something of a revolution in not just animation but in all of cinema history.

``The first two great revolutions in film were the introduction of sound and the introduction of color, and the introduction of 3D could be as impact-ful as those were,’’ the CEO of DreamWorks Animation said in an interview in Seoul, Thursday.

Five years in the making with $165 million, the ``very long, very expensive’’ franchise, said the 58-year-old, employed an entirely new technology called InTru3D. Specifically developed for ``Monsters vs. Aliens,’’ it combines DreamWorks’ authoring tools with the latest technology by partner company Intel.

The new tool solves problems posed by past 3D films. ``All of the elements that go into 3D today are so dramatically better than what existed even just a few years ago,’’ he said. Moviegoers must wear glasses, which are polarized and more comfortable than the old colored paper frames. A very powerful digital projector delivers precise images, that ``aren’t blurry, don’t give eyestrain, don’t give you a headache. We are in absolute perfect control of 3D,’’ he said.

This certainly makes a mark in modern day cinema culture, as it provides a one of a kind, theater-only experience. ``Monsters vs. Aliens’’ in 3D cannot be replicated at home _ kissing goodbye to pirated DVDs.

Meanwhile, InTru3D required artists to ``learn a new language,’’ said Katzenberg. He compared the experience to Anglophones having to learn and work in Korean overnight. ``They have to think in 3D now. They have to think about the dimensionality and how the filmmakers will ultimately translate that onscreen,’’ he said, further explaining that artists have to conceive characters differently, such as moving through a 3D room. Though initially a little scared, he said, ``our artists have loved it and have been excited from day one.

``Yes,’’ all future projects will be created in 3D, he said definitively. This comes in spite of technical barriers, that most theaters are not equipped with digital projectors. Providing glasses to moviegoers will also be costly. ``This is just the beginning. I think that there are twice as many theaters (for 3D films) today than there were a year ago. Next year there will be three times as many as today. I think there is a great future. Rome was not built in a day,’’ he said.

``Monster vs. Aliens’’ features retro themes _ quite ironically rendered with the latest modern technology _ ``a happy accident’’ according to Katzenberg. It pays tribute to B-movies of the 1950s and ‘60s and even makes a paraody of ``ET’’ as it tells the story of a young woman who, on her wedding day, is hit by extraterrestrial gunk and explodes into a 49 feet 11 inch-tall giant (1958’s ``Attack of the 50 Foot Woman,’’ anyone?). She’s immediately captured by the military and is detained along with other strange creatures. When aliens attack Earth, however, this ragtag group of monsters becomes mankind’s only hope.

Korean screen beauty Han Ye-seul provides the voice for the main character, which was originally dubbed by Reese Witherspoon. ``She (Han) is a very talented actress and has a very beautiful melody to her voice, which is a very good match for her character. And I think she did a really great job,’’ said Katzenberg.

Dreamworks’ previous franchises such as the ``Shrek’’ trilogy and ``Kung Fu Panda’’ have scored well at the local box office. ``In the field of feature animation, DreamWorks has become the most successful and biggest studio in the world,’’ he said. In the past five years, DreamWorks and Disney/Pixar have both created and released 10 films, grossing $4.8 billion and $3.2 billion worldwide, respectively.

``So we’re 50 percent bigger on a worldwide basis. You know, I’m proud of that. I think that’s a great accomplishment. Of course they and others like Blue Sky make great movies,’’ said the former Disney studio chairman.

When asked about the company’s secret to success, he said, simply, ``good storytelling. I think that’s the most important thing.’’

``Monster vs. Aliens’’ is due in theaters April 23. Polarized glasses will be available in theaters.

`Shrek 3' Is Bigger, Greener Than Ever

Courtesy of DreamWorks SKG

The world's favorite green ogre couple is back in ``Shrek the Third'' (``Shrek 3''), and the animated film is bigger than ever with more laughs and larger-than-life characters.

Shrek (narrated by Mike Myers) has matured, and is faced with a lot of choices and decisions to make, with prospects of becoming a father and possibly the next king of Far Far Away.

Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz)'s queen mother (Julie Andrews), cousin Arthur (Justin Timberlake) and lo and behold, three adorable triplet ogres have joined the cast.Shrek's two sidekicks Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and dewy-eyed Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) are back with more groove, and Prince Charming (Rupert Everette) and Cameron Diaz's favorite character Gingerbread Man (Conrad Vernon) also make reappearances.

The animation continues to stand apart the third time around for breaking fairytale conventions and bashing stereotypes. Princesses, including Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel, run around rescuing others, and even a one-eyed monster can have a warm heart and happy family.

``All of us grew up hearing fairy tale stories from our youth, and there's always perfect setting, simple stories about beauty and heroism,'' said director Chris Miller during a press conference at a Seoul hotel on Wednesday. ``Life is so much more complicated than that, and things are not so black and white. There are areas of gray everywhere,``Beauty comes in all kinds of different forms and everyone should be celebrated,'' he said. Miller believes ``you can make your own destiny, your own `happily ever after.' So really, that's the reason why we wanted to make these old stories and just update them, and make them contemporary.''

The film appeals to a wider audience in terms of age range. ``There are certain jokes that only the kids will laugh at and some that an older audience will laugh at, and share laughs,'' he said.

Many adults may empathize with Shrek's anxiety of expanding his family, but ``The amazing thing is that if you ask a four-year-old what's this movie about, and they'll say it's about Shrek being nervous about becoming a daddy,'' said Aron Warner, the producer of the movie.`Shrek 3' also features a medieval high school complete with cheerleaders (or ``cheermaidens'' rather), jousting jocks and ``Just Say Nay'' anti-drug campaigns.

The teen scene with the medieval twist, however, may lose some of its comic factor since it doesn't necessarily translate across non-American audiences. But the core strengths of the film -- quintessential characters and universal themes about self-trust -- will surely win the hearts of viewers in Korea and elsewhere. When asked how many moviegoers ``Shrek 3'' might draw here, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg grinned, ``How many people are in Korea, about 48 million? Then 47 million.''

Shrek fans, eat your heart out, Katzenberg announced that ``Shrek 4'' and ``5'' are on their way. Cameron Diaz said she didn't know what to expect or how far the project would go when she first joined the Shrek crew, ``but then I saw how special it was and it doesn't surprise me that people want more.''

Cameron Diaz Kicks Royally in `Shrek 3’

(Yonhap photo) This was my first interview with a Hollywood star. Ms. Diaz was gorgeous, though I could tell she's had too much fun in the sun by her bronzed up, slightly wrinkly skin. She impressed me with how down to earth she could be while being very smart about answering some questions and not answering others.

Tall, blonde Cameron Diaz and stocky, green Princess Fiona may not look alike, but are kindred spirits: the modern-day princess kicks butt in ``Shrek the Third’’ in a style reminiscent of ``Charlie’s Angels.’’

In DreamWorks' third of the much-adored animated series, Fiona rescues her beloved husband Shrek instead of waiting around like a helpless damsel in distress.

``Fiona says that if you want something to happen in your life, you have to take care of your self, you can’t just wait for somebody to do it for you,’’ Diaz said during a private press interview at a Seoul hotel on Wednesday.

``I think that I relate completely with that -- that is how I live my life. I am a proactive person and that is a really valuable message, not just for girls but for boys as well and its something that everybody cares about.’’

Yet, Diaz values the tradition and lessons that age-old fairy tales teach. She believes that they are representatives of a certain time and mindset that the mass own at the moment. Hehe she's answering my question here :)

``You need your history, you need to see where we came from. I don't think that we should discard those ideals because that's how we learn,’’ she said during an open news conference.

``One of the things that I love about `Shrek’ is that, the princesses that we all grew up on, we get to bring them with us. That's the genius of these filmmakers. They didn't force us to leave them all behind," she said.

Diaz explained that Snow White and other classic princesses reappear in the film as ``contemporary princesses’’ and are thus ``relevant again. So we get to have them with us without having to let go of them __ so allow them to be authentic, and also represent the women of today.’’

But Fiona does the kicking onscreen in computer graphics, while Diaz has to narrate using her imagination, though she said it ``can never actually create what the amazing animators are creating for the actual film.’’

Further explaining the recording process, the actress said ``The things that are challenging are the things that make it very exciting and fun__ acting out scenes but not in the physical world, in the world that it takes place in, being there with a microphone that is challenging, to create that world in your mind. But it is also a lot of fun to imagine.’’

Because actors do not record together, Diaz did not, for those who are curious, get to work with former boyfriend Justin Timberlake (who voiced Arthur, a new character) __ nor with Mike Myers (Shrek), with whom she shares the majority of her dialogue.

She added that director Chris Miller, who read the parts of the other characters during the recording, was especially hilarious when narrating Donkey.

``I'm glad it doesn't get caught on film what I have to do to put up the voice,’’ laughed Diaz, ``because oftentimes I am sort of just kicking at the air, kissing the back of my hand, or calling out for Shrek and he's not there. So it's actually kind of silly.’’

The blue-eyed actress also said she had creative control over her character. ``The one thing that I made my biggest note was at one point, after Fiona and Shrek get married, there is a bit of a tone that she would take with him that was a little impatient and naggy,


``She all of a sudden became a wife and I was like, that’s not true to her, she bigger than that, she is smarter than that,’’ she said. ``The guys (director and producer) needed a girl’s perspective, and so it was easily changed.

About her first visit to Korea, Diaz said ``there is a lot of culture and growth here,’’ and added ``I am always excited about finding a place that possess those qualities and it would definitely be one of the reasons to draw me back.’’