Elizabeth Guider Reports from NAB: James Cameron on 3D TV

LAS VEGAS: Of all things, TV series are "low-hanging fruit" for movie maven James Cameron and his business partner Vince Pace when it comes to overlaying their patented 3D technology on top of traditional 2D shooting workflow.

"That’s where we should be looking for rapid growth," Cameron told NAB attendees at a session yesterday. At the packed event, the film director/deep-sea diver regaled 500 attendees with tidbits about the specs for their latest camera equipment and the joys of post-Avatar advances in the technology.

With what 3D can do to enhance the viewing experience, "there’d be nothing cooler than watching human beings interact with each other on the small screen."

The comments on this next phase of 3D development came toward the end of a 90-minute riff by Cameron and Pace on their year-old venture, Cameron Pace Group (CPG), which aims to license end-to-end cameras and other complex tools which will allow producers to seamlessly integrate 3D into their regular shooting schedule. From their perspective, 3D is not about the spectacular but about enhancing the storytelling, be it in movies, sports, arts—or TV drama and sitcoms.

The coolest item projected on screen during their presentation: a 22 lb.—that’s lightweight!—Shadow Camera Handheld, which the film director said was perfect for those upfront trophy or money shots.

During the session the two deftly bounced off each other, offering different but dovetailing perspectives on the evolving tech scene, which to their minds is bringing the movie and the TV production experiences closer together.

The duo is calling the result of their business approach "5D" in that in practical terms it sums 3D and 2D rather than relegating one or the other to the sidelines—and in the offing 5D should cost much less than just a few years ago.

"Shooting that way enhances all forms of entertainment," Pace said in introducing the various trailers for their recent collaborations with TV players. Sports may be leading the charge but arts also benefit from 3D cameras as would all forms of episodic television, they suggested.

So far CPG’s successful ventures include shooting live a Cirque du Soleil performance in Vegas, which Paramount will release this December, the Masters Golf tournament in Augusta and the U.S Tennis Open. In addition, ESPN partnered with CPG to film its Winter X-Games, with 35 3D cameras no less.

"What we’re trying to do," Cameron said, "is to de-mystify 3D."

"We’re shooting in 3D as though it’s not special, integrating the same operators, strategies and methods as broadcasters have been using for years," they explained.

Cameron explained that many in the biz had been put off by the approach of 3D practitioners—who would essentially look down upon their 2D counterparts—and by the price of having to duplicate personnel and shooting positions in order to shoot content in 3D.

But not anymore, Cameron suggested.

He and Pace spoke off-the-cuff and entertainingly about how their experiences and their recent partnerships with broadcast professionals had evolved. If the session was essentially an infomercial for their company’s services, it was a soft rather than a hard-sell. And fabulous clips from their recent collaborations with CBS, ESPN and others didn’t undermine the effort.

Cameron also pointed out that the technology is evolving so quickly that not even he can easily keep up. "I just came back from five months at sea and there are things in our booth here I don’t recognize," he said. (The director had been in the Pacific at the Mariana Trench where, with National Geographic backing, he dove in a tank to the deepest spot in the ocean.)

CPG is among the 1,600 exhibitors displaying products and services at the NAB show through Thursday.