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SDCC '10 Interview: Anderson on Resident Evil in 3D & More


Source: Peter Brown
July 28, 2010


Warning: There may be spoilers ahead.

Resident Evil: Afterlife (set report) is just the beginning of the 3D adventure for director Paul W. S. Anderson.

He believes that not only is 3D cool for viewers, it represents a paradigm shift in terms of cinema along the same lines as the introduction of sound into film and the introduction of color. "3D is very exciting," Anderson said at a Comic-Con press event. "Everything from now on for me is 3D. I am completely convinced it is the future of home entertainment and as well as cinema entertainment."

Of course, it helps that Afterlife is one of the few movies that will be released that was actually filmed in 3D and Anderson is helping to promote the new technology. While working with a new technology was a bit problematic, Anderson says, the interesting thing is that it forces a director to compose images in a completely different way.

“We had big 3D monitors set and you wear the glasses and see the image in 3D," Anderson said. "I moved the camera in a completely different way than I did in my previous movie. In Death Race, which is a modern action movie, I used a lot of the handheld action cameras, with quick cuts. In 3D, I didn't want to do that anymore, I went for a more classical approach to film making with dolly and track and cranes and slightly slower choreographed moves. You get more fight moves in one take rather than going ‘Cut, cut, cut, cut.' It really altered the way I shot the movie completely. It was exciting because after 20 years of filmmaking I felt as if I was making my first movie again."

The evolution of 3D in film is an interesting thing for Anderson, after they wrapped Afterlife in December of last year, they knew they were making a 3D movie but it was no big deal. Then Avatar hit theaters and the world changed, Anderson said. Now all of Hollywood wanted everything to be 3D.

But, "we just went on with what we were doing which is making a quality kick ass 3D movie," Anderson said. "It will really be the first live-action 3D movie this year, there hasn't been one this year they have all been conversions. I think when people see what real 3D looks like they will understand why they spend an extra $5 a ticket."

What will we see in terms of 3D from Afterlife? Anderson said from the very beginning he was already finding ways to work into the production design ways to enhance the 3D, interactive elements such as rain and smoke, things that normally would be backdrops in other films will take on a life of their own.

And then there are the quarters. Why do you need money in the post-apocalyptic world you may ask?

"You discover that Alice has these shotguns and she is making shotgun shells," Anderson said. "Instead of pellets it is a whole load of quarters wrapped. So when she shoots the shotguns, you have these great slow motion shots where all these coins come out and they are flying heads over tails and plowing through the undead."

And if you thought that the dogs had their day in the first three films, you ain't seen nothing yet.

"I love the dogs," Anderson said. "Every since I played Resident Evil 2 and the dog crashed through the window and I was holding my vibrating controller, it just terrified me. But I have to say after three movies with them there is a limit to what you can do with dogs. Then I played Resident Evil 5 and there were dogs again. But this time their heads split open and I thought 'This is really freaky shit.' That's a great example of how the games influenced how I developed the characters in [Afterlife]."

With the buzz generated by Afterlife, what are the chances of a fifth Resident Evil film?

"We always take it one movie at a time," Anderson said. "We put so much effort into them and it is a family affair. It is all about making the best possible movie now and then promoting well and getting it out there. Making sure it is seen in the right way. When the dust settles then you think about something else. For us, it is not a business, it is a passion. You don't want to start talking about the next baby until you make sure this one is okay."

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Comments

Posted by: djblack1313 on July 28, 2010 at 15:01:00

awesome! i dig Paul and his work. and i love these movies! i can't wait!

Posted by: ManuMIAS on July 28, 2010 at 15:18:11

from what I read it makes me more exciting about this Movie, I mean I cant hate this guy, looks like he is a really passionate person trying to do his best! :]

thanks for posting in the IMDB Forum DjBlack1313!

Posted by: chris on July 28, 2010 at 16:01:27

trying to convince people to go watch this action non stop cheesy comedy lines crapp film. i will wait till they remake a actual story driven horror movie like the first game that is actually scary and has the real experimants in it like the hunters,a tyrant that does not talk,and plant 42, along with the zombies and other things from the first game. chris nolan needs to get his hands on this,or guilmoro del toro. to me anderson is like brett ratner and cannot make great films.

Posted by: txhsfball on July 28, 2010 at 17:14:49

Lol at the idiot saying he digs Pauls work. Really? Mortal Kombat? Resident Evil? AvP? lmfao. This guy ruins brands. All horrible movies. Paul Anderson made it ok for Alien and Predator movies to suck. Why do these studios continue to give this guy chances? Clearly the majority was way disappointed in the Resident Evil movies, yet he keeps getting his hands on them. Along with Spiderman getting a reboot, the Resident Evil movies need to be rebooted. What a bunch of crap.

Posted by: djblack1313 on July 28, 2010 at 17:20:13

txhsfball, yup. sorry your too much of a dick to realize people have different opinions. sorry you're too much of a douche to accept that. but thanx! have a great day! :)

Posted by: djblack1313 on July 28, 2010 at 17:21:05

and ManuMIAS, talk to you on the IMDB boards!:)

Posted by: TooCool4Yoo on July 28, 2010 at 17:59:28

When the dogs jumped through the windows in RE2?

Jesus Christ he can't even get the game right! I think what he meant was RE1

Posted by: CCR on July 28, 2010 at 19:27:20

i can't wait until this series dies and is reanimated into REAL resident evil movies. i just hope the reboot won't be in 3D... this guy talks like 3D is some new invention or something, it's been around since the 50's ffs!

i saw an interview w milla and ali and hearing them talk about how 'cool' the movie was and all the 'passion' that is put into these movies 'for the RE fans' just made me sick to my stomach. *dry heave*

i'm happy that the fans of the movies keep getting what they want, short-bus popcorn B.S., but when will the fans of the game (ya know, the whole REASON for the RE franchise in the first place?) get what we deserve?? i know, i know, it'll happen some day, but that's too far away, and until then i'll skip these subpar action wannabe abominations, they've already wasted too much of my precious time as it is. amen.

Posted by: chris on July 28, 2010 at 20:27:27

txhsfball,and ccr you guy know whats up. we need better qaullity films. short bus popcorn b.s lmfao. hell yeah.

Posted by: PRJ69 on July 28, 2010 at 22:45:55

love how he says he played RE2 yet changed the whole storyline completely...what a hyporcrite

Posted by: KL on July 29, 2010 at 01:33:26

Paul Anderson is a great director. the only one that can really make a video game based movie. all the other video game adaptations suck so much they can't compare to the Resident Evil films. he gives us a great story on his resident evil franchise

Posted by: KL on July 29, 2010 at 01:37:46

you people complain too much about how the movies are not like the games. who the **** wants to see that? if you want it to be so much like the games then why won't you just play the whole video game series and stop watching the films

Posted by: Attley on July 29, 2010 at 03:45:09

i agree with KL you dick heads out there saying that the movies are crap i would like to see you do any better plus paul has the nod of approval from the guys who created the games and why would anyone want to see the exact re game converted into a movie it would be predictable and boring ****ing hell get a life and enjoy the movies or have a wank over some gay porn or whatever you dicks do for fun

Posted by: Attley on July 29, 2010 at 03:49:15

plus its based on the game not a renactment of it

Posted by: CCR on July 29, 2010 at 04:23:34

um, it's called having an opinion
freedom of speech, trolls!

Posted by: CCR on July 29, 2010 at 04:38:46

but seriously....
@KL
the only good film he's done is the first resident evil IMO. it serves as a good prequel-type movie to a movie that could've been based on the first RE game. but what started out as a good precursor to possible DECENT RE movies actually in some way related to the games has gotten bloated w action and alice, 2 things that have NOTHING to do w what makes the RE games awesome.. RE 4 and RE 5 are fun games, but they totally detracted from what made the games good in the first place...HORROR...this IS a horror site, right?

@Attley
as i've stated b4, it really doesn't matter if u know the outcome to a movie...u HAVE watched the same movie more than once haven't u? if it's WELL-MADE and FAITHFUL to the games, it would be so kick-ass it would make ur head explode, which would probably be for the best...there's a good reason fans of the game hate the movies...THEY COULD BE SOOOO MUCH BETTER!!!! opinions vary, but if ur talkin HORROR..this is FACT

Posted by: Doug on July 29, 2010 at 12:16:30

Balls.

Just reboot this phucker and get it over with!

Posted by: Jay on August 2, 2010 at 18:21:35

It's really hard to make a movie. I work in film and have also played the RE games. I find that Paul does a good job of bringing new elements to the table. Yes, we all would have loved to see a movie based on the first game but in order to have made a film about RE1 there still would have been alot of new things. It's a horror/action/puzzle game. Now I recall spending many of my hours trying to solve puzzles. There isn't a lot of character development in the first game. People just disappear or die or come and go etc.

All I'm saying is that no studio would have allowed a script to come from the game verbatim. I wouldn't want to watch Jill Valentine walk around trying to find a "ROOK EMBLEM" or "CRANK" to place above the fireplace in order to get access to a poison that will kill a giant plant in some other end of the maze/mansion (I apologize if there isn't a rook emblem. Hehe. I haven't played through the original in over a decade) .

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