Chattanooga Times Free Press entertainment reporter Casey Phillips spoke with DJ Roller, director of underwater photography for the 3D IMAX film “Wild Ocean 3D,” about the challenges of working with 3D underwater, the shots he’s proudest of getting and being dive bombed by seabirds.
CP: What specific challenges are there to working with 3D, particularly in an underwater environment?
DJR: 3D is a really interesting medium. With recent films like “Avatar,” there have been a large number of people who have had a chance to experience modern digital 3D, which is not the red-and-blue glasses we remember from the past. No pun attended, but it’s created a sea change in the film industry.
One thing with 3D is that, to me, especially with IMAX as a format in theaters, it’s a chance to take audiences to a place they may not get a chance to go or may not be able to go to. It’s the closest thing you can do, visually, to being there.
Also, the digital cameras are not only smaller but have longer recording times. From a cinematic standpoint, there are other things we can do with lens, other things we couldn’t do before on film that allowed us to capture things like “Wild Ocean” and other projects.