Finding Nemo In 3D Interview

LEE UNKRICH, the vice president of editorial and layout at Pixar Animation Studios, is also an Oscar-winning director for best animated feature on Disney•Pixar’s critically-acclaimed box-office hit Toy Story 3.
He was also nominated by the Academy in the category of best adapted screenplay for his story credit on the film. Unkrich began his Pixar career in 1994 as a film editor on Toy Story and was supervising film editor on A Bug’s Life as well as numerous other Pixar films.


He co-directed Monsters, Inc and the Golden Globe-winning Toy Story 2, before sharing directing credits with Andrew Stanton on the 2003 hit, Finding Nemo. This stunning underwater adventure was produced by
Graham Walters, with an Oscar-nominated screenplay by Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds.


Teeming with memorable comedic characters and heartfelt emotion, Finding Nemo follows the momentous journey of an overprotective clownfish named Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) and his young son Nemo (voiced by Alexander Gould) – who become separated in the Great Barrier Reef when Nemo is unexpectedly taken far from his ocean home to a fish tank in a dentist’s office.


Buoyed by the companionship of Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), a friendly-butforgetful blue tang fish, Marlin embarks on a dangerous trek and finds himself the unlikely hero of an epic effort to rescue his son who
hatches a few daring plans of his own to return safely home.


Finding Nemo now returns to the big screen in thrilling Disney Digital 3D for the first time. Here Unkrich talks about this new development.


What were your thoughts when you first saw the movie in 3D?
“I was pretty staggered when I saw Finding Nemo in 3D, because we hadn’t designed the film to be a 3D film and it was so amazing to see how much of it looked like we had. “Everything from Bruce the shark lunging at the camera to the amazing scene with all the jellyfish to what is probably my favourite part of the movie in


3D, which is Nemo and his dad going through the coral reef on their way to his first day of school. That scene was so lovely – so colourful and rich in detail – and now there’s a whole new element that really brings it to life and gives it so much depth.”


What makes Finding Nemo such a good film in 3D?
“When we were making Finding Nemo in 2D all those years ago, we worked really hard to give a sense of depth to the images because so much of the movie was taking place in the ocean, in open water – and that could have easily felt very flat. So we did a lot of work to the look of the water to give it a sense of depth.
“Even the scenes in the movie that have nothing in them – when it’s just Marlin and Dory in open water with nothing around them – look cool in 3D because we did so much work putting all these little tiny particles and
bubbles in the water.”


Are there any specific scenes in which 3D really helps express the storyline?
“I was really impressed by the scene in the East Australian Current with Crush and all the sea turtles. We struggled when we made the original film to define that shape in the space – this weird current of water flowing through open ocean.

“The scene with the sharks is really cool, especially when we first meet Bruce, the Great White – he’s lunging at the camera and his teeth are coming right at the audience. It was fun in the original version and it’s really cool in 3D.”


Are you excited that the film will be in theatres again?
“Absolutely. I feel so fortunate to have worked on Finding Nemo and to have helped make a film that generation after generation seems to love. It’s exciting to have it back in theatres again because I strongly believe that the best place to see a movie for the first time is in a movie theatre.

“I’m glad that by releasing it in 3D, a new generation will see it as it was meant to be seen – up on the big screen.

“One of the neat things about 3D is that it can elevate the emotional intimacy with the audience. People get drawn in – it can be a little more intense than when you’re watching a 2D film.

“With Finding Nemo in particular, I think people are going to find that they’re experiencing this world and these characters in a way that they never have before.” – Walt Disney Pictures

THE SUN 2012-11-09 PAGE 21