One of this years biggest issues in Hollywood is 3D. After the success of James Cameron’s Avatar studios began post-converting non-3D features so they could charge a bit more in theaters, and thus rape their audience of their money (and eyesight). Arriving in theaters on August 20th is Alex Aja’s Piranha 3D, another in a long line of 3D releases. While horror director Eli Roth is best known for his own films, he has also been dabbing in acting (Inglourious Basterds), one of which is Dimension Films’ remake. We caught up with Roth who talks quite a bit about the 3D process, assuring us horror fans that the 3D was not an afterthought. Details inside.

Bloody-Disgusting: You and I talked briefly about the 3D in Piranha, I’d love to share with my readers what you said. Can you explain to them how it was developed and how it was never an afterthought like Clash of the (Crappy) Titans?
Eli: “Yes. 3-D is at an interesting point now. You can shoot digital 3-D and it looks great, or you can shoot film and convert and it looks great – but only if you planned to do it that way from the start,” Roth explains of the technology. “With a film like The Last Airbender, it was an afterthought. The film was never shot that way, so as a result many of the scenes look dark and unwatchable. You can’t see anything – all that beautiful photography and those amazing effects and all the design work – it’s ruined. The film looks like you’re watching it out of the back of a tinted SUV, and if you took off the glasses, it actually looked quite stunning. But that was a last minute decision and a rush job. Think of CGI – there are people who know how to use it and take the time to get it right and other films where the visual effects look rushed.

“With Piranha 3D, the very title of the film is Piranha 3D,” he continues. “It was written that way and photographed to be converted. This means that when you’re setting up a shot, next to the camera is a technical adviser from the 3D company who tells you exactly what light won’t work for the 3D, how far the subject has to be from the lens if you want it to look good when it pops out of the camera, etc. The film is not completed until it’s converted, and Alex Aja began that process back in November, and it still isn’t finished 100%. The 3D looks spectacular, and when you take off your glasses you see no difference in the lighting and color.

“Quickie afterthought conversions like Last Airbender are ruining the name of 3D conversion. It’s an amazing technology, but only works when the film has been shot that way. And if you’re going to retrofit a film, like Star Wars, then you have to spend a long time getting it right. It’s not easy and it’s not instant and when it’s a last minute rushed decision we can see it immediately. But to associate Piranha 3D, a film which spent years planning this, months shooting it with the technicians on set checking the convertibility of every shot, and so far 8 months working on the conversion, is not fair. The film looks beautiful.”

We shall all bare witness on August 20. (Source)

Cannot wait until August to see, “Piranha 3D” come to the big screen? Below you can watch 9 minutes from the leaked Comic Con footage.

Thursday night Joblo.com attended the San Diego Comic-Con screening of PIRANHA 3D and apparently the footage that was apparently “too hot for Comic-Con” didn’t disappoint! Below is what they learnt during the Q&A:

- All of the piranhas in the film are CGI piranhas. And all the ‘little’ piranhas you see in the trailer… those are just the babies!
- The amount of blood used on the film about quadrupled the amount of blood used in HOSTEL.
- The plan was to always have the film released in 3D, so they were very aware of the lighting and the camera work with 3D in mind.
- Eli Roth thought the 3D in THE LAST AIRBENDER looked like a bird shit all over your 3D glasses and you simply didn’t get around to wiping it off.
- The naked ballet scene with Brook and Steele took weeks to prepare, as holding your breath and making out with someone as hot as they are under water is really challenging. And yes, they screened that footage as well, and it’s f*cking hot!
- Richard Dreyfus’s character’s name is Matt. He’s essentially the same Matt Hooper character in JAWS, but for legal reasons, he’s simply Matt in the film. He hums the same tune (you know the one!), he has many of the same mannerisms… there’s no doubt it’s the same guy!

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With the release of “Piranha 3D” only a month away, the official website for the upcoming horror film has been launched! Head over to www.piranha-3d.com to check it out.

As previously reported, Alexandre Aja’s Piranha 3D was being pulled from the Comic-Con 2010 schedule and today we have news of a Piranha 3D event that will take place just outside the event in San Diego. They will be screening the footage that was deemed “too hot for Comic-Con” on Thursday, July 22nd from 10 PM to 11 PM at the Regal Horton Plaza (475 Horton Plaza San Diego, CA 92101) and there will be a Q&A panel following the footage screening with director Alexandre Aja and other cast members as well.

We’ll be sure to keep you posted with any further details on this new, off-site Piranha 3D panel as soon as we have more information.

Piranha 3D comes to theaters August 20th, 2010 and stars Eli Roth, Dina Meyer, Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O’Connell, Christopher Lloyd, Richard Dreyfuss, Ving Rhames, Adam Scott. The film is directed by Alexandre Aja. (Source)

This past Friday we revealed the full Friday schedule for Comic-Con 2010 and now it seems one of those panels will not be happening after all. Hitfix is reporting that The Weinstein Company is pulling its Piranha 3D panel from Comic-Con 2010.

The new story reveals that Comic-Con denied the footage that they were planning on showing from the film, because it wasn’t family-friendly enough for the convention, according to Comic-Con’s director of marketing and public relations, Daniel Glanzer, who spoke to the site.

“My understanding is that the footage wasn’t all ages appropriate,” Glanzer told HitFix. “We don’t check ID to get into those meeting rooms, so we don’t want something inappropriate.”

Glanzer also told the site that The Weinstein Company could have proceeded to have a panel without showing any footage, but they instead opted to pull their panel from the event. The Piranha 3D was slated to run from 11 AM to 11:45 AM on Friday, July 23 in Hall H.

However, Glazer did tell the site that The Weinstein Company still could resubmit new footage to have a panel at Hall H this year.

“This is not uncommon. They could resubmit,” Glanzer says about Piranha 3D returning to the official schedule. “It’s a little over a week so it could happen.”

We’ll be sure to keep you posted on any further Piranha 3D or Comic-Con 2010 news as soon as we have more information.

Piranha 3D comes to theaters August 20th, 2010 and stars Eli Roth, Dina Meyer, Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O’Connell, Christopher Lloyd, Richard Dreyfuss, Ving Rhames, Adam Scott. The film is directed by Alexandre Aja. (Source)

Comic Con has announced the lineup for Friday, July 23rd, and included in the list of panels on that day is “Piranha 3D.” So far, Eli will not be participating, but several of his cast mates will:

11:00-11:45 Dimension Films: Piranha 3D
Dimension Films presents never-before-seen footage of Piranha 3D, which hits theatres August 20. Director/producer Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes), producer Mark Canton (300), producer Grégory Levasseur, and executive producer Alix Taylor are joined by cast members Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O’Connell, Jessica Szohr (Gossip Girl), Steven R. McQueen (The Vampire Diaries), Kelly Brook, and Adam Scott for a sneak peek at Piranha 3D and a Q&A! Hall H

 French gore merchant Alexandre Aja is serving up a seafood (s)platter using piranhas and re-constituted human parts for us to gorge upon in his latest slice of cinematic mayhem. And he’s doing it in 3D too!

The stills we saw earlier this year were bloodier than a no-holds-barred boxing match with glass embedded in the gloves. Which is a good thing, no? Turn the blood and grue up to eleven! Judging from the trailer (and stills) we’ve seen, they’ll be laughs, there will be blood…and lots of naked women.

Piranha 3D stars a gloriously eclectic cast including Elizabeth Shue, Jerry O’Connell, Eli Roth and Richard Dreyfus and looks set to be the sickest movie of the entire summer. Can’t wait!

Source

A second trailer for the upcoming 3D horror film, “Piranha 3D” was released by www.Yahoo.com. Unfortunately, Eli is not featured in this trailer, but take a look anyway.