To the untrained ear, film buff or not, the 3D workshop given at FUNGLODE on Friday may have seemed a bit technical. However, it turns out that, judging by the interest and pertinent questions, many Dominican filmmakers or would-be filmmakers know quite a lot about this new and improved field of digital 3D.

The husband and wife team of Craig Tanner, President, Digital Revolution Studios and Gail Light Tanner, CEO/Producer, Digital Revolution Studios shared their knowledge in a very organized fashion. Craig introduced himself as a person who went to Hollywood with big dreams, no contacts, no job, but obviously a fair amount of talent. Now, 14 years later, he recently worked as visual effects editor with James Cameron on “Avatar.” 

The couple was invited by the Dominican Republic Global Film Festival (DRGFF) to five give their workshop at FUNGLODE in Santo Domingo.

Craig and Gail explained how Cameron wrote the screenplay for “Avatar,” in 1995 when the technology to make it did not yet exist. They showed the drawings made by Cameron himself with the outline of how his creatures would move their bodies, down to their musculature and jaw bones. The two Hollywood-based producers took the fascinated audience through the steps of exactly how such a process is carried out.

Questions from the group ranged from technical topics to the future of 3D, which indeed, is now. Craig explained that 3D is not just having a ball come flying off the screen and past the viewers’ head but in fact is the creation of a sense of depth of field and perspective. He used watching professional golf match on TV as an example of how amazing it is to watch (he is not a fan, incidentally) in 3D as opposed to 2-dimension.  Both he and his wife are convinced that soon most all new films we see will be made and viewed in 3D format.

One news flash the panelists revealed was that James Cameron has leased a huge studio for ten years where he will simultaneously make Avatar 2 and Avatar 3. Craig and Gail then announced that their growing company may be looking for post production possibilities in the Dominican Republic and is open to having Dominican experts and apprentices work with them in the United States. 

The Fundacion Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), one of the organizing partners of the DRGFF along with its sister organization in the United States, Global Foundation for Democracy and Development, hosts professional industry panels which provide local filmmakers and students a forum for practical knowledge and advice from prominent experts in the film industry.

See more photos on our Photo Gallery under Santo Domingo - Panel: 3D - Be Inspired!, Nov. 19 >