Want to be one of the first to see footage from A Christmas Carol??
Today, every hour on the hour until 7 pm PT, Walt Disney Pictures will be screening scenes from Robert Zemeckis‘ upcoming 3D motion capture film starring Jim Carrey at the Universal City Imax Theater.
According to Incontention where they were lucky enough to see some footage: “The first is something of a character initiation for Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey), in case you’re somehow unaware of his place in literary lore. It isn’t the best scene for showing off the film’s 3D particulars but it is, however, a great indication of the detail and artistic direction of the film. The sets are rendered as beautifully as Zemeckis’s “Beowulf,” though there is more of a glimmer of existence in the “lifeless eyes” that many were so loathe to observe in “The Polar Express.” We also get a look at Bob Cratchit in this scene, one of actor Gary Oldman’s three gigs on the production.”
The second scene is much more technically eye-popping: Scrooge’s first encounter with one of the film’s four specters, former business partner Jacob Marley (Oldman again). Marley’s ghost looks absolutely gorgeous, accented by a fluorescent blue hue that fortunately doesn’t glaze over the considerable detail on the face. Marley’s chains make for a delightful opportunity with the 3D, allowing the gimmick and gag aspects of “Beowulf” to give way to a more alarming, visceral experience that is meant to frighten. More of this, please.
We were also treated to the first trailer for the film, which will debut July 1. Much of that footage is the same “trailerish” material that follows the train tour exhibition, but it’s more fleshed out, of course, with lots of indication (especially with the Ghost of Christmas Past stuff) that the film will be a thrilling experience and that the 3D will enhance that experience considerably. But I was quite taken with a subtle piece of character-building tacked onto the end.
The camera follows a drifting snowflake, large in the foreground and illuminated by the 3D, as it settles onto Scrooge’s nose in close-up. You would expect the flake to melt away with a bit of a “hiss” sound or something, but Scrooge being the cold-hearted man that he is, it merely rests there on the tip of his nose until he blows it away, quipping the expected: “Humbug.”
Source: In Contetion
