Director Alexandre Aja talks about his horror remake Piranha 3D and how the film was converted to 3D in post-production rather than shot in 3D.
The film Piranha 3D is a horror remake directed by French film director Alexandre Aja and features an ensemble cast including Richard Dreyfuss, Elisabeth Shue, Ving Rhames, and Christopher Lloyd.
Aja discusses creating Piranha in 3D, including converting the film to 3D in post production and shooting underwater.
Why did you choose to create Piranha in 3D?
Alexandre Aja: Since I stopped working in the genre and started working on the fear and suspense and the tension, I try to make the movie more an experience than something that you watch. I want the audience to cross the screen and live the same situation that my characters are living in the story. Storytelling is still the best immersion tool. The 3D is another tool that can really help the experience of Loaded with flexible I/O that provides editors with professional HD/SD connectivity, Io Express delivers a high-quality capture, monitoring and output solution in a compact, cost-effective design.
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being inside the movie. You are in the middle of having fish flying at you. movie – brutal and violent. It is more an adventure-disaster movie. A sleepy town invaded by spring breakers. It’s a being inside the movie. You are in the middle of having fish flying at you. movie – brutal and violent. It is more an adventure-disaster movie. A sleepy town invaded by spring breakers. It’s a fun adventure ride. This is what I really like because it’s like taken on a ride in a roller coaster than put in a blender. If we use more blood in this movie, it’s still a suspenseful scary adventure with a lot of comedy also.
In Mirrors, I really wanted to make this movie – coming from the roots of humanity. After this movie, you can bring that kind of feel with you. Before Jaws was made, we had a phobia of what lies beneath. That was the same thing I tried to do with Mirrors.
I had to fight to keep the political subtext in between in The Hills Have Eyes. I had to keep that same feel with Piranha with spring break – a rite of passage, a sarcastic approach that is crazy and extreme. Whose side are you really on – their side or the piranhas’ side?
What was it like to shoot underwater?
Alexandre Aja: We had an amazing underwater DP. I spent a lot of time in the water. It was such a cool way to make a movie. We had to build up one of the biggest tanks in America. We found out that to move all of the crew to another pre-existing tank would cost more than to build our own tank in Lake Havasu, Arizona, which is a man-made lake but also a rock-bottom lake, so the water was very clear. Usually, in a lake you cannot see past 10 feet. We had 42 days to make the movie, with eight weeks of prep before this. It was a big amount of challenges. I like that shoot because it creates a very strong bond between the cast and crew. It’s a surviving story, like the surviving script.
Do you want to keep making films in the horror genre?
Alexandre Aja: I love the genre and story that puts characters in extreme situations. I will keep producing but I would like to develop something different – maybe sci-fi. I grew up watching manga and Japanese animation called Cobra: the Space Pirate. It’s like Pirates of the Caribbean in space. It’s an amazing sci-fi adventure story created in 1977. It took me years to secure the rights and now I want to take the time to develop this and make it as my next movie.
Will you ever return to Europe to make movies?
Alexandre Aja: I really like working here [in the US] so far because I have managed so far to get control of my movie and have final cut. The day I could not do the movie I want to make, I would do [another] movie in France. Scott Essman started writing about and for entertainment while still at the University of Southern California in the mid-1980s. His filmography as producer, director and writer includes A Tribute to the Westmore, Monster Kids, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Monsters, King Kong 75th Anniversary Tribute, Ray Harryhausen Interviews, The Mummy 75th Anniversary Tribute, Making the Monster: Special Makeup Effects Frankenstein Monster Makeup, Jack Pierce: The Man Behind the Monsters, and A Tribute to the Wizard of Oz.
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