Neil Arun didn’t want to miss a rare but risky opportunity to embed with an Iraqi police unit, hunting members of al Qaeda. But his employers -- responsible for Neil’s security -- weren’t happy. This film by Richard Pendry nvestigates how a frontline journalist balances risk and reward.
The popcorn cost nearly as much as the tickets, but taking the kids to see James Cameron’s movie Avatar in 3D last week really was a terrific experience. The film’s breaking all box office records and it’s easy to see why. In case you haven’t seen it, it’s an amazing 3D spectacle which transports you to an imaginary planet called Pandora.
The 3D is not gimmicky, but engages you, draws you in and makes you feel you’re really there. I certainly felt I was watching something innovative and significant.
So while I was still in the cinema, I found myself wondering how film historians would write about Avatar and its effect on audiences.
This week came the first clues.
A number of posts to internet forums appeared expressing feelings of post-Avatar depression. Viewers say they wish Pandora was real and say the film makes real life appear second best. The phenomenon is called the Avatar Blues.
“When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time” wrote one teenager, who calls himself Eltu, “The world seemed gray. It was like my whole life, everything I've done and worked for, lost its meaning. I live in a dying world”.
It’s quite possible historians of the future will write; “Back in the early Twenty First Century, audiences felt waves of despair after watching Avatar; many killed themselves after watching it because they could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion”.
I was reminded of other exaggerations and urban myths about film.
In 1896 the French Lumiere Brothers filmed a train moving towards the camera. The history books will tell you that, “Audiences fled in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train”. How foolish they were back in 1896!
Similarly, in the 1903 film The Great Train Robbery, there’s a scene where the robber points his pistol at the camera and fires. The history books describe how, “Many people who saw the film thought that they were actually about to be shot and screamed in fear or hid under their seats”. How backward they were in 1903!
They’re good stories, but unfortunately they’re untrue. They’re huge exaggerations which have gone down in popular folklore and been accepted as historical fact.
In 2045, when my grandson’s studying Film History at the University of Kent, he’ll probably ask me how I reacted to Avatar’s digital 3D trickery. Perhaps I’ll think up something good to tell him.
Graham Majin is Head of Video Marketing at Kent Digital Media Agency www.kershmedia.co.uk and www.kwikvid.com
