A lot of 3D movies are in the pipeline these days, with seemingly ever major player in Hollywood developing one 3D project or another. But we had an opportunity (at the recent Wondercon 2008 in San Francisco) to speak with the woman behind the first full-length live-action movie to be shot entirely in digital 3D?producer Charlotte Huggins. Huggins is responsible for several documentary projects to utilize the medium, but Journey represents her first foray into fiction. In the following interview, she comments on what we can expect from the Brendan Fraser-starring special-effects epic, based on the classic science-fiction novel by Jules Verne?

By Joseph McCabe and Giaco Furino

[Note: be sure to check out our coverage of Brenden Fraser's appearance at Wondercon 2008, in which we describe the first screening of footage from Journey 3D?which we were lucky enough to witness firsthand!]

What is it about the 3D in this film that makes it so unique?

This is the first live-action movie ever captured in digital 3D, conceived in 3D, so that even the storyboards and the conceptual work done was conceived with the idea of taking people into the environment and creating a 3D experience for people. So we conceived it in 3D, we storyboarded it in 3D, we captured it in 3D, and we?re exhibiting it in digital 3D. There?s never been a movie where they have done that, in history, so we?re very excited about that.

This is an interesting take on the Jules Verne novel, in that this isn?t a literal adaptation of the novel but one in which people have read the novel and are inspired by it to go on their own journey. Is that correct?

Right, and we stick very much to the set pieces and the order of events that are in the novel, in the sense that Brendan plays the part of a professor whose brother has gone missing. He and his nephew reunite, and they follow in the footsteps of the brother/uncle. And he was a believer of the Jules Verne novel, and went in search of the truth of the novel; and they follow the story of the novel. So we really stick with the set pieces and the environments of the novel, and they reference it in the movie. Which is kind of fun.

What is Brendan Fraser bringing to the film in the lead role of Trevor?

Well, he?s perfect for the film. He was our first choice when we were casting. He wasn?t available at the time, and then he became available, so we got very lucky. He?s very physical, and the movie?s a very physical movie. We put them through all sorts of paces?we rain on them, we have fires and explosions and caves, and hot environments and cold environments. And Brendan?s very physical, so that?s excellent. A lot of running and chasing and adventure scenes?he does all of that. On top of that he?s also very sweet and very personable, so when he has to relate to Hannah, who?s the guide, or Seaan, who?s his nephew, he can get to a place that?s very personal and very quiet. Probably the biggest thing, in this movie, is that he?s funny. We keep the movie light in the sense that we keep it always with a sense of humor. Because, face it, they?re going to the center of the earth. [Laughs.] We know that that?s impossible, so we have to suspend our knowledge of what the earth is about and just go to this fantasy place; and Brendan is just funny. He keeps that sense of humor about the whole movie which is just fantastic.

It looks like you?ll be bringing in more CGI creatures, and more creatures in general, than perhaps we?ve seen in previous adaptations of the book?

Oh, yeah.

Do tell!

We recreate the dinosaur, which really is in the book. We create all of these sea creatures?the sort of sea monster and these amazingly cool-looking fish. I don?t know how to describe them because they really are surreal. Then we have our glowbird, who turns out to be a very sympathetic character; who they meet up with when they reach the center of the earth. He sort of tracks them through the rest of the show.

Thanks, Charlotte.

My pleasure!