It’s almost impossible to think about the iconic film
“Titanic” being fifteen years old, as it just celebrated its 3D re-release at
the London premiere. The film helped launch Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicaprio
into stardom, gave its generation countless one-liners, forever etched one
Celine Dion song onto our hearts, and elevated James Cameron’s career to a
startling height.
Cameron is without a doubt one of the most successful and
recognized directors of our day. He’s notorious for being hands on and having
himself involved in every aspect of his latest film or new underwater
expedition. Cameron is, in every sense of the word, a project director. He
displays not only the title, but also the traits that make him a trusted and
respected part of the film community.
When a project becomes as successful as “Titanic” did, it’s
easy to get yourself lost in it. But how much is too much? When does a healthy
interest become an obsession? And when is it time to let go? Successful project
campaigns can last for years, without even counting development and production
stages, and while it’s true that Cameron has moved on to other films since
1997, the movie still keeps finding a way to remain relevant.
It’s understandable about its recent 3D release, Cameron
helped pioneer the new 3D craze with his even more successful 2009 film
“Avatar”. It’s a treatment that many films are getting, though few have the
luxury of being re-releases. Some people may even find this to be too much to
stomach; that the film is too old and should be put to rest no matter its
success. And thankfully many didn’t have to suffer the straight to DVD disaster
that was “Titanic 2”.
With Cameron’s latest dive to the Mariana Trench to check
out the wreckage of the historic ship – he returned even yesterday, March 27th,
from another dive for unrelated reasons – he discovered many subtle differences
with his team of elite engineers about how the ship most accurately went down.
This prompted him to question possibly tweaking some of the film footage for
its re-release, as he wanted it to be as completely accurate as possible.
Is such an obsession healthy about one’s projects? We all
strive to put out the best material that we can, and it’s hard for many
filmmakers to be able to accept something less than perfect. One could spend
the rest of their lives editing and re-editing a film to get it down to an
absolute science. There must be a sense of self-disciple though where you are
able to realize that a project is up to par and ready to be seen by others. Surrounding
yourself with a talented, sensible team helps with this decision making process
as well. Cameron seems to not have a shortage of this, often talking about how
he surrounds himself with only the best.
It’s overwhelming to realize that one of the top filmmakers
in today’s world has thoughts of tweaking and perfecting one of his most
successful projects. It’s a good reminder that no matter what you are
undertaking, you must remember to always draw that line in your mind about when
to appropriately stop a project and move on to the next. Never let yourself be
consumed by trying to reach perfection, no matter your status as a filmmaker or
your ‘success rate’. There will always be a new film waiting to be made, and no
matter what your outcome was, your film will always find fans.
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