Marc Webb Describes His Plan for 3D in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

Director Marc Webb impressed our team and many others at Comic-Con 2011 with his take on the iconic web-slinging superhero (more on that here). The (500) Days of Summer director sat down with Total Film for a brief interview and chimed in on a few things, including the way he intends to use 3D in the movie.

I wanted to shoot certain things very specifically for 3D...There’s an experiential component to 3D that’s really fantastic and we’re experimenting with generating that point of view so you feel how Spider-Man feels when he’s jumping over these buildings. We made a conscious effort to do those effects practically and we had an incredible stunt team. We built this whole rig – hundreds of feet long – in Harlem, and we actually swung a man through traffic down the street. I thought that was really exciting, not to mention an incredible level of acrobatics!

Though I think the first person POV sequence in the first trailer was gimmicky, I remain cautiously optimistic about its use in the final movie. Generally speaking - like most of you, I'm sure - I'm more a fan of practical effects in favor of heavy CGI, and from the sound of it, Webb and his team are working on ways to blend the two for The Amazing Spider-Man. I doubt that the exact POV sequence from the trailer will appear in full when we finally see the movie, but I'm glad the filmmakers are making it a priority to make the audience feel like we're there with Spidey as he hurtles through New York City. That could be one of the biggest distinguishing factors between this series of Spider-Man films and Sam Raimi's.

Speaking of Raimi's take on the character, Webb was naturally a bit hesitant when he was first offered the job because of the monstrous popularity of Raimi's trilogy.

I was a little skeptical at first – you feel the presence of those other movies. But then I was like, ‘How could I walk away from this? What an opportunity!’ What better cinematic character is there than Spidey!

Ultimately, Webb boiled it down to the essential point: "Spider-Man is part of our culture, he’s a perennial character. He belongs on the big screen." I agree that the character is inherently cinematic, and I'm looking forward to another chance to see our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man on the big screen again. What are your thoughts on The Amazing Spider-Man from what you've seen so far? Do you think the 3D will be a worthwhile endeavor for this movie?