Harold & Kumar 3D Movie Plays Up the Gimmicky Tricks
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- Category: Interviews
- Created: Thursday, 03 November 2011 19:07
- Published: Thursday, 03 November 2011 19:07
- Written by Lupe Haas
Neil Patrick Harris, Kal Penn, and John Cho boast the new Harold and Kumar movie should give stoners that extra high from the high-quality 3D.
At a recent press event in Los Angeles for A VERY HAROLD AND KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS movie, the stars and director Todd Strauss-Schulson weren't ashamed to say they maximized on the gimmicky tricks of 3D for the third installment of the slacker movie which stoners should hold to a high-standard.
"I think for people who are stoned watching the film, the 3D will be dynamite."
Neil Patrick Harris aka NPH says the film "honored" the visuals by taking the time to conceive every shot carefully for the maximum effect of 3D. Kal Penn said the production crew spent a lot of time on the smoke for the pot smoking scenes. Harold's John Cho described the smoke as "elegant."
Neil Patrick Harris was impressed that the production actually shot with 3D cameras instead of converting it from 2D to 3D. First-time film director Todd Strauss-Schulson had never shot on film. His short films shot on video actually became his calling card. When the studio first approached Todd about directing, they mentioned they wanted to shoot it in 3D which at first was too gimmicky. He told himself, "What a gimmick!" After a quick second, he decided it was actually going to play gimmicky and work for this genre. He enjoyed the fact that this would be the first 3D Christmas stoner movie. The New Jersey native approached the film as a Christmas spectacular and aspired to be like the low-budget B-movies of William Castle (13 Ghosts, Macabre). John Cho said the director embraced the 3D.
"Our director loves throwing things in your faces. That's his thing."
One 3D bit that didn't make it in the film, according to John Cho, was a scene that had Santa's reindeer "pooping" on Harold's face. Luckily for John, it didn't become reality. A good thing for the audience.
Kal Penn said he was really excited about the 3D scenes that involved Santa Claus. One included smoking out with the mall Santa played by Patton Oswalt and the other when the real Santa flies over New York City.
"In your 3D, the audience feels like they are over New York City."
A VERY HAROLD AND KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS opens November 4, 2011.