Place          San Diego 

The fifth film of the Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil: Retribution, once again finds Alice - played, as always, by Milla Jovovich - battling the vicious Umbrella Corporation and zombies. Jovovich isn't yet tired of donning skintight leather and latex, and is always game for climbing into the character of Alice. And at the 2012 San Diego Comic Con, a gathering that's always welcoming to the Resident Evil cast, Jovovich talked about working in 3D and collaborating again with her husband, writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson.

Milla Jovovich Interview - Resident Evil: Retribution

What do you like about 3D films having a few under your belt now?

Milla Jovovich: "3D is this wonderfully immersive experience and if it's done right, I think it adds to the spectacle of this kind of epic, action films, event movies I guess. In that sense, I think it's fun because it really becomes a thing where you have the super big screen, your 3D glasses, and it really is like an occasion that's festive, in a sense. You know, it makes dinner and a movie more exciting, especially if you' re with younger people. It's just fun. It makes it more like a roller coaster ride.

But saying that, you got to be super careful how you shoot it and how it's rendered. I know Paul really takes the science of 3D very seriously because so many people got flack for shooting it badly and doing it after the fact, whatever that's called."

Cheating?

Milla Jovovich: "Cheating, exactly. But it's tough on the eyes. Two percent of the public can't see 3D, or it really spins around with their eyes. But for most other people, if you don't do it right, it doesn't work. I've left after 3D movies where I felt my eyes hurt or just sometimes I'd think, 'Did you notice that it got really blurry during that one shot when they did a quick pan?' Then we would rent the movie and just slow it down so there's quick pans and Paul would point things like that out to me.

You have to know like what to focus on because your mind is taking in so much information now, whereas before, you were just watching a flat screen. Now, your mind is going, 'What do I focus on, the nose or the person behind, or the thing on the table?' It's a whole lot of information. If you don't do it right, it really does give you a headache and so it takes a lot of time. I guess that's the downside.

I've seen actors go bananas because they're like, 'It's not ready and I'm ready but the camera's not ready!' It is what is, because if you want good 3D, you've got to take the time to do it right or else it's just a big mess and people leave hating your guts. So we're very happy that we took the time to do it right, you know, to really take that time to reboot the camera, to refocus, just to know what exactly you want to be focused on. There's just lots of different ways to shoot stuff.

And it's your kind of style of shooting. For the moment, there aren't many people who can handle like a hand-held 3D camera, because they're so big, there's just no way. We did a couple of steady-cam shots in the last movie. I don't even think we used a steady camera in this film, but we've been using a lot more cranes actually on these movies. So, there are good parts and bad parts to it. But for the most part, I think if you shoot it right, you could get something that is beautiful and such an experience. But if you shoot it wrong, it's not good. It's literally what I call visual feedback. You're at a concert and the guitar player turns on his amp too fast. It's the same thing with your eyes."