The most fun I had while reporting an upcoming story for Portfolio about 3D movies was interviewing Brendan Fraser -- star of this summer's Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D. (The movie opens July 11.) The story, in the July issue of the magazine, has only a couple of quotes from Fraser.  So I thought I'd share more of the interview here:

Q: How is shooting with digital cameras is different than shooting with film?

A: The moment I knew digital filmmaking was here to stay was the first day of the shoot. There is a cave-in sequence in the movie. We knocked off the first shot and the first a/v turns to the operator and says to check the gate. It's a force of habit. But there is no gate to check on a digital camera. It was like dumping a bucket of ping-pong balls on my head. I realized it's an entirely different game. The rhythm of the day is completely changed. It changes the way films are going to be created. Can we call them films? How about saying it's "in the can?" The vernacular has to change.

We've seen 3D befor but it was with the red eye/blue eye glasses. It was a gimmick to get people away from their television sets. People got quesy. But this is completely different. It looks great. Have you seen it in Dolby 3D? Dolby is the bomb! It's really crispy. Real D is good but not as good. The point is you'll have a good time seeing this film and it's an immersive experience. It's an action picture with a sense of humor.

(Dolby and Real D make competing systems for showing digital 3D movies in theaters. Real D is the established leader; Dolby entered the market more recently.)

Can 3D movies bring people back into theaters? 

What's been missing from movies lately is this feeling that we're all here together -- and that (it's so good) you have to go to the theater to see this. But, I mean, do you really want to watch a wide-screen movie on a screen the size of a watch? I think people will come out to see 3D. The glasses are a little Buddy Holly -- but hey, we're all in this together. It's hip to be square.

So is 3D here to stay this time? 

I'm very enthusiastic as an actor and executive producer. (Fraser is executive producer of Journey.) I believes this is the way things are going to go. This picture is the tippity top of the spear. The catch is: who's going to jump first? It requires a special projector (which theater owners have to buy). When I signed on, Cary (Granat, CEO of Walden Media, which made the film) said by the time this is at theaters, Regal will have all its theaters converted and many will follow suit. That hasn't happened, and at the moment it's around 700 theaters (with 3D capabilities). Those theaters are wher eyou can see this picture the way its meant to be seen.

Will we see 3D movies at home?

There may come a time when it's an option on your remote, too. I visited Wal-Mart in Bentonville to talk to them about 3D.

This is the first major, live-action, digital 3D feature film. How do you feel about that? 

I want to be an old guy and say I was on the tip of that pointy spear and helped drive 3D forward. I want to tell my grandkids I helped do that.

You might be the Al Jolson of 3D! 

(Laughs.) Hey, can I use that?