Jonas Brothers: Up Close, in 3-D

The trio (a group of three instrumentalists or singers, nhóm gồm ba thành viên) talks about their upcoming 3-D feature, how they spend free time, their favorite concert films and more

By James Rocchi
Special to MSN Movies

Sitting in a Beverly Hills, Calif., hotel room, Nick, Kevin and Joe Jonas, collectively known to millions of fans as the Jonas Brothers, seem spent (vi: mệt mỏi). But while fatigue (en: extreme physical or mental tiredness, vi: sự mệt nhọc) doesn't dim (vi: làm lu mờ ) their enthusiasm (en: great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause vi: sự nhiệt tình ) for talking about their upcoming film, "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience," a brief recap (en: a summary at the end that repeats the substance of a longer discussion vi: tổng kết) of their schedule makes it abundantly clear (rất rõ ràng) why the three might seem exhausted. The night before, they performed a medley (en: an arrangement made from a series of melodies, often from various sources vi: bản nhạc hỗn hợp) with Stevie Wonder at the Grammys, combining their hit "Burnin' Up" with his classic "Superstition"; a few weeks prior, they had been performers at the inaugural festivities (vi: lễ nhậm chức) for President Obama; they were preparing to fly to New York to be the musical guests on "Saturday Night Live"; and they were getting ready for the release of a 3-D concert film that not only captures the trio's stage show, but also incorporates Beatles-style moments of mob hysteria (vi: sự cuồng nhiệt của khán giả) and brief diversions (vi: trò giải trí) such as Joe working crowd control in a fake mustache (vi: ria mép) and NYPD beat (vi: đi tuần) cop uniform, or Nick driving a horse-drawn carriage (vi: xe ngựa) through Central Park.

The Jonas Brothers spoke with us about the exciting-but-daunting challenges of making a 3-D film; the dangers of hamming it up for the 3-D cameras; the exhausting, exciting high points of recent events; their best presidential mementokỷ vật; and how life looks even better in high-definition 3-D.

MSN Movies: When Disney said, "OK, we're going to do a 3-D concert documentary," were you excited, terrified or a mix of the two emotions?

Kevin Jonas: Uh, we were beyond excited. We were a part of Miley Cyrus' [3-D film, "Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds"] last year, and so we had already had a taste of what it was like, so we were definitely excited about the opportunity.

Any trepidationsự rung động on your part, Joe?

Joe Jonas: Um, no, I was very excited. I always knew that, since we did the last one, the 3-D concert was pretty cool, and it was a cool way of doing a movie. And we were excited to do our own and kind of think of ideas for the tour to sort of mix into the action.

I was curious, Nick, did the plan to shoot the film change how you thought of the planning of the tour? The choreography or the stage sets or even the set list?

Nick Jonas: It did. We were definitely aware that we'd create this movie when we made our stage, so we worked with our tour director to really make our stage exciting for the 3-D movie, and it came out great. We're really pleased with the final product.

Nick, preparing to shoot the film, did you actually sit down and watch "A Hard Day's Night"?

NJ: Absolutely, we love that movie. It's one of our favorites of all time. So, along with the kind of fan reaction side of that, we try to incorporate some of the humor that [the Beatles] had, sort of off-the-cuff, improv-type stuff. We added some pieces that aren't reality to make it a movie, as opposed to a concert film.

Check out a gallery of Jonas Brothers photos

I also couldn't help but notice the high level of detail offered by the 3-D. At one point, I noticed, "Oh, Kevin has broken a string again. ... Kevin's broken two strings." Is that level of detail, when you're watching it, freaky for you?

KJ: That level of depth, because of this high technology, is incredible for us, because, when we watch it and now that we're filming a television show, we're becoming more educated on depth perceptionnhận thức, angles, what lights really do to a camera. You watch this 3-D technology and you realize that you're in focus and that light's in focus and that's in focus, all at the same time; and that they can pull whatever they want to out into the audience is maybe one of the most amazing things about this high quality of footagecảnh phim, that's stunning. Because of what has been documented behind the scenes, it's like, that was our life, and now it's in 3-D. And that music video we did in Central Park ... that's awesome for us, it's very cool.

Is real life a disappointment after seeing so much footage in that kind of high-def with such great color?

KJ: No, because our life is pretty great, and we try to take those mental pictures every day, especially with moments like last night. We never let that just go by; we definitely soakngâm it into our brains forever.

Joe, in terms of dealing with the mechanics of filming, you had these huge 3-D camera rigsthiết bị that have to be much closer than a normal film camera would be. Was it ever a concern that the filming was going to get in the way of doing a concert and putting on a show for your fans?

JJ: It was never really a concern -- well, I guess it was at one point, when we were concerned that the cameras might be too big and the fans might not be able to see. We opened up the floor seats to general seating so they're able to stand up, and it wasn't like a standing room show, and they were able to move the cameras. And in the cities we filmed in, we performed twice in those cities, so people could come back if they felt they had a problem. We'd just give them an extra ticket.