Inition has provided a stereographer and 3D rig technician for a new extreme 3D promo film for clients Nissan and Boomerang Films.
Filming began on January 3rd in Verbier, Switzerland and followed two award-winning extreme sports professionals; Geraldine Fasnacht, a Swiss boarding champion and Aurelien Ducroz, a French skier and free ride champion. Inition adapted a Toshiba Minicam rig to work with a helmet rig for the skier's point-of-view shots and completed shooting on January 19th in Chamonix.
Turn around of the final film was extremely fast. Inition provided a 3D online post, delivery of the 2.5 minute 3D film and 30 second trailer on a Blu-ray disc within just 48 hours of the final shoot.
The promotional content is now being screened on a Nissan truck during its journey around several major European ski resorts as part of Nissan’s sponsorship of the Free Ride World Tour. The truck houses a 60” 3DTV within a 4D experience booth complete with fresh alpine mountain breezes as guests watch the film.
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3D Filming: Tony Hawk on Tour
The Brief
Extreme sports production specialist Boomerang Productions, asked Inition to supplied stereoscopic equipment, crew, consultancy and 3D post services for a half hour 3D programme following Tony Hawk on his European tour in Berlin and Brighton.
Solution
Due to a combination of low weight, compact size and high quality image output, Inition chose to shoot everything with Toshiba IK-HD1(1920x1080i) minicams to capture the essence and drama of the competitor's daring skate tricks.
Inition’s crew established three camera positions during the Berlin shoot in order to captuire the action from all angles.
A Fig Rig gave the cameraman incredible flexibility to capture fast motion shots. A Polecam lightweight jib was positioned at the top of a ramp side which captured stunning sweeping overhead shots including those classic 3D shots when the skater appears to be jumping out the screen. The third stereoscopic rig was mounted on a regular tripod which was used to capture ground level footage and close ups.
To monitor the action, each rig was connected to a StereoBrain Processor. Battery powered and highly lightweight, the StereoBrain processor can process a left and right signal and output a variety of 3D modes which can be viewed on a 2D or 3D monitor. During the Tony Hawk shoot, Inition’s crew used StereoBrain processors to output an anaglyph feed to 7” HD-SDI monitors. Media was recorded to Nanoflash solid state recorders.
Results
Using the three camera set up, Inition was able to deliver motion rich, immersive 3D footage for Boomerang Productions. Boomerang Productions delivered a 2D edit to Inition where it was geometrically corrected and mastered into 3D for 3D Blu-ray authoring.
The 3D footage was used to create a half hour TV programme which aired on French TV channel Canal+ in October.
3D Shoot: LG 'Rare Butterflies' Commercial
As part of LG’s multi million pound 3DTV advertising campaign, Inition worked with Framestore to shoot a 3D cinema advert which aims to show film-lovers how the 3D experience can be recreated in their living rooms. The campaign for media agency Mindshare was directed by The IT Crowd star Richard Ayoade. It features comedy duo Tim Key and his sidekick Lloyd Woolf who take viewers on a brief history of 3D through to the latest developments and what the future holds.
The Brief
Framestore required a versatile, mobile and high-quality stereoscopic 3D filming solution and the expertise to operate it on crane for their one-shot-wonder treatment.
Solution
Inition specified the SI-2K mini system which offers a great compromise between size and quality. Combined with our matched UltraPrime lenses this offered a cost-effective and highly maneuverable solution on this technically demanding shoot. 3 Inition crew were on hand to build and run the rig (3D rig tech and assistant and stereographer).
Results
The advert is a tongue-in-cheek take on current formulaic 3D showreels and starts with Woolf dressed up as Godzilla destroying a cardboard city below him. The sequence then pans through other popular 3D viewing genres such as football and nature, before ending in a stage set front room with Key and Woolf on the sofa and the strap line "Bringing the magic of 3D home with LG".
Inition's Andy Millns was the stereographer on-set. Post-production at Framestore included adding VFX to the live action sequence which was on-lined by respected VFX artist and post-production consultant David Cox.
"I was very happy with the material from the shoot, the optical line up between the cameras was very good and the colour matching was as close as I've seen." David Cox, VFX/Mistika consultant.
The cinema advert marks LG's first foray onto the silver screen and will be shown alongside screenings of 3D movies Tron: Legacy and the new Chronicles of Narnia film, starting on December 10th.
**UPDATE** LG were so happy with FrameStore's ad that they commissioned a second-part. Framestore came back to Inition who provided the same team and kit for the second shoot which went as flawlessy as the first.
You can watch the advert here (in 2D only) or pay us a visit to see in 3D!
Keane 3D Live: A Milestone in 3D Broadcasting
The Brief
The live 3D transmission of a performance by Keane at Abbey Road Studios to a domestic 3D television marked a major milestone in the history of 3D broadcasting and pioneered many of the 3D transmission techniques to follow.
Solution
Inition conceived the idea in 2008 and was the primary technical partner behind the project which was backed by BSkyB, Island Records and Nineteen Fifteen Productions.
Keane 3D was broadcast simultaneously to three very different mediums – The Vue’s flagship Leicester Square RealD cinema; a dedicated website where Keane fans could watch the performance in anaglyph (red/cyan) mode and over the BSkyB transmission infrastructure becoming the first ever live 3D transmission on their network.
Sky Transmission- The Keane broadcast was the first ever 3D transmission to be broadcast over the BSkyB transmission infrastructure to a domestic display. The 3D feed was transmitted as a side-by-side frame compatible signal over a high definition satellite transponder using SENSIO encoding which was linked to two Hyundai 46 inch high definition 3D TV screens. A VIP audience in Abbey Road's world-famous Studio 2 were able to watch the full live Sky transmission nearby.
3D Webcast- A separate 3D webcast was streamed over the Internet in anaglyph (red/cyan) mode. This was the world’s first ever live webcast in 3D which Keane fans around the globe could watch in 3D by wearing a pair of anaglyph glasses. The webcast later went on to become nominated for The Innovation Award at the UK Music Video Awards 2009.
Vue Cinema Showing- A live broadcast via a satellite uplink to the 3D-enabled Vue cinema in Leicester Square, using SENSIO's 3D Cinema Encoder.
The Set Up- Inition supplied five 3D rigs for the historic event – three mirror/beamsplitter rigs, and two side-by-side rigs and one MiniCam rig. Each left and right camera recorded the Keane 3D broadcast in full HD for archiving purposes.
On set was a Jib cam, PoleCam, a dolly, a 45 degree angle shot and a wide angle shot. The Inition crew monitored the live and preview feeds via several StereoBrain Processors which can output a left and right signal in a variety of 3D modes.
As access to Abbey Road Studios were very limited, Inition’s production team pre-planned every single shot using stereo pre-viz animations. This allowed the team to determine the best focal lengths, rig positions and stereoscopic effects weeks in advance.
Results
All the planning paid off and each individual transmission was a technical and creative success which was later praised by the national media.
Watch an interview with the band about their 3D performance here
Click here to read an article about the event in TVB Europe Magazine
Kelis: 3D Pop Promo: 'Scream'. Directed by Rankin.
The Brief
After collaborating with Inition on several test shoots, world famous fashion photographer Rankin chose Inition to supply the stereoscopic crew, expertise and equipment for a new pop music promo from Kelis called ‘Scream’.
It was essential that the 3D aspect did not add time to the one day/2D schedule.
Watch 'Scream' by Kelis below (anaglyph 3D glasses required):
Solution
Inition used an Element Technica Quasar rig and SI-2K 3D camera system. Element Technica's motorised alignment, excellent rigidity and precise alignment, meant less correction was required on set and in post production, ideal when time was of the essence as it was with the Kelis 'Scream' production schedule.
Brett Turnbull, DP on the shoot said: "We shot 'Scream' in 2D and 3D simultaneously using the same camera system. The whole set-up was very flexible and mobile, allowing us to experiment and see instant 3D playback on set. With an ambitious storyboard and limited shooting time, it was a real bonus that shooting in 3D actually had very little impact on the day's schedule.”
On the day of shooting, Inition supplemented the regular crew with a stereographer, rig technician and camera assistant, and supervised the post production which was completed at OnSight, ensuring that Rankin’s trademark photographic style was not comprised and actually enhanced by the stereography.
Results
- You Tube Hit- ‘Scream’ 3D by Kelis was launched as an anaglyph 3D video exclusively on video sharing website YouTube, generating over half a million hits and counting. It features an exciting combination of negative and postive parallax shots, perfectly suited for the genre of a music video.
- Inition's crew and equipment ensured the production schedule was adhered too and the director was able to fully concentrate on the creative process.
LG 3D: Europe's Largest 3D Glasses-Free In-Store Promo
The Brief
LG approached us to produce a 3D promo to showcase their new 3D smartphone’s multimedia capabilities in a way that would grab attention via LG branded in-store point-of-sale 3D displays.
Solution
Inition developed a treatment based around a 24" glasses-free 3D display and the concepts of shooting, sharing and gaming in 3D. The treatment involved parkour and acrobatic skills to demonstrate the filming capabilities of the screen in an eye-catching way. 3D graphics were developed for pop-out moments detailing the unique specifications of the phone. The production was completed entirely in-house thanks to our specialist 3D filming and post production teams. Inition also supplied 200 top-spec glasses free 'Alioscopy' displays for installation in mobile retailer outlets across Europe.
Production challanges- Inition’s production team shot the three-minute sequence with our stereoscopic Red-based 3D camera system. The Red cameras recorded the stunts at 100 frames per second, allowing the post production team to include slow motion sequences and time-manipulated Matrix-style moves.
Traditional stereoscopic films require left and a right viewpoints but as this film was to be displayed on glasses free lenticular screens, 8 unique viewpoints were required due to the way these displays work.
Watch this video about the production processs:
Results
Filming with 8 individual cameras wasn't practical (!) so Inition’s developed a novel workflow using a combination of high-end post production tools such as Nuke, Ocula, SpeedGrade and 3D Studio Max. The end result was a film that featured 8 virtual viewpoints as if it were shot with 8 unique cameras. Inition were delighted to work on the project which drew on our full range of 3D expertise from technical consultancy and hardware supply, to live-action stereoscopic production, CGI and post.