FILMING in 3D stereoscopic - TV series
Filmotion Productions is currently in the pre-production stages of working on a 24 part Stereoscopic wildlife series for "classified" TV stations.
Because of the harsh rugged environments the crew will be facing, the equipment needs to be tough, heavy duty and most of all reliable. The crew will need to be always on their feet and the equipment always ready to go because wildlife will never let you have a second take.
Armed with the latest prototype cameras Canon have to offer, the crew will be using multiple variations of stereoscopic rigs. Both shooting methods (Converged and parallel) will be used, by the use of a mirror rig as well as custom making a stereo rig designed to allow the cameras to achieve a smaller interaxial distance.
A smaller Interaxial distance will allow the shooting of smaller/closer object. This will be achieved by Flipping one of the cameras upside down (so the camera chassis does not interfere with the other) and you then tell the camera it is upside down by changing the setting in the menu (remember cameras are not intelligentJ). By actioning this, the camera flips the direction of the CMOS Scanlines to match the other camera. Potentially minimizing issue in the post production stages.
Indeed filming wildlife underwater makes using a mirror rig is virtually impossible without the manpower and mechanical support. Instead, we’re currently testing side by side (Converged and parallel) for underwater, and a mirror rig for above water.
Episode 1 will be completed by April 2011. The remainder will be rolled out over the next few years with sharks, African animals, whales and dangerous reptiles. Something to look forward to? Perhaps… unless you’re the camera man.
Second test scenes will be posted on Youtube in anaglyph format with an option to download. Stay Tuned!