To help make a high-impact 3D promotional film demonstrating the speed, power and agility of boxer Amir Khan. We were approached by production company Can Communicate, with whom we had previously collaborated on the World Cup in Berlin in 2006 to help with the stereoscopic supervision of this film. The client wanted in-your-face 3D to give the audience an eye-watering 3D experience demonstrating what it is like to face Amir Khan in the ring.
The Solution:
Inition provided a stereographer for the shoot, post-production supervision and 3D projection for the event which was held at London’s National Film Theatre in 2007 to an audience of press and media to relaunch Amir’s deal with Reebok.
The reaction was fantastic and secured coverage in the national press. In a interview with The Sun, Amir said: "The way they did it was brilliant...If anyone wants to fight me, just look at that. I'm looking at it and thinking 'if I was fighting Amir Khan, what would I do?', and I looked at it and thought 'forget this!'."
The Guardian commented: “The clip duly finishes with a giant Khan repeatedly punching a theatre full of journalists in the face. Which is indeed cool and different.”
Elbow - Live in 3D
Inition worked with new start up HD-Music.TV and Universal Music to produce a 75 minute 3D music
Inition Add Another Dimension to Keane's New Music Video 'Spiralling'
Inition has worked with music video director Andras Ketzer for his Keane promo, ‘Spiralling’.
Inition and Rankin collaborate on Kelis 3D Music Video - Scream
Inition Co-Produces the UK’s First Live 3D Event Transmitted to a Domestic 3D TV
Inition Collaborate With Deeble & Stone For 3D Kenyan Documentary
Sarah Brightman Promo for Panasonic’s Full 3D HD TVs
Working for production company Outsider, Inition provided stereoscopic expertise for a 3D music
3D Filming: Immersive Experience For Wannabe Sports Stars
Inition helped Irish production company vStream create the world’s first personalised stereoscopic 3D experience – the AVIVA Stadium 3D Experience.
The concept of the project was to make the viewer feel that he or she was a team player in the Irish football or rugby team, creating a sense of anticipation and the rush of preparing to play to a crowd of over 50,000 people.
To create the illusion of ‘being there’, Inition chose to use 2 X Iconix minicams on a bolt rig attached to a steadicam. The signals from these were fed through to a StereoBrain processor so the footage could be monitored on a 2D 7” HD-SDI monitor and media was recorded to two Nano Drives.
The entire sequence was to be filmed from a ‘point of view’ perspective so Inition matched the separation of the two Iconix cameras with the natural distance between the human eyes. A Steadicam operator created a smooth flowing sequence, replicating the real motion of someone walking.
To further cement the sense of immersion, visitors had their photograph’s taken via a webcam as they entered the 3D Experience temporary building. Their face was then incorporated into the video and teammates and crowds would even refer to the viewer by name.
Inition also provided the 14 x 24” Hyundai P240W 3D LCD screens with 3D passive glasses which were installed into individual viewing booths.
The Aviva Stadium 3D experience later went on tour. With it being the first of its kind in the world, it attracted massive television media attention.
3D Filming: Tony Hawk on Tour
Working with extreme sports production specialist Boomerang Productions, Inition 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.
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.
Capturing the Action from all Angles
Inition’s crew established three camera positions during the Berlin shoot.
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.
Real Time Stereoscopic Monitoring
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.
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,
3D Promo Shoot: Nissan FreeRide Tour
Leading extreme sports television producer Boomerang Film approached Inition to produce a high octane 3D promotional video to support Nissan’s sponsorship of the 2011 FreeRide World Tour after a successful collaboration shooting Tony Hawk on his European skateboard tour in Berlin and Brighton for Canal +
Inition provided stereoscopic consultancy, two portable 3D camera systems, a stereographer and camera assistant for two shooting days as well as 3D post production services including 3D fixing, depth grading and mastering.
Super Fast Turnaround
Inition were commissioned with the ambitious task of delivering a 3D online post, short promo film and 30 second trailer on a Blu-ray disc within 48 hours of the final shoot. Inition’s team edited approximately 4 – 5 hours of footage into a 2.5 minute compelling promo film in time for the opening of the Nissan FreeRide World Tour.
Behind the Scenes
The offline edit was undertaken by the client in Avid and the final post stages were completed at Inition. We were provided with a graded DPX sequence (Digital Picture Exchange) for the left and right channels which were ingested into our Speedgrade XR suite, where 3D geometry correction and a depth grade were performed. The final piece was then mastered in the side-by-side format for Blu-ray.
The Right Tool for the Job
The client required a stereoscopic video capture system which was as lightweight as possible, able to take POV shots and portable enough to be taken to challenging locations such as mountain faces. Always keen to embrace a challenge, Inition developed a custom built helmet with a mounted 3D rig based around two Toshiba Minicams recording to Nano Flash recorders on Compact Flash cards.
Small enough to achieve an interaxial separation of just 4mm, the custom built rig was highly versatile and could be controlled and genlocked with a camera control unit up to 30 metres away. The recorders were synced (in terms of being triggered for recording) via a breakout cable joined to a single trigger.
Alignment of the cameras was performed before mounting to the helmet with wedges to fix roll and vertical offset. Being a fixed interaxial, calculations were made to allow for the best 3D in the given environment with locked off cameras. The professional athletes were prepped before shooting, so that they were aware of the 3D limits i.e. how close to get to objects.
Conclusion
With its production partner Boomerang Films, Inition delivered an attention holding 3D promotional film to Nissan on schedule, which was taken on tour around major European ski destinations in a Nissan branded truck complete with 4D alpine mountain breeze effects.
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.
A Tongue-in-Cheek Look at 3D
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". The advert was shot in one take on Inition's SI-2K/Neutron camera system.
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. David Cox commented: "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."
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.
You can watch the advert here (in 2D only) or pay us a visit to see in 3D!
3D Shoot: Rollercoaster 3D to Promote New Gameshow
Red Bee Media hired Inition to shoot a 3D advert promoting a new theme park based gameshow - 'Scream If You Know The Answer' for UKTV.
The brief was to replicate the adrenaline inducing feeling of riding the white knuckle rides at Thorpe Park and after a tough recce day trying all the coasters at the park, the team chose Colussus, the UK's only quadruple-corkscrew coaster.
At the front of the ride the Inition team installed two SI-2K Mini Digital Cinema Cameras in a parallel arrangement on a rugged mounting system designed by Extreme Facilities. To adhere to health and safety requirements, Extreme Facilities modified a crash dummy which housed and contained all the recording equipment.
The footage was finished in-house using our 2K Iridas SpeedGrade system which is suitable for large and small screen 3D projects, ideal as this 3D advert was shown in cinemas and on 3D TV sets in over 1,200 Sky 3D pubs.
Filming Man Utd in 3D for Epson
Shooting Man Utd for Pointy Stick's Epson 3D Promo
Inition's sister company, Pointy Stick has created a stereoscopic 3D promotional film for Epson featuring some of Manchester United’s top stars. The 3 minute piece, conceived and executed entirely in stereoscopic 3D was created to help launch Epson's first range of home 3D projectors and celebrate their partnership with the world-famous club.
The film, directed by Pointy Stick’s Michael Lindsay and Gaute Hesthagen begins with the players in a black abstract space with intimate super slow-motion sequences portraying the drama at the heart of the battle between player, ball and gravity. The combination of shooting in stereoscopic 3D and at 1000 frames-per-second, both techniques that allow us to see more, reveals the underlying forces, decisions and skills at play in what are normally unseen fleeting moments of the game. The piece transitions into playful behind-the-scenes moments with the players on set, watching themselves and each other in slow-motion 3D, for the first time, using a 3D Epson projector in a living room set, shot in the same studio.
The Challenges
With such rare access to world-class players, the aspirations for the project were high but meticulous planning was required for such a technically demanding shoot given only three hours access to the players. The stereoscopic treatment was developed in detail with a 3D aesthetic to reward the viewer with a rich, intimate experience, rather than just a 3D-effect; by shooting against black, all the available depth is levereged by just player and ball creating heightened volume, texture and definition that brings to life every tensed muscle, ripple in fabric, droplet of sweat, impact of player and ball.
Michele Brown. Head of Advertising Creative at Epson said: "This beautifully shot 3D promo demonstrates the quality of the Epson 3D projector and the power of 3D as a visual medium". Michael Lindsay, Creative Director at Pointy Stick comment: "Our aim was to provide a taste of the athleticism and skills of the modern game of football in a medium that allows us to share their world. The piece was carefully crafted to create a powerful visual experience that fully exploits the mostly-untapped potential of stereoscopic 3D film-making."
Epson's Range of 3D Projectors
The stereoscopic 3D promo is being shown at events around the world to show off Epson's first consumer 3D projectors. The Pro Cinema 6010 is aimed at high-end home cinema installations whereas the 5010 is aimed at the living room. Both projectors require active glasses and both include an HD wireless transmission unit.
Pointy Stick also delivered a TV commercial and shot a behind-the-scenes documentary footage directed by Chris Holt. Stereoscopic 3D production support and camera equipment was provided by Inition. Pointy Stick completed the edit in-house with final finishing completed at Onsight. 3 different 3D camera systems were used for the shoot including:
- Epic hand-held easy-rig (details)
- Phantom high-speed rig (details)
- Mini-cam documentary rig (details)
Credits
Directors: Michael Lindsay and Gaute Hesthagen
Stereo producer: Andy Millns
Line producer: Mark Parsons
DOP: Brendan McGinty
For more information please contact Alix Wood, Pointy Stick on 07989 068 416, alix@pointystickfilms.com
Sony Wimbledon 3D Commercial
Inition provided complete stereoscopic kit and crew support for Red Bee / MPC's Sony Wimbledon 3D cinema commercial shoot. Inition's Andy Millns, Campbell Goodwille, Charlie Perera and Peter Collis were on the shoot with our Pulsar rig supporting two Phantom HD Gold cameras (from our high-speed partners Pirate). The 60 second commercial, post-produced by MPC was shoot exclusively in high-speed with frame rates up to 800 fps.
The technically demanding shoot went very smoothly with 8 setups in one day shooting mainly on a Technocrane. The size of the Neutron rig is perfectly suited to the Phantom HD Gold cameras, keeping the size and weight of the package to a minimum. Large screen 3D TV monitoring was provided, along with 3D video assist.
The final piece was shown in cinemas throughout the UK to promote Sony's upcoming live 3D transmissions of Wimbledon. If you would like to see the piece in 3D then pay us a visit.