Tim Dashwood has done it again with another 3D first. Tim Dashwood’s production company Stereo3D Unlimited, in partnership with Arri Canada, Stereo3D Tango, Matrox, JVC Professional and Zeiss shoot Ariana Gillis’ “Shake The Apple” stereoscopic 3D music video with two Arri Alexa cameras and Dashwood Cinema Solutions’ Stereo3D Live calibration/analysis software. This software was tested during the Doc Walker 3D Concert (http://3dguy.tv/wealth-tv-scores-a-3d-first-with-a-doc-walker-concert/ ) Which was shot by Al Caudullo, Tim Dashwood and Mark Bone. The 2 Sony EX-3 cameras were calibrated using this process. The concert was a first for Canada and will be seen on Wealth TV in 3D.
“What started as a simple stereoscopic test of the new Arri Alexa cameras turned into a full-fledged 3D music video that we are very proud of” said Tim Dashwood, owner/CTO of Stereo3D Unlimited and founder of Dashwood Cinema Solutions. “The Alexa cameras performed exactly as advertised and held perfect sync when tethered together for stereoscopic 3D.”
When the rare opportunity of two Arri Alexa cameras being available on the same day arose, Dashwood jumped on the chance to shoot a 3D test. He had originally just intended to evaluate the Alexa’s ability to work in a stereoscopic configuration on the Stereo3D Tango rig and also test the camera’s latitude in various lighting setups. Zeiss provided 18mm and 35mm Master Primes, PS Toronto provided grip, electric & camera support, 3D Camera Company provided the Stereo3D Tango rig, JVC Canada provided their IF-2D3D1 stereoscopic processor, Matrox provided a MXO2 LE for HD-SDI laptop monitoring and Sébastien Laffoux of Arri Canada arranged for the two Alexas.
“We only had one afternoon available to shoot so I borrowed some random set pieces and props from other productions, whatever was available, and we set out to light each one in a different style and T-stop” says Dashwood. “There was no rhyme or reason to the choices but it occurred to me that it would be interesting to have a model walk from set to set without changing the camera exposure and see how the Alexa reacted in LogC mode…all in one take. This meant one continuous tracking shot from a string of tiny christmas lights, to green screen, to outside. I rang up Ariana to see if she would perform a new song for us to make our test more interesting to watch. The whole crew reacted so positively when we played back the dailies that I figured we should upload it to YouTube and Vimeo to share it with the world.”
The video is the first 3D material acquired by the Alexas to be released to the public. Even though the entire production was improvised and photographed in one afternoon, the versatility and simplicity of the Arri Alexa camera kept things on track.
“I think the speed at which we shot and posted this music video proves what an impact the Arri Alexa will have on the industry, especially for 3D” said Paul Rapovski, co-owner and producing partner at Stereo3D Unlimited. “We knew the Alexa would be good, but after this test it has jumped to the top of our list for all our future stereoscopic productions.”
The video is available on YouTube in 3D mode (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6jweKYk8QE&fmt=22) and Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/14849374). The video will also be shown in 3D at Matrox’s stand (7.B29) and Carl Zeiss’ stand (13.C20) during the 2010 International Broadcasting Convention (IBC), to be held at the RAI Amsterdam from September 10-14 (http://www.ibc.org). Attendees may also visit Zeiss’ stand to see the same Stereo3D Tango beamsplitter rig on display. Tim will also be at the Noise Industries stand at the Amsterdam SuperMeet on Sunday, September 12, 2010 at The Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky from 19:00 – 23:00 and screening the music video in 3D just before the show starts.
About Stereo3D Unlimited
With decades of combined 3D production experience, the team at Stereo3D Unlimited has shot everything from action shorts to concert videos. Co-owner Tim Dashwood functions as CTO, director of photography, post-production supervisor, and producing partner. He is continually creating new hardware and software technologies to aid in the production and post-production of stereoscopic content at Stereo3D Unlimited. This includes the award winning Stereo3D Toolbox (http://www.stereo3Dtoolbox.com) as well as other proprietary software and hardware solutions.
Co-owner Paul Rapovski is an entrepreneurial film and TV producer, actor and a video-game mo-cap action specialist who first came into the international film and television arena by building on his reputation as a highly respected fight and stunt coordinator.
With the combined forces of Paul Rapovski’s Fight Action Stunt Team (F.A.S.T.), Fast Motion Studios’ Mocap studio and Tim Dashwood’s fight-action shooting experience Stereo3D Unlimited excels at live-action stereoscopic previsualization. Recent live action fight/stunt previsualization projects by the team include the films Kick Ass and Scott Pilgrim vs The World.