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MillimeterElement Technica 3D Camera Rig Beta Sight
Feb 11, 2010 12:00 PM, By Keith Collea, stereoscopic 3D supervisor, The Mortician 3D
Rigs lower barriers to 3D production.
The Mortician 3D used the Element Technica Quasar beamsplitter rig.
3D movie-making has traditionally been a big-budget production, requiring twice as many cameras and twice as much film and data as 2D productions. Today, however, the development of technologies including Red Digital Cinema Red One cameras and Element Technica 3D camera rigs have enabled high-quality 3D production on smaller budgets than those of the 3D B movies of 1950s.
Element Technica has created a camera rig that can be set up quickly to shoot 3D, hold its alignment reliably, and allow the production team to use a beamsplitter configuration in a cost-effective way. Thus, while other 3D camera rigs can cost $10,000 to $15,000 a day, Element Technica rigs make high-quality 3D shooting accessible to low-budget productions. Not low-budget as in $20 million, but low-budget as in less than $5 million.
Stereographer Keith Collea preps the Element Technica Quasar beamsplitter rig.
I worked with Element Technica gear for The Mortician 3D, an urban gangster film written and directed by Gareth Maxwell Roberts and produced by Full Circle Films of London in association with Belladonna Productions. The feature is a story of redemption that is part noir, part contemporary fairytale, and part psychological thriller. In addition to hip-hop star Method Man (The Wackness, How High, Garden State), the film stars Angelic Zambrana (Fighting, Precious), Tom Hardy (Bronson, RocknRolla, Mad Max 4), and Edward Furlong (American History X, Night of the Demons).
As shooting began in November 2009, New York digital cinema company Offhollywood supplied high-end 3D production tools including Red cameras and the Element Technica rigs, as well as 3D technical support, and brought me in to work as 3D stereoscopic supervisor alongside the picture's director of photography, Mike McDonough. Because of the small budget, we had to be frugal—and careful to prevent any major engineering issues—so the right preparation and the right gear were essential.
A week prior to the shoot, I had worked with the director, director of photography, and production designer to scout out sites and build a depth script for the entire movie. We couldn't afford to make those decisions on shooting day. Without the budget to rotoscope and make significant changes in post, we needed to get the depth of the 3D images right during shooting. Once we started shooting, our ability to capture the appropriate depth effectively—and ultimately the editor and director's ability to draw the audience into a scene and create personal involvement—depended on the performance of our 3D rigs.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.