3D TV exclusive: 3net’s Director of Programming and Acquisitions weighs in on the state of stereoscopic entertainment

Blowdown 3D makes its US debut on the 24-hour 3D channel 3net this Sunday, Aug. 28.

Here at Parallax Film Productions, we’re counting down the days until our American audience gets to experience explosive demolition in 3D for the first time.

To mark this event, we chatted with Mark Ringwald – Director of Programming and Acquisitions at 3net – about the premiere, the channel, and the state 3D TV in general.

Some of his thoughts appear in yesterday’s blog post, which details Blowdown 3D’s production and features a few clips from the show, put up in Dubois Anaglyph for the web.

Here are some other highlights from the interview:

On 3net’s programming

We have over 100 hours on the air at this moment and by the end of the year we’ll have 200 hours in our library. There will be a lot of new programming this fall. It’s going to be entertainment, it’s going to be kid’s programming, and it’s going to be concerts and movies and scripted programs. The content is going to be about 75 per cent commissions and co-productions and 25 per cent acquisition. So we’re doing a lot of original content.

On why 3D production can be a challenge

It’s a brand new technology and everybody’s feeling their way through it. Shooting 3D is not like shooting 2D. If somebody says “oh we’ll fix it in post”, chances are you won’t be fixing it in post. 3D gives you every opportunity to come back with no footage whatsoever. Unlike 2D when you can go out and shoot a bunch and say “well, I can piece together something”, you really have to do a lot more planning, you really have to worry about composing each and every shot. You have to shoot it differently than 2D.

We’ve been fortunate here at 3net with Sony’s part: they have a 3D technology centre for DPs and directors. So on the commissioning side people that have been doing projects for us have been sent though that school, so they have a firmly established background.

On the future of 3D TVs

Everyone is getting a 3D set. Starting this year all the major manufacturers – Sony, LG, Panasonic – are all putting the 3D technology in their sets. If you buy a TV set that’s over 42 inches it’s either going to be a 3D set or it’s going to be 3D capable. So we have to stop thinking “is 3D going to work?” and say “well, everybody’s going to be getting a 3D set, are we going to have good content, is there going to be a reason for them to watch something in 3D?”

On the future of 3D content

3D is coming in our homes, so I think the challenge is how to use it to its best advantage. And that’s the real challenge for producers and content creators. People say “what are you looking for in the next 3D show?” and I say “I don’t know”. I think this technology opens a lot of doors to a lot of new concepts and I don’t think people are using the 3D space to its fullest creativity yet. So it’s the challenge of creating content that people will want to go and watch.

On why 3D is great

3D immerses you in the experience. If you’re underwater you’re swimming with the sharks, or if you’re in a country in the Himalayas or on Mount Everest or if you’re at the Indianapolis 500 you feel more immersed inside that content and more like you’re there.

The underwater stuff is great. In one show about dolphins and whales the whales kind of came out. They were out there far enough that you felt like you could touch them and that’s kind of a cool effect. I don’t scuba dive so seeing a whale or a dolphin coming out and almost poking you is pretty spectacular.

On the big picture

You watch television for a myriad of reasons. It’s an experiential form, you’re enjoying the story or the drama or the action or the sport or whatever it is that you’re watching. This is a different way of enjoying it. I don’t think everything’s going to be in 3D. But I think there’s going to be a lot of programming that once you watch something in 3D you’re going to want to watch it in 3D.

The last word

Our mission is to create compelling 3D content that will make people want to go out and get a 3D set and sign up for 3net. There’s no trick to it. It’s just making great television.

Production company captures explosive demolition in 3D

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Production company captures explosive demolition in 3D

First implosion ever to be filmed in 3D for international broadcast to make U.S. debut on 3net

VANCOUVER, CANADA – It’s explosive demolition like you’ve never seen before.

For the first time ever a film company has shot, edited and delivered a documentary on structural implosions in 3D.

Parallax Film Productions Inc. used 20 custom-rigged cameras to stereoscopically capture the implosion of a 100,000-seater sports stadium in Salvador, Brazil from every conceivable angle.

This unprecedented visual experience, originally commissioned by History Television and National Geographic Channels International, has been acquired by the 24-hour 3D channel 3net and will make its U.S. debut this Sunday, Aug. 28.

“3net is trying to be the gold standard for 3D,” says Mark Ringwald, Director of Scheduling and Acquisitions for 3net, a joint venture between Discovery Communications, Sony and IMAX. “We work really hard to make sure everything is the best it can be in terms of 3D convergence.”  “Blowdown 3D is a great story about collapsing a stadium, and all the 3D is really good.”
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Explosive demolition like you’ve never seen: Blowdown 3D to make US premiere on 3net Sunday, Aug. 28

Our Canadian friends got a two-dimensional view of Blowdown: World Cup Demolition when it premiered earlier this year on History Television Canada.

Our American fans will have the 3D premiere of this Blowdown episode, which hits the airwaves starting August 29th on 3net in the US.  There is a Program Schedule located here: http://press.discovery.com/us/3n/ but you should check your local listings.

Over the past three years, the series has been fun to produce and we even got good at the science and art of filming structural implosions. Nothing could have prepared us, however, for challenges of filming our final episode in Salvador, Brazil last August. For the Parallax Film team, the appeal of capturing the demolition of the one of the world’s largest football stadiums in preparation for the 2014 World Cup was a no-brainer. Executing though, was more problematic.

The team had been working in house for months developing and testing 3D camera systems that would meet our broadcasters HD quality standards but still be portable enough to navigate an industrial demolition site.  We then had to train up personnel to operate the equipment for a multi camera shoot, including a number of what we call kill cams, that ride the structures down after the explosives detonate.  Finally, Brazil is a long way from Vancouver (3 flights over 24 hours) and subject to a three-week wait for a visa, so if anything went wrong, the crew was on its own.

The Stadium went down as they always do, in the blink of an eye.

Here’s a 2D peek of the implosion, captured on President Ian Herring’s Lumix:

 

Controlled Demolition Incorporated and their Brazilian partners Arcoenge Ltda executed the plan, not a moment too soon for spectators who had been subjected to the blaring of a five minute siren.  The crew made the return trip home anxious to see if they’d pulled it off.  Were the calculations accurate?  Mirrors clean?  F-stops adjusted?  Would we have enough footage to cut the contracted 44 minute broadcast hour, and even if we had enough footage, would we be able to pull together a storyline that made sense?

In the end, the show got made and delivered.  It took a herculean effort from the team who put themselves out there every day.  Finding problems and working out solutions up until the day we shipped tapes and hard drives to our broadcasters.  A special thanks goes out to all them.

–Maija Leivo, Executive Producer

@lostbraincells