Shooting a 3D documentary: testing the green screen

Green screen action!

Writer Nicole Tomlinson stands in for a 3D green screen test

We’ve taken the Film Factory 3D BS Indie Rig Sony EX1/EX3 B cam setup for a full test run.

The mission: to see if the system can capture green screen footage for our first 3D documentary the way we want it to.

Stereographer Sean White mans the 3D beam splitter rig

We need these shots to create several of out our in-house visual effects, a style we prefer to classic documentary CGI because it allows us to explain extremely technical concepts in a photo-real atmosphere.

This means our transitions in and out of our footage are much more seamless … viewers can stay more immersed in the environment and focused on the story.

Here’s an example of our Blowdown VFX style:

Controlled Demolition Inc. President Mark Loizeaux outlines his demolition plan

The green screen footage we’ll need to include effects like this comes with an entirely different set of issues than the field shots we’ll have to tackle.

This environment is the most “studio” our event-based filming gets – the interviews aren’t scripted, but the lighting is set, the frame is stationary, and there’s opportunity for multiple takes.

But what we capture has to work in our compositor’s virtual environment or it’s completely useless.

Jakub Kuczynski, Parallax Film’s VFX artist, details these challenges:

We’ve thrown the footage over to post – we’ll see if it flies.

Explosive demolition and 3D filmmaking: why Canon Vixia footage survives epic implosions

As we prep to shoot our first 3D documentary, I’ve focused on nailing down our A, B and C cam systems.

Score is zero for three, so far – the A cam requires lenses that may not exist anywhere on earth, we’re still debating which cameras to use for the B cam system (though the Sony EX1/EX3 duo looks promising), and we’ve shot some time lapse stills with the C cam system, but still need to test this duo Canon 5D system for shooting footage.

So I’m embracing our lukewarm successes by adding another mission to the mix:

3D HD implosion cams …18 of them.

Let’s call them our V cam and M cam systems – lettering inspired by the camera brands, this time.

These cameras will capture POV and perimeter shots of the explosive demolition series, Blowdown, piece de resistance – the implosion.

In this case, the lenses will be locked on various points of a sports stadium in Salvador, Brazil, as Controlled Demolition Inc. takes it down with explosives.

As you can imagine, these cameras will take serious a beating – riding the building down, sitting in the centre of the field as the stadium crashes to the earth, etc.

For these POVs, we’re going with six (three pairs) of Canon Vixia HF 10s – the V cam systems.

These little cameras have survived the ultimate Parallax Film Productions 2D challenge – riding the Hoyt S. Vandenberg, now the second-largest artificial reef in the world, some 30 metres from the surface to the ocean floor when the vessel was sunk off the coast of Florida in May 2009.

I’ve thrown in a few screen grabs of the ride – watch the full episode trailer here.

A POV camera rides the Hoyt S. Vandenberg as it sinks off the coast of Florida

Six Vixia 10s in our custom-built underwater housings went down – six solid-state, high-capacity SDHD cards survived, and we recovered all of the footage.

Because this system is flash-based, its memory is relatively robust.

For our intents and purposes, this means they have a better chance of surviving massive vibrations and debris that come with the massive implosions we cover. No tape heads to fall off, no moving mechanical parts to malfunction.

Water engulfs a POV camera as the Hoyt S. Vandenberg sinks off the coast of Florida.

These three pairs will be mounted on small rails with a 74 mm interaxial distance.

Our M cam systems will also be placed at strategic places throughout the implosion perimeter to capture key demolition engineering story points (and, of course, rocking, gratuitous destruction).

For this, we’ll need 12 (six pairs) of Canon Vixia HF M31s.

And so the great camera recruitment continues … Double trouble, to be sure.

Lenses for 3D HD documentary filmmaking – an elusive breed

The A cam conundrum continues. We’ve been looking for new lenses since we realized the stock Fujinon models we had planned to use to shoot 
We’ve been looking for new lenses since we realized the stock Fujinon models we had planned to use to shoot our first 3D documentary don’t deliver the footage quality we need.

The successful candidates need to:

1)  Be designed for a 1/3-inch sensor (specifically, the Iconix models we’ve purchased – lenses designed for a 2/3-inch sensor leave us with a cropped image);

2)  Have HD resolution AND high-quality sharpness (the latter was what the Fujinon 2.8 mm and 4 mm lenses, generally used for security/surveillance systems, ultimately lacked);

3)  Be a wide-angle lens that allows us to film 1 ½ to 2 metres away from our subject without having the background diverge – a cornerstone rule of 3D production.

Amazingly, it appears that there isn’t a lens on the market anywhere in the world that satisfies these criteria.

Well, why not just switch to a 2/3-inch sensor system, then?

Here’s the issue: we chose the 1/3-inch system because the 2/3-inch camera systems have a beefier head, which means the lenses would have to be mounted further apart.

This would increase our interaxial distance to a little further than we ideally want for these relatively close-up shots, a must for the explosive demolition series, Blowdown, that we’re going to film.

I’ve ordered the closest thing we can find – two Schneider Cinegon 5.3 mm lenses – from New York.

They’re designed specifically for a 1/3-inch sensor, and they apparently shoot better quality than the Fujinons – but they don’t shoot in HD.

We’ll have to test them and see if the footage makes the cut.

And while they’re in transit, our search for the ultimate A cam lenses carries on.

Video: what 3D tech challenges mean for documentary filmmakers

More from our stereographer Sean White and 3D technician Rory Lambert on a bunch of 3D gear we’re testing to film our first documentary in stereoscopy.

Yesterday I posted video of Sean – today, Rory’s in the spotlight (well, not really … he’s in our production house, working on gear, with no elaborate lighting. But he’s on his game):

3D HD growing pains: what they mean for event-based filmmakers

3D gear and data management: must knows for event-based filmmakers

Next: the C cam challenge.