Blowdown Season II Canadian premiere: a film company’s quest to capture the ultimate implosion

As History Television prepares to air Super Stadium, the first episode of Blowdown Season II, Tuesday night at 7 p.m, here in house we’ve been talking about the groundbreaking triumphs – and inevitable agonies – behind the incredible shots that make these shows so undeniably explosive.

A high-stakes mission

After shooting, editing, and delivering eight episodes of the series, which follows Controlled Demolition Inc. as they tackle the world’s toughest implosions, I can say with certainty that there’s nothing like the rush we get when the crew returns to the production office after an implosion.

They may be on the road for weeks filming the prep work leading up to the demo, but everything rides on the footage they get on the last day, and there is little room for error and no do-over.   It is the ultimate life lesson.

We call it demo porn and we pour over the shots as they come in.

The money shots

When we filmed Blowdown II: Spyship – the sinking of the Hoyt. S. Vandenberg off the coast of Key West, Florida – we mounted recoverable cameras and harddrives that filmed her as she sank. Listen to the sound as one goes down: it is utterly eerie.

Blowdown – Unsinkable: camera rides the Hoyt S. Vandenberg down from Parallax Film on Vimeo.

In our mission to capture a potentially record-breaking drop for Blowdown II: Monster Tower, we mounted cameras on the top floors of the doomed Ocean Tower condominium project on South Padre Island. And amazingly, they actually rode the building down during the implosion.

We weren’t able to recover the cameras but here is the system we designed that protected our harddrives.

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With the help of Controlled Demolition Inc. President Mark Loizeaux’s expert advice, it landed right on top of the rubble pile as predicted. And a 30-something storey drop later, the footage was all there. And it’s incredible.

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Our ultimate challenge was Blowdown II: World Cup Demolition. We filmed the whole episode in 3D.

Sometimes, after all this amazing footage hits Parallax Film HQ, we don’t even know what we’re looking right away at and only piece it together as we unravel the story … the wonder of these discoveries is really satisfying.

Getting the goods

One of the big questions for crew is whether to shoot big wide shots that allow you to watch the whole thing unfold, complete with the amazing microsecond timing.  Or do you zoom in and witness the devil in the detail like the failure of expansion joints or payoff of pre-slicing concrete rings?

Sometimes it depends on the camera technology.  We’ve experimented with high speed cameras at 300+ frames per second, and found that it worked best for those tight shots, rather than the wides which you just want to let run.

Time to explode

We’ve done some amazing stuff with cameras in this series – things that, to our knowledge, have never been done before.

And the very best of these unparalleled visual experiences will be rolled out over the next few weeks on History Television.

Enjoy the ride, Canada.

We sure did.

–Maija Leivo, Executive Producer

@lostbraincells

Delivering a 3D documentary: what it takes to make the cut

Charting the course of a creative company means selecting projects that fulfill a collective passion for experimentation with cameras, visuals and story.

In the realm of innovation 3D fits nicely with these criteria …  so naturally we had to try it.

But to pick up a camera and start shooting was out of the question because there was nothing – absolutely nothing within our price range that we could carry around like an HD camera and meet broadcast specs.

We foraged ahead with Blowdown 3D and after six months of R&D, several camera systems, a month of production in Brazil and nine months of post we have finally delivered a truly groundbreaking 3D documentary.  

We met our creative criteria of keeping the 2D and 3D cuts identical and having an engaging, watchable show in both formats.   As well we gained stereography expertise and a full 3D production and post facility.

To succeed we needed to 4 key players in place.  A business partner who made sure capital was available; a broadcast partner who helped off-set some of the costs and commission a 3D version; a DOP to build and operate a 3D system and an editor who took on the head and heart ache of posting in 3D and edit a show, simultaneously.

Each partner went in blind, worked hard and remained unwaveringly committed – always moving forward despite the many, many set-backs.   I cannot overstate the massive technical obstacles that stood in our way – especially in post.   For a year it was one step forward, two back – not a terribly long time in the scheme of things for R&D and execution but the money was burning and we had to deliver.

On a larger scale the 3D film industry is hot … but there’s still a lot to learn. At NAB 2011 nearly every booth had a 3D camera system or monitor on display.   Unfortunately the consensus from my team that attended is that most of the stereo projects being generated are not visually interesting or executed in optimal 3D.

As far as 3D programming goes, the broadcasters are starting safe with lots of natural history. Over the next few years television is going to steadily move towards 3D penetration.  The consumer interest is too great for them too pass up the business opportunity.   But for now, I look forward to just seeing how Blowdown 3D is received around the world.

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

So You Want To Learn 3D? How to bring the stereoscopic dream to life

It’s been a long journey into the realm of 3D documentary filmmaking for myself and the rest of the Parallax team.

A rugged path marked with a few big wins – triumphs earned via epic missions through a series of formidable stereoscopic obstacles.

The good news: we’ve trampled a rough trail … a trail that will hopefully help other enthusiasts avoid getting too thoroughly lost in the enchanted forest that is 3D production.

Our stereographer, Sean White, details some quick and dirty ways to follow us into the third dimension.

Immerse yourself

Learning 3D is a full-time job. A solid foundation of stereo principles is needed if you want to succeed

Research. Take an introductory course. Enlist the help of an experienced stereographer.

Or for true 3D keeners, deconstruct a ready-made system into its basic components. Best way to master the beast. Hands down.

Start small

Our first foray into 3D filmmaking was a modest one involving two $20 cameras purchased on EBay and mounted on a side-by-side rig.

Starting small makes getting bigger the only option.

Experiment

Always think of ways to make your 3D system better. Tinker, take risks, and invent.

Capitalize fully on your mistakes by knowing exactly where you went wrong. Leave no error unturned.

Share your failures and successes with other experimenters. Best way to avoid epic catastrophes.

Keep your eye on the prize

Driving your whole 3D pursuit is the desire for results – not only should you want something properly stereographed but something beautifully stereographed.

Keeping this in mind, never forget to reverse calculate . . . knowing what you want in the end means taking purposeful, well-thought steps to get there.

Alright, that about does it … now it’s time for the good stuff:

Get out there, get dirty, and above all, have fun.

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

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Stereographer Sean White films Battle Castle: Dover.

Click here for more photos of the Beamer EX and Parallax crew in action.

3D Technology: Parallax Film’s Beamer EX – a stereoscopic rig like none other.

After many blog posts chronicling its inception, the time has finally come to detail la mini beam splitter rig de resistance.

Meet Beamer EX Stereoscopic Rig, a Parallax Film Productions exclusive, designed and assembled by our stereographer Sean White.

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With two successful 3D shoots in the can, our Beamer has proven a force to be reckoned with in the field – portable, rugged, and a damn good shooter.

And pretty easy on the eyes, don’t you think?

Here’s the Beamer breakdown:

– Custom built aluminum beam splitter chassis integrated with 15mm rods and components

– Designed for two Sony EX3 cameras for perfect genlock and time code sync

– HDSDI signals from both cameras recorded to Convergent Designs nanoFlash 3D at up to 280 mbps

– Precise monitoring and alignment with 6″ Transvideo CineMonitorHD 3D View

– Easy to setup and transport

– Switches from tripod to handheld shooting and back in seconds

– Adjustable interaxial distance from 0-100mm

– Calibrated camera heights from base mounts

– Floating 4-point micro adjustment screws for perfect mirror alignment

– Single Anton Bauer Dionic battery on Goldmount powers the monitor and both nanoFlashes

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

Shooting a 3D Documentary: Sony EX3s on Custom Designed Rig Get The Job Done

Production of Battle Castle is fast underway. It’s a documentary series that brings the world’s greatest medieval strongholds to life and we’ve kicked it off shooting 3D in Kent England, on the grounds of the magnificent Dover Castle.

Packing wisdom gathered from taking Blowdown 3D from production through post, we’ve optimized our beam-splitter rig for this new terrain to avoid the issues (and limitations) we had to work with during our first journey into the third dimension.

The result: one self-contained system that can capture almost everything we need.

Here’s the breakdown:

We’ve chosen to mount 2 Sony EX3s over the Canon 7Ds to avoid genlock issues we were experiencing with the Canons.

The EX3s are great, gold standard cameras and can output a clean signal straight to our Nano3D drives.

We’ve also reconfigured the sliders for more interaxial play and attached customized attachments so we can vertically hang cameras without ripping out the hot shoe mount.

We used red-rock micro components along with some custom parts to fine-tune the hand-held splitter.

Altogether it weighs 45 lbs meaning a strong DoP can hold it for 4-5 minutes before taking a break.

Well worth the effort when it means you have freedom.

Limitation worth noting – the EX3s can’t capture vista shots where the subject is faraway. We fill this gap by using a pair of Canon 5Ds on a side-by-side rig to capture these types of shots.

So what it comes down to is we now have a system with perfect sync, beautiful capture, flexibility, and portability.

What more could you ask for?

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

Shooting a 3D Documentary: Arming our B-cam system for Blowdown

In the previous post I described the evolution of our mini beam splitter rig, engineered by the Parallax crew for portability and 3D close-ups.

Before the filming of our first documentary, Blowdown, we went back-and-forth on what cameras to mount on this custom-designed rig to complete our B cam system. It was an epic battle that ended with Canon 7Ds as victor … for this round at least.

Here’s why:

When we shot the demolition of the Fonte Nova Stadium, our Iconix A cam system rigged side-by-side, also with our very own hand-held design, took some beautiful shots.

For our B cam system, it down to Sony EX3s or Canon 7D’s. The big problem is the Sony EX3s proved too heavy and cumbersome for our purposes. This is an event-based documentary in a demolition zone – last thing we need is to haul excess weight around.

So the 7Ds were the cameras that we went with – but we knew this decision came with a couple drawbacks:

1. The 7Ds have genlock issues making it difficult to synchronize the captures between the two cameras. Meaning we’re going to have a long gop compression issue.

Translation: fast motion close to the camera will produce retinal rivalry.

2. We can’t use video feeds coming out of the cameras with our Transvideo 3D monitor.

Which means we won’t be able to overlap images and check alignment during the shoot.

3. There’s no uncompressed signal coming out that we can tap into and record to the nano3D drives – a problem in 2D as well.

Despite these limitations, we still captured great stereo images with properly set interaxials.

In the end, our confidence in our Canon 7D mini beam splitter system paid off and we have a visually-unprecedented documentary to show for it.

But as we move further into the third dimension, we’re upping our game …

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

Shooting a 3D Documentary: How to customize your 3D gear to get the best shot

Industriousness, adaptability, and innovation are vital when it comes to the world of filmmaking – especially when you’re shooting one of the first event-based 3D documentaries ever produced for an international audience.

Before we filmed Blowdown 3D, our stereographer, Sean White, faced a huge challenge: engineer a 3D rig that could capture the variety of shots we needed and stand up to run-and-gun filmmaking on an industrial demolition site.

We decided on a beam-spitter rig because a side-by-side rig wouldn’t have allowed us to shoot the close-ups we wanted.

But there was a problem: the Film Factory Indie beam splitter rig we had purchased would have been a beast to lug around a condemned sports stadium in Salvador, Brazil.

Necessity is the mother of invention after all … if we were going to make this journey into the third dimension work, it was clear that we’d have to come up with our own rigging system.

First step: tear open our Indie Film Factory beam splitter, get to know its insides, and build it stronger.

It was a process of experimentation, ordering parts, making adjustments and modifications.

Customize, customize, customize.

Finally, we created a design that worked and hired a machinist to solder the pieces together.

The result: an aluminum box with a window for a horizontal camera and an underslung design shooting up at a mirror.

We call it the mini beam splitter rig.

Besides being close-up capable, this custom design also makes for less problems with reflection and helps protect the mirror and camera lenses from the rain, dust, etc. sometimes encountered in the field.

Above all else is its portability, which is paramount when you’re filming an event-based documentary.

All this at a fraction of what manufacturers are asking for this kind of optimized technology.

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

Editing a 3D Documentary: Landing a Colorist

After some investigation, our team and I have finally found a studio to take on the epic task of colour grading our first 3D documentary.

The search was a tough one.

The main challenge: though many studios in the Vancouver area possess the colour correcting software to edit 3D – DaVince Resolve, Lustre, Quantel Pablo – they’re still waiting on the monitoring systems to edit in stereo.

For some studios, monitoring systems were actually in transit, boxed to be at their doorstop in less than a month … exciting evidence of the growing hunger for 3D content.

Our colorist will have their work cut out for them.

The rigours of event-based 2D documentary filmmaking versus intentionally lighted film environments means the colorist will have to deal with variable lighting that can change from one shot to the next.

Tackling discrepancies between 3D footage will be another challenge.

The way the cameras capture, miniscule differences in manufactured parts, and the way light hits these parts creates differences between left and right.

The differences are slight, but if left uncorrected could produce a big problem.

Matching stereo pairs and making content broadcast legal will take the work of an expert, but it’s worth the payoff: the absolute best of what 3D can offer before it leaves our hands.

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

 

Editing a 3D Documentary: Scouting for Colorists

As we enter the polishing stages on our first 3D documentary, the hunt is on to find a studio that can take on the task of color correcting months of painstaking work.

It’s essential to any post-production process, but especially crucial to 3D because we’re creating an effect that only reads if stereo pairs match perfectly.

When filming, aberrations in stereo images occur because the mirrors/prisms contained within the beam splitter can change the nature of the light from one moment to the next.

Any slight difference in temperature or exposure of image pairs will confuse the brain, create discomfort, and botch the whole operation. Period.

So my team and I need to be choosy when it comes to colorists. The challenge now is finding a studio that has a system capable of stereo viewing and correction – slim pickings due to 3D’s relative newness.

And of course, one that possesses the expertise to produce the high-quality 3D imaging we are looking for at a price we can work with.

More to come …

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

Compositing a 3D documentary: How to maximize stereoscopic effects

Now that our first 3D documentary is almost completed, compositor Jakub Kuczynski has time to give the lowdown on some of the challenges he faced editing Blowdown.

Challenge 1: Double-rendering

Because 3D is filmed in stereo pairs rendering for each eye is required. For a compositor with tight deadlines this process can be a painful one.

Challenge 2: Editing in anaglyph

3D compositing in anaglyph can be deceiving because it crushes depth perception.

The tendency is to compensate for this by creating more depth, but sometimes you can overshoot the mark – a discrepancy that becomes obvious when you view the footage on polarized monitors.

An extra step is then needed to make sure sure stereo pairs are aligning perfectly which, of course, means more time and inevitably more stress.

Challenge 3: Finding the happy balance between formats

Until that fine day when everyone is experiencing our documentaries in full stereoscopic glory it’s important to make sure shots work just as well in 2D as they would in 3D. That in itself is an art.

Here’s an example of one of Jakub’s most technically challenging shots – a 3D within 3D effect composited for Blowdown’s episode on the implosion of the Fonte Nova Stadium in Brazil:

  And here’s how he brought it all to life:

But, of course, mastering challenges like these come with the rewards of creating 3D VFX everyone can get a kick out of.

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring