Vertical Ascent of Studio City California a production company founded by award-winning filmmaker documentarian and music video director Adam Friedman is developing and producing an original 3D TV series for In Demand to be distributed to U.S. cable systems and offered to consumers for free. This series is part of In Demand’s drive to create and deliver entertaining and visually stunning original programming in 3D an exciting new growth area for television. In Demand a distributor of transactional video on demand and pay-per-view began providing cable with Hollywood films in stereoscopic 3D last fall. Content already shot for this short-form series includes Rhythmic Gymnastics Chinese Lion Dancing Bicycle Motocross Cirque School Snowboarding and Parkour. Other content including some high-profile international events is in development. Friedman is the producer/director of the project working with Marty Mullin as director of photography and Sean MacGowan as DIT/editor. Vertical Ascent is renting Panasonic AG-3DA1 cameras sometimes as many as three per shoot from the Los Angeles office of Abel Cine Tech. The series marks the first major foray into 3D production for Friedman who won an Emmy for the documentary Color Me Blue about the New York Police Department and whose Rolling Stones’ Emotional Rescue video was part of the Whitney Museum Biennial celebration. “I was interested in tackling content that wasn’t typical of 3D and in challenging myself creatively ” Friedman says. “I’d never have thought of covering Rhythmic Gymnastics for instance until I saw what it looks like in 3D.” “The 3DA1 is affording us exceptional mobility and agility in capturing kinetic subjects in challenging environments ” he says. “Our locations have ranged from Olympic gymnasiums to ski slopes to L.A. rooftops. We had to lug our gear up several stories of an abandoned building (sans elevator). Try doing that with a beam splitter.” “We have been blown away with the performance of the 3DA1 ” Friedman says. “It’s so small cost-effective and facilitates bringing a very high level of quality and creativity to the set. The DP can set convergence while he’s shooting and working with the Panasonic BT-3DLH2550 3D monitor can quickly effect changes. The end result is that we’re able to move through a lot of shots in a day.” “We are very excited to be at the forefront as content creators in the new field of 3D for television ” says Emilio Nunez In Demand’s vice president movies and original programming. “Working with Adam and Panasonic has enabled us to push the boundaries far beyond what we could have imagined. From what we have seen so far the visual results are simply stunning.” “I really like the 3DA1’s ease of use ” says DP Mullin. “Between me and Sean we've been able to overcome any stereographic issues we've encountered. Using the stereo guide on the camcorder and the BT-3DLH2550 monitor we can identify any challenges and address them on set. While the camcorder has some limitations considering the fact that the cheapest beam splitter rig is much more expensive and would require a rig tech if not a full-on stereographer at our budget point the 3DA1 is the best choice.” “The 3DA1 can go anywhere that one can position oneself and doesn’t require cumbersome peripheral accessories ” says DIT/editor MacGowan. “It allows for hand-held shooting and excels at capturing very low angles (we’ve placed it on the ground). Marty is able to get coverage from extreme positions with the only requirement being that he can physically climb atop a half-pipe or hang on the edge of a seven-story building. We’ve modified the 3DA1 with the addition of Zunow optics which provide a 30 percent wider angle of view and mitigate the possibility of frame violations. We occasionally encounter frame violations in situations where they are unavoidable and in these instances we freely break the rule because the quality of the footage is so outstanding.” MacGowan says that the production is using dual-system recording simultaneously capturing to the 3DA1’s SDHC cards as well as to dual AJA Ki Pro recorders (recording 10-bit QuickTime movies for maximal quality). “We have also recorded full stereo 3D directly into a Mac Pro via AJA KONA 3G ” he says. “The edit and finish are handled with a combination of Final Cut Pro and Cineform Neo3D software plus the AJA KONA 3G and Mac Pro. Any necessary parallax corrections are handled in post using Neo3D.” “Our circus location work was not easy ” Friedman says. “We had performers on stilts juggling hanging off of tissue trapezes and we were shooting up into rafters. The Parkour shoot was downright dangerous with the athletes literally leaping tall buildings in a single bound. I look at that Parkour footage and it’s totally immersive making me feel alternatively scared hopeful and happy.” “I guess that’s the allure of 3D ” he says. “You can’t show something until you can and then everyone starts to take it for granted. And a versatile acquisition tool like the 3DA1 is only going to speed up that shift in perception.” Vertical Ascent www.adamjfriedman.com
