Over 20 Arri Alexa digital cameras are in current use on three major stereo 3D theatrical features being shot in Europe, writes Adrian Pennington.
Martin Scorsese’s Hugot Cabret, Paul WS Anderson’s The Three Musketeers and the first German language stereo 3D feature Wickie and the Treasure of the Gods are all being shot on the new cameras.
Set in 1930s Paris and being shot at Pinewood Shepperton, Hugo Cabret is being captured on Alexa’s mounted on Pace rigs and recorded to HDCAM SR. TVB Europe understands that 3000 tapes were ordered for the shoot.
At Babelsberg Studios, Germany, Constantin Films’ The Three Musketeers starring Orlando Bloom is also a Pace serviced shoot using four rigs, 8 Alexas and recording 444 Log C in 235:1 aspect ratio to two SRW1 recorders per rig.
Rat Pack Filmproduktion and Constantin Film have also begun shooting Wickie, a sequel to 2009’s Wickie the Viking, on sets in Bavaria with Arri Rental supplying the camera and grip, as well as the entire 3D equipment. Four Alexas shooting Log C 444 at 235 aspect ratio to Codex portable recorders are mounted on Stereotec and P+S Technic rigs.
Two customised Stereotec midsize rigs, equipped with motorization, controls and data capture system from Arri Rental, were created especially for this shoot. All relevant metadata needed later in post production will be saved on location and passed on directly to Arri’s on-set services trailer. The Colorfront on-set dailies software, which has been optimised for 3D with the help of Arri, will also be deployed. For the various crane shots a Super Scorpio telescopic crane and a Supertechno 50 with a modified 3D remote head will be used.
Alexas were also used for a portion of Michael Bay’s current production of Transformers 3D although Sony F35s was used to shot the bulk of this picture, attached to Pace rigs.
The other major 3D feature production which has this week begun a four week shoot on location in London and at Pinewood Shepperton, Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides is shooting on RED cameras, serviced by Pace. UK facilities Cinesite and MPC will post produce some of the stereo 3D shots on this VFX intensive project.
