Molinare is posting the UK’s first indie stereo 3D feature, ‘Mortician 3D’ and is honing a workflow it believes can be applied to 3D broadcast drama, writes Adrian Pennington.
The _4m project, which is also Molinare’s first foray into stereo 3D, is a co-production between the UK’s Full Circle Films and Belladonna Productions in New York.
The facility is investing in a Dolby projection system with an 8 metre screen to review this and future 3D projects. It has been in discussion with BSkyB about applying 3D workflows to broadcast work.
“Everything in this project is pretty much bleeding edge,” explained Richard Wilding, Molinare’s senior editing manager. “There’s a lot of beta. We’re trying to devise an affordable 3D workflow. A key part of that is going to be finding a smooth workflow for geometric corrections.”
‘Mortician 3D’ was shot in Louisiana with RED One cameras at 4.5K resolution, Redcode 42 on Element Technica’s Quasar 3D rig. Additional Steadicam and handheld shots were shot using SI2K mini cameras on a prototype of ET’s Neutron 3D rig.
“We looked at both the Avid and Final Cut route and chose FCP,” said Wilding. The RED files are encoded into Cineform Neo3D files which are then multiplexed into single QuickTime clips. During the offline the editor can access a particular QuickTime clip from within FCP via CineForm’s plug-in First Light.
“We’re making editorial decisions in 2D and switching to First Light’s stereo mode to play the scene back via a JVC 46-inch stereo monitor,” said Wilding.
The facility is also investigating 2D-3D dimensionalisation and has fielded enquiries from US studios looking to incorporate archive footage into new 3D projects.
Offline is scheduled to run to the end of March with conform due to start at the beginning of April for final delivery in September.
New York-based OffHollywood provided cameras, rigs and on-set technical support. The film, described as a gritty urban drama, is directed by Gareth Roberts with DP Mike McDonough and stereographer Keith Collea.
