The first 3D live action Polish feature tells an epic war story using an arsenal of 3D equipment including five custom rigs designed by Stanislaw Kwiatkowski. The Warsaw Battle of 1920, directed by Jerzy Hoffman, features cinematography by Sławomir Idziak, an Academy Award Nominee for Black Hawk Down, and is arguably the greatest Polish film enterprise of recent years.
The story relates the war that stopped Lenin’s communistic expansion in its tracks. In it, a Polish soldier is unjustly accused of betraying his country while his lover joins the army to look for him. The action was captured using six 3D-rigs (four mirror-rigs and two side-by-side including one PS Technic Freestyle for steadicam, two custom made by Nomono and three custom made small hand held rigs to a design by Kwiatkowski) carrying Sony HDC-P1s, Sony PWM-EX3s and Panasonic AG-HMR10s; and two sets of Zeiss Digi-Primes.
Recording was made predominantly to Aja KiPros with second unit and Steadicam recording to ConvergentDesign NanoFlash.
The bulk of the film was shot at Warsaw’s Zodiak studios (Zespół filmowy Zodiak) with dailies and post production managed by Poland’s PAY Studios, which upgraded its Quantel Pablo with 4K, S3D and a Neo panel for the project.
“We did the entire colour correction and Stereo3D post on the Pablo, as well as the titles,” said Monika Jakutowicz, PAY Studio colourist and 3D artist. “The ability to grade the left and right eyes in parallel and the new stereo balancing and fixing tools were particularly useful.”
The film’s stereographer is Andrzej Waluk and visual effects were handled by VHX supervisor Filip Kaczorek at Poland’s ATM. Principle photography was completed between 28 July and 29 September 2010 with release due this September.
