Colonial Pictures bought a pair of SI-2K minis and a P+S Technik Freestyle rig to produce its first 3D documentary Treasure Houses of Britain.
Images were recorded to a Wrangler 1 Beyond DDR with a Polecam used to supplement the main rig, recording to two Flash XDR recorders.
“We shot the whole show in native 3D,” explains series producer and Colonial MD Alastair Layzell. “The single biggest piece of learning was taking on board Sky’s message to us which was to make the pans slower. The viewer needs time for the brain to register what is going on with 3D and the duration of shot is key in stately homes filled with gloriously detailed objects. You don’t need cutaways for 3D version, so you can hold shots for 30, 40 seconds.”
Colonial was formed 25 years ago and has produced over 500 hours of programming. For its first foray into 3D Layzell employed the experienced stereography team of Adam Sculthorpe and Peter Howard.
“We naively thought we’d just be able to print the left eye feed and deliver a 2D and a 3D production but we had to abandon that idea and concentrate on producing two different editorial versions,” says Layzell.
A Sony HDCAM was used to pick up 2D shots. Offline was conducted at Colonial on FCP with Cineform with finishing and grade at Sky on Mistika.
The 5 x 60 minutes series takes a look inside some of the UK’s grandest residences including Blenheim Palace and Chatsworth House. Currently airing on Sky 3D it is a co-production with Sky, The History Channel, DirecTV and PSB broadcaster Thirteen WNET in the US.
www.colonialpictures.co.uk
