Captured!

OK!  Some major developments: I shot a movie! 

It was long process of gathering an amazing team, some good equipment, setting aside some time, and then going for it.  It was an amazing day, we had beautiful weather, and a great bunch of people.  We shot in two locations, both about an hour outside of Montreal.

Due to the amazing resourcefulness of my talented DP, we had two Sony EX-1s, a Satchler video 25 tripod, a steadycam and shoulder mount rig.  The EX-1s are really nice cameras, they shoot a true 24P on 1/2 inch chips and record full frame HD onto SxS flash cards.  They are especially good for insuring consistency over both cameras because they have proper markings on the focus, zoom and aperture rings, allowing the DP to check the optical setting with a quick glance.  Where I might run into problems with the EX-1s is the wide separation between the lenses, much wider than the average human eye.  This can cause strange image distortions and miniaturisation, where everyting appears smaller or further away than it really is. (I recommend reading the whole article, very informative about shooting 3D in general)

We also had a strereo shotgun mic, and a pair of binaural mics, which gives an incredible result when played back on headphone.

  Binaural 01  by  user4773415

A binaural clip of Jessica with the children - please listen on headphones for effect.

The entire process was trial and error. I followed advice gleaned from people with experience in 3D and the internet, but it remained a novel experiment for everyone on the shoot.  And I embrace this process where "mistakes" in workflow can lead to interesting results. This for me is where the experimental nature of the piece comes in.  It was truly an experiment, from technical aspects of camera placement, focal length, camera movement, to the challenges of working with child actors.  From the start I was interested in testing the boundaries of 3D, how it works, where it breaks down, and if the results don't 'work' in a traditional sense, I will try to play with them and hopefully steer the piece into an interesting direction this way.

In closing this post, I would like to quickly address the DIY-ness of this piece.  Some people might disagree with my branding of DIY to the shoot, as it was done with professional equipment and crew, instead of building and soldering something together by myself.  But for me, DIY is about getting it done, any way possible, and as best as possible. For the longest time I hesitate due to finacial considerations, applying to grant programs and waiting around for it to fall from the sky. But then I took stock of the available resources, and pushed ahead, no matter what would come out of it or how it would be shot.

The only reason I have any images at all, let alone that it took on such professional proportions, is because of the amazing people that helped me.  It would have been impossible without everyone there, and so I extented a very sincere thank you and dedicate the rest of this process to you all.

Stay tuned for footage...