FRANCE: A French film crew perfects the art of 3D filming, the next craze for big studios

Record ID: 722525

  • Title: FRANCE: A French film crew perfects the art of 3D filming, the next craze for big studios
  • Date: 25th February 2010
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANNABELLE TROUKENS, VISUAL EFFECTS PRODUCER FOR DURAN DUBOI STUDIOS, SAYING: "The audience expectation is much higher now and the studios have seen also that the audience is very interested in this kind of films so everybody is now discovering this and wanting to go the same way because there are certain scripts up until now that have not gone into production just because the technology wasn't fit for it, there was nothing like this, but now stereoscopy opens a lot of ways to do these kind of scripts so I think there will be more and more demand."
  • Embargoed: 12th March 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Reuters ID: LVA905Q8G0WNZSUF5XFK1HAEER1B
  • Story Text: Three dimensional movies, once considered a niche for low quality productions, have entered the mainstream with such productions as Avatar.
    They call it "small Siberia" because it is the coldest place in Eastern France. At the foot of a Medieval castle, a world first is taking place. A small cinema crew is shooting a film in "real" 3D in a way never possible before.
    Since James Cameron's epic "Avatar," everyone is at it: stereoscopic - or 3D - images are the next thing all the studios and the public want to see.
    On the French shoot, the technology used is the most advanced so far. Shot entirely in "real play", meaning that the whole film is shot in real scenery, the 3D effect is possible only thanks to two cameras in one.
    Thanks to a mirror, a second camera situated underneath a first one allows the filmmakers to see the action in the same way as human vision would.
    In this camera system, a special motorised rig allows the operators to change the distance between the two cameras but also their angle as they are filming, just as human eyes would do when watching a moving scene.
    In Avatar, only 10 percent was real-play with the other 90 percent using computer generated imagery.
    For Frederick Du Chau, an American film director born in Belgium, this technique allows him to direct and make a movie differently:
    "It's I think the first time that we are going to actually have a film that is shot completely in live action and we will add our main characters in CG (Computer Graphics) afterwards, but we're adding them," he said. "So yes, it is 100 percent with plates and actors in real life. But the same thing, it doesn't mean for me that it is more difficult, it's just a different way of thinking and a different way of where you put the camera and what you do with your actors so that there is always something interesting for the 3D effect, because I think that the 3D effect people are mistaken that it is just to throw something at the camera and it comes out of the screen and in the theatre everybody goes 'wow!'; well it is an effect for two seconds but it is a little bit cheap, it is a cheap thrill, it is a carnival ride."
    3D movies are the flavour of the year. But the effect is still a difficult technique to master. In fact, on this film set, the crew constantly need to adapt and are discovering the technical limits and the amazing possibilities of stereoscopy.
    Always a pair of 3D glasses at hand, Celine Tricart is one of only ten stereographers in France. On the set she co-ordinates the interaction between the two cameras and makes sure the 3D effect works.
    "The biggest difference is that Avatar is mostly done in Computer Graphics Imagery, this movie is done 100 percent of live action so it's quite a big camera and a big system, very difficult for the grip equipment and everything. When you are doing Computer Graphics Imagery and special effects like they use on Avatar, it could be more quick and easy to do because you just have another virtual camera and not a real camera," said Celine Tricart.
    Film studios around the world know that 3D could bring cinema-goers back into the theatres. Already, many are re-working films and, thanks to special effects, re-creating a simulated 3D effect. But the technique is not as good as 'real' 3D filming.
    This short film called "Les Krostons" will tell the tale of three little characters who want to take control of Planet Earth.
    In Paris, back at the studios where the film will be finished, the little three dimensional characters are being designed but their appearance is still at an early stage.
    The process with 3D movies is drastically longer than with traditional films. For example, because 3D films have much more detail than normal films, more effort is needed on things such as make up for the actors.
    Annabelle Troukens is the head of a large French studio. She confirmed the growing interest from film producers for the new technology:
    "We are hoping that it will go on growing because it is technology which is not really easy to use but it's fascinating, it's a new way of film making, it's a new way of story telling too, so for the director it's a brand new vision, if I can say that, so, because of Avatar and because of the digital technology, 3D is going to be easier and easier to do, especially with Computer Graphics Imagery so producers are beginning to think that it is not so expensive and not so difficult to shoot in 3D so I think it will just explode."
    A teaser of the film "Les Krostons" will be ready for the next Cannes festival where the producers hope to find investors.
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