My few baby steps in learning how to shoot stereo 3d produced some results...
A very impressive anaglyph quicktime that when you watched felt like an alien spaceship was hovering above your head and was sucking out your visual cortex with a Star Trek transporter!
clearly I had a way to go...
Enter LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY in the North West of England.
As a self confessed 'businessman' in the film industry, I applied to the Regional Development Authority for a Training & Innovation Grant', and I was absolutely amazed when I was successful! Great, I thought, I'll be heading down to Pinewood, Britains very own film industry, to play with the professionals and learn all their secrets... but NO, it was not to be. What happened was that the Innovation Grant wasn't money in your hand, it was 'training to the value of...' with one of the regions 'knowledge providers'. Which I found out in my case was to be Liverpool University. What could I learn at my age and with my experience in the film and tv industry, by going back into 'academia'??? The answer, as it turns out, is a fantastic amount.
Stereo 3d is 1/3 biology 1/3 psychology and 1/3 technology.
This is the first BIG thing to learn in stereo 3d, especially as a director and stereographer.
Learn and understand the biology of the human vision system (also known as 'eyes').
Our eyes are NOT video cameras, they don't zoom or 'pull focus'. they are NOT 3d imaging devices.
Learn and understand the psychology, or in other words how your brain 'sees' - How it interprets the monoscopic depth cues to provide a depth map of the environment and how it combines all the information from all its 'sensors' with sight, and also how the brain combines its existing data on imagery and spatial awarness to navigate us and help us interpret what we see...
Learn how the technolgy that is available to us as filmakers and stereographers can be used to best effect to tell stories, evoke emotion and 'paint' 3d pictures based on reality...
As I start my training with Dr Harper and Rob Black I am getting to see the importance of at least getting a basic level of understanding of the biology and psychology of stereo 3d if I am ever going to be able t0 shoot and direct a high standard of stereo 3d.
The technolgy is easy in comparison! You hand over responsibility to the guys with the big rigs and hand over some serious bucks at the same time! BUT, I have learnt that you really need to get a thorough basic knowledge of 'how we see', and 'how our brains interpret what we see'. THEN you can play games with technology to do the film makers thing... and around creating non real 3d reality!
I think I may be turning into an OCD 'Ortho' Stereographer - or pehaps that should be OSD - Ortho Stereo Director!
As I carry on my stereo 3d jouney I have come across 'purists' portrayed as amateurs and Hollywood Stereo crews portrayed as 'Industry Experts' . But I am starting to worry about this battle over the I-O (the distance between the 2 cameras when filming)...
I need to go and find out more.
Stay tuned as I report back daily...
Cheers
Reg Sanders - UK Stereographer http://www.shoot3d.tv/
