Abraham Joffe, a Sydney based cinematographer who heads up the eponymous Abraham Joffe Videographer company, and his team have filmed a spectacular 3D wedding at the Mosman Tea Room Barracks in Sydney.
Using two specially loaned prototype 3D cameras from Panasonic, they captured the wedding of Narelle and Ian Haines. The AG-3DA1 cameras, which are said to be the only two 3D cameras in the country, will retail at around $25,000 when released later this year, and will put 3D video within reach of smaller video producers.
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Joffe, along with team members Edgard Neves and Alfio Stuto, had less than 24 hours to undergo a crash technical course with Panasonic’s professional camera division on how to produce desirable 3D imagery.
“We believe it is the first 3D wedding in Australia, and we also believe they are the first, professionally shot, multi cam shots in the world. We ran it on a steadicam and rail system, and also had a stereographer analysing the 3D footage on a field monitor to give feedback to the operators on how it was working.”
“Controlling the ‘Conversion Point’ is the main new feature in shooting 3D with these cameras. Adjusting the convergence controls the point where the screen plain lies, if you set it behind an object, it will appear to pop out of the screen”, said Joffe.
“We were 3D sceptics in the beginning, but I was extremely impressed with how these cameras performed under the quickly changing environments the wedding threw at us. They are also incredibly light and portable which makes them superb for moving about and quick setup. 3D adds a further level of complexity to your shoot – there is a lot to get your head around,” he said.
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Joffe continued: “With a little bit of tutorial, it is pretty much a ‘pick and shoot’ camera. You have to learn the characteristics. Mirrored systems take so long to set up. This camera has two lenses so it sets the depth. It was also tough to find a usable workflow in post production. There are a lot of plug ins and early software to work with.”
The guests were ‘blown away’ by what they saw, said Joffe. “The results are brilliant – far better than we thought. We were aware of certain things with the camera, such as that you don’t shoot closer than two metres, because the lenses wouldn’t be able to converge. You want a wide angle to see many objects in the frame.”
His colleague Neves, had one camera attached to his body on a steadicam rig allowing him to move about and capture some really immersive, moving shots throughout the day. The “money-shot” was a sweeping steadicam move as the bride approached the aisle and her waiting groom.
At the reception, a 50 inch, Panasonic 3D TV was setup and various segments of the day were played back to the delight of the guests, who wore powered glasses. The bride also sat down, put on some glasses and watched herself back in 3D on the screen.
Joffe continued: “Every TV will be 3D compatible soon, and you can also turn the 3D feature on and off if you want. But there will also be auto stereoscopic monitors soon, which are 3D monitors that can be viewed without the use of 3D glasses, which will help 3D technology along.”
You can find a Behind the Scenes look at the 3D wedding shoot here and more info on Abraham Joffe Videographers at www.cinemaexperience.com.au
