Behind Scenes of Sky 3D Doco Flying Monsters 3D

Jan 18, 2011 No Comments by admin

Flying Monsters 3D is doing the rounds of Sky 3D and 3D Focus has some more stats on this David Attenborough 3D documentary.

Flying Monsters 3D took 9 months to shoot and presented the crew with a number of challenges.

The crew were all leading documentary makers but most were new to 3D production so in the pre-production stage, they visited the Onsight 3D Centre in Shepperton Studios where the 3D equipment could be mastered before venturing into the wilderness. The 3D rigs on Flying Monsters 3D weighed 56 kilos (over 125 pounds) – that is almost 10 times the weight of a regular HD camera. You do not want to be getting to grips with this type of equipment when time, budget and uncomfortable conditions are a major factor.

Watch the 3D Focus trip to the 3D Centre in Shepperton Studios here…

Flying Monsters 3D was shown on Sky 3D but is also going to be screened on large format IMAX screens. Framing for both television and IMAX at the same time is a challenge. To suit the IMAX screens, Flying Monsters 3D was filmed using RED One cameras which are twice the resolution of HD cameras. This was important because framing tight, like you would on television, simply does not work on IMAX. The back of an IMAX audience can be sitting halfway up the screen so the framings need to be looser. Therefore, the super high resolution was needed so the image could be cropped to make it suitable for Sky 3D without effecting the HD quality for 3D television broadcast.

The filming of Flying Monsters 3D was not without its technical problems unique to 3D production. 3D camera rigs have fixed focus lengths. This means they can’t zoom so every time the crew wanted to obtain a close up shot or a shot further away, the lenses had to be changed and then realigned – a process that takes over half an hour. Just moving a 3D rig slightly takes four men and the cameras could only record 10 minutes each time on the hard disk – a limitation especially concerning during the final sequence when David Attenborough flies in a glider when joined by a spectacular pterosaur flying above.

As David Attenborough said

“It’s frustrating with knobs on”.

Poor weather conditions and other problems led the production to fall behind schedule as Flying Monsters 3D Producer Anthony Geffen said during production …

“We realise we are getting some fantastic material but the cost and the time it is taking can’t really go onto the next shoot. We are going to have to rethink our methods. We are on the pioneering front of this kind of film – we are going to have to think of new ways of doing things.”

The crew were due to film in China and the Malaysian rainforest but because of the schedule overruns, they decided to improvise and use the Eden Project in Cornwall as a realistic replacement. Even a large greenhouse in the South of England did not provide immunity from environmental difficulties. The 35 degree heat played havoc with the 3D camera rigs, with one camera malfunctioning due to the humidity. Also, the Eden Project is one the UK’s busiest touristy hotspots and with David Attenborough in town, people were naturally curious, holding up the shoot even further. If you get a chance to watch Flying Monsters 3D on the Sky 3D channel, take note of the sequence David Attenborough walks down the wooden steps. This crane shot took 9 hours to set up after waiting for the crane to be un-jammed and one of the cameras replaced – it lasts just seconds on screen!

Let’ s finish this post with a quote from David Attenborough that really conveys his enthusiasm for the 3D format.

“In three dimensions, you have a reality that is almost super real. Just the simple fact that the fossil was merely a quarter inch above the service and when it turned you suddenly understood what the fossil was in a way you could not have done in 2 dimensions – I was very very impressed – I think it’s a step nearly reality.”

Flying Monsters 3D will be shown in IMAX 3D this year and is likely to be repeated on Sky 3D.