“Bait 3D”, the new action thriller shot on the Gold Coast of Australia is based on true life events of the aftermath of a tsunami. “It combines shark and disaster genres in a single story, following survivors who have banded together facing unexpected dangers that have come in with the water,” explains cinematographer Ross Emery.
To capture the excitement of this genre, Emery and team chose the RED MX, Panavision lenses and Element Technica’s Quasar 3D rigs, shooting much of the picture off a 50’ Technocrane with full rain protection for the often-wet sets. “We chose ET’s Quasar rig for its quality and rigidity,” says Emery. “ET realizes that gear that comes onto a film set has to be robust enough to take the rigors of shooting a feature film. They also fit into the way camera crews work the controls, so they are simple to set up. Building and aligning the rig is not a ‘technicians only’ area. Our ACs built and maintained the rigs with ease.
“The ET rigs let the filmmakers decide how they would like to shoot 3D,” he continues. “They have all the functions needed to simply adjust for good 3D. It is in your hands: parallel, convergence, wide IO. ET rigs don’t restrict you or impose a manufacturer’s version of how 3D should be. This is really important. The reliability of the rig is not in question. Shooting a movie is hard enough without worrying about whether the rig is going to melt down.”
The Technica 3D Quasar mounts full-size digital cinematography cameras such as the RED ONE, Sony F3, F23/35 and 1500, ARRI Alexa, D-21 and Genesis in stereoscopic pair configuration. Quasar 3D rigs have been quickly adopted by the 3D production world due to the many benefits they offer the stereographer including precision control, ease of configuration, and the rigs’ ability to shoot in either side-by-side, under/thru beamsplitter or over/thru beamsplitter mode. The Quasar can be completely set up in under a half hour, and converted from side-by-side to beamsplitter mode in less than 10 minutes.
Element Technica also makes a range of other Technica 3D rigs to complement the various cameras on the market today including: Pulsar (for mid-sized cameras with lenses with PL, PV or B4 mount including RED Epic as well as Sony F3 and P1; Neutron (for compact digital cameras with C-mount prime lenses, including SI-2K Mini, Iconix and Wige Media CUNIMA; and Atom (for RED Epic).
While “Bait 3D” was Emery’s first project with Element Technica equipment, he was sold. He’s since gone on to several smaller projects using ET equipment paired with ARRI’s Alexa.
“Bait 3D” is slated for an October release in Australia with a USA release in the spring of 2012. For more information about Technica 3D tools, please contact Joey Romero at Tel: 323.641.7327, info@elementtechnica.com, http://www.technica3D.com