The Beijing Film Academy will become the meeting place of world-class 3D movie stereographers on 18. and 19. April when the 3Tec – Quality & Technology Summit, will be held there. The 3Tec will be combined with the 2nd Beijing Film Academy Science & Technology Forum, the BFA’s technology event for the Chinese film producers, directors and technology experts.
Florian Maier, German stereographer and owner of STEREOTEC, the leading maker of mirror rigs for 3D production, will present the making of the Russian Box Office smash hit Viy 3D, which in late January recorded the highest ever opening for a Russian film. Florian explores the variety of techniques employed and the challenges faced head–on, in bringing the gothic horror classic to the screen in 3D.
The 3D fantasy-action feature by Director Oleg Stephchenko grossed more than $17.7 million at the box office on the opening weekend, more than any other Russian film before. Since then the movie made already more than 40 Mio USD just in Russia and Ukraine.
Florian Maier worked as Director of Stereography on the production, assisted by his experienced STEREOTEC crew. Florian’s commitment to come to 3Tec and the BFA follows that of stereo supervisor Chris Parks and his partner Angus Cameron (Vision 3, London) who have already confirmed to take the audience behind the scenes of the worldwide 3D blockbuster GRAVITY.
Florian says:
“The technologies for producing 3D movies are as important as the story. Precision, speed of calibration and reliability are what ensures excellent quality of the 3D movie and makes it comfortable for the audience and fit to compete in the international markets. The production of Viy 3D used two ARRI Alexas on a STEREOTEC mid-size rig already proven in many international 3D productions. In this way the production could be finished at highest quality and at the speed of a 2D production, which keeps cost under control, a major aspect of any 3D production these days.”
This new way of using technologies for the production of a blockbuster movie is the core topic of the event during the Beijing Film Festival in April to which the Beijing Film Academy, the entgroup and imcube Technologies have invited international experts in 3D film production technologies. On the first day of the event (18. April) Florian Maier, Chris Parks / Angus Cameron and the Giant Screen / IMAX specialist producer and stereographer Phil Streather (London) and their colleagues will present insight views into new quality standards in 3D production and post-production, from international 3D professionals “who have done it” exclusively for professionals in the Chinese movie business.
The second day (19. April) is reserved for workshops in which the professionals can meet the international experts in small working groups in order to be able to get a more in-depth view into the technology and quality requirements for movies for international distribution.
About STEREOTEC/ Florian Maier:
Florian Maier, founder and CEO of Stereotec, has been pioneering 3D globally since the company's inception in 1997. Florian belongs to the most renowned stereographers worldwide and has been recognized by Hollywood's International 3D & Advanced Imaging Society with six Lumiere Awards across the following categories: Best Stereography, Best 3D Feature Film, and Best Commercial.
As the developer behind Stereotec's 3D rigs, Florian has also leant his unique expertise to feature films such as RETURN OF VIY, HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS, VICKY AND THE TREASURE OF THE GODS, and HYPE NATION, among others. Other projects include collaborations with VOLKSWAGEN, SONY, and RED BULL that have resulted in award winning, visually compelling commercials. Short films on which he's worked as the lead stereographer include the award winning BLOOD DROP and CALL HER LOTTE.
Florian has guided workshops and taught master classes in Berlin, Beijing, Pusan, Los Angeles, New York, and Vancouver, educating filmmakers and teaching that successful stereoscopic filmmaking combines sophisticated artistry with established stereoscopic principles and technical precision.
About imcube:
imcube Technologies and imcube labs GmbH, Berlin, Germany, are divisions of the imcube 3D Solutions Group, with operations in Germany, China, Hong Kong and the UAE. imcube labs is an R&D company, a spin-off of the Communication Systems Group of the Technical University in Berlin which is specializing on image processing and computer vision technologies for the film and video business. It has close ties with the Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institute for Image Processing. imcube’s founders have been involved in ‘3D Quality’ research and development for over 10 years, in the fields of Computer Vision, 2D to stereoscopic 3D conversion and native stereo 3D repair. Recent projects have extended into an alternative hybrid stereoscopic 3D post-production workflow for feature films (imcube Cinema) and into a dedicated 2D to stereo 3D conversion workflow for broadcast and Internet applications (imcube Home). Semi-automated tools are available for stereographers, such as the imcube Instructor for easy conversion instructions, the imcube QC Player for conversion quality control, and the imcube Daily for quick scribble-based test conversions, pre-visualisation and mobile conversions.www.imcube.com