*Winner of 2009 MIXX Award for Product Launch

Puckering Up for the Project
The recently awarded KissMein3D project took a Guinness world-record time of sixteen days to complete for a workload equivalency of three to four months. No, we didn’t sleep. Nor did we bathe. Our agency partner for the project, Digitas, was hired by Procter & Gamble to construct a fully 3D website showcasing their latest Crest Whitestrips product. The site combined live-action footage, 3D animated graphics, and sound effects, all of which we accomplished in a span of about two–count ‘em two–weeks.

Because PepsiCo distributed millions of free amber/blue 3D glasses for their Superbowl SoBe Lifewater commercial, and since Valentines day was approaching, Digitas put two and two together. 2+2=3…D! By launching this website they could take advantage of the circulating glasses and simultaneously give a wittle wuv for Valentines. The only problem was the Superbowl was 17 days away. After that, who would keep those glasses? Use once, toss out–that’s what makes this country so great…right? It was an exciting idea. We agreed to the project. Insanity ensues.

Film Me a Kiss
Those manic couple days after we received the phone call were filled with a helluva lot of research on answering the question, how do we film 3D? We soon found our stereoscopic (that’s the fancy word for the double image 3D effect) production company 21st Century 3D not only had their own filming studio but constructed their own stereoscopic camera. They harnessed several technologies to result in a HD-quality camera that records two images. The double-lens camera was essentially two hacked-up Panasonic DVX-100′s bolted together into one body, and the tape transfers were replaced with two Mac mini’s. It used the software, Andromeda, to live capture directly onto the external firewire hard drive, allowing it to record larger file sizes of HD quality video. The camera also had a double viewfinder that looked like a set of binoculars…you know, like the ones you use to spy on that girl across the street.

The HD upgrade to the DVX-100 camera is the Panasonic HVX-200. However, its lenses are too large for filming in 3D. You see, two HVX-200 lenses would give an inter-axial separation wider than what we have with our eyes. The inter-axial separation is the distance between the centers of two lenses. Our eyes have an inter-axial of 2.5″ and it would be impossible to come close to that with the HVX-200 lenses. The images would have been shot too far apart in distance and merging those images would deliver a hyper-stereograph, an exaggerated 3D effect that is unnatural to our eyes.

3D Camera
3D camera

Now the two images produced are identical except for the position difference: one slightly shifted to the left and other to the right. And neither images are adjusted to the 3D separation colors. So in order to view the two images in 3D, our producer, director, director of photography, and cameraman had to preview the image on a reference monitor wearing goofy shutter glasses. The monitors uses alternate-frame sequencing to display the film, combining the footage by alternating very quickly between the two. Then shutter glasses come in to make sense out of the blurry picture. Switching between the left and right side the glasses darken each eye at the same refresh rate of the screen. It produced the 3D effect similar to what we would eventually see in post production, which we needed to see in order to direct our actors in doing what could enhance the 3D experience for the viewer. For example we had the actors grab onto C-stands off camera so they could lean deeper into the camera to deliver the kiss. Mmmmmm….

Holding onto C-stands to lean in camera
Hanging onto C-stands before reaching in for that kiss

Shooting in wide angle also amplifies the 3D effect. Using the widest setting on the camera made foreground object seem closer and near-distant objects recede further back.

The site recently won a MIXX award in the Product Launch category. Apparently some judges out there enjoyed our Mmmmm experience. You can experience too by going to the final site here. Be sure to clean your monitor after making out with it.

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