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U2 3D: Even better than the real thing

4:19pm Thursday 21st February 2008

The man in black was mesmerised as the big screen exploded into three-dimensional live action before him. Turning to the guy sat next to him, he said: "This is the first time I've seen a U2 concert."

Nothing extraordinary about that - except this was U2 frontman Bono talking. The occasion was the Sundance Film Festival, at a premiere screening of U2 3D.

The groundbreaking film of the Irish rock band playing to 80,000 fans is the first-ever digital 3D live-action movie - and it hits Bradford's IMAX tomorrow.

For Steve Schklair, the 3D mastermind behind the film, it was surreal watching real-life Bono watching big-screen Bono. "He was singing along," says Steve. "He'd never seen his own band perform before, not in such detail."

Steve is the 3D digital image producer of U2 3D, described as a love letter to U2 fans'. Marrying advanced 3D imagery and 5.1 surround sound with the adrenaline rush of a live U2 concert, it uses an array of onstage cameras for intimate close-ups, creating an experience like no other concert film.

Shot during the final leg of U2's 2006 Vertigo tour, the film was created by 3ality Digital, one of the world's leading production companies specialising in advanced 3D technology.

Steve - chief executive of its technology arm, 3ality Digital Systems - is one of the world's leading experts in digital 3D production. For the past decade he's been at the front edge of new technologies and is a major catalyst behind the resurgence of 3D in Hollywood movies.

One of the biggest challenges facing his team was assembling the largest collection of 3D camera technology ever used on a single project.

"We had 18 cameras synchronised," says Steve. "Initially, we filmed a U2 concert with just one camera at the back, enabling us to carefully plot camera positions." The production crew then hooked up with U2's globe-trotting convoy for a month, shooting at outdoor stadiums in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina.

"We filmed several concerts from different angles - for example, when we shot the Edge, we just filmed the right-hand side of the stage," says Steve. "We were determined there'd be no 3D cameras in shot. You can see some cameras in the movie but none of them are ours, they mostly belonged to TV crews.

"The equipment was tied together with acres of fibre optic cable, the speed at which it was all set up and torn down required a 140-strong crew.

"Then we had the logistics of moving tons of equipment vast distances between stadiums and getting it all through customs to meet the tour schedule. Everything had to be labelled, right down to the tiniest items."

The cutting-edge 3ality technology aligns stereoscopic cameras to high-resolution 3D systems, creating an unprecedented viewing experience.

"It's incredibly comfortable to watch," says Steve. "The camera work and real-time computer image processing takes the eye strain out of 3D, eliminating the headache-causing imperfections that have plagued 3D movies in the past."

More than 100 hours of footage was shot, documenting a set-list including New Year's Day, Miss Sarajevo, With Or Without You, One and Vertigo.

"We worked in a very unorthodox way, without storyboards. The challenge for (director) Catherine Owens and the editing team was to make it look like one continuous concert, from the best seat in the house.

"You see aspects of the band's performance, emotion and relationship with each other on stage that you don't normally see."

Steve had worked with brothers Jon and Peter Shapiro - producers of U2 3D - on developing a more flexible way of shooting live events such as concerts and sports.

They felt 3D would enhance the audience's connection with the action, as if it was a virtual reality, and initially put the 3ality Digital 3D camera system through its paces at American sports events including the Super Bowl. The footage - giving audiences the perspective of watching games on the field - led the innovators to take it further.

"They called me on a Thursday night asking me to shoot a test run the following Saturday morning," says Steve. "I said: Are you crazy?' Then I heard it was U2 and said: Of course I'll be there.' "We worked closely with them, they understand how to make the greatest impact with technology and were incredibly generous with their time and creativity. They did a cameras-only concert for shots we needed without an audience - that was my favourite shoot. It was our own private U2 concert - they played for 25 of us in a stadium which the next day was filled with 90,000 people!

"A U2 concert is engaging, it takes you on a journey. This film draws you into the energy of a stadium concert in a surprisingly intimate way."

Steve believes U2 3D will revolutionise the way entertainment is produced.

"The film has broken boundaries. Digital 3D isn't a developing platform - it's here. It's the future of concert films, live sports broadcasts and Hollywood live action. The challenge now is developing the language of 3D.

"Using 3D cameras you can create intimacy between characters, by bringing them up close, or isolation using the same techniques. Just as colour once changed the language of film, digital 3D will change the face of cinema in the future."

And, says Steve, the future of 3D means goodbye to those funny glasses. He's recently worked on the world's first real-time live-action 3D transmission to auto-stereo monitors - which basically means no 3D glasses.

The future is bright - the future is 3D Digital.

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