We have noted that several companies in Wallonia and in Belgium are very active in the 3D domain, and this on multiple levels. At the beginning of the chain, we would like to place the spotlight on image creation with Kommer Kleijn, cinematographer, as our guide. To him, technology is only of interest when it serves the story. What interests him is the interaction between technology and man.

After graduating from technical college in Delft (the Netherlands) and having furthered a cinema education, Kommer Kleijn becomes a cinematographer thanks to Ghislain Cloquet and Charlie Van Damme who teach him the tools of the trade at INSAS. He becomes a professor at the INSAS school himself as well as at the RITCS and La Cambre. He is a member of SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) and he created and chairs a work group about the problems concerning frame rates in digital cinema since 2005.
As a member of the association of 3D cinema professionals, he explains some essential elements for new digital cinema.
Projection standards
On the matter of projection frame rates in cinemas of 25 and 60 images per second which become the standard everywhere, we had to find a standard that was as widespread as 35mm in cinemas throughout the world. During the first work, Kommer discovered a little loophole. IMAGO (the European federation of cinematographers) delegated him to the SMPTE to resolve two problems which appeared: 1) keep the same technical quality as on 35mm, so no compression for a 24 images/second rate and 2) the possibility to project in 25 images/second without problems, in any cinema auditorium.
For the first issue we opted for a temporary resolution of 60 images/second because we know that 24 images/second is far beneath the vision capacity of the human eye. In the beginnings of cinema this standard was a compromise (not breaking the film, film stock being costly, heavy transport needed for 6 or 7 reels, etc.). Today this is easier because of electronics. This is why IMAGO supported 60 images/second. The Americans thought about it by supporting 48 images/second but this has the disadvantage to exclude DVD's and BluRays from the system. 60 images/second combines all advantages.
The second issue affects the projection of images in 25 images/second. The digital system makes it possible to project a film at a rate of 24 images/second or 25 because these are programmed machines, adaptable to the right speed without a problem since this is included in the file.
Animoko
Kommer also concentrated on cameras. He invented animoko, a small-scale motion control rig, developed in London and financed by the CFWB, which bought the first model for La Cambre. The La Cambre school needed a camera for some shoots with 3D animation figures (clay or puppets). The existing machines are very big and expensive. So Kommer created a light machine (105 kg) capable of a crane rotation movement and operating without a track on the floor but rather with a rail movement in the air. This makes it possible for one person to set up the rig without the help of a qualified machine operator. The motors are slow, which has the advantage of being less expensive but also makes it impossible to hurt someone. The material can be left with students without worry. Kommer managed to convince the number one motion control developer to build it. This machine makes it possible to render a detailed reproduction of relief images, while able to combine the movement of figurines and CGI. The English manufacturer found it such a nice idea he put it in his catalogue.

3D
Kommer holds an interesting position in 3D, since he is the cinematographer with the most experience in this domain on our market. Kommer points out that 3D already knew a certain success in museums and amusement parks or even on universal expositions. The IMAX auditoriums, with their very large screens, started with 3D around 15 years ago. In the more traditional cinema the phenomenon is still new but has known a rapid evolution since a year or a year and a half. Today there are a lot more equipped auditoriums than during previous attempts like in the 1950s. We can only hope that the 3D wave will be successful this time. But it is not easy to make films in 3D which offer a real plus value regarding the story (we come back to Kommer's motto: technology is only interesting when serving a story). One of the big challenges is the public's vision comfort, when the first minutes of a 3D film are confusing for people who never tried the experience before. Once this hurdle has been taken, we can do very interesting things. The other challenge is not enough knowledge among professionals about stereography. Apart from the people who worked for amusement parks, there are very few people experienced with stereographic film shoots. It is imperative to set up classes and training for this domain.
Benoît RENSONNET
Websites :
www.kommer.com
www.mrmoco.com
www.animoko.net
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xadw3m_animoko-et-le-relief-par-kommer-kle_shortfilms
http://365.smpte.org
http://www.imago.org