Audiences who head out to the newest adventures of Star-Lord, Rocket, Groot, and the rest of the Guardians in stereoscopic 3D know they can count on an enhanced experience. And one aspect that differentiates the 3D version of the Guardians of the Galaxy experience comes from the way outer space is presented. “That vastness can be expressed in 3D in a way it never could be in 2D,” says Lead Stereographer Jason Bomstein of SDFX Studios, which has collaborated with Marvel Studios to deliver the 3D versions of all the Guardians movies.
In a particular section in the James Gunn-directed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, several characters jump from their ship to the region where Orgocorp is headquartered. Surrounding them is the pus-like substance which is part of the location’s atmosphere, bubbling and floating around them. Besides the 3D characteristics that enhances the sense of this gooey substance surrounding everybody, Bomstein explains, “we’re also introducing additional depth to really help push the feeling that space, which is the backdrop of the scene, is a lot vaster than could be represented in 2D. We can push the space very far back, making the distance actually seem more pronounced than it would even if the viewer really was there in that situation. That’s really fun!”
The SDFX Studios teams faced a challenge working on an almost two-minute scene of along a hallway which was the scene of a major fight among numerous characters. Presented as a single take with the camera constantly moving to capture key action moments, the shot was actually comprised of three different shots stitched together. “It’s a really cool scene,” Bomstein recalls. The illusion of the single take was seamless in 2D. “For the 3D version, we needed to go through and ensure that it was equally seamless in terms of the way the 3D is interpreted from the end of one shot to the head of the next. We also had to be mindful in the stereoscopic version that a two-minute scene with so much camera movement can get to cause fatigue if the amount of depth changes as quickly and too frequently.”
Viewer sin 3D also benefit from the effect of having the occasional element – blood spatter, a hand, or a sword, for example – reaching outside the top masking, so they appear to jump right out of the screen. “It’s just one of those added visual effects that you really can’t do in 2D,” Bomstein notes.
The color grading for the film was done by Stefan Sonnenfeld, Sr. Colorist / CEO of company, Company 3.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,starring Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldaña and Pom Klementieff, is a Marvel Studios Film released by Walt Disney Motion Pictures. See it in theaters in 3D now.
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