How A VFX House Used Global Reach to 3D Convert Narnia: Dawn Treader

Prime Focus’ worldwide reach kept the Narnia 3D conversion in housePrime Focus was the studio that completed the full 3D conversion of The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. They were able to convert 1500 shots into Stereoscopic 3D for the 115-minute movie. Normally for a project of this magnitude, the studio would split up conversion shots between a number of vendors, but with artists working across its facilities in London, Los Angeles and Mumbai, Prime Focus was able to take ownership of the 3D conversion.

Prime Focus Film spent 24 hours a day across three different time zones working on the conversion process. In total they delivered 600 shots from London, 550 from Los Angeles and 350 from Mumbai.

Richard Baker, senior Prime Focus stereographer, emphasised that without the company’s global digital pipeline the process wouldn’t have run as smoothly. “The client was amazed that we could view a shot in London, submit notes to Mumbai at the beginning of dailies and have the amended stereo 3D shots sent back for review before the end of the session.”

Prime Focus spent time with stereographer Ed Marsh at the beginning of the process, developing and understanding the levels of depth required for different types of shot and developing a shorthand which helped the project to run efficiently.

One of the main challenges Prime Focus faced working on such a large and vfx-heavy project was dealing with the huge number of assets produced by the multiple vfx facilities working on the film. By producing a ‘vendor package’ book, detailing exactly how vfx material should be delivered for successful conversion, and by leveraging the good relationships Prime Focus holds with the various vfx vendors on the project, the company was able to effectively process and manage over 10,000 delivered assets to produce the 1500 S3D conversion shots.

Matthew Bristowe, senior producer at Prime Focus, praised the talent of the team of artists and stereographers for their work on the project. “Without our global infrastructure and such a committed team, we couldn’t have achieved the results we did. This project was delivered by the most highly- skilled stereo conversion team out there and we think the final results speak for themselves.”