Behind The Scenes of Portraits of No Man's Land

The "Portraits of No Man's Land" project used a range of cutting-edge technologies and post production processes to produce and tell stories in news ways. This exhibit gives you a look behind the scenes of the project, the crew, the kit and the processes we used.

Colmbian Production Wrap Photo (May 2019) by Elliot GravesDurham University

The team and the contributors from Meta, Colombia on the wrap day.

Yi HALO and Sennheiser Ambeo in action (May 2019) by Oliver KadelDurham University

Technologies that immerse you

The No-Man's Land Project used a range of immersive technology that allows viewers to interact with stories, assets and objects in new ways. To produce this content, the team utilised a range of capture and productions technologies.

8K 3D 360 Video

Using the Google Jump system coupled with the Yi HALO camera. The team were able to capture ultra high resolution 3D 360 video. The camera system has different requirements to normal cameras which makes the filming process more complicated. Sunlight, the distance from a subject and the cameras stability are all factors that can destroy a potential clip.

Yi HALO and Sennheiser Ambeo - Rapids (May 2019) by Oliver KadelDurham University

Using this cutting-edge capture technology is hard enough in controlled environments like film studios, let a lone trying to do it in the depth of the Colombian Amazon.

Yi Halo in the Buffer Zone (May 2019) by Elliot GravesDurham University

The camera setup ready to capture a beautiful golden hour image, overlooking the UN controlled Buffer Zone in Cyprus.

Noam loads a Donkey Cart (May 2019) by Oliver KadelDurham University

Getting the equipment around was a challenge. Here Noam loads up a Donkey cart with cases on the way to the airport in La Macarena. The team also used a customised Yas 4x4 to traverse the region.

Yi HALO and Sennheiser Ambeo - Fields (May 2019) by Oliver KadelDurham University

Ambisonic Immersive Audio

Capturing immersive sound is essential when working with immersive mediums like Virtual Reality. Oliver Kadel (1.618 Digital) worked to capture 3D audio at the highest resolution possible. We wanted to deliver authentic sound and capture the sonic fingerprint of all of the locations we’ve visited. Each location offered something unique, be it unusual and eery soundscapes of former WW1 battlefields in France or fauna rich rainforest in Colombia.

The audio for was captured in a few different ways. Here Oliver used the Ambeo VR mic to record diegetic audio along with the camera. Interviews were recorded on boom and lapel radio mics.

Ambisonic Recording In The Buffer Zone (May 2019) by Oliver KadelDurham University

We were lucky enough to capture both the Call To Prayer and the Sunday Mass Church Bells from the top of this roof in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Camera Rigging - River Boats (May 2019) by Elliot GravesDurham University

Travelling light and constantly being on the move meant that recording kit had to be portable and ready at any point. At the same time it had to be able to record the highest quality spatial audio.

Adobe Premiere Edit Project (May 2019) by Elliot GravesDurham University

Editing, Visual Effects and Post Production

Working to produce 3D and 8K was a significant challenge for such a small team and budget. It produced about 64 times the data compared to an HD movie. Working using proxies was essential. Here the edit process nears an end, you can see the video, graphics, metadata, visual effects, subtitles and reference audio all layer up.

Working in 3D, we had to produce separate images for both the left (top) and right (bottom) eyes. Working using proxies was essential - allowing the team to use smaller files, until the final export.

Post Production in the Airport (May 2019) by Elliot GravesDurham University

The post production often began in the airport with important backups and cloud based operations.

Pro Tools Post Production (May 2019) by Oliver KadelDurham University

Audio Post Production

With exception of several scenes where we felt the image alone wasn’t able to reveal all the complex layers of the story or particular twists in a plot, we resorted to sound design to disambiguate and make the message clearer. For example adding archival footage audio, news reports or tonal textures to create tension and suspense.

We delivered in high spatial audio resolution in a 3rd order ambisonics across 16 channels, for a comparison traditional TV or streaming services typically deliver in stereo (2 channels).

Photogrammetry Post Production (May 2019) by Elliot GravesDurham University

Photogrammetry

Photogrammetry is a process that uses photographs to recreate accurate 3D models. On location we used photogrammetry to capture a range of objects such as houses in the jungle or airplanes! Using a combination of high-end digital cameras and drones we captured thousands of photographs that were then processed in software.

Here, each triangle represents a photograph and a camera position moving around the plane. The coloured dots that make up the airplane are called a 'point cloud' and are the beginnings of a 3D model.

Photogrammetry Meshing (May 2019) by Elliot GravesDurham University

Using the software we can then connect the point cloud to create a shape, or mesh. This is reduced in complexity to allow mobiles, tablets and computers to show the model.

Photogrammetry Textures (May 2019) by Elliot GravesDurham University

The mesh is then textured with colour and materials that make it look photo-real. The result, an accurate 3D model of the grounded Cyprus Airways Trident Sun Jet, preserved forever digitally.

Credits: Story

Writing and Photography: Elliot Graves and Oliver Kadel

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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