Williams hits new dimension

J. Williams and Scribe. Photo / Supplied

It might look a bit hokey now but wait till it gets the Avatar treatment.

J. Williams' latest music video for his hit single You Got Me, featuring Scribe, is the first in New Zealand to be released to TV in 3D.

The single is currently sitting in the Top 10 charts and a regular two-dimensional clip was released this week.

But in the fancy 3D version, which was shot at the same time and due to hit C4 and Juice in a few weeks' time, anyone wearing 3D glasses will see the pop star and his dancers popping out of the screen at them. Mega-fans might find it torturous for him to seem so close, yet so untouchable.

Ronel Schodt, the managing director of the company behind the cameras, 3DLive, said her people decided to make a music video in 3D on the back of the hype around Avatar.

She claims film and television is all heading in the 3D direction, and music videos are an ideal testing ground because they really push boundaries in a short space of time.

J. Williams was chosen for this shoot purely because he was looking at recording a video at the same time as 3DLive was scouting a subject - it all came together within a week.

Though they have the gear, the people and the public's interest, Schodt says the 3D industry is slightly hindered by a lack of funding for one essential component - the glasses.

Record companies won't fork out for the special glasses that allow viewers to see in 3D, so she is talking to other sponsors to try to get a run of 50,000 in time for J. William's clip's release.

Anyone not wearing the glasses will still be able to watch the video, but will see a funny line around the figures that have had 3D treatment.

Damien Caine, who directed the clip, says the final version will leave audiences seriously impressed, and he hopes it will lead into more live performances captured in 3D.

The dancers' arms and legs will be flung out of the TV screen, and when Scribe holds a phone up to the camera, this will also pop out of the set.

He says You Got Me is the first all-live music video to come out of New Zealand - others have used computer graphics and special effects.

"It's basically a performance video, we put as much quality polish on it as we could under the constraints of time and budget."

Shooting in 3D is not extremely difficult anymore but it is more fiddly, Caine says.

"It's a lot slower, you have to prepare more and performers are limited in what they can do for you to capture their movements. It also needs a lot more light," he explains.

But the process is becoming more refined, and this video proves that something live can be captured in 3D, does Caine think this means gigs and other performances could soon be broadcast in 3D? "Yes definitely, definitely, we are very confident about seeing that as a regular fixture."