“Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!” are being prepped for a 3D makeover, and Sony recently recorded the Sony Open golf tournament in Hawai’i in 3D.
Both were revealed during a media preview Friday of Sony’s new 3D Technology Center at Sony Studios in Culver City, which was announced by Sony chairman Sir Howard Stringer at CES in Las Vegas last month.
(Story continues below the following video highlights of discussion of 3D TV, sports, and videogame programming at Sony’s 3D Tech Center media preview.)
And chief officer of the new Center and president of Sony Pictures Technologies Chris Cookson indicated to 3DHollywood.net that the studio is prepping all the 3D material shot for Michael Jackson’s “This is It” stage show for a special edition Blu-ray release in the future, including an original updated music video for “Thriller” and a spectacular finale in which a jet (MJ Air) was to appear to taxi onto the stage with its wing over the audience and then take off directly over the heads of the audience. The new 3D footage would also include the “Earth Song” video shown recently during the Grammys using the old anaglyph process for TV.
Cookson said it was disappointing that the new stereoscopic shutter system with polarized glasses wasn’t ready in time for the Grammy presentation, but TVs and Blu-ray players with the new system, demonstrated during the media preview by Sony Electronics VP, TV, Chris Fawcett, will be introduced publicly in a few months.
Fawcett said consumers and Sony are very optimistic about 3D stereoscopic gaming, and he noted that 3D Interrnet, accessible on new 3D-capable TVs, will also provide a new 3D delivery opportunity.
The media preview of the new Tech Center, which is designed to provide hands-on and academic 3D photography and storytelling training to professionals in film, TV, and videogames, included brief 3D test footage from executive producer Harry Friedman of “Wheel of Fortune.” He noted that “Wheel” and “Jeopardy!” were the first syndicated series to be produced in HiDef in 2006, and he expects to do the same with 3D. So far there is no specific timetable.
Buzz Hays, senior vp of the Center, says Sony shot the Sony Open in 3D and continues to experiment with live events to determine where best to put the cameras for maximum effect. Cookson said the upcoming 25 World Cup 2010 soccer games to be broadcast by ESPN in June and July, for which Sony is a sponsor, will also be an opportunity for further experimentation.
Director of photography Dave Drzewiecki demonstrated the 3ality Digital camera system with remote control operation of two cameras stacked atop each other.
— By Scott Hettrick