Prime Focus World (PFW), the Hollywood facing business of Prime Focus, the world’s largest independent and integrated media services powerhouse, has been bestowed the Lumiere for its spectacular work on Sin City: A Dame to Kill For at the International 3D & Advanced Imaging Society’s 6th Annual 3D Creative Arts Awards held in Los Angeles on 28 January. The Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller directed ultra-stylised comic book sequel Sin City 2 was awarded in the category ‘Best Stereography – Live Action’ and PFW was the exclusive VFX and 3D conversion provider as well as equity partner.
The 3D Creative Arts Awards honors the best in 3D image making, recognising outstanding achievement across all forms of creative content. Founder, executive chairman and global CEO of Prime Focus, Namit Malhotra received the award at a glittering function held at the Warner Bros. Studios which was attended by eminent Hollywood personalities.
Accepting the award, Namit said, “This is an incredibly proud moment for all of us at Prime Focus World. Sin City 2 has been our largest commission to date and the whole global construct of Prime Focus came together in achieving something that I believe only Prime Focus would have been able to do. This was an opportunity to not only put our best foot forward creatively and technically, but also to take the next step in terms of defining a new business model. This was a huge commitment: to our filmmaking partners, in helping to make this film happen; to the industry, in showing that there is another way for companies such as Prime Focus to engage; and to our own future. I’m delighted with the way this has played out.”
Reacting to the honor, Merzin Tavaria, Chief Creative Director and Co-founder, Prime Focus said, “We accept this independent industry recognition with great humility and pride. Our association with Sin City 2 has been a huge milestone in our global journey. Challenging opportunities such as these have enabled Prime Focus World to redefine 3D experience for the audiences’ world over and establish our leadership position in 3D conversion industry. We would like to thank the International 3D & Advanced Imaging Society for consistently acknowledging our work and honoring us three times in succession, which only validates our best-in-class creative credentials to deliver high quality 3D to the world’s most advanced film making community, Hollywood.”
Making Sin City 2 a reality was a herculean task – 700+ visual effects artists and 1500 artists from the 3D conversion team worked on this ambitious film. With 2,300 shots to be delivered, planning and production management worked seamlessly to create this visual extravaganza. Over 80 per cent of the film was delivered from PFW’s India facilities in Mumbai, Chandigarh and Goa.
PFW created 30 minutes of 3D for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, including the climactic sky battle sequence, and delivered supplementary conversion services for the natively captured Enchanted Kingdom (BBC), converting a number of tricky long-lens shots that had been captured in 2D and needed to sit perfectly alongside the native footage.
International 3D & Advanced Imaging Society’s 3D Creative Arts Awards have honored PFW twice earlier as well – recognising its ‘Hybrid Stereo Pipeline’ for the technology behind PFW’s stereo conversion work on films such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Edge of Tomorrow, Maleficent, and Gravity and for ‘Outstanding 2D to 3D Conversion in Theatrical Motion Picture’ for its remarkable work on Gravity.
2014 was the best year for PFW’s 3D team as it delivered the biggest line up of Hollywood’s summer releases – Noah, The Amazing Spiderman 2, Maleficent, Edge of Tomorrow, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Guardians of the Galaxy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Sin City: A Dame to Kill for.
PFW’s proprietary View-D technology is the industry’s most sought after 2D to stereo 3D conversion process renowned for its speed and quality of conversion. View-D has brought its 3D magic to Wizard of Oz, The Great Gatsby, World War Z, Men in Black 3, Star Wars: Episode I, II & III, Dredd 3D, Frankenweenie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Resident Evil: Retribution, Green Lantern, Immortals, Wrath of the Titans, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Avatar.