Director Rankin and cinematographer Marco Mazzei just shot “Rose Colored Glasses,” a 3D music video for singer Kelly Rowland, clear proof that the craze for 3D isn’t simply coming from big budget films and the occasional indie movie. Studio Daily spoke with Mazzei—for whom “Rose Colored Glasses” was his first 3D shoot—about the production.

The timing for shooting the 3D music video was perfect, as Mazzei had just completed the International Cinematographer Guild‘s training in 3D shooting at Sony Studios, where he learned the basics and got hands-on experience. “I had my feet wet in 3D before I started,” says Mazzei. “It was just adapting to a new camera and rig, which wasn’t hard at all. Once you know, you know.” The production used Silicon Imaging SI-2K cameras with the Zeiss 6-24mm DigiZoom and Element Technica’s Quasar rig. The equipment package was put together by VER (Video Equipment Rentals) in Burbank.

The two shoot days went very smoothly, says Mazzei. “We shot Kelly Rowland in a black void much of the time, which gets rid of many of the problems with backgrounds and figuring out the best space for 3D,” he says. “It became abstract, so in a way it was very simple but also very effective.” In addition to shooting Rowland in a black void, the music video also featured numerous elements including doves, ribbon, confetti, rain and snow that helped to create the 3D illusion.

On the set, Erik Spicard was the stereographer, Walter McGibbony was the 3D DIT, and the 3D rig technician was Gregg Atwell.  Chris Young was the 3D post supervisor. As of this writing, the video is still in post-production. It will air on YouTube 3D, on new 3D TV channels and elsewhere in a 2D version.

The music video did teach Mazzei more about lighting for 3D. In particular, a moody look was tricky to pull off in 3D. “If you can’t see what you’re seeing, you don’t see it in 3D,” he says. “The 3D effect depends on you seeing it, so the chiaroscuro you might create doesn’t render the same way. You have to play with it a little bit. I learned to think about camera placement and focal length in 3D space. The one thing is that the cameras have to stay aligned. You can’t just wing it. You have to judge if the cameras are perfectly in line or whether you can fudge it a bit, and I have to lean on the stereographer for that.”

“My brain just clicked into it, which was a nice feeling,” adds Mazzei. “You’re really just adding another layer to what you already know. If you’ve been a cinematographer for any length of time, it won’t take you long to click into 3D.”