A rider's face inside his helmet, in TT3D: Closer to the Edge

The Isle of Man TT in native stereo on a British independent budget: thirty-seven miles of road, riders at two hundred miles an hour, no second takes.

What it was

TT3D: Closer to the Edge follows the riders of the Isle of Man TT on and off the track, through the year that leads to race week. Director Richard de Aragues wanted a film that went deeper than a sports documentary, and stereo was a way to put the audience in the riders' place. Fast bikes look fine in 2D anyway; what stereo communicates is the riders' faces, and the film uses it for the human moments as much as the racing. It was released theatrically and narrated by Jared Leto.

Technical approach

Shot in stereo on digital cinema cameras rather than as an outside broadcast, within the constraints of an independent feature. Chris Parks was stereographer, with Angus Cameron as post stereographer. Camera crews and rig set-ups were planned for rapid movement around the island, with the knowledge that any failure meant a moment lost for good; with riders passing at two hundred miles an hour there was no second take.

In their words

Beverley Mills' deft editing of the TT - not just one race, but several around the Isle of Man over the course of a week - assembles the action that's been recorded via a wide range of rigs, from helicopter-mounted 3D cameras to sports channel archive footage to tiny HD recording devices strapped to various riders' bikes and helmets.

Variety, Leslie Felperin · Read ↗