German Newsletter
ARRI Film & TV Newsletter 27/10

Esteemed clients, dear friends of ARRI,

Enclosed, please find the most recent edition of the ARRI Film & TV newsletter in time for the theatrical release of Three, director Tom Tykwer's first film in his native Germany after spending the last decade working abroad on highly regarded international productions such as Heaven, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer and The International. The tragicomedy about a love triangle set in Berlin is probably Tom Tykwer's most intimate film to date.

Enjoy the read!

All the best,
Angela Reedwisch and Walter Brus

OPENING IN GERMAN THEATERS ON DECEMBER 23, 2010: THREE

Writer & Director: Tom Tykwer DoP: Frank Griebe Production Company: X Filme Creative Pool Producer: Stefan Arndt Editor: Mathilde Bonnefoy German Distributor: X Verleih DI Grading: Traudl Nicholson VFX Supervisor: Dominik Trimborn VFX Producer: Katja Müller Sound Supervisor & Re-recording Mixer: Matthias Lempert Sounddesigner: Frank Kruse   ARRI Services: Lab, Digital Intermediate, Visual Effects, Sound, HD-Mastering ARRI Rental: Camera, Lighting, Grip

Tom Tykwer wrote and directed Three - an intensely personal film that examines the emotional lives of his generation and explores questions about love, morality, gender roles and the viability of long-term goals from his protagonists' perspectives. The film is also a homage to Berlin, as only someone who has returned to the city after an extended period away could do. Three is also a continuation of the German auteur cinema, which has a long tradition in the country's film history.

The first German 35mm production in 4K

Tykwer wouldn't be Tykwer if he didn't explore the latest technological options filmmaking has to offer, and so Three became the first German 35mm production completed entirely in 4K, including all VFXs. As he has on numerous projects in the past, the director relied on the technical support of ARRI Rental and ARRI Film & TV in Berlin and Munich.

It was Tom Tykwer and DoP Frank Griebe's decision to shoot Three with anamorphic lenses, which prompted ARRI to suggest to finish the film in 4K to ensure the quality of the anamorphic negative, which is particularly high. Only in 4K the transfer into the digital environment can be completed without any loss. And so, to preserve the resolution, definition and brightness of the anamorphic images, it was agreed upon to work in 4K.

ARRI Rental Berlin, which supplied the camera, lighting and grip equipment, also obtained the needed scope lenses, which gave the film its unique look, from a supplier in Paris.

Left: Actress, Angela Winter, suspended from a rig faces director Tom Tykwer. Right: The deceased mother appears to her son Simon as an angel.

A labor intensive animation sequence was created with the camera moving in on a fetus in a womb. © X Verleih

VFX in Full-CG 3D

ARRI's Visual Effects Department in Munich also played a crucial role in this undertaking. "Finishing Three in 4K was quite a challenge," explains ARRI VFX Artist David Laubsch. "But, after working on 40 projects in 2K and 3K, I enjoyed being able to take full advantage of the available resolution. Every image had 4096x3112 pixels and was the size of around 50 mbyte. Plus, it was an additional treat for us, that the film was shot with scope lenses."

Right from the start, the audience gets a sense of what's to come with the help of a 3D animation during the film's opening. Looking out of the compartment window of a moving train, we see two parallel overhead wires above the adjoining railroad tracks. Accompanied by a perfectly synchronized voice-over, the wires seem to be engaged in a sort of 'dance', as do the protagonists, later in the film.

Another challenging sequence shows Simon's deceased mother (Angela Winkler), who appears to her son in the streets of Berlin as an angel before ascending to the sky. "A lot of prep went into this shot," ARRI Head of VFX Dominik Trimborn points out, "including 3D previews to precisely choreograph the movement of this complicated tracking shot in advance." Particularly labor intensive was an animation sequence in full-CG, during which the camera moves in on an elaborate model of a fetus, including veins and skin, swimming in amniotic fluid in a womb. ARRI VFX Head of 3D Michael Koch: "The 'fetus sequence' in full-CG was an exciting challenge, technically as well as creatively, for our VFX 3D Department, especially since we were working in 4K. We are particularly proud of the partially animated 3D sequence of the overhead wires that was featured prominently in the film's trailer." The sequence became an instant hit with the online community, which lauded it as one of the best trailers in recent years.

Trailer/Homepage: www.drei.x-verleih.de/de/

Three was also one of the first films to be mixed in the newly renovated sound studio at ARRI Film & TV in Berlin. In addition to the two mixing studios in Munich, ARRI now has another THX certified sound stage, capable of meeting the high demands of any international film production. 

Three tells the story of Hanna (Sophie Rois) and Simon (Sebastian Schipper), a Berlin couple in their forties who have been through all the highs and lows of a relationship, including extramarital affairs, miscarriages, separations and reunions. But their love for each other has quietly faded over the last 20 years, without any hope of reigniting. That is until Adam (Devid Striesow) walks into their lives - an event that could be called coincidence or fate, depending on how you look at it. Unbeknownst to the other, Hanna and Simon both have a liberating affair with Adam, which has an unexpected positive emotional effect on their stale relationship