Film-maker 38 Pictures and its sister company, Frozen Film Gear, both of Dunedin, have just marked the completion of a 13-minute "4-D" production to screen at Salmon World, a tourism attraction in the Mid-Canterbury town of Rakaia.
As well as utilising cutting-edge 3-D images, the fourth dimension was provided by screening the production with patrons strapped into seats on a moving platform.
Chief executive of 38 Pictures, Zoe Hobson said a key element to the production was a series of purpose-built camera rigs developed and built in Dunedin by Frozen Film Gear directors Justin Reid and Jody Williams.
The rigs allowed up to $150,000 worth of twin cameras and sound recording equipment to be attached to skiers racing down Mt Hutt, passengers in hot air balloons, and helicopters or jet-boats.
The 3-D results, combined with moving seats, provided a "point of view" experience for patrons wanting to get a taste of the real thing, she said.
"As the helicopter drops over a cliff you will drop in your seat ... when you are watching the helicopter fly over the bushes, you literally feel like you can reach your hand down and run your fingers through the bush."
The production was an example of the 3-D capabilities developing in Dunedin, including by her own company and NHNZ and Taylormade, she said.
Outside Dunedin, only filmmaker Peter Jackson, in Wellington, and an Auckland-based company appeared to be pursuing the technology, she said.
"There's so few companies shooting in 3-D.
"We are one of the only other ones I know of."
That meant the city already formed the basis of a 3-D hub, with inquiries coming in from within New Zealand and internationally, she said.
The company had produced several 3-D productions, including a short film telling the story of William Larnach for the Dimension3 Expo film festival in Paris, France.
The company contributed to an international dinosaur production for IMAX theatres late last year, and was working on a couple of "pretty big" productions involving United States companies.
