Ground-breaking Humpback Whales Documentary Goes 3D

Award-winning Humpback whales documentary, OCEAN VOYAGERS will soon be seen in full 3D, it was announced today in a statement by San Diego-based 3D Production studio PassmoreLab, Feodor Pitcairn Productions and Off the Fence Productions.

The 72-minute documentary, narrated by two-time Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep, explores the familiar themes of motherhood and parenting in a world as unfamiliar as it is breathtaking. Featuring a precocious newborn humpback calf and his enormous 40 ton mother, viewers are taken on a 7,000 mile journey of discovery into their world. The story begins in the tropical seas of the South Pacific and witnesses the dangers of animal and human predation – shark attacks, fishing gear entanglement, and perhaps worst of all, commercial whaling. PassmoreLab produced all 3D aspects of the film out of San Diego, utilizing the company’s proprietary technology.

“This film is beautiful,” said Greg Passmore, president of PassmoreLab. “I think it will translate wonderfully into 3D, giving new audiences a more immersive and personal experience of life in the oceans.”

Previously broadcast in 2D, Ocean Voyagers was produced by Feodor Pitcairn Productions and Off the Fence Productions for Animal Planet International. The five-year excursion was shot entirely in High Definition on location in French Polynesia, Hawaii, Alaska, Newfoundland, The Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine.

“Ocean Voyagers was one of those special projects that just seems to have a little magic associated with it, there were so many serendipitous events that resulted in truly amazing footage,” said Feodor Pitcairn, cinematographer of the film. “The bond that was created between the cameramen and the whales really shows up on screen and it will be even more amazing in 3D.”

Surprisingly little is known about the lives of Humpback whales. Still hunted and on the verge of extinction, Ocean Voyagers in 3D! provides a startlingly intimate portrait of Humpback life through the eyes of a mother whale as she teaches her baby all he will need to know to survive the dangers of the sea.

Ocean Voyagers in 3D! will be released internationally in 2011.