As 3-D producer, Schklair found that an early challenge was assembling “just about every digital camera and recorder in the world” – no less than 18 Sony F950 CineAlta digital cameras and SR recording decks (two cameras per 3-D rig).  Tying this together with acres of fiber optic cable, the speed at which the equipment had to be set up and torn down to match the tour schedule required a crew that numbered as high as 140 persons at the Buenos Aires shoot, which was the largest shoot of the project and the stadium where the bulk of the material was captured. Working in "a very unorthodox way from beginning to end,” without storyboards, yet with a clear idea on how to get the shots needed to paint a great story, Catherine Owens was joined by co-director Mark Pellington on a few of the location shoots.

“We set out to honor the prime directive of shooting concerts – don’t disrupt the experience for the fans – so we worked to schedule each day strategically,” explains John Modell.  On February 15-16 in Mexico City (Azteca Stadium), they set up exclusively for medium-length shots.  Several days later, on February 20-21 in Sao Paulo, Brazil (Morumbi Stadium), two cameras were used to capture mid-distance shots.  For U2’s February 26 concert in Santiago, Chile (Estadio Nacional), a single overhead camera caught the stick-flinging of drummer Larry Mullen and surrounding action.

After five days of shooting, however, what the production had was still not enough to create the experience that everyone envisioned.  “I felt that this film should be a love letter to U2’s fans and that what we needed, ideally, was to set cameras onstage for intimate close-ups,” said Jon Shapiro.  “What we needed was to shoot without an audience.”  That need was fulfilled by Bono who, along with the entire band, agreed to perform 10 songs in a cameras-only show the night before two public concerts in Buenos Aires.  “It was an incredibly generous gesture, but not surprising,” said Owens.  “U2 is about passion, politics and love; in addition, there is an overriding aspect which is their creative generosity. It's a generosity I’ve personally experienced for as long as I’ve worked with them.”

During the March 1-2 concerts in Buenos Aires, Argentina (River Plate Stadium), the production team set up unobtrusively for mid- to long-distance shots, capturing the performances onstage and the passionate reactions of 80,000 fans from nine digital 3-D camera systems.  While crediting all of the incredibly talented cameramen and dozens of technicians who set up and tore down literally tons of equipment and acres of fiber-optic cables in two- and sometimes one-day periods, director Catherine Owens also offers kudos to the film’s two award-winning cinematographers: Tom Krueger (“Committed,” “Fatal Attraction”) and 3-D DP Peter Anderson (“T2 3-D: Battle Across Time,” “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience,” “Shrek 4-D”).

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