Potential & Limitations 3 - 2D in 3D Space

Although I already considered the interaction of 2D and 3D assets in my previous posts, I ran into certain limitations and conundrums during the assemblage of the scenes. In detail, the perspective grid of the shots that DO NOT rely on the one-point perspective view of the shot will possess a problem with the water and how it flows around the assets. Particularly, the test animation that I made to elaborate on the interaction of the water did not encompass shifting perspectives, which would reveal the flatness of the images and ruin the 3D space that I am constructing. For example, the scene where Seth's rowing is revealed as the ore passes through the water is not fit for this manner of animation, and instead, must have an alternative. In order to resolve this problem, I began researching online the 3D potential of After Effects since I was informed by one of my tutors that it possesses a workable 3D space (similar to Maya). After looking through tutorials, I discovered the 3D Layer (something I surprisingly did not know before) and how it will provide a feasible answer to my dilemma. However, it took me a while to fully grasp and understand the parameters of this tool hence the image (or layer) that one models around the 3D space is NOT like the bicubic interpolation in Photoshop, but instead revolves around the anchor point of the image where the X,Y, and Z axis are placed. Thus, once I understood this, I comprehended that in order to make the water flow logically I had to assign all layers of water on the same anchor point so that they may envelop the scene in compliance to perspective. Once I had a 3 hour take on this with trial-and-error, I finally managed to composite a solid, 3D imitating scene by using keyframes to animate and move the anchor point, as well as the Wave Warp tool to give the layers a flow that imitates water. Given that the bed is a 2D image, I had it behind one of the water layers, since if I transformed that layer into 3D as well the mesh would have been broken in-between the water frames, inadvertently ruining the illusion. However, I believe that in order to finish the scene I will need to animate the contours of the water around the ore - it appears as it is passing through a horizontal flat image as the ore moves through it.