So I can't be the only one pumped for The Force Awakens, but I'm in a select group of people pumped to see it in true IMAX!
A little while ago J.J. Abrams said that the only way to see the new movie properly was in IMAX. However, he probably didn't mean the "fake" IMAX.
There's three types of IMAX theaters left these days:
The original 15/70mm film IMAX theaters are drying up. They still display the giant-frame film, the stuff that J.J. is boasting for select scenes in the film. If you're in a true eight story IMAX theatre dome, this is breathtaking. I will happily be seeing the movie in this format!
Laser IMAX projectors are very new and are only in some theaters. They support the full frame in 3D as well and have great brightness and contrast. THey're actually two projects side by side. J.J. says that this is the best way, but it's very rare at this point. The laser projectors have better blacks and can actually match the brightness of the 70mm film.
The crappy DLP IMAX is what is called "fake" IMAX. Due to problems with brightness and to make it cost less, it displays on a smaller screen and the equivalent of 35mm film resolution! It's atrocious!. You might as well see the movie in a regular theater. These have plagued the nation, as they're easier to use and cost less. So, they're a smaller screen (more room for seats and $$), lower resolution (a rip off), and believe it or not, generally charge more for each ticket.
So.. Is this whole movie shot in full 70mm? Or just specific scenes? JJ Abrams makes it sounds like its specific scenes, wouldn't that be a bit jaring and pull you out of the film switching from one format to another? (ive never seen an imax movie film so i dont know)
Well, it's done smoothly. It's not like a constant switching. They're big chunks. But no, the entire film wasn't filmed that way. It would cost too much and create too big of a reel to do that. I think it's worth it.
I am not a fan of the dome screens. Things can get stretched out in some spots, and you have to be sitting in just the right spot to get the perfect experience.
Now if you wanna pack a broad sword and wade through the crowds to get to the perfect seat, then yeah, domes are freaking amazing.
The air and space imax theater has a pretty large curved screen. So all you need to do is sit in the middle-ish area and close up.
The thing I am looking forward to is seeing the picture in actual film. My friend and I were talking about this because he went to school for film. So many video editors over saturate all the colors. Imax film is film so it is harder to mess up the color.
So just to be pedantic it is plenty easy to play with the color of film on film, It's a specialized skill but since there has been color film there have been film graders/Colorists/color graders.
how most movies are delivered to theaters is through digital cinema files either sent via encrypted hard drive or satellite dish to a central file server in the theater. Making a Film reel is expensive both to make and to transport now that film is a low demand item.
As much as I would love to take adavantage of the 70mm aspect as I am somewhat of a film snob; my local theatere's IMAX seating is really uncomfortable for some reason, while the other theateres in the same exact cinema are very nice with recliners. I prefer my comfort.
Oh yea. I know you can color film, but its not to the same level as with digital.
And to be specific when you color film, it can look unnatural in a natural way.
IDK how to really describe it. I work more with photography than I do with movies. But a lot of times when people take nature photos with digital cameras, they saturate it and you can almost see some digital artifacts. The color contrasts wildly and the image just seems very jarring.
With film when people overcolor it, the colors at least seem to flow a bit more together. Its really weird, and I am not experienced enough to explain myself.
I'm surprised they still use imax film to be honest.
Most high res cameras exceed the quality of 70mm film.
And no that wasn't a typo , even film has a threshold where it cannot gain quality even with a higher res scanner. you would think the medium would be outmoded by 8-10k cameras and projectors.
Now if they made 140-200mm imax film , then you would really have something there.
I traveled to Sacramento, to the Esquire, to see Interstellar in IMAX (true IMAX). I keep having to tell people the difference between the IMAX here in Fresno, and the Sacramento one. It is like 98 feet tall. Crazy.
I actually would rather see it in Laser IMAX..... but there are only a few theaters like that in the country lol. There is one in Seattle.
Here is a list of 15/70mm IMAX theaters and IMAX LASER theaters showing Star Wars.
I have tickets for the 17th for a 2D Dolby ATMOS screening, and then a 'fake' IMAX 3D screening on the 18th. that is what i have available.
there are a couple of reasons for this the first is that when grading film on film because you are doing a chemical process it requires that you have learned under someone how to do it. no one will pay for you to waist their production time or money to learn how to do something new so you either learn on your own dime in the rare case you are wealthy or learn under someone who is willing to teach you the techniques. The second factor is that it is not a single person who grades and then sends it off for production the colorist consults with the producer and director to make sure they get what they want so its far less common for a bad grading to happen.
using the MFT calculations most high res digital cameras are on par with 70mm not that any theaters digitally projects at 8k resolutions.
but just to go on the film nerd end of things, while the MTF measuring technique is useful for what it is, it also is not a true measure of what film can and does do, rather its a measure of what film looks like when projected on film through production projectors. There are varying estimates on the theoretical resolution of film when using good glass when shooting to film and then scanned to digital most put 35mm on par with 4k and some say it hits 6k as the point of diminishing returns for detail.
Honestly, I prefer the resolution of 16:9 or even 21:9 for cinema. I understand why they would want it to be at a less "widescreen" angle, especially when you consider that the extra on top and bottom is just there to help fill your vision, but I just really like the presentation of the widescreen formats. Of course it has to be shot specifically with those formats in mind, otherwise it just looks cropped, but I am sure that we all understand that. Personally, I would prefer if there was a standard for movie theaters. I really like open standards that make things more uniform and straightforward. It would really be lovely if movie theaters worked more like tvs and monitors. Same aspect ratio, whatever one they decide is best for movies, and then different resolutions. So an IMAX theater would be just a higher resolution of the same image that can be blown up bigger (without aliasing) to better fill your entire vision to increase immersion. But I might be alone on that front.
The things is, Star Wars is only Imax for the one scene (i believe it is the Jakku scene with the Falcon). So the majority of the movie will still be a wider aspect ratio. And it is not like it is cropped off in Imax. It actually adds to the top and bottom of the picture.
I happened to see Interstellar in true 70mm Imax (the screen was 100ft tall. was insane). It was gorgeous. What sticks out in my mind was one of my favorite scenes, which has the endurance going past Saturn.
a tiny part of me agrees with you about the 'standardized' aspect ratio, but then the rest of me slowly killed that other part lol. It would take away artistic freedom, and it really poses no problem for modern projectors (outside the IMAX format).
That is why i hate seeing these 21:9 ultra wide monitors being advertized as 'cinema' panels for movie watching.
movies are all different aspect ratios, so how can it be advertized as 'movies fill the screen!' TT_TT PAcific rim was closer to 16:9 than a wider format (watch the Pacific Rim bluray. it fill the screen)
Blurays have a resolution of 1920x1080 (regardless of the aspect ratio). If you have a 2560x1080 or a 3840x1440 monitor, it will only stretch it out and scale it. it just boggles the mind lol
