Large Format/"Premium" Theaters (IMAX 15/70, Digital IMAX, XD, ETX, RPX, etc.)

[antovolk]

Originally Posted by GLaDOS

My bet goes for Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Blade Runner 2049. I'd be happy if they specially formatted Justice League to fill up the 1.43:1 screens since it was shot on S35 (1.33:1 aspect ratio shown from the audio dubbing process).

Yeah I've brought up the JL idea earlier, would be pretty cool indeed (and if trailer footage is to go by they are completing VFX/grading at 1.33)

[xbs2034]

Originally Posted by antovolk

Yeah I've brought up the JL idea earlier, would be pretty cool indeed (and if trailer footage is to go by they are completing VFX/grading at 1.33)

It would be cool, but when the normal version of the film will already fill digital IMAX, I don't see them doing an expanded version just for the maybe 50 or so laser IMAXs there'll be.
Thor seems like the most obvious choice for a specially formatted IMAX version, and IMAX is pushing Blade Runner hard plus Roger Deakins did IMAX formatting for Skyfall, so that could certainly be one. Spidey is also possible, but Amazing Spider-Man 2 didn't after the first did (I don't know if shooting on film made the formatting harder to do, if so I believe Wonder Woman and The Mummy are both being shot on film), and I see that as more of a Sony movie than a Marvel one, so I'm gonna guess no.

Two others I think are very possible are the third Cloverfield (Bad Robot is a big supporter of IMAX) and The Soultrean (which granted plans change and they may have just been talking about releasing in IMAX, but when it was announced back in 2015 they were already planning on taking use of IMAX).

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by xbs2034

Spidey is also possible, but Amazing Spider-Man 2 didn't after the first did (I don't know if shooting on film made the formatting harder to do, if so I believe Wonder Woman and The Mummy are both being shot on film)

Amazing Spider-Man 2 was shot anamorphic so there wasn't anything to "open up" on the image.

[Geoff D]

^ Bingo. Shooting on film or digital doesn't make it any easier/harder to embiggen an image if framed for 2.40, it all depends on whether it's shot spherical or anamorphic. ASM1 was shot spherical on dual-rig RED, ASM2 was shot anamorphic on 35mm and post-converted.

[xbs2034]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

^ Bingo. Shooting on film or digital doesn't make it any easier/harder to embiggen an image if framed for 2.40, it all depends on whether it's shot spherical or anamorphic. ASM1 was shot spherical on dual-rig RED, ASM2 was shot anamorphic on 35mm and post-converted.

Yeah, that makes sense and I know aspect ratio changes on film shoots are certainly possible, just thought they were a bit more difficult. From David Twohy (I remember this post about Riddick in IMAX, as I sought out that format for the expanded ratio because of this, which wasn't heavily advertised), it sounds like Riddick was shot anamorphic, but thanks to the "entirely digital pipeline" he was able to adjust on a shot by shot basis.
https://davidtwohy.wordpress.com/201...be-biiiiiiiig/

Also, this was pre-release speculation which can often be wrong, but I remember speculation that parts of Spectre would use IMAX ratio because of spherical shooting (on mostly 35mm film unlike the digital Skyfall), but nope.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by xbs2034

Also, this was pre-release speculation which can often be wrong, but I remember speculation that parts of Spectre would use IMAX ratio because of spherical shooting (on mostly 35mm film unlike the digital Skyfall), but nope.

Hm? Spectre was also shot anamorphic (the first Bond film to do so since Die Another Day).

[xbs2034]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Hm? Spectre was also shot anamorphic (the first Bond film to do so since Die Another Day).

Yeah, that was all pre-release stuff (which can be speculation or even have plans change) around the time early script details leaked from the Sony hack, and I think they were talking about the Mexico sequence and the finale being shot spherical and figured those would be adjusted for IMAX.

Edit: looks like Anamorphic for Spectre was announced in March 2015, and the script leaks were December 2014 (and I remember the IMAX sequence and spherical footage speculation was around then), so probably just wrong guesses

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by xbs2034

Yeah, that makes sense and I know aspect ratio changes on film shoots are certainly possible, just thought they were a bit more difficult. From David Twohy (I remember this post about Riddick in IMAX, as I sought out that format for the expanded ratio because of this, which wasn't heavily advertised), it sounds like Riddick was shot anamorphic, but thanks to the "entirely digital pipeline" he was able to adjust on a shot by shot basis.
https://davidtwohy.wordpress.com/201...be-biiiiiiiig/

No. Riddick was shot flat on the Alexa. They framed up for 2.40 within the sensor area but the full height was exposed, thus allowing them to embiggen when necessary. Exact same process was used on Skyfall.

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Hm? Spectre was also shot anamorphic (the first Bond film to do so since Die Another Day).

Yeah, I remember being very happy when I heard that news.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by xbs2034

Yeah, that was all pre-release stuff (which can be speculation or even have plans change) around the time early script details leaked from the Sony hack, and I think they were talking about the Mexico sequence and the finale being shot spherical and figured those would be adjusted for IMAX.

Sure, but a lot of aerials and wider establishing shots and busier action scenes are captured flat these days [edit] (and not just "these days", come to think of it), so one doesn't necessarily equate with the other. Indeed, Spectre's big London boat chase finale was shot on the Alexa 65 which could've easily been embiggened for IMAX but it simply wasn't something they wanted to do with it.

[Dwayne]

Anything shot for IMAX is good . IMAX has some competition now with the Dolby/ATMOS Cinema Theater's that some of them provide you with EXCEPTIONAL AUDIO quality on a large scale screen. IMAX was the first for this format and is allway's fun, with good audio as well. Good stuff .

[NegaScott128]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Hm? Spectre was also shot anamorphic (the first Bond film to do so since Die Another Day).

The opening was shot on spherical, and the rest of the movie was anamorphic.
You can see this in the bokeh shape.

Opening:

Perfect circle.

Later on:

Vertical oval shape.

Weirdly, the ending appears to have been shot spherical as well:


I never saw it in IMAX, so I can't say whether the ending was expanded. But I do know the opening was.

[Spike M.]

The transition between the Alexa 65 and 35mm anamorphic was insanely jarring to me, even on dated 2K IMAX projectors.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by NegaScott128

The opening was shot on spherical, and the rest of the movie was anamorphic.
You can see this in the bokeh shape.

Opening:


Perfect circle.

Probably because the entire opening was assisted by Industrial Light & Magic - it was impossible to do everything in one take so they processed the hell out of it to make it look like it was a single continuous shot. Not sure about the climax though.

[sunnya23]

So someone please simplify this for me because all this talk of aspect ratios doesn't quite make sense to me. How many of these films will have IMAX sequences which fill the entire screen, I mean like Nolan 70mm "The Dark Knight" and "Interstellar" type sequences which are the highest quality I have seen of any images ever. This cheap gimmick they come up with where they shoot with Arri Alexa digital IMAX cameras which expand the screen but still show black bars is not worth it for me. I would rather watch films like this in a Dolby Cinema. That has become my new go to, true deepest black levels I have seen and sharp 4k image quality all with plush reclining chairs and Dolby atmos surround sound. The only reason I would go into IMAX cinemas now is for Nolan films because I'm guaranteed those films are formatted for and "experiences" to be had in an IMAX auditorium.

[NegaScott128]

Originally Posted by sunnya23

So someone please simplify this for me because all this talk of aspect ratios doesn't quite make sense to me. How many of these films will have IMAX sequences which fill the entire screen, I mean like Nolan 70mm "The Dark Knight" and "Interstellar" type sequences which are the highest quality I have seen of any images ever. This cheap gimmick they come up with where they shoot with Arri Alexa digital IMAX cameras which expand the screen but still show black bars is not worth it for me. I would rather watch films like this in a Dolby Cinema. That has become my new go to, true deepest black levels I have seen and sharp 4k image quality all with plush reclining chairs and Dolby atmos surround sound. The only reason I would go into IMAX cinemas now is for Nolan films because I'm guaranteed those films are formatted for and "experiences" to be had in an IMAX auditorium.

Traditionally, the aspect ratio for IMAX 70mm film is 1.43:1, which is slightly wider than the old 1.33:1 aspect ratio used by pre-1953 films and old tube televisions. In recent years, however, IMAX has come to include a digital version, with a 1.90:1 aspect ratio. Since this digital version is the primary method of distributing IMAX films (there are more digital venues than 70mm film ones), if a film is formatted for IMAX, it is most likely formatted for the digital version, and not the 70mm version. This means that if a digital IMAX film is shown on a screen designed for the 70mm IMAX, then the film will have noticeable black borders even when it is "opened up."

There are, however, some films that are still formatted for the 70mm frame. You mentioned Nolan, but Justice League is also suspected to receive a 1.43 version, though since it was shot on 35mm film and not IMAX 70mm, you won't see any increase in sharpness. On the plus side, it would consistently fill the entire screen - no black bars at all. Star Wars: The Last Jedi was shot with 70mm IMAX cameras for some scenes, and thus those scenes will also fill the screen.

[testmon1182]

Originally Posted by NegaScott128

The opening was shot on spherical, and the rest of the movie was anamorphic.
You can see this in the bokeh shape.

Opening:

Perfect circle.

Later on:

Vertical oval shape.

Weirdly, the ending appears to have been shot spherical as well:


I never saw it in IMAX, so I can't say whether the ending was expanded. But I do know the opening was.

It's not surprising considering the night scenes they went with spherical considering 35mm is not the best at night.

Same thing with John Wick some night scenes they used spherical. It bites on the details much better at night.

[testmon1182]

I did see 300 DMR'd back in 07' and even though it wasn't native 15/70 it was still quite the experience as flawed as it was.

[IMG][/IMG]

Just wondering is the Justice League 70mm version will be open matte or close to it?

[NegaScott128]

Originally Posted by testmon1182

Just wondering is the Justice League 70mm version will be open matte or close to it?

It appears that the film is being finished in 1.33, which means that the IMAX version would be in 1.43. It wouldn't be exactly open matte, but it's still a big increase over 1.85.

[testmon1182]

Someone had the caps from twitter showing some extra information on top and bottom that wasn't in the JL trailer. I can't find it though.

Just makes you think how fun (and challenging) it would be to have the opportunity to shoot on 15/70? I mean the ridiculous shallow depth of field, clarity, definition etc.



Just look at this shot, exposing for Joker and the henchmen in the shadow of the bank and yet the background is still visible and if shot on digital and would have been blown out. It's ridiculous.




DOF & and that glorious bokeh!

[ITDEFX101]

GotG had select scenes in changing AR. Only 1 scene had Frame Break.

I don't think Manassas' IMAX 3-d screen is not properly calibrated. The only reasons I go there are for the collectible tickets and the no reserved seating at the IMAX screen.

As I mentioned in the GotGv2 thread, they actually ended up showing Fate of the Furious instead of GotGv2. The big clues to this.......first the IMAX Countdown animation was that of for Fate of the Furious and second the UNIVERSAL Logo animation was playing........then it was a scene that looked like something out of those movies (I didn't see FotF). People actually started getting up thinking they were in the wrong theater. Then the movie stopped......and after about 5 minutes it restarted with a generic IMAX Countdown and then the movie started.

This is the second time this has happened at that theater as with the first showing of KONG the 3d projector in the IMAX screen wasn't active for the first 30 mins.