Film prints in theaters

[Flatnate]

Originally Posted by pagemaster

NOTE: I will say this, when 35mm is done for good, I really do believe we might see a return of 70mm for select cinemas, during this most recent transition to digital, I was shocked to see 70mm return in the form of The Dark Knight Rises, showings of the The Hobbit, Skyfall etc as well as The Master. Venues that have been showing 70mm movies in 2012-2013 did very well and the demand for the tickets was high, North of the border in Canada, there were five cinemas in the Toronto market that screens 70mm movies in the 2012, the three IMAX theatres still showing Hollywood movies, the Varsity that installed 70mm for The Master and the Tiff Lightbox which regularly shows 70mm films including The Master. IMAX in some venues has preserved the option to play 70mm as well as digital 2k in some places.

I very much hope this is true. At the least I hope that in the future I can find more screenings in 4K but without the 3D. It seems that near me, most 4K screenings are almost always 3D as well, and depending where you live it often leaves someone looking for a pristine 2D picture out in the cold.

My other hope is that if some of these small venues can get past the financial hurdle and do transition to digital that it will open the door for more kinds of films and programming than say the typical Hollywood mainline films with a three week delay. For instance, indy films, retro stuff, grind house, and even live broadcast could help keep these little gems stay running.

[Penton-Man]

Flat –
Relevant to your query as it pertains to new motion pictures, see https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ot#post7259219

^ The above prediction was recently even publically mentioned at a past ICTA event -
http://www.internationalcinematechno...vents/january/

As far as making your cinema night out a *special event*, the current topic of interest these days is Dolby Atmos…as it has a future.

[pagemaster]

Originally Posted by Flatnate

. It seems that near me, most 4K screenings are almost always 3D as well, a

Hey Flatnate, there are no 3D 4K showings. 3D has been only shown exclusively in 2K.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Flatnate

The Last Days of Celluloid

For those shooters out there, still inclined toward the film look, these be good discount prices for Fujifilm. This independent company has purchased the last 2 million feet of Fuji film in Europe. Get it while it lasts.

Fuji’s 64-speed daylight stock is especially nice….
http://www.filmstockclearance.com/

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

For those shooters out there...

Get your FREE updated Kodak app- http://filmmakermagazine.com/66734-k...or-filmmakers/

[Penton-Man]

Ooops, for the Aussies reading, it’s soon onto Thailand for a lab -

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/indu...s-out-of-films

Welp, good thing is, what happens in Bangkok, stays in Bangkok.

[JacobJeans]

This series covers the film landscape from silent cinema to the modern day digital era. A new decade brought with it a wealth of new discoveries as Quentin Tarantino blasted the landscape, Baz Luhrmann's madcap frenetic film language sat alongside Iranian cinema, and new Japanese horror terrified global audiences.

[vveksuvarna]

I really hope we see a underground/cult/grassroots movements for film. Chris Nolan has already been pushing his friends, but we haven't seen many film productions pop up since.

Like others have mentioned, I too am hoping that 70mm picks up as a novelty format. If 4k/3D/Atmos can be marketed as a premium experience, so can 70mm.

[pagemaster]

Originally Posted by vveksuvarna

If 4k/3D/Atmos can be marketed as a premium experience, so can 70mm.

70mm always was marketing as a premium experience, not only for the presentation when the movie was shown in film, but also with the sound...

The Master commanded a premium for the ticket price.

[Penton-Man]

Film processing not dead (yet) in the U.K….http://www.screendaily.com/5053929.article

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by vveksuvarna

I really hope we see a underground/cult/grassroots movements for film. Chris Nolan has already been pushing his friends, but we haven't seen many film productions pop up since.

Like others have mentioned, I too am hoping that 70mm picks up as a novelty format. If 4k/3D/Atmos can be marketed as a premium experience, so can 70mm.

You're dreaming. Not going to happen. Film is disappearing. Outside of Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, most theatres don't even have a 35mm film projector in the booth any more. In the U.S., film prints will pretty much be gone by the end of this year; internationally by the end of 2014. In the last 28 years, only five films have been shot in 65mm (aside from IMAX): Far and Away in 1992, Baraka in 1993, Hamlet in 1996 and Samsara and The Master in 2012 (and Samsara was never actually released in 70mm).

As noted in an earlier post, Fuji has sold their remaining film stock to a third party. Kodak still makes film, including 65mm origination and 70mm print film, but they're in bankruptcy. It's only a matter of time before they discontinue most film manufacturing.

However there are companies working on a 70mm-sized sensor for digital cameras. However, there's a question as to whether or not that will improve perceived quality once down-rezed to playback in the Cinema, even at 4K.

[pagemaster]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

You're dreaming. Not going to happen. Film is disappearing. Outside of Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, most theatres don't even have a 35mm film projector in the booth any more. In the U.S., film prints will pretty much be gone by the end of this year; internationally by the end of 2014. In the last 28 years, only five films have been shot in 65mm (aside from IMAX): Far and Away in 1992, Baraka in 1993, Hamlet in 1996 and Samsara and The Master in 2012 (and Samsara was never actually released in 70mm).

As noted in an earlier post, Fuji has sold their remaining film stock to a third party. Kodak still makes film, including 65mm origination and 70mm print film, but they're in bankruptcy. It's only a matter of time before they discontinue most film manufacturing.

However there are companies working on a 70mm-sized sensor for digital cameras. However, there's a question as to whether or not that will improve perceived quality once down-rezed to playback in the Cinema, even at 4K.

You make some valid comments and for the most part, they do make sense. However, I would not rule out film not ever returning. The studios including IMAX who distributes the IMAX content know full well that there is a demand for 70mm IMAX content. The is one of the reasons why many of the older IMAX venues went to a digital/film switchover system to preserve the ability to run 15/70.

The theatres that installed 70mm for The Master were grossing close to $250,000 per theatre during the run, this was with a premium added to the price of the ticket. Cineplex Odeon added 70mm to one of their digital only theatres for about $10,000....they used equipment and used the non stadium seating theatre within the stadium seating complex.

The Dark Knight Rises had even stronger grosses in 70mm IMAX.

So there is a demand for it, and if there is a way to make money doing it, then I see no reason for the studios not to want to do it.

The next big thing will be the 48fps Avatar 2 which will achieve what Peter Jackson tried and that is large upgrades for existing cinema owners, this will be the next big thing. People should be aware that 48fps is not 4K and is actually 2K with the Hobbit actually being less than 1080p.

After that, if someone has a huge hit on the horizon and wants theatres to install 70mm or 35mm, the cinemas will do it.

[blonde_devil]

the digital thing is a studio push - if theatres resisted, the studios would back down but you are in a bind. big theatre companies will work with the studio and convert leaving smaller, independant ones to fight for themselves. either you convert or you close out. but when you think about it, it isn't really that different than the audio formats. where can you buy a tape anymore? it is the next step. I think eventually film in a theatre will become more of a novelty like records are now - you will see them but it will be special screenings of new transfers of old movies.

as for actually filming movies on film, that isn't going to die anytime soon. watched Keanu Reeves movies about it and there are a lot of directors who still want to use film and when your last name is Nolan, what studio is going to say no? they just need to be careful with it and create some standards. look at all the movie formats that have come and gone over the years because someone developed it but it never because a viable standard and now it can't be used. they just need to make sure that in 20 years they can pull up that movie and actually watch it. I guess it isn't as bad as cgi where each company did thier own thing so chances are we won't see an issue like with Toy Story 3 where all the characters had to be created from scratch again because the old files were no longer compatible but who would have thought back then that something like that would happen anyways.

[Tok]

Steedeel are you just trying to get members riled up?

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Tok

Steedeel are you just trying to get members riled up?

No, 100 percent genuine concerns. They honestly are.

[ZoetMB]

I think the only hope is that after experiencing movies and TV shows on the personal, really small screens, at some point the big screen will seem miraculous again and they'll be a new trend by young people of attending movies in theaters. And maybe they'll even start dating again instead of just hooking up.

I have to give theaters some credit - at least they're trying to make at least some movie experiences special again. I don't agree that they're all really beneficial, but the ETX, RPX, IMAX (even LieMax) large screen experience, combined with 11.1 or object oriented sound systems like Dolby Atmos will get many people off of their personal media devices.

At first I thought it was all just a ripoff - why should a decent movie experience cost more money - they all should be good experiences, but then I remembered back to the 1950s and 60s roadshows and those also charged more - a lot more. The theaters were fancier and people dressed better, but today's special theaters are today's "low rent" equivalent. And back in the day of the roadshows, almost all of the big 70mm and Cinerama houses were in the downtowns of large cities. Today's special theaters are everywhere.

Digital does have its advantages - in the film days, theaters outside of the big cities got used prints and they usually looked like crap and frequently had segments missing.

And even though most theaters are no longer equipped to play film anyway, it now appears that the majors have shifted the sunset date for film prints in the U.S. from December, 2013 to mid-2014.

-----

I was in the single-screen Ziegfeld in NYC the other day to see "Captain Phillips". I noticed they had digital projectors in two positions. Strangely, the movie played off the same digital projector as the ads, but the trailers played off a different digital projector, which was in the center position where the film projector used to be. I couldn't see into the booth well enough to see if the film projector is still there or not, but even though they played "The Master" in 70mm not that long ago, it's possible the film projector is gone.

The theatre's operation has been taken over by BowTie from Clearview (Clearview still owns the theatre, although their other remaining NYC properties have been sold to BowTie). I wonder whether BowTie pulled out the film projector.

[MrsMiniver]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

I think the only hope is that after experiencing movies and TV shows on the personal, really small screens, at some point the big screen will seem miraculous again and they'll be a new trend by young people of attending movies in theaters. And maybe they'll even start dating again instead of just hooking up.

I have to give theaters some credit - at least they're trying to make at least some movie experiences special again. I don't agree that they're all really beneficial, but the ETX, RPX, IMAX (even LieMax) large screen experience, combined with 11.1 or object oriented sound systems like Dolby Atmos will get many people off of their personal media devices.

At first I thought it was all just a ripoff - why should a decent movie experience cost more money - they all should be good experiences, but then I remembered back to the 1950s and 60s roadshows and those also charged more - a lot more. The theaters were fancier and people dressed better, but today's special theaters are today's "low rent" equivalent. And back in the day of the roadshows, almost all of the big 70mm and Cinerama houses were in the downtowns of large cities. Today's special theaters are everywhere.

Digital does have its advantages - in the film days, theaters outside of the big cities got used prints and they usually looked like crap and frequently had segments missing.

And even though most theaters are no longer equipped to play film anyway, it now appears that the majors have shifted the sunset date for film prints in the U.S. from December, 2013 to mid-2014.

-----

I was in the single-screen Ziegfeld in NYC the other day to see "Captain Phillips". I noticed they had digital projectors in two positions. Strangely, the movie played off the same digital projector as the ads, but the trailers played off a different digital projector, which was in the center position where the film projector used to be. I couldn't see into the booth well enough to see if the film projector is still there or not, but even though they played "The Master" in 70mm not that long ago, it's possible the film projector is gone.

The theatre's operation has been taken over by BowTie from Clearview (Clearview still owns the theatre, although their other remaining NYC properties have been sold to BowTie). I wonder whether BowTie pulled out the film projector.

Very well said, I kind of like IMAX even though they have gone the liemax route. Not so much of a fan of the RPX ETX type clones. I do agree there are a lot of small screens that are boring.

[BozQ]

That's a huge punch to the gut. Very disappointing. I am really going to miss the look of film very soon.

[saprano]

It's more than sad and disappointing. It's a f'n disgrace.

Lets not forget the only reason this is being done; money. Money which these companies have billions of from us. Anything to save a penny will do.

I hope no one thought the digital camera change was to improve picture quality for us?????



lol....lol....lol....lol......





No.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by saprano

I hope no one thought the digital camera change was to improve picture quality for us?????...

My friend, you would not do well in the RED forum.