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Author Topic: IMAX movies format origination
Paul Linfesty
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1383
From: Bakersfield, CA, USA
Registered: Nov 1999


 - posted 01-25-2007 01:00 PM      Profile for Paul Linfesty   Email Paul Linfesty   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hope that doesn't sound like to much of a tease. What I'm looking for is a definitive source of what actual shooting formats that movies shown in IMAX originate in. Of course, I'm well aware that the big studio films are either 35mm, HD or animation re-rendered, but some of the museum IMAX films apparently aren't being shot in true IMAX anymore, either. I've seen some cleaqrly 35mm blow-ups that apparently didn't even go through DMR processing.

I wanted to introduce a friend to IMAX and am sepcifically looking at two that are playing at the Los Angeles (California Science Museum). Deep Sea 3-D and Hurricane on the Bayou (the publicity still for the latter definitely looks like an IMAX camera).

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 01-26-2007 08:01 PM      Profile for Bobby Henderson   Email Bobby Henderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Yeah, it would be nice to know when a movie released for IMAX is actually shot in 15/70 format, or blown up from 8/70, or 35mm or freaking digital video (although the latter two are much more obvious).

I'm not sure if any of that could be covered in the Feature Info and Trailer Attachments forum. I don't see many IMAX releases being covered at all there.

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Joseph L. Kleiman
Master Film Handler

Posts: 380
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Apr 2005


 - posted 01-29-2007 09:26 AM      Profile for Joseph L. Kleiman   Email Joseph L. Kleiman   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Any film format can be used to capture the footage, then blown up to 15/70. 35mm has been used on Roar, Human Body, All Access, and Our Country, to name a few. The Cameron films as well as Ocean Wonderland and Sharks 3D were filmed with digital 3D rigs. NSync and portions of Bugs were filmed in 8/70. And a portion of Thrill Ride was actually taken from a Cinerama film!

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Hillary Charles
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 748
From: York, PA, USA
Registered: Feb 2001


 - posted 02-01-2007 03:56 PM      Profile for Hillary Charles   Email Hillary Charles   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Everything I've read about "Deep Sea 3D" says that it was shot with the twin IMAX rig, except for the shot of the young whale at the end, which was supposedly shot in 16mm 2D. Expecting for a major increase in grain, I was surprised how good it looked compared to the rest of the movie (although it did look different). The faked 3D looked good too.

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Jeremy Jorgenson
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1002
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: Feb 2005


 - posted 02-02-2007 07:12 PM      Profile for Jeremy Jorgenson   Author's Homepage   Email Jeremy Jorgenson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I know others have already answered, but I'll expand a bit. You mentioned specifically:

quote: Paul Linfesty
museum IMAX films
Many of these are documentaries, some of which (by the nature of their subject matter) would require difficult to shoot &/or historical footage. Sometimes the filmmaker has to decide between a number of options: waiting to capture an event, shooting in a format other than 15/65, recreating it in studio, or going with some available footage that was not originally shot with the intention of being blown up to 15/70.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 02-02-2007 11:27 PM      Profile for Bobby Henderson   Email Bobby Henderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Sure, it can be pretty difficult to film a lot of different types of subject matter in 15/70 IMAX. It takes some serious planning and technical expertise to pull off a lot of large format camera shots. Not everybody can manage it.

However, when one considers that a film crew was able to haul a 15/70 IMAX camera rig to the summit of Mount Everest (where some climbers from another group died a few days earlier), I can't be too awful sympathetic to the excuses of hardship many productions offer on why they had to shoot in smaller film formats or even on freaking digital video.
[Roll Eyes]

I don't expect an IMAX crew to be able to shoot 300fps slow-mo footage of hummingbirds hovering at a feeder in the early morning hours. But all this 35mm-to-DMR hokum is getting pretty silly. I think if a movie production really wants to show off something in 70mm they ought to originate the movie in the format. Try harder, Hollywood!

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Paul Linfesty
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1383
From: Bakersfield, CA, USA
Registered: Nov 1999


 - posted 02-03-2007 04:23 PM      Profile for Paul Linfesty   Email Paul Linfesty   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Bobby Henderson
I think if a movie production really wants to show off something in 70mm they ought to originate the movie in the format.
Amen! Almost all movies I saw in 5 perf 70mm were blow-ups which looked nice, but only when I started seeing new 70's of 65mm originated footage did I start getting blown away!

Bobby is absolutley correct in not making excuses for shooting museum films in anything other than true large format. In addition to the Everest film, these cameras have gone deep in the sea as well as in space (shot by non-pros, too!) And the IMAX's I've seen in 35mm blow-ups at the museum were straight safari-type footage where format question shouldn't have even been part of the equation (except, of course, in the budget sense, which obviously was the only consideration used here). This can only help kill the format, as the wow! factor is definitely missing.

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Brian Michael Weidemann
Expert cat molester

Posts: 944
From: Costa Mesa, CA United States
Registered: Feb 2004


 - posted 02-03-2007 05:43 PM      Profile for Brian Michael Weidemann   Author's Homepage   Email Brian Michael Weidemann   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
We just opened Hurricane On The Bayou and Roving Mars. And both films have the wow-factor. Beautiful, crisp, large format!

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Chip Bartlett
Film Handler

Posts: 1
From: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2007


 - posted 02-09-2007 12:48 PM      Profile for Chip Bartlett   Author's Homepage   Email Chip Bartlett   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Other than the CGI footage and some news footage which is shown in a smaller onscreen frame all of Hurricane on the Bayou was shot in 15/70. I agree with what has been said for LF filmmakers There really is still no excuse for not shooting 15/70 other than shot length and cost. Some filmmakers would argue that shooting cetain subjects (like hummingbirds) in 15/70 is not practical, but large format film making is not about making pratical films and if they really wanted to get that shot in 15/70 they would have.

The 16mm stuff in Deep Sea 3D is some incredible footage, and they decided they wanted that scene in the film. With the cost of scanning, upresing/DMR, etc., I have heard that this scene cost rougly $500K to prepare for large format. They could have shot the scene in 15/70 for much less but they wanted to include this particular interplay with the diver and the whale. This scene would not have looked as good if it was not underwater, the digital effects guys were able to color film grain blue and do other background compositing for a pretty good looking shot.

FYI... The Alps which opens in about a month was also shot exclusively in 15/70 and has some of most incredible mountain clibing and aerial footage ever shot in 15/70 according to people at DKP 70mm who have probably seen it all. Think Everest with more vertical climbing and the ability to shoot the mountain tops with helicopter rigs. Good stuff for any IMAX fan.

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Jeremy Jorgenson
Phenomenal Film Handler

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From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: Feb 2005


 - posted 02-09-2007 03:28 PM      Profile for Jeremy Jorgenson   Author's Homepage   Email Jeremy Jorgenson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Paul Linfesty
shot by non-pros
yeah ... rocket scientists

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Cameron Glendinning
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 845
From: West Ryde, Sydney, NSW Australia
Registered: Dec 2005


 - posted 02-09-2007 05:47 PM      Profile for Cameron Glendinning   Email Cameron Glendinning   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
as well as in space (shot by non-pros, too!)
The lack of gravity would make shooting IMAX pretty easy! The larger the film format, the more forgiving the exposure. The fisheye lenses have huge depth of field for focus, So no real need or chalange for the
quote: Jeremy Jorgenson
rocket scientists

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Dan Suomi
Film Handler

Posts: 53
From: Aurora/Oswego, IL
Registered: Jul 2004


 - posted 02-11-2007 12:10 AM      Profile for Dan Suomi   Author's Homepage   Email Dan Suomi   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I quick fact about the whale at the end of Deep Sea. It was actually shot in 16mm when they were shooting Into the Deep, and to get it into Deep Sea it went through the DMR prosses. Toni Meyers told me that when she came to our premier of Deep Sea in Grand Rapids when I was working there.

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