Some things to keep in mind about the theater experience.
Only a handful of theaters do film IMAX anymore. A lot of IMAX locations are just 4k DCP (Digital Cinema Package)
Most theaters in the world are digital projectors with a max resolution of 1998x1080 or 2048x858
Part of the reason these factors still exist is cost. A poorly maintained film projector with a lousy film print can ruin a movie going experience. Hollywood would sometimes release so very shitty prints. The digital projectors are much easier to maintain so the experience is often more ideal for the average movie goer.
Having said that, if a theater takes good care of their film projectors and they have a well made and well kept print, the experience can be amazing.
If you can see the film print in the opening week. Christopher Nolan makes his movies in an analog way. So it is a film process all the way though except for VFX. This is one of the only opportunities to see film that was not digitally modified. Only one place in the world can make these imax 70mm film prints and they are all basically hand made.
EDIT: link changed to piped link.
https://piped.video/watch?v=xa1xJIgLzFk
2k digital projection is typically used in smaller theaters where the screen size is not large enough for anyone to actually see a difference.
This is one of the only opportunities to see film that was not digitally modified.
Nolan's films have 0 CGI or digital special effects?
Less than you'd think.
They do have scenes that are VFX but all non-vfx shots are not scanned and digitally manipulated. The digital sections are recorder to film then cut into the film footage. So for the scenes that don't have VFX you get to see what the film process looks like.
I'm going to see it in 70mm on the 28th and I'm sooo fucking excited! I got center seats near the back too, it's gonna be epic. I wish there were more 70mm IMAX theaters so more people could experience it but I understand why there aren't lol
Serious question, does it actually make that much of a difference? It's it worth me driving 300 minutes to see?
I'm no old-school cinephile, but I've listened to enough of them to understand that if you're really into the nitty gritty details and love soaking in every corner of a filmed image, there is no substitute for a large print screening. But YMMV.
If you are a film student. Yes. For most folks 5 hours is a lot of driving.
Film is the way that Christopher Nolan intended but the digital versions exist just so that most people can experience it. Don't feel like you missed out if it's just too much driving. The story is what is key. Not the projection technology.
I've never actually seen anything in 70mm IMAX, so idk! But I love the vibe of analog film and the way it looks, so to experience Nolan in the way he intended it at essentially 16k resolution is likely going to be incredible. Five hours is quite a lot though, especially to then watch a three hour movie. Maybe if you made a weekend out of it and stayed at a hotel or camped somewhere? I'm lucky that the closest one to me is only a 45 minute drive
I wasn't able to get tickets to see the film version, so I'm going to see it in Dolby Vision. If any movie should take advantage of HDR it should be one about nukes.
Ooh that'll probably be really good too!!
I used to work a campus projection booth. We once got a print of The Dark Knight where an entire reel was green. No idea how that got past QC.
We made a point of watching every film before showing it to an audience to find and splice out any bad frames.
How do you find a film-IMAX theatre these days? Is this link accurate?
Because if so, almost all of us are shit out of luck. I live in DC and I'd have to drive 2hr or so.
King of Prussia seats (center-ish and towards the back) are basically reserved out until August. Even if you want to drive out there you'll have to wait. That's how rare these projectors are lol.
My cousin is flying across half of Canada to stay at my place so we can watch it on 15/70.
What is 15/70? It's not a date, not a time
15/70 is the IMAX film format, using horizontal frames, 70 mm tall and 15 perforations across, in comparison to regular 70mm (large format) film which has much smaller frames turned vertically that are ~5 perforations tall.
Thinking about it now, I probably should have guessed it given the context. Hindsight and all that. 😆
I'm going to make a 3 hour drive to my closest real IMAX. Haven't had the pleasure to even see a mini IMAX film and am a fan of Nolan's work so I'll make the time.
And even within imax, there's differing qualities of the projector. It's all quite complicated and seems to be intentionally obfuscated.
Some things to keep in mind about the theater experience.
Part of the reason these factors still exist is cost. A poorly maintained film projector with a lousy film print can ruin a movie going experience. Hollywood would sometimes release so very shitty prints. The digital projectors are much easier to maintain so the experience is often more ideal for the average movie goer.
Having said that, if a theater takes good care of their film projectors and they have a well made and well kept print, the experience can be amazing.
If you can see the film print in the opening week. Christopher Nolan makes his movies in an analog way. So it is a film process all the way though except for VFX. This is one of the only opportunities to see film that was not digitally modified. Only one place in the world can make these imax 70mm film prints and they are all basically hand made. EDIT: link changed to piped link. https://piped.video/watch?v=xa1xJIgLzFk
2k digital projection is typically used in smaller theaters where the screen size is not large enough for anyone to actually see a difference.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=xa1xJIgLzFk
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Nolan's films have 0 CGI or digital special effects?
Less than you'd think.
They do have scenes that are VFX but all non-vfx shots are not scanned and digitally manipulated. The digital sections are recorder to film then cut into the film footage. So for the scenes that don't have VFX you get to see what the film process looks like.
I'm going to see it in 70mm on the 28th and I'm sooo fucking excited! I got center seats near the back too, it's gonna be epic. I wish there were more 70mm IMAX theaters so more people could experience it but I understand why there aren't lol
Serious question, does it actually make that much of a difference? It's it worth me driving 300 minutes to see?
I'm no old-school cinephile, but I've listened to enough of them to understand that if you're really into the nitty gritty details and love soaking in every corner of a filmed image, there is no substitute for a large print screening. But YMMV.
If you are a film student. Yes. For most folks 5 hours is a lot of driving. Film is the way that Christopher Nolan intended but the digital versions exist just so that most people can experience it. Don't feel like you missed out if it's just too much driving. The story is what is key. Not the projection technology.
I've never actually seen anything in 70mm IMAX, so idk! But I love the vibe of analog film and the way it looks, so to experience Nolan in the way he intended it at essentially 16k resolution is likely going to be incredible. Five hours is quite a lot though, especially to then watch a three hour movie. Maybe if you made a weekend out of it and stayed at a hotel or camped somewhere? I'm lucky that the closest one to me is only a 45 minute drive
I wasn't able to get tickets to see the film version, so I'm going to see it in Dolby Vision. If any movie should take advantage of HDR it should be one about nukes.
Ooh that'll probably be really good too!!
I used to work a campus projection booth. We once got a print of The Dark Knight where an entire reel was green. No idea how that got past QC.
We made a point of watching every film before showing it to an audience to find and splice out any bad frames.
How do you find a film-IMAX theatre these days? Is this link accurate?
https://www.imax.com/news/oppenheimer-in-imax-70mm
Because if so, almost all of us are shit out of luck. I live in DC and I'd have to drive 2hr or so.
King of Prussia seats (center-ish and towards the back) are basically reserved out until August. Even if you want to drive out there you'll have to wait. That's how rare these projectors are lol.
My cousin is flying across half of Canada to stay at my place so we can watch it on 15/70.
What is 15/70? It's not a date, not a time
15/70 is the IMAX film format, using horizontal frames, 70 mm tall and 15 perforations across, in comparison to regular 70mm (large format) film which has much smaller frames turned vertically that are ~5 perforations tall.
Thinking about it now, I probably should have guessed it given the context. Hindsight and all that. 😆
I'm going to make a 3 hour drive to my closest real IMAX. Haven't had the pleasure to even see a mini IMAX film and am a fan of Nolan's work so I'll make the time.
And even within imax, there's differing qualities of the projector. It's all quite complicated and seems to be intentionally obfuscated.