The Dark Knight How is this IMAX thing going to work?

[Caped Crusader]

Freaking amazing ! Scary at times but so beautiful...

Spoiler

 

[JaD]

This was already discussed

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=305265

 

[The Spawn]

True or false?

 

[Magenta666]

true, i saw it first in IMAX and then at midnight on a regular screen

so much better in IMAX

 

[Reek]

i dunno, in IMAX its more of an experience. seeing it on the regular screen a couple nights after imax made the movie even better cause you could actually watch , it that makes sense...

the imax was like a crazy dream hahah

 

[psylockolussus]

I'm watching this movie in IMAX!

 

[The Spawn]

You really should.

 

[LarBrd33]

Hey I have a question for anyone who saw the movie at IMAX.

I personally did not see the movie at IMAX, but I'm really curious about something. We all know that 4 action scenes were filmed using actual IMAX cameras. Recap: These cams are extremely large and difficult to use. They are also rather loud and could only be used for scenes that didn't include dialogue. Apparently this is the first Hollywood film EVER to have any scenes shot using this kind of equipment... the quality difference is like comparing HD video to non-HD video.

So I read one review from a guy who saw it at IMAX. He said that when any of those 4 "IMAX'd" scenes were shown, they took up the entire IMAX screen and the quality was absolutely mind-blowing. But in his experience, when the movie switched back to the non-HD screens, the video actually shrunk to a normal film size that did NOT take up the full IMAX screen. Almost like it was letterboxed on all 4 corners. That makes sense to me. The reviewer said it was extremely obvious when they were IMAX cams and when they weren't... and he said he wished the entire movie could have been shot in IMAX quality.

Traditionally when Hollywood films are shown at IMAX, they merely take the video and stretch it out to fill the full IMAX screen. This is comparable to watching a non-HD program on a HD television. It's expected that you will see some distortion during this process, because the standard film is not made to be stretched out onto a screen that large. So TDK is different in that they actually have 4 TRUE IMAX scenes being shown on an IMAX screen that were MADE to be shown on an IMAX screen... with the rest of the movie being "letterboxed".

The thing is, my buddy went to see the movie at IMAX in Seattle and his experience was much different. From how he describes it, the entire movie took up the entire screen. There was no change in the SIZE of the video when the film switched between the 4 IMAX scenes and the rest of the movie. IN fact, he says that he hardly even noticed a quality difference aside from maybe a little sharpness difference (he's a filmmaker himself so he has a keen eye for this kind of stuff). From the way he describes it, it almost sounds like they simply took a standard reel of the movie (that you'd see at any standard movie theater) and stretched the whole thing out to fit the screen. Which is like filming something with an HD camera, converting it to standard... and then showing it on your HD TV.

What was everyone's experience with seeing it at IMAX? I wonder if there were different prints depending on the theater and how they handled the video. My friend actually thinks the Seattle IMAX messed up somehow and didn't get the same "true IMAX" print that some have seen.

 

[xwhysoseriousx]

Hey I have a question for anyone who saw the movie at IMAX.

I personally did not see the movie at IMAX, but I'm really curious about something. We all know that 4 action scenes were filmed using actual IMAX cameras. Recap: These cams are extremely large and difficult to use. They are also rather loud and could only be used for scenes that didn't include dialogue. Apparently this is the first Hollywood film EVER to have any scenes shot using this kind of equipment... the quality difference is like comparing HD video to non-HD video.

So I read one review from a guy who saw it at IMAX. He said that when any of those 4 "IMAX'd" scenes were shown, they took up the entire IMAX screen and the quality was absolutely mind-blowing. But in his experience, when the movie switched back to the non-HD screens, the video actually shrunk to a normal film size that did NOT take up the full IMAX screen. Almost like it was letterboxed on all 4 corners. That makes sense to me. The reviewer said it was extremely obvious when they were IMAX cams and when they weren't... and he said he wished the entire movie could have been shot in IMAX quality.

Traditionally when Hollywood films are shown at IMAX, they merely take the video and stretch it out to fill the full IMAX screen. This is comparable to watching a non-HD program on a HD television. It's expected that you will see some distortion during this process, because the standard film is not made to be stretched out onto a screen that large. So TDK is different in that they actually have 4 TRUE IMAX scenes being shown on an IMAX screen that were MADE to be shown on an IMAX screen... with the rest of the movie being "letterboxed".

The thing is, my buddy went to see the movie at IMAX in Seattle and his experience was much different. From how he describes it, the entire movie took up the entire screen. IN fact, he says that he hardly even noticed a quality difference aside from maybe a little sharpness difference (he's a filmmaker himself so he has a keen eye for this kind of stuff). From the way he describes it, it almost sounds like they simply took a standard reel of the movie (that you'd see at any standard movie theater) and stretched the whole thing out to fit the screen. Which is like filming something with an HD camera, converting it to standard... and then showing it on your HD TV.

What was everyone's experience with seeing it at IMAX? I wonder if there were different prints depending on the theater and how they handled the video. My friend actually thinks the Seattle IMAX messed up somehow and didn't get the same "true IMAX" print that some have seen.

Your friend is either making this up, or was seeing things. The transitions from IMAX filmed scenes and the rest of the film were seemless, but you could definitely tell because 90% of the film was widescreen formatted so the top and bottom was black. I don't see how this is possible for your friend's IMAX theater to have had the whole movie take up the whole screen. Highly, highly unlikely.

 

[LarBrd33]

Your friend is either making this up, or was seeing things. The transitions from IMAX filmed scenes and the rest of the film were seemless, but you could definitely tell because 90% of the film was widescreen formatted so the top and bottom was black. I don't see how this is possible for your friend's IMAX theater to have had the whole movie take up the whole screen. Highly, highly unlikely.

Hey xwhysoseriousx... I didn't see this thread beforehand (my post was moved into it). So now I have an even greater understanding of how it SHOULD have worked.

It SHOULD have had the non-IMAX sequences as widescreen letterboxed... and then when it switched to the IMAX sequences it should have expanded to a fullscreen image that took up the entire IMAX screen.

However, my friend saw it at the IMAX in Seattle and he noticed no such change. Instead, he claims the entire movie was shown widescreen letterboxed. If that's the case, could it be that the Seattle IMAX didn't have a true print and just took a standard reel and decided to show it on their screens? I wonder if anyone else had the same experience.

The thing about IMAX is that a lot of people don't know what to expect... so maybe they just figured "oh... it's big... i get it" and didn't notice if something incorrect happened.

 

[StillTheKing]

I saw it at this crappy small baby IMAX screen and since the screen was so small the normal scenes have about 2 feet of black above and below, when it switched to IMAX scenes it was barely noticeable.

I am going to a normal IMAX tonight, I can't wait.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

Wait what are the differences in IMAX's? I didnt know there were different sizes!

 

[LarBrd33]

I saw it at this crappy small baby IMAX screen and since the screen was so small the normal scenes have about 2 feet of black above and below, when it switched to IMAX scenes it was barely noticeable.

I am going to a normal IMAX tonight, I can't wait.

Now I'm wondering if my friend saw it on a "crappy small baby IMAX screen". He saw it at the Boeing Imax theater in Seattle. Are there different sized IMAX screens??

As explained below... he should have seen a really obvious and drastic change between letterboxed widescreen on the scenes shot in non-IMAX... to a full screen shot that took up the entire screen for the 6 scenes shot in IMAX format.

That show shows it pretty well. The image on the left is how large the non-IMAX scenes would look... but as soon as it switched over to an action sequence shot in IMAX format, it would expand to take up the entire screen (as seen on the right).

But my friend claims the entire movie was letterboxed with no distinguishable switches between IMAX and non-IMAX scenes (aside from what he called "slightly sharper")... What gives?

 

[Fanticon]

yo...screw your friend...the imax transitions were so good he didn't notice because he was already so immersed in the film...I saw it twice in Imax, and "yes" you do notice the changes...but it is not distracting at all...in fact, you get a rush just seeing the scope of those sequences...even people who were sitting next to me were like "whoa" when they noticed the jump to the larger screen...hearing those kinds of reactions is agood thing. And the normal widescreen moments...were not as tiny as that pic you just posted. Get off this forum and go get your tickets before they sell out and then come back and tell us "wow...you guys were right."
End of discussion.

 

[LarBrd33]

Ok i got further info from my 2 friends who saw it at the Boeing Theater at IMAX.

What they said is that not only was the quality change hardly noticeable, but that they displayed the ENTIRE movie fitting the entire screen. In other words... the entire thing was shown in 4:3 and they both mentioned that it seemed like it was cropped. That's pretty crazy... they cropped both the left and the right? If that's the case, I'd ask for my money back because obviously something was wrong there.

Fanticon... they are both video production junkies and they definitely catch these kind of things. They, however, were of what to expect. They both mentioned that the entire film was blown up to fit the entire screen and that it definitely seemed as though they cropped the left and the right.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

Its weird that some of you say the format didnt change at the IMAX you saw the film at mine in Rochester NY where I saw the film changed the ratio everytime there was an IMAX shot part.

 

[Anita18]

Ok i got further info from my 2 friends who saw it at the Boeing Theater at IMAX.

What they said is that not only was the quality change hardly noticeable, but that they displayed the ENTIRE movie fitting the entire screen. In other words... the entire thing was shown in 4:3 and they both mentioned that it seemed like it was cropped. That's pretty crazy... they cropped both the left and the right? If that's the case, I'd ask for my money back because obviously something was wrong there.

Fanticon... they are both video production junkies and they definitely catch these kind of things. They, however, were of what to expect. They both mentioned that the entire film was blown up to fit the entire screen and that it definitely seemed as though they cropped the left and the right.

Then there must have been something wrong with the projection, and it's the theater's fault. The 35-mm parts are sized to fit the IMAX screen horizontally, and you get black areas on the top and bototm. When it switches to IMAX, the image gets taller.

They could ask for their money back, but I don't know if it was a one-time thing or if the theater really has no idea what they're doing...

 

[kyuubijavi1]

so what scene's are filmed in IMAX camera's?

 

[Anita18]

so what scene's are filmed in IMAX camera's?

All the action and aerial scenes. There are many. I think...5 action sequences though. 28 minutes of the film, at any rate.

 

[r2ind]

so what scene's are filmed in IMAX camera's?

Spoiler

The Prologue
Most of the Hong Kong flying and fight scene.
The armored car chase
Joker in the cop car, head out the window to just before Bruce sitting in his penthouse.
Bruce in his Lamborghini
Blowing up the Hospital
The big SWAT,Bat, Joker fight
The very end monologue

There were also a few aerial shots.

 

[Yr Blues]

Will they change the aspect ratio for those scenes in the DVD? I want the full frame.

I haven't seen it on IMAX yet. Kind of wish I bought them instead on opening night.

 

[Paradyme]

You guys will never believe the crap that happened to me. I went to IMAX last night because I'd never been and thought that this would be a great first movie to see in IMAX. This was my third time seeing the movie. So, after waiting in line for an hour we sit down and the guy comes over the intercom and tells us that since The Dark Knight is not an IMAX film it'll be like watching a regular DVD on your T.V. I'm thinking, what the hell?

Needless to say I saw no difference in quality and am overly dissappointed that this particular IMAX screwed us. Maybe one of you can explain to me why this happened I'd feel better but I feel like I was screwed out of $10.

 

[Anita18]

You guys will never believe the crap that happened to me. I went to IMAX last night because I'd never been and thought that this would be a great first movie to see in IMAX. This was my third time seeing the movie. So, after waiting in line for an hour we sit down and the guy comes over the intercom and tells us that since The Dark Knight is not an IMAX film it'll be like watching a regular DVD on your T.V. I'm thinking, what the hell?

Needless to say I saw no difference in quality and am overly dissappointed that this particular IMAX screwed us. Maybe one of you can explain to me why this happened I'd feel better but I feel like I was screwed out of $10.

So....did you see the size changes or not?

If not, ask the theater for a refund. They're usually okay with doing that, since they make most of their money on concessions anyway.

 

[Paradyme]

So....did you see the size changes or not?

If not, ask the theater for a refund. They're usually okay with doing that, since they make most of their money on concessions anyway.

Absolutely no size changes at all. Very, very disappointing.

 

[CJWilkie]

has anyone here been to the IMAX and sat real close to the front or sides - is it a bad experience? or does it not matter *too* much where you sit?