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

[Caped Crusader]

Either way its gonna be fine

 

[ActuallyRobin]

I'll tell you how this IMAX thing will work:

Voodoo, and witchcraft.

 

[batmaluco]

If you were gonna see it on a widescreen TV, you wouldn't notice the switch, since the aspect ratio will be the same. If you never saw it in IMAX, you would have no clue that stuff was missing.

On a 4:3 TV, the black bars would disappear once it switched into IMAX. If they decide not to crop it, that is. I have no idea what they plan to do.

That would be the best way to go, in my opinion. Otherwise I wouldn't ever watch the film with its entire photography, since I don't have an IMAX nearby.

 

[Anita18]

I'll tell you how this IMAX thing will work:

Voodoo, and witchcraft.

Don't forget rain dances.

 

[Caped Crusader]

Ahh ! i get the chills everytime i walk into an IMAX theater

 

[ActuallyRobin]

Ahh ! i get the chills everytime i walk into an IMAX theater

Ask them to turn the AC up

 

[Caped Crusader]

haha you know what i meant !

btw.. wouldnt it be to turn the ac down ?

 

[I Am The Knight]

Ask them to turn the AC up

If he wanted to die, yes.

 

[Andrex]

So as I understand it, this is how Imax is gonna work?

 

[Pennyworth]

The July issue of WIRED has a nice interview/article with Nolan on TDK and specifically the decision to shoot in IMAX. I don't have a working scanner unfortunately, but this graphic does help people see the difference in screen shape/size between 2-D IMAX and regular film:

check out the rest of the article if you get a chance...sorry I can't provide more. (I didn't see it on their website either.)

 

[nefti]

The July issue of WIRED has a nice interview/article with Nolan on TDK and specifically the decision to shoot in IMAX. I don't have a working scanner unfortunately, but this graphic does help people see the difference in screen shape/size between 2-D IMAX and regular 70 mm film:

check out the rest of the article if you get a chance...sorry I can't provide more. (I didn't see it on their website either.)

imax is 70mm, standard is 35mm

 

[redfirebird2008]

So as I understand it, this is how Imax is gonna work?

Actually it's the other way around. The action scenes are in IMAX, which has a full screen aspect. The rest of the film is in widescreen 2:35:1 aspect using Panavision cameras.

 

[Pennyworth]

imax is 70mm, standard is 35mm

oops, guess you're right, WIRED printed the wrong thing.

EIther way, it still shows the difference pretty well.

 

[Anita18]

So as I understand it, this is how Imax is gonna work?

No, IMAX is taller, so the cropping will be at the top and/or bottom.

If you saw the IMAX prologue (even in the bootleg), the opening credits (with the logos) are in anamorophic widescreen, and then it suddenly blows up to the 4:3 format. It'll be like that.

 

[Anita18]

Argh wtf lag

 

[Anita18]

This is what it'll look like, to my knowledge:

 

[JackBauer24]

The July issue of WIRED has a nice interview/article with Nolan on TDK and specifically the decision to shoot in IMAX. I don't have a working scanner unfortunately, but this graphic does help people see the difference in screen shape/size between 2-D IMAX and regular film:

check out the rest of the article if you get a chance...sorry I can't provide more. (I didn't see it on their website either.)

Could you transcribe it? Pretty please?

Btw, I totally agree with Nolan on the decision to do 2D IMAX and not 3D as everyone is doing nowadays. It looks so much more impressive. I went to see an IMAX film today and of course it was in 3D, they're all in 3D now . The images just look so much dimmer and smaller with the glasses on. It's like you're just staring at a real normal sized object in front of you, rather than a towering, dominating image in 2D.

 

[mclay18]

This is what it'll look like, to my knowledge:

The way I see it, it seems as though Nolan came up with a way to frame the IMAX-shot sequences for both regular and IMAX theaters. It's almost like the way some cinematographers utilize the Super 35mm process, in that the film negative is 1.33:1 but that the film is framed for the 2.40:1 anamorphic ratio during shooting.

The Super35 process does allow for more space to revealed in both ratios (1.33:1 allows for more space at the top and bottom, while the 2.40:1 ratio reveals more on the sides), the process that Pfister explained just cuts the top and bottom of the IMAX frame but that the image is framed so that no important visual information is lost in either the IMAX or regular theatrical release. Mind you, the actual aspect ratio of an IMAX print is 1.44:1 (a hair wider than the Academy ratio of 1.33:1). I wonder how Warner will handle the DVD and Blu-ray release -- will there be a separate IMAX version with the top and bottom of the IMAX frame left intact along with the regular theatrical version?

But I'm curious as to why Pfister and Nolan do not like digital projection; sure an improperly calibrated system can't do justice to the film stock and lighting used, but when done correctly the results are just breathtaking -- the colors look better and you can actually see the film grain and detail. I saw Batman Begins in digital projection and I was just stunned at how great it looked -- one could clearly see the underexposed scenes and film grain without the scratches and hiss of a regular film print. I think Nolan and Pfister should take a second look at digital projection before denouncing it completely.

 

[redfirebird2008]

The way I see it, it seems as though Nolan came up with a way to frame the IMAX-shot sequences for both regular and IMAX theaters. It's almost like the way some cinematographers utilize the Super 35mm process, in that the film negative is 1.33:1 but that the film is framed for the 2.40:1 anamorphic ratio during shooting.

The Super35 process does allow for more space to revealed in both ratios (1.33:1 allows for more space at the top and bottom, while the 2.40:1 ratio reveals more on the sides), the process that Pfister explained just cuts the top and bottom of the IMAX frame but that the image is framed so that no important visual information is lost in either the IMAX or regular theatrical release. Mind you, the actual aspect ratio of an IMAX print is 1.44:1 (a hair wider than the Academy ratio of 1.33:1). I wonder how Warner will handle the DVD and Blu-ray release -- will there be a separate IMAX version with the top and bottom of the IMAX frame left intact along with the regular theatrical version?

But I'm curious as to why Pfister and Nolan do not like digital projection; sure an improperly calibrated system can't do justice to the film stock and lighting used, but when done correctly the results are just breathtaking -- the colors look better and you can actually see the film grain and detail. I saw Batman Begins in digital projection and I was just stunned at how great it looked -- one could clearly see the underexposed scenes and film grain without the scratches and hiss of a regular film print. I think Nolan and Pfister should take a second look at digital projection before denouncing it completely.

Blu-ray will be the widescreen version. They could use the IMAX parts for the fullscreen DVD release. Studios have done that in the past with films that were shot on Super 35.

 

[mclay18]

Yeah, but I wouldn't want the DVD to be full-screen only just for the IMAX scenes -- keep the regular film in widescreen and then switch to the 1.44:1 ratio for the IMAX-scenes and back again.

And besides, from the trailers and exclusive footage I've seen, the widescreen version seems to be the way to go as 60% of the film was shot in the anamorphic 2.40:1 ratio and the action sequences look fine framed in the 2.40:1 ratio. For the Blu-ray release they could give the viewers the option of viewing the IMAX scenes in the original 1.44:1 ratio or in the cropped 2.40:1 theatrical version in the film.

 

[redfirebird2008]

Yeah, but I wouldn't want the DVD to be full-screen only just for the IMAX scenes -- keep the regular film in widescreen and then switch to the 1.44:1 ratio for the IMAX-scenes and back again.

And besides, from the trailers and exclusive footage I've seen, the widescreen version seems to be the way to go as 60% of the film was shot in the anamorphic 2.40:1 ratio and the action sequences look fine framed in the 2.40:1 ratio. For the Blu-ray release they could give the viewers the option of viewing the IMAX scenes in the original 1.44:1 ratio or in the cropped 2.40:1 theatrical version in the film.

If they do something like that on the Blu-ray, it better be a 2-disc set. I want the best quality possible. The trailers look great in HD, and that is a much more compressed Quicktime file than what they use on Blu-ray. The bitrate is lower on the trailers than it will be on the Blu-ray. The Prologue is included with the Batman Begins Blu-ray that's coming out on July 8th, so we will get a good idea of how it looks in widescreen or if they simply choose to leave it in the IMAX aspect ratio.

 

[Andrex]

This is what it'll look like, to my knowledge:

OoohK I get it now, thanks.

 

[JackBauer24]

They should just keep it widescreen in the DVD release. Everyone has widescreen TVs now anyway and that's the way most people will have seen the movie. Switching to 4:3 ratio won't enhance the picture on a widescreen TV - it'll just make it look a LOT smaller.

 

[Anita18]

But I'm curious as to why Pfister and Nolan do not like digital projection; sure an improperly calibrated system can't do justice to the film stock and lighting used, but when done correctly the results are just breathtaking -- the colors look better and you can actually see the film grain and detail. I saw Batman Begins in digital projection and I was just stunned at how great it looked -- one could clearly see the underexposed scenes and film grain without the scratches and hiss of a regular film print. I think Nolan and Pfister should take a second look at digital projection before denouncing it completely.

I'm not too familiar with it, but from the way Wally explained it, it was just the mainstream use of 2K projectors, when 4K is probably the minimum that they would want to go. I'm sure they spend enough time staring at film to know, LOL. I wouldn't notice, but they're the kind of people I would trust.

 

[xwolverine2]

The July issue of WIRED has a nice interview/article with Nolan on TDK and specifically the decision to shoot in IMAX. I don't have a working scanner unfortunately, but this graphic does help people see the difference in screen shape/size between 2-D IMAX and regular film:

check out the rest of the article if you get a chance...sorry I can't provide more. (I didn't see it on their website either.)

yeeeeaaaah im watching it in IMAX...lol