'Dark Knight' To Bring IMAX Home to Blu-ray

anythingwt · 07-17-2008, 12:26 PM

From HMM:

Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight features Imax sequences that fully fill the eight-story screen, while the rest of the film appears letterboxed. Director Christopher Nolan said that the Blu-ray Disc version could capture the Imax sequences by filling a 16:9-ratio HDTV while the majority of the film appears letterboxed.

“For home video, certainly the Blu-ray version will [involve] actually changing the format size and actually using the IMAX footage,” Nolan said. “You can see the difference on that high resolution.”

As an example, the recent Blu-ray release of Batman Begins featured six minutes of the Imax footage from The Dark Knight. Indeed, it fills the 16:9 frame and captures the detail.

“On the standard 35mm version, we did 35mm extractions from the Imax frame,” Nolan said. “The Imax negative is so clear and grain free that there’s a great sharpness and clarity to them. Obviously, the differences are nowhere near as dramatic as there is on the Imax screen.”

There might be minor cropping in the Blu-ray edition, as Imax screens are not exactly 16:9 in dimensions.

“Some of the smaller Imax theaters are a smaller aspect ratio which is 16:9 as well,” Nolan said. “It’s still quite a difference from the 2.40:1 [aspect ratio] to a 16:9. So I think you’ll get some sense of it.”

Shooting in Imax changed Nolan’s technique as a filmmaker to accommodate the technical limitations of the format.

“One of the big disadvantages of these big Imax cameras, particularly in low-light photography, is that they don’t have very sophisticated video hookups. You don’t actually get a very clear image on the monitor at all. If anything it was more of a case of watching with my eyes and seeing what was really going on because the actual video feed that you get from the Imax cameras is very dim and it’s very hard to see what’s going on.”

Link

E55 KEV · 07-17-2008, 12:36 PM

The Washington DC Metro area just got 3 new Imax screens this month and they are all 'still' showing Kung-Fu Panda after The Dark Knight (TDK) begins tomorrow. The Smithsonion Museum IMAX in Chantilly VA will be showing TDK but they don't sell any popcorn or movie refreshments.

Dare · 07-17-2008, 12:39 PM

What's wrong with making the Blu-ray match what's in the 35mm theaters?

anythingwt · 07-17-2008, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dare

What's wrong with making the Blu-ray match what's in the 35mm theaters?

The aspect ratio for that opening scene is 1:44:1, which probably wouldn't look right on a 16:9 screen. Them formatting it to fill the screen though is better than it being forced to 2:40:1 like the rest of the movie.

MikeRox · 07-17-2008, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dare

What's wrong with making the Blu-ray match what's in the 35mm theaters?

They can't slap "IMAX" nonsense on the packaging as a marketing gimmick if they do that.

Dare · 07-17-2008, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anythingwt

The aspect ratio for that opening scene is 1:44:1, which probably wouldn't look right on a 16:9 screen. Them formatting it to fill the screen though is better than it being forced to 2:40:1 like the rest of the movie.

But anythingwt... it'll be 2.35:1 throughout the entire movie in 35mm theaters.

anythingwt · 07-17-2008, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dare

But anythingwt... it'll be 2.35:1 throughout the entire movie in 35mm theaters.

Exactly.. Which is no good because it will probably cut a lot of stuff off the screen in the opening scene. On the BD though their saying it won't be 2:35:1 throughout the movie.. So see it in imax if you go see it in theaters, and buy it on BD if you're buying it for home.

Dare · 07-17-2008, 04:14 PM

Did you see it yet? I'm going tonight, or tomorrow morning at the latest.

MikeRox · 07-17-2008, 04:29 PM

hush, not out here for another whole week

anythingwt · 07-17-2008, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dare

Did you see it yet? I'm going tonight, or tomorrow morning at the latest.

Haven't seen it yet. Its not out till tomorrow.. Or tonight at midnight. The signal butte imax theater and the deer valley one are both about 30 mins from my place.. And both are doing midnight showings. I may go tonight, if not I'm sure I will tomorrow too. Can't wait.

Dare · 07-17-2008, 04:41 PM

So the obvious question from me is, how do you know cropping it to 2:35 will ruin the composition?

A properly composed IMAX frame only puts action in about the center 50% of the frame horizontally, and all below the centerline vertically. So there's plenty of air on either side, and expansive air above. (At least, that's how IMAX should be shot, which is why most mainstream movies presented in IMAX, but not specifically shot for it, are unwatchable as far as I'm concerned.)

So if this was shot for IMAX, certainly there would be lots of room to play. I wouldn't expect anything vital to be cropped off, just margins. In fact, the sequences in question will probably have lots of breathing room even in 35mm.

P.S. I can't wait until midnight. This day is going way too slow.

**kamspy** · 07-17-2008, 04:54 PM

I have to wait for Saturday

Hopefully Saturday afternoon.

Depends how soon I can pawn the hellians off to Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend. I would go tonight, but work has me coming in at 4AM all week. Saturday included.

They better frickin take'm this weekend too! If not, the wife is out of luck and I'm going solo!!!

anythingwt · 07-17-2008, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dare

So the obvious question from me is, how do you know cropping it to 2:35 will ruin the composition?

A properly composed IMAX frame only puts action in about the center 50% of the frame horizontally, and all below the centerline vertically. So there's plenty of air on either side, and expansive air above. (At least, that's how IMAX should be shot, which is why most mainstream movies presented in IMAX, but not specifically shot for it, are unwatchable as far as I'm concerned.)

So if this was shot for IMAX, certainly there would be lots of room to play. I wouldn't expect anything vital to be cropped off, just margins. In fact, the sequences in question will probably have lots of breathing room even in 35mm.

P.S. I can't wait until midnight. This day is going way too slow.

Check this out:

How The Dark Knight Went IMAX

I’ve said it before, and ’ll say it again - You haven’t seen The Dark Knight, unless you’ve seen it in IMAX. OVer 20 minutes of the film was shot with 70mm IMAX cameras, and the result is a cinematic experience like you’ve never seen before. But how did this all come together?

“It was always Chris [Nolan]’s idea, he’s wanted to shoot on IMAX for years,” producer Emma Thomas told us at The Dark Knight junket. “I mean a long long time, has been talking about doing this and then this, when we were talking about where to go with the sequel to Batman Begins and he really wanted to expand the world and make the film feel really huge and it just seemed like the right, finally we had the right project.”

Part of the preparation included a couple test shots on The Prestige, explained Emma Thomas: “We actually, on The Prestige shot, did a couple of shots with the IMAX camera just so that we could get a sense of what the issues were going to be

Nolan originally planned to shoot five of the scenes in IMAX but he kept increasing the use of the cameras through out the production.

“He liked what he was seeing,” says producer Charles Rovan. Thomas adding: “As we went along there was just some shots that just he felt like would be great in IMAX and so we just sort of peppered those, so we definitely an added some, because it just turned out to be much much easier than we thought it would be.

Not that filming using IMAX cameras is necessarily easy. They are big and clunky, and a short load time of two and a half minutes.

“Yes, two and a half minutes. Well, they actually have two cameras, one is even shorter like, one is 30 seconds. And there’s one that’s two and a half minutes,” said Rovan. “We had to modify the arms that we put on the equipment that we attached those IMAX cameras to in order to carry the weight.”

Full Read

Joe_news · 07-18-2008, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E55 KEV

The Smithsonion Museum IMAX in Chantilly VA will be showing TDK but they don't sell any popcorn or movie refreshments.

You live very close to me! That's where I plan on seeing it myself, I can't wait!! But I have to for about a week longer >_<). Personally I eat dinner at a restaurant and then goto the last showing so I don't have to pay for parking or be hungry

Dare · 07-18-2008, 03:02 AM

Holy crap, if that's what's going to be projected on an IMAX screen, it'll be very difficult to watch.

anythingwt, the 35mm example you posted is 1.85:1 matted flat, not 2.35:1 scope (anamorphic), which is what the movie is supposed to be. Notice the flat crop cuts off some area on the sides of the IMAX frame, but that area would be there on a scope crop.

Look up a process called Super 35. That's pretty much exactly the same process that'll be used to make the scope prints, except instead of starting with a 35mm frame, it'll be starting with an IMAX frame.

07-17-2008, 12:26 PM	#1
anythingwt free as a bird Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 4,405	'Dark Knight' To Bring IMAX Home to Blu-ray From HMM: Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight features Imax sequences that fully fill the eight-story screen, while the rest of the film appears letterboxed. Director Christopher Nolan said that the Blu-ray Disc version could capture the Imax sequences by filling a 16:9-ratio HDTV while the majority of the film appears letterboxed. “For home video, certainly the Blu-ray version will [involve] actually changing the format size and actually using the IMAX footage,” Nolan said. “You can see the difference on that high resolution.” As an example, the recent Blu-ray release of Batman Begins featured six minutes of the Imax footage from The Dark Knight. Indeed, it fills the 16:9 frame and captures the detail. “On the standard 35mm version, we did 35mm extractions from the Imax frame,” Nolan said. “The Imax negative is so clear and grain free that there’s a great sharpness and clarity to them. Obviously, the differences are nowhere near as dramatic as there is on the Imax screen.” There might be minor cropping in the Blu-ray edition, as Imax screens are not exactly 16:9 in dimensions. “Some of the smaller Imax theaters are a smaller aspect ratio which is 16:9 as well,” Nolan said. “It’s still quite a difference from the 2.40:1 [aspect ratio] to a 16:9. So I think you’ll get some sense of it.” Shooting in Imax changed Nolan’s technique as a filmmaker to accommodate the technical limitations of the format. “One of the big disadvantages of these big Imax cameras, particularly in low-light photography, is that they don’t have very sophisticated video hookups. You don’t actually get a very clear image on the monitor at all. If anything it was more of a case of watching with my eyes and seeing what was really going on because the actual video feed that you get from the Imax cameras is very dim and it’s very hard to see what’s going on.” Link __________________ one love

07-17-2008, 12:36 PM	#2
E55 KEV High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Washington D.C. Posts: 1,032	The Washington DC Metro area just got 3 new Imax screens this month and they are all 'still' showing Kung-Fu Panda after The Dark Knight (TDK) begins tomorrow. The Smithsonion Museum IMAX in Chantilly VA will be showing TDK but they don't sell any popcorn or movie refreshments. __________________ My Website www.E55AMG.com Last edited by E55 KEV; 07-17-2008 at 01:08 PM.

07-17-2008, 12:39 PM	#3
Dare I moon you. Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Posts: 4,436	What's wrong with making the Blu-ray match what's in the 35mm theaters? __________________ LG GGC-H20L Super Multi Blue Blu-ray & HD DVD ROM Drive 58 31

07-17-2008, 04:14 PM	#8
Dare I moon you. Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Posts: 4,436	Did you see it yet? I'm going tonight, or tomorrow morning at the latest. __________________ LG GGC-H20L Super Multi Blue Blu-ray & HD DVD ROM Drive 58 31

07-17-2008, 04:29 PM	#9
MikeRox Blu Blu Skies! :D Join Date: May 2007 Location: Huddersfield, United Kingdom Posts: 12,414	hush, not out here for another whole week __________________ REGION B 4TW! Latest HD additions - I Love You Man - 17 Again - Born on the 4th of July - Paul Blart: Mall Cop - Monsters, Inc. HD Movies - Um... Lost count >_< bout 250 Latest Gaming Additions - Mirrors Edge - Scene It BOS - Wartech: Senko No Ronde - Lego Indiana Jones/Kung Fu Panda 2 pack - Silent Hill

07-17-2008, 04:41 PM	#11
Dare I moon you. Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Posts: 4,436	So the obvious question from me is, how do you know cropping it to 2:35 will ruin the composition? A properly composed IMAX frame only puts action in about the center 50% of the frame horizontally, and all below the centerline vertically. So there's plenty of air on either side, and expansive air above. (At least, that's how IMAX should be shot, which is why most mainstream movies presented in IMAX, but not specifically shot for it, are unwatchable as far as I'm concerned.) So if this was shot for IMAX, certainly there would be lots of room to play. I wouldn't expect anything vital to be cropped off, just margins. In fact, the sequences in question will probably have lots of breathing room even in 35mm. P.S. I can't wait until midnight. This day is going way too slow. __________________ LG GGC-H20L Super Multi Blue Blu-ray & HD DVD ROM Drive 58 31

07-17-2008, 04:54 PM	#12
kamspy Esteban Moderatoro Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Cincinnati,OH Good Posts: 12 Posts: 13,040	I have to wait for Saturday Hopefully Saturday afternoon. Depends how soon I can pawn the hellians off to Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend. I would go tonight, but work has me coming in at 4AM all week. Saturday included. They better frickin take'm this weekend too! If not, the wife is out of luck and I'm going solo!!!

07-18-2008, 03:02 AM	#15
Dare I moon you. Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Posts: 4,436	Holy crap, if that's what's going to be projected on an IMAX screen, it'll be very difficult to watch. anythingwt, the 35mm example you posted is 1.85:1 matted flat, not 2.35:1 scope (anamorphic), which is what the movie is supposed to be. Notice the flat crop cuts off some area on the sides of the IMAX frame, but that area would be there on a scope crop. Look up a process called Super 35. That's pretty much exactly the same process that'll be used to make the scope prints, except instead of starting with a 35mm frame, it'll be starting with an IMAX frame. __________________ LG GGC-H20L Super Multi Blue Blu-ray & HD DVD ROM Drive 58 31

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