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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Topic: IMAX Theaters to Ditch Film, Use Digital DLP Projectors
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Mitchell Dvoskin
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1869
From: West Milford, NJ, USA
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 03-17-2008 02:12 PM
Back in the 1950's, there was a company called Cinerama that showed their travelog/slice of life films in special theatres on huge Cinerama screens. Then, in the early 1960's, they struck a deal with MGM to produce general entertainment films. In 1964, they produced their most sucessful film, How The West Was Won. Not wanting to risk damaging one of the two 1200 pound Cinerama cameras while filming the raft sequence, they shot it in 70mm and optically printed it onto the 3 rolls of 35mm in the lab. While those scenes clearly did not look as sharp as the rest of the film, the management felt that it was good enough. In fact, they felt it saved them so much money that all subsequent Cinerama films were shot that way. Three years later, they were out of business.
The point is, the public does not complain. They just stop coming, and once you lose your reputation, it is very hard to get it back.
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Brian Michael Weidemann
Expert cat molester
Posts: 944
From: Costa Mesa, CA United States
Registered: Feb 2004
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posted 03-18-2008 05:17 AM
That's an eloquent example.
Something like IMAX didn't come about because someone was trying to save money. IMAX emerged from the will to create something bigger, better; something incredible, just for its own sake. As a business, sure, costs are important. But invention is about seeing what's possible and near impossible, and achieving it anyway. They didn't have to set their sights so big in the first place, but they did.
And now the corporate bottom-liners are signing the deals. That original "vision" is lost.
Are audiences, is the public, REALLY voicing their desire to see digital projection? Most of them think the industry went all digital 15 years ago, oblivious to the fact that we're still splicing prints together. They pay to see a movie. I've seen audiences sit through emulsion scratches and muffled analog sound and STILL applaud at the end, leaving having loved the movie. I've seen audiences experience the cleanest, most perfect presentation and still demand their money back. I don't think the projection industry is really about the audience, it never was. (The concession industry, sure.) Our job is to give the best presentation for its own sake, because we care about doing our best.
Sorry, just ranting here. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) If digital was actually superior, I'd think differently. We all just want FILM film to last a bit longer.
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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 03-20-2008 10:31 AM
quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
In 1964, they produced their most sucessful film, How The West Was Won. Not wanting to risk damaging one of the two 1200 pound Cinerama cameras while filming the raft sequence, they shot it in 70mm and optically printed it onto the 3 rolls of 35mm in the lab. While those scenes clearly did not look as sharp as the rest of the film, the management felt that it was good enough. In fact, they felt it saved them so much money that all subsequent Cinerama films were shot that way. Three years later, they were out of business.
The point is, the public does not complain. They just stop coming, and once you lose your reputation, it is very hard to get it back.
I agree with this sentiment, but I also think it extends to non-IMAX theaters as well.
Movie theaters used to have ambience in spades. Check out Cinema Treasures to see lots of examples. The movie-going experience was magical, from the time you walked up to the theater with its neon-covered marquee and custom signage created for the movie being played, to the ornate lobby, to the huge auditorium that was decorated to the nines with a large screen covered by red velvet curtains.
Then, the screen was twinned and the curtain was gone. The atmospheric ceiling was covered by ceiling tiles to save on heat. Then the lobby got remodeled to add a larger concession stand and to cover up the water damage when the upstairs toilets leaked. The sign outside got replaced with the standard cookie cutter marquee common for that chain.
Element by element, the magic was gone. Small wonder that audiences continue to get smaller and smaller every year!
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