posted 05-19-2009 10:17 PM                    

quote: Monte L Fullmer

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This one here is the all-time classic: He bitches about the screen size to CS, but the turd still watched the entire movie.

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posted 05-20-2009 09:05 AM                    

quote: Frank Angel

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Suppose an independent production company wanted to produce a new Real-IMAX film, perhaps just to show in the exisiting IMAX film venues. Is that a possibility -- new IMAX productions -- or is IMAX simply stopping all film-based operations both in production and exhibition?

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posted 05-21-2009 12:28 AM                       

quote: Mark G's article in the now-closed Imax thread in the LF forum

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ignored the concerns of their existing theater client
base

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posted 05-21-2009 10:09 PM                    

quote: Mark Lensenmayer

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Remember that IMAX uses large rear corner speakers instead of smaller side surrounds.

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So did AMC's SHITS sound system, but that didn't make that sound acceptable by any means.

posted 05-21-2009 10:54 PM                    

quote: Joe Redifer

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So can someone tell me what makes IMAX sound so much better than real cinema?

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posted 05-22-2009 01:46 PM                       

quote: Joe Redifer

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So can someone tell me what makes IMAX sound so much better than real cinema? I've been impressed by cinema sound before, but I'll be damned if I can even remember anything about the way the many IMAX movies I've seen sounded. Must not have been good enough to leave a lasting impression.

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I've never been all that impressed by IMAX sound. I've been to both the MPX systems and the full-size dome systems running educational stuff. IMAX advertises as handling up to 15,000 watts of sound, according to the film snipe they run before everything that's supposed to impress the masses. The "UltraScreens" at my location can handle up to 24,000 watts, and you can feel the hairs on your head moving when the right explosion hits in a film. We don't need to advertise our wattage, you can feel it. IMAX sound isn't all it's cracked up to be IMO.

posted 05-22-2009 07:45 PM                       

quote:

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Imax's slogan used to be "Think big," but now some of its customers complain they're being told to read the fine print.
The largescreen cinema exhib, which is usually busy reporting increasingly higher percentages of theatrical gross coming from Imax screens, finds itself doing damage control following a rare moviegoers' revolt.

In the midst of an expansion that has made Imax an important premium venue -- in the first two weeks of "Star Trek," it claimed more than $22 million in gross on less than 2% of screens -- the company that built its reputation as the ultimate way to see a movie is being accused of failing to deliver on its own promises.

The Toronto-based company was called out first by no less than Roger Ebert and then by bloggers for compromising quality in its expansion. Actor-comedian Aziz Ansari ranted about the topic; LF Examiner, an online trade publication for the large-format exhibition industry, accused Imax flat-out of lying. A website, Liemax.com, has sprung up to identify which screens are "real Imax" and which are "fake Imax."

Suddenly the company is having to justify the $5 premium on Imax tickets to customers who see the new smaller screens and say, "That's not Imax."

That has created a PR headache for Imax execs, who were caught offguard by the issue. Imax CEO Rich Gelfond says their advance market research said only 2% of customers felt the new Imax screens weren't a comparable experience to the old.

"To some degree this is a product of our success," Gelfond tells Variety, "because as we attract more customers that other 2% is more and more people.

"We are going to do something (about the complaints). We hear the people."

But as yet he isn't sure what. He says they're not yet sure what portion of their customers are actually unhappy. They're planning a further customer survey and will decide what to do after they see the results.

In the meantime, the issue isn't likely to go away on its own.

Imax plans to expand to 400 U.S. screens by 2010, mostly by moving into preexisting multiplexes. But unlike the giant screens seen in museums and specially built commercial venues such as Universal Citywalk, the newer installations use a 1.9:1 aspect ratio instead of the 1.43:1 aspect ratio of the old Imax screens and a pair of 2K digital projectors instead of a super-high-resolution 15/70 film print, which brings the cost of Imax within reach of many more theaters.

The dispute largely comes down to different definitions of Imax. The company defines its experience with theater geometry, picture brightness, sound quality and other technical arcana, which together are an upgrade over normal theaters. The unhappy fans want large-format film projected on very tall screens -- they're still thinking big.

The Australian Imax licensee, which operates only giant screens, has complained that the company was advertising the new multiplex screens also with the Imax name, and now worries about a threatened customer boycott.

"Why are they selling it as a giant screen when it's not?" asked Mark Bretherton, CEO of Imax Sydney.

Don't look for Imax to back down on its expansion, though -- it's too important to the future of the company. If limited to the 75-foot-tall special venue screens of the past, they argue, they'd be back in the "bears, whales and seals" pic business, where the company began.

Maybe they can take a cue from Coca-Cola, and dub the old screens Imax Classic. That is, if anyone would buy New Imax.

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posted 05-22-2009 09:47 PM                    

quote: Joe Redifer

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So can someone tell me what makes IMAX sound so much better than real cinema?

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posted 05-22-2009 09:53 PM                    

quote: Geoff Jones

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But only 2% of people, according to IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond

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