Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: A return of 35mm installs for Nolan's next project "Interstellar" ?

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Topic: A return of 35mm installs for Nolan's next project "Interstellar" ?

Joseph L. Kleiman
Master Film Handler

Posts: 380
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Apr 2005

posted 09-15-2013 07:54 PM

It's my understanding from talking with a number of people at the conference that he was referencing the fact that when IMAX theaters switched from 1570 to digital projection systems, quite a few of them laid off their projection staff and trained the IT or floor staff to operate the digital systems. Which is why having laid off all the trained projectionists is coming back to bite them in the ass, especially when Nolan wants his movie shown in 15p70mm and quite a few projectionists trained in that format have lost their jobs.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 09-15-2013 08:58 PM

Cutting staff, like laying off film projectionists, gets right back to the real point of why digital conversion has been happening so fast. It hasn't been about improving presentation quality for movie-going customers. It has been mostly about cutting costs. The movie studios love "digital" because a reusable external hard disc is a lot cheaper than a film print. The movie theater chains like it for the cuts that can be made in payroll.

quote: Manny Knowles
Not sure if this was directed specifically at me, but I'll reiterate my position on this -- I like the look of film. I think capturing on film is a great idea. But too many bad things can (and do) happen to film after it leaves the camera.

Manny, I wasn't directing my comment at you when I referred to "fans of digital," it was directed at people who've been bashing film as an origination medium since the end of the 1990s. Some went as far extolling the virtues of consumer/prosumer formats like DV and MiniDV as a better choice than film and made sure to use the "digital" buzz word as much as possible.

A feature movie like 28 Days Later is kind of messed up in this age of 1080p HDTV sets, Blu-ray, etc. due to its standard definition video origins. At the same time I can watch episodes of Seinfeld re-produced in HD thanks to its film-based origins.

quote: Manny Knowles
The DI is a big deal-breaker for me, as far as printing to film after that bottleneck. Might as well go with the DCP since it will be a few generations closer to that than a film print would be.

Agreed. If a movie is post produced via DI then I would prefer to see it via digital projection equipment. A 35mm print can only be a better choice if the movie was produced entirely at 4K or higher resolution, the only d-cinema systems in the area are 2K and the 35mm print was well manufactured and presented. That's a lot of variables.

Many variables can adversely affect a d-cinema show (the camera format/quality level, the DI quality level, CGI quality level). More theaters are installing 4K resolution systems. But if the 4K setup is fed something bottle-necked to 2K at any point the material being presented is only going to be 2K. Same thing goes for color depth.

An all-digital work flow doesn't guarantee all the tools in the process will be used at their best quality levels. I recently rented Oblivion. If the IMDB info is accurate that movie was shot with 5K Red Epic and 4K Sony F65 cameras. But the DI was output at only 2K. That seemed like a terrible bottleneck considering the material was blown up to some 15-perf 70mm IMAX prints. Those prints might have looked a lot better with the 4K/5K footage. In the end I don't feel like I missed anything at all merely renting that movie on Blu-ray.

quote: Terry Lynn-Stevens
Can't wait to see "Anamorphic" on the marquee for Interstellar.

Nobody is going to put that on the marquee. It has been decades since terms like CinemaScope have been put on marquees. At best "35mm film" might make it into some ads and onto some marquees. But as bad as theaters have been in terms of advertising sound and projection formats I wouldn't get up much more hope than being able to see such listings in an Internet-based theater directory. It sure isn't going on the building marquee or street sign. The theater manager will just be hoping the guy sliding in the Zip Change letters will spell the movie title correctly.

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Terry Lynn-Stevens
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1081
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Dec 2012

posted 09-15-2013 09:49 PM

quote: Joseph L. Kleiman
It's my understanding from talking with a number of people at the conference that he was referencing the fact that when IMAX theaters switched from 1570 to digital projection systems, quite a few of them laid off their projection staff and trained the IT or floor staff to operate the digital systems. Which is why having laid off all the trained projectionists is coming back to bite them in the ass, especially when Nolan wants his movie shown in 15p70mm and quite a few projectionists trained in that format have lost their jobs.

When Dark Knight Rises was released, IMAX did a hiring to run the 15/70 in a number of cities that were re-installations. It was a panel interview over the phone, contract was for 6 weeks during the engagement. They will likely do the same thing for the next release.

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