Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Mad Max - Atmos or Large Screen

This is topic Mad Max - Atmos or Large Screen in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Aron Toplitsky (Member # 6950) on 05-23-2015, 01:11 AM:

Hello all,

This weekend I plan on seeing Mad Max and I'm having trouble deciding which theater to see it in. I can't decide if I should see it on a large screen with no Atmos or a much smaller screen with Atmos. And by the way both theaters offer the 2D showings. I'm not bothering with 3D. Here are my choices...

Archlight Hollywood (Dome Theater) - I'm sure most of you know about this theater. One of the largest screens in LA and Arclight presentations are of better quality than most.

TCL Chinese Theater - (not the IMAX screen) Theater one is a 300 plus seat theater with an average screen, but the Atmos in this auditorium is spectacular! They are not afraid to play the volume at its proper level. Of course it depends on the mix but Godzilla was a jaw dropping Atmos experience! Saw a few other Atmos movies at this theater but they didn't sound as good as Godzilla.

So my question is, and keep in mind I'm a lover of great sound, anyone see it in Atmos and is it a good mix? Or should I go for the non Atmos larger screen experience?

Posted by Daniel Schulz (Member # 1881) on 05-23-2015, 01:27 AM:

If it's a large screen you're interested in, skip the CineramaDome and watch it on the IMAX screen at the TCL Chinese. Still no Atmos, but a huge screen with a great image due to the new IMAX laser projectors.

Posted by Aron Toplitsky (Member # 6950) on 05-23-2015, 03:18 AM:

Thanks for the response Daniel. Yeah I considered the Chinese IMAX but I really try to avoid 3D, especially when a film is post converted.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 05-23-2015, 10:57 AM:

did Warner's create a new 12-channel mix for the IMAX laser version.

in terms of the 3D, Miller had every intent of filming this in 3D (alas it didn't happen), and there's a lot of visual stuff flying in your face that really works with Stereo D's excellent conversion job.

thank you Arclight Bethesda for showing this on your 65ft wide screen AND Dolby Atmos (and 3D) - it rocked!

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-23-2015, 12:49 PM:

IIRC Max Max: Fury Road is only a 2K resolution movie, probably due to the 3D version being rendered. The lower resolution makes it less worthy of giant screens (despite the fact so many d-cinema theaters can't properly focus an image regardless if it is 2K or 4K).

The movie does have a fairly aggressive surround mix, with some decent Atmos-specific embellishment.

Posted by Aron Toplitsky (Member # 6950) on 05-23-2015, 03:59 PM:

Jonathan - I would assume IMAX would do their 12 channel mix since it's in the laser projected format. I thought I read all films that get their special 4K laser treatment are also mixed with the 12 channel format? So how are you liking that new Arclight? I don't know why they didn't expand years ago. And thanks for the 3D tip. I may consider it.

Bobby - I see what you are saying about theaters not properly projecting 2K. I'd like to think Arclight would not fall into that category. They are quite good with their quality control. They are not your typical theater chain. In a perfect world, Mad Max would have been almost entirely shot in IMAX 15/70. As for the Atmos mix, how were the LFE moments? I'm an absolute bass junkie and the 300+ seat Atmos screen I'm considering, delivers some of the most powerful zero distortion bass I've ever heard!

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 05-23-2015, 05:43 PM:

I really like the new Arclight Bethesda - a lot. While the auditoriums are not pitch black like Cinema Arts - where the only light source during the movie is from the screen, Arclight still trumps Landmark Bethesda, since with their renovation they stupidly added wall lightning that remains low during the movie [ugh- that is soooo distracting]. Dolby Atmos on two screens is a HUGE plus, and no up-costs to hear this since the other two Atmos screens in the DC metro area are on a ETX screen and a RPX screen. The volume of Atmos playback when compared to AMC Tysons is better implemented - it doesn't sound distorted or migrane inducing as Tyson's unfortunately enacts. Of the maybe fifteen times I've been to this theater, I've only been in the Atmos auditoriums and once in a non-Atmos auditorium for 'Into the Woods' - the fact that all the auditoriums can playback 7.1 features is also appreciated [trying to find the Regal,AMC's that can present a movie as such is a crap shoot]

in terms of the Atmos mix of "Mad Max: Fury Road" is that the bass while thankfully restrained and not completely bombastic/over the top, is that there are several instances the bass kicks in to accentuate a particular moment in the action - it's a tight very deep resonant 'whomp'

Posted by Peter Castle (Member # 1997) on 05-24-2015, 12:00 AM:

I know this is slightly off-topic but...

I went out of my way to test out a new Atmos installation, in a new cinema (at Miranda,NSW). They were screening "Avengers 2". I was impressed with the screen (very large) and the encompassing audio from Atmos.

However, when we screened the movie at our venue in 7.1 two days ago, the subs were dramatically evident every time The Hulk landed. I don't remember that in the Atmos mix. I thought the Atmos had extra subs - is it possible that this diffuses the result too much. I mean, in our venue, the floor shook.

Any comment?

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 05-24-2015, 12:54 AM:

A fully loaded Atmos installation can have multiple, separately controlled subwoofers.

But the amount of floor resonance isn't your most reliable indicator for actual LFE SPL. [Wink]

Also, Atmos does not necessarily equal "loud".

For Mad Max, I'd rather go or better sound than the biggest screen. Like Bobby already mentioned, it's a 2K release so a bigger picture will only make it blurrier.

Posted by Aron Toplitsky (Member # 6950) on 05-27-2015, 12:34 AM:

I have found that each theater's Atmos set up sounds sometimes better or worse than others. To be fair I would think room size has a lot to do with it. Anyhow, when I first experienced Atmos it was the Century City 15 in Los Angeles. A week later I saw the same film (Life of Pi) at the AMC Orange 30 in Orange County. The Orange 30 was a much bigger theater, but just didn't deliver the powerful bass I experienced at Century City. Since then I've had Atmos experiences at different theaters for different films and have at times been let down. I would assume a lot of the has to do with the mix. Pacific Rim for example, saw that in Atmos at the Sherman Oaks Galleria Arclight and the mix overall was just average. Yet I hear some say it was a great Atmos mix. It seems like theaters may be adjusting volume to accommodate theater goers. Last summer I saw Expendables 3 in an RPX auditorium that was supposedly an Atmos presentation. I say "supposedly" since it just sounded quite flat. I spoke to the manager after and he said they had to tone down the system and that it was too overwhelming for audiences.

With all of that said, since I started this thread, I finally saw Mad Max and chose the Atmos 2D experience. I will just say...WOW! It was everything I'd hoped for and better! The surrounds and LFE were very aggressive but in such a way that wasn't overwhelming. I have to praise the theater that I go to, (TCL Chinese Theater Six, screen 1) it is just so consistent and I still believe it is the best sounding Atmos theater I've experienced. I think they must play their films at reference level too!

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-27-2015, 12:54 AM:

Unfortunately there is a lot of variables with Dolby Atmos and Atmos-equipped movie theaters.

The movie sound mixes are hit and miss. Some, like Gravity and Edge of Tomorrow are great while others, such as Thor: The Dark World are rather conventional. The not so great mixes aren't very remarkable over a regular 5.1 or 7.1 show.

Atmos equipped theaters can be hit and miss too. The system is scalable. A theater operator can install Atmos wired in nothing more than a 9.1 layout (7.1 with two ceiling surround arrays added). Atmos gets better as you add more amplifiers to separate individual speakers, adding something like more pixels of resolution to the surround image. The quality of speakers and amplifiers plays a huge part in this.

My understanding is Dolby first launched Atmos with some very tough quality standards. But those standards made the install cost very expensive. Since then some of those standards have apparently been relaxed, like the idea of sub bass surround speakers for timbre matching between the stage and surrounds. Not all Atmos theaters have that.

From my perspective it seems like movie theaters and the companies that create the exhibition technology are doing things to mislead the public. It's like the whole "Lie-MAX" thing has caught on big time. The new movie theater puts up a big logo on their biggest auditorium, charges you $16 to enter it, but you don't specifically know why tickets for that house cost so much more. For all I know it could be the same old 2K picture and 5.1 sound. That's basically what IMAX got away with for the past several years. Other companies might try to do the same thing.

Dolby released a less expensive version of their CP-850 cinema processor, a version without the Atmos functions. I actually wouldn't put it past a theater to get one of those things and still pass itself off as an Atmos theater since it's capable of an upgrade sometime in the future.