VistaVision and 70mm locales of “One Battle After Another”

[Ryan Gallagher]

Unlike Sinners, I don't think One Battle After Another used a digital intermediate for the IMAX prints.

Yeah that perf damage podcast ep went into that a little bit, the VV prints were contact printed 1st generation prints, and I believe you are correct that the 70 and IMAX process may have been optical/chemical too?

[Chris Haller]

Unlike Sinners, I don't think One Battle After Another used a digital intermediate for the IMAX prints.

I only say this because, like with Sinners, the 1.44:1 sequences have this weird, inconsistent area on the left side of the screen that is just blank. It disappears sometimes, and reappears frequently and in different sizes. Just a little bar of dead space coming and going. It is very strange, and very unique to these two new 15/70 prints. And sinners was very 4K DI.

I did not notice this kind of behavior in films such as Interstellar, Dunkirk, and Oppenheimer. I do not recall it being something I noticed with Joker 2 or Dune Part Two either. It is just odd, and feels like an odd consistency between these two recent Warner titles is all. I am happy to be proven wrong when more info is available.

[Scotty Wright]

Yeah that perf damage podcast ep went into that a little bit, the VV prints were contact printed 1st generation prints, and I believe you are correct that the 70 and IMAX process may have been optical/chemical too?

Triple checked with a contact at fotokem. The VV and 5perf 70mm prints are optical. IMAX prints were filmout from the DI.

[Scotty Wright]

I only say this because, like with Sinners, the 1.44:1 sequences have this weird, inconsistent area on the left side of the screen that is just blank. It disappears sometimes, and reappears frequently and in different sizes. Just a little bar of dead space coming and going. It is very strange, and very unique to these two new 15/70 prints. And sinners was very 4K DI.

I did not notice this kind of behavior in films such as Interstellar, Dunkirk, and Oppenheimer. I do not recall it being something I noticed with Joker 2 or Dune Part Two either. It is just odd, and feels like an odd consistency between these two recent Warner titles is all. I am happy to be proven wrong when more info is available.

Was chatting with an imax film projectionist today about this very thing. It might be a combo of 2 things: 1) inconsistent frame edges on the prints (not dis-similar from the undersizing issue on recent 5perf 70mm prints), and 2) less than ideal placement of the imax film projectors in the booth. All locations obviously have a digital system, usually those had priority placement when installed, so some have the film system less dead-on than ideal and it can show that edge frame line issue more obviously than other venues.

[Steve Guttag]

One would presume that the VV prints would have been contact printed (no optical). 5/70 prints would HAVE to have been via an optical enlargement (they could have done a non-enlargement nearly 1.5:1 ratio (1.57:1) 5/70 but they chose not to. I would doubt that they would have done that real-time but via an internegative rather than run the OCN through the printer that many times.

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[Chris Haller]

Happened to be in NYC over the weekend and made a trip up to Regal Union Square for the 3:10pm showing of One Battle After Another in Vistavision - was lucky to sit for one of the shows where the projector ran the show without issue. It was an interesting experience - they properly masked their massive flat screen in their House 13 RPX theater to 1.51:1. It looked very much like a miniature classic style IMAX auditorium. It was a nice experience - good detail, tighter, lighter grain, and better color and brightness than the IMAX 15/70 print I saw in Toronto. All of the characteristics you'd anticipate from a print made off the original negative. The DTS 5.1 sound was good except for that their screen right speaker was clearly blown. Oh well.

I do not foresee this being a consistent experience moving forward - as of today the same exact projection setup was down for the entire day start with the 11am showing. I've read fairly consistent issues with the NYC site for this presentation. Maybe its better elsewhere, but I suspect the Union Square management team will be glad to be rid of it when it is finally removed. Perhaps its better suited for smaller theaters like The Vista or the Coolidge Theater.

[Henry Atkinson]

I finally got to see the VV presentation at the Coolidge in Boston yesterday, and it looked and sounded fantastic. I'm hoping to see it somewhere in 5.1 at some point to get a sense for how much of a difference the 7.1 made. Hopefully we'll get a 70mm print out here in Worcester once the first theatrical run wraps up.