The first time I encountered 70mm 2.39 was in 1987 with the release of The Untouchables. It was annoying then, as it is now. Traditionally, a 70mm blow up would just crop the sides to the 2.20 ratio that is native to 70mm. However, the Auteurs we have now (that some seem to have no problem with changing aspect ratios mid-show) have decided that 2.39 will be the projection ratio for not one, not two, but three 70mm releases this season.
Kill Bill-The Whole Bloody Affair
Marty Supreme
The Testament of Ann Lee
Are all in 70mm 2.39 for the release. Whereas the AFI/Silver is running all three (in 70mm), they deemed the format worthy of setting up lenses, cutting aperture plates. The AFI/Silver, in theatre 1, has three sided movable masking (the bottom is fixed masking and just above the stage). Since the theatre was originally built in the Art Deco era, wide-screen has always be a challenge. 70mm has, traditionally been full-height of its screen but not full width. With 70mm 2.39, the opportunity is now to let 70mm have full width since the height will be cropped for the 2.39 image.
image.png
To give myself some stop markers (I start such plates with a "nibbling" tool, I decided to put some lines on the plate first. The plate is for a Kinoton FP75E (same as the DP75 70mm plate). Kinoton does scribe the normal 70mm full aperture into their plates. Thus far I've never seen any measured test film with target lines for 2.39:1. The last iteration of 70PA from SMPTE's RP91 did (finally) show some 1.85:1 lines (and 2:1) though most 1.85:1 prints are pretty loose with centering as well as the nominal width. Boston Light and Sound's target (BLS1591), which came out for the UP70 release of H8, also does not show anything for 2.39 (or the narrower ratios). For 2.39, the dashed line for ~7.5% cropping is about right though 10% is probably safer to allow for printing variances as well as the use of rock/roll printing, which will bias off the opposite side of the perforation, depending on which direction a particular reel is printed.
image.png
Nothing moves so slow as cutting a 70mm plate. They, typically, take 3-times as long to cut as a 35mm plate.
Kill Bill-The Whole Bloody Affair
Marty Supreme
The Testament of Ann Lee
Are all in 70mm 2.39 for the release. Whereas the AFI/Silver is running all three (in 70mm), they deemed the format worthy of setting up lenses, cutting aperture plates. The AFI/Silver, in theatre 1, has three sided movable masking (the bottom is fixed masking and just above the stage). Since the theatre was originally built in the Art Deco era, wide-screen has always be a challenge. 70mm has, traditionally been full-height of its screen but not full width. With 70mm 2.39, the opportunity is now to let 70mm have full width since the height will be cropped for the 2.39 image.
image.png
To give myself some stop markers (I start such plates with a "nibbling" tool, I decided to put some lines on the plate first. The plate is for a Kinoton FP75E (same as the DP75 70mm plate). Kinoton does scribe the normal 70mm full aperture into their plates. Thus far I've never seen any measured test film with target lines for 2.39:1. The last iteration of 70PA from SMPTE's RP91 did (finally) show some 1.85:1 lines (and 2:1) though most 1.85:1 prints are pretty loose with centering as well as the nominal width. Boston Light and Sound's target (BLS1591), which came out for the UP70 release of H8, also does not show anything for 2.39 (or the narrower ratios). For 2.39, the dashed line for ~7.5% cropping is about right though 10% is probably safer to allow for printing variances as well as the use of rock/roll printing, which will bias off the opposite side of the perforation, depending on which direction a particular reel is printed.
image.png
Nothing moves so slow as cutting a 70mm plate. They, typically, take 3-times as long to cut as a 35mm plate.
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