More of "whatever it takes to save film"....Quentin Tarantino Explains Why 70MM Film

[Sal Santamaura]

This is an interesting video...

Linked to in post #1.

...From what I'm reading on the Internet however, the initial road show screenings have been plagued by technical problems...

Linked to in post #42.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

The official theater list has finally been made public and tickets are available. I just purchased two for the first showing on December 25; it'll be only a 15 mile drive from home. Let's hope the projection goes smoothly.

 

[AgX]

You can take some splicing tape to the show...

 

[fdonadio]

You can take some splicing tape to the show...

And a 70mm film splicer, which won't be easy to find. I have an 8mm one, though.

 

[frobozz]

I've got family in town for Christmas, so we have 12 tickets to a Dec 26th show. Chicago area has more theaters showing it in 70mm than about anywhere else!

Duncan

 

[kanamit]

I'm going to see it in a couple of days. It's at a chain, so I'm a little afraid that the projectionist will probably be some random guy with two weeks of training instead of an experienced projectionist, but we'll see. Seeing Interstellar in IMAX 70mm was awesome, damn I miss widespread film projection.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

The official theater list has finally been made public and tickets are available. I just purchased two for the first showing on December 25; it'll be only a 15 mile drive from home. Let's hope the projection goes smoothly.

We returned home from this within the last hour. Herewith my report.

Arriving early enough to select what I considered optimally positioned seats, we picked two centered on the second highest row. About 30 minutes before scheduled start, ceiling lights went on in the projection booth. I turned around, stood up and watched as what appeared to be a 16-year-old from the popcorn booth contemplated how to thread the projector. He stared at it for quite a while, then made several tentative attempts to find the correct path. When done, he started it up. I could see black leader feeding off the side-mounted platter. This all took around 20 minutes. I sat back down and waited until show time.

The booth's ceiling lights went out, house lights dimmed and the projector was started. After a few more seconds of black film, a mostly red screen, with the film's logo and the word "Overture," appeared. Except it was reversed left to right and there was no sound. I immediately commented that the kid had lost his coin toss since, even after staring at the film for some time deciding how it should be threaded, he'd fed it in the wrong way, making pictures backwards and placing the soundtrack opposite of where a head could contact it. The projector was stopped, booth ceiling and house lights turned back on, and he ran it in reverse until all the black leader was back out. Having learned his lesson, this time he threaded it correctly. Total delay was exactly ten minutes. He was twice as fast threading the second time around. I was also impressed by how cool he stayed during his ordeal. Even with a single reel approach, this was probably far, far more challenging than pressing "start" on a digital projector.

After the film began, there were no technical issues. I didn't bring a 70mm splicer + tape, and they weren't needed. The projector's illumination evenness was fairly good, with only one slightly less bright region noticeable about 20% in from the left edge. Needless to say, the brand new print was in perfect condition. I could detect no variations in focus from center to edges. In my opinion, however, the impact of 70mm is diminished by the 2.76:1 aspect ratio. While certainly sharper than 35mm would be, I'd rather the large frame area had been taken advantage of by a less rectangular format, thereby maximizing its resolution advantage. This critique would be of greater importance if more than a small portion of the film was shot outdoors. As it is, most of the three hours takes place inside a mountain cabin.

I decided to attend this 'roadshow' of "The Hateful Eight" purely to experience what modern film in 70mm format looked like. The last time such a release occurred in the mid-1960s, I was barely a teenager. I had no positive expectations that the story would be in any way satisfying. It did not surprise. Tarantino's gratuitous violence approach to film making left me as cold as I thought it would. His "style" and writing are really off putting. I cannot recommend that anyone expend the time and money to see this motion picture in 35mm or digital (home or theater) versions. However, if you decide on going to the Irvine California Edwards for a 70mm experience, I can at least assure you that the popcorn kid now knows which way to thread the film.

 

[jsmithphoto1]

Our IMAX has just went to digital *sobbing*. They did show 70mm. Such a shame!

 

[bdial]

Sounds like it may not be worth a 120 mile round trip just for the 70mm Ultra Panavision experience?

 

[Sal Santamaura]

Sounds like it may not be worth a 120 mile round trip just for the 70mm Ultra Panavision experience?

It's your decision, but, having had that experience, unless you're into gratuitous vulgar language and violence, I'd say there's no need for a question mark at the end of your quote.

 

[bdial]

Thank you Sal.

Maybe some other director will decide to take advantage of all the resurrected equipment.

 

[cmacd123]

The booth's ceiling lights went out, house lights dimmed and the projector was started. After a few more seconds of black film, a mostly red screen, with the film's logo and the word "Overture," appeared. Except it was reversed left to right and there was no sound. I immediately commented that the kid had lost his coin toss since, even after staring at the film for some time deciding how it should be threaded, he'd fed it in the wrong way, making pictures backwards and placing the soundtrack opposite of where a head could contact it.

Back in the day 70mm used a magnetic sound track, which is not possible now as Kodak no longer will mag stripe film. I understand that they are using the system where their is a digital sync track on the print which syncs up a digital track on another media. If couse if they thread the print in reverse, that will not be picked up by the sensor. 35mm Prints also use that sync track, it is about 1/2 millimetre wide and at the edge of the analogue track, which in 35mm is the fall back. I don't think there was ever an analogue optical track format for 70mm. The reason that "70mm" movies are shot on 65mm wide film is to allow for what was 4 magnetic tracks for an early version of surround sound. the print stock is 70mm perforated 65mm.

The Extra WIDE screen of Ultra panavison DOES use the whole 5 perf high frame, (35mm is 4 perfs high) but there is a anamorphic lens that stretches the image horizontally to get the supper wide screen.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

...The booth's ceiling lights went out, house lights dimmed and the projector was started. After a few more seconds of black film, a mostly red screen, with the film's logo and the word "Overture," appeared. Except it was reversed left to right and there was no sound. I immediately commented that the kid had lost his coin toss since, even after staring at the film for some time deciding how it should be threaded, he'd fed it in the wrong way, making pictures backwards and placing the soundtrack opposite of where a head could contact it...

Back in the day 70mm used a magnetic sound track, which is not possible now as Kodak no longer will mag stripe film. I understand that they are using the system where their is a digital sync track on the print which syncs up a digital track on another media. If couse if they thread the print in reverse, that will not be picked up by the sensor. 35mm Prints also use that sync track, it is about 1/2 millimetre wide and at the edge of the analogue track, which in 35mm is the fall back. I don't think there was ever an analogue optical track format for 70mm. The reason that "70mm" movies are shot on 65mm wide film is to allow for what was 4 magnetic tracks for an early version of surround sound. the print stock is 70mm perforated 65mm.

The Extra WIDE screen of Ultra panavison DOES use the whole 5 perf high frame, (35mm is 4 perfs high) but there is a anamorphic lens that stretches the image horizontally to get the supper wide screen.

Thanks for the update. Regardless of whether it was a magnetic sound track of old or an optical sync track for an external audio medium, the thing was on the opposite side from where its sensor needed it to be.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

And now this....

http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/28/10675580/christopher-nolan-wwii-movie-dunkirk-65mm-film-imax

 

[skorpiius]

Gratuitous vulgar language and violence? Sounds like a Tarantino movie to me

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

 

[Sal Santamaura]

Gratuitous vulgar language and violence? Sounds like a Tarantino movie to me...

To reiterate from post #58:

I decided to attend this 'roadshow' of "The Hateful Eight" purely to experience what modern film in 70mm format looked like...I had no positive expectations that the story would be in any way satisfying. It did not surprise...

 

[Prest_400]

Turned out I was wrong and there is a classic cinema oriented theater where they passionately brought the roadshow. In Spain the movie premiered the 15th January, so on that day I went in the first morning session to watch the film. Those guys really enjoy the art and there was an opening speech by the owner of the theater (IIRC he's a producer himself), recalling the odyssey of getting the anamorphic lenses.

I haven't been a cine passionate person but liked the experience. I was warned by the polarization of opinions about it, and there was quite some blood and words but not that bad. Guess I've been desensitized by the frenzy of violence et al often shown nowadays. I did enjoy the movie a lot and just was in it. The theater being oriented to a cine conscious public helped a lot, and I enjoyed good conversations. Not the usual multiplex session

It's been at least 3 years since the last 35mm projection in my local theater and I forgot some of the characteristics. The flicker on some outdoor vistas was more than I could recall. But I enjoyed the Wiiiiide Ultrapanavision, a ratio equivalent to a 6x17 perhaps? Excellent photography.
Looks like it fosters a humble movement of 70mm again, and it's rumored that Nolan's next film will be shot it 65mm as well. More Motion Picture Film can only do good for Kodak.

 

[flavio81]

Back in the day 70mm used a magnetic sound track, which is not possible now as Kodak no longer will mag stripe film. I understand that they are using the system where their is a digital sync track on the print which syncs up a digital track on another media.

Yes. Actually if they had given digital sound to 70mm, it would perhaps have been saved from extinction, since the need for magnetic sound made the prints extremely expensive (adding the magnetic strip to the prints was a very costly process). It's far cheaper to use the optical sync + digital sound.

 

[Richard Man]

I am not a fan of gratuitous violence, my wife is even more adverse to it, but she got dragged into seeing the 70mm Roadshow with me (I love her!), and it's glorious. Even for the indoor shots, it shows so much going on.

The acting are also top notch. Jackson really should have gotten a nomination. Anyway, if it is available your area, check it out. Ignore the blood, look at the cinematography.

 

[fdonadio]

Ignore the blood, look at the cinematography.

"It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen."

-- Alex, "A Clockwork Orange"

 

[Richard Man]

It's not everyday you see someone being shot Tarantino style.

 

[cmacd123]

Yes. Actually if they had given digital sound to 70mm, it would perhaps have been saved from extinction, since the need for magnetic sound made the prints extremely expensive (adding the magnetic strip to the prints was a very costly process). It's far cheaper to use the optical sync + digital sound.

Of course, except for the 15 perf IMAX process, 70mm has not been a major force in many many years, and so the demand would have faded long before the digital sound system became available.

I have heard in another venue, that the magnetic tracks also had the annoying tendency to be damaged magnetically, adding clicks and hiss to the sound, all reproduced very clearly over the multichannel sound system.