It takes more than just overwhelmingly humongous visuals to create the immersive "IMAX Experience" that moviegoers have come to expect. The film’s soundtrack plays an equally vital role. Here’s an in-depth look at how IMAX engineers develop and deliver a sound big enough to match the on-screen action.
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Seeing an IMAX movie is impressive, sure, but what’s even more impressive is watching an IMAX theater get built. The world’s largest no less. It’s a feat.
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1939’s The Wizard of Oz is the standard bearer of cinema’s Golden Age. The live action fantasy classic has become an integral part of the pop culture lexicon, endlessly parodied, referenced, and retold in everything from children’s books to ultra-porn. And now it is coming back—to an even bigger silver screen.
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Ever since NASA’s Cassini-Huygens spacecraft entered Saturn’s orbit in 2004, filmmaker Stephen van Vuuren has been enthralled with its progress. So much so that he’s spent years collecting over a million insanely high-res photos from Cassini’s mission and quilted them together into a 45-minute film called In Saturn’s Rings. Without relying on CGI or fancy visual effects, van Vuuren has patched together a seamless visual journey through our solar system, culminating in a breathtaking view of Saturn’s rings and moons. Distributed by BIG & Digital, the movie is expected to make its way to IMAX theaters sometime in 2014, though there’s no word yet on a specific release date. The first official trailer dropped today, and you can watch it — in 4K if you’ve got the right screen — after the break.
Source: In Saturn’s Rings
While many remember the moment Dorothy stepped out into the Technicolor land of Oz, Warner is aiming to make that moment even grander with a 75th anniversary Wizard of Oz re-release this fall. The plans call for a week-long IMAX 3D run (similar to recent releases like Jurassic Park and the Oz HD screening back in ’09) beginning September 20th, and a Blu-ray releases hitting shelves October 1st. Digitally remastered and scanned in 8K before being rotoscoped and converted for 3D from the original Technicolor negative, Warner called it a long and complex project which it would not release until “perfect.” The Blu-ray set will come in several versions, with the five disc 75th Anniversary set including Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, DVD and Ultraviolet versions plus a making of documentary and other special features. That one is currently priced at $73.99 on Amazon, and a 2-disc Blu-ray 3D combo pack goes for $26.99, with Blu-ray and DVD versions also planned. Check after the break for a press release with all the details, plus a video clip of that colorized first step and a documentary from the last time it was remastered, scanned in merely 4K resolution.
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Source: Amazon
3net, the joint venture from Sony, Discovery and IMAX that’s a 3D channel and more recently a production studio, is ready to announce its first slate of content. While so far the channel has mainly sourced content from the three partners, the new slate of projects, with one that it says is the world’s first native 4K project for TV. Called Space, it combines 3D and Ultra HD footage to explore the universe. Of course, at $20k~ a pop for Ultra HD TV sets and a lack of anyone broadcasting in the format so far it may be a bit early, but it will probably air in standard HD/3D at first and when the tech catches up, it will be ready. Other shows in the works include Marksmen, a 3D motion comic, documentary Frozen In Time: Our History in 3D, Wingsuit Warrior: Jeb Corliss vs. The World and travelogue series Daydream. Anyone that scrounged for HD in the early 2000s is probably familiar with this type of demo-ready content, and if you’re one of the first with a 4K set, it will probably be in your library for a while before Hollywood is ready to sell you the same movies again, just in higher resolution.
Continue reading Initial projects from 3net Studios include the world’s first native 4K TV show
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Initial projects from 3net Studios include the world’s first native 4K TV show originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Nov 2012 07:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you’ve spent all of this effort launching an All-3D channel, it’s probably wise to ensure you’ve got enough content to keep your schedules full. That’s why 3net founders Sony, Discovery and IMAX are teaming up to launch 3net Studios, with facilities opening in California and Maryland. The new business will be used to bring together the best and brightest minds in stereoscopic media to produce footage for the channel. It’ll begin announcing the first projects in the next few weeks, but unless there’s space for a 3D version of Dan Harmon’s Community, we won’t be listening.
Continue reading Sony, Discovery and IMAX launch 3net Studios to produce in-house 3D content
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Sony, Discovery and IMAX launch 3net Studios to produce in-house 3D content originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 11:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Starting this evening, Raiders of the Lost Ark returns to theaters for a brief week long engagement. But not just any theater. Doctor Jones is hitting the biggest screen possible—IMAX—as part of the promotion for the upcoming Indiana Jones trilogy release on Blu-ray. More »
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