Its a wide screen image for a scope screen!

Like most uk cinemas with digital and 3D capabilities they will be showing ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth 3D’. This film does not look that good, it looks like a very gimmicky 3D but this is not my point.

 

Starting up the show for the first time all the info I got with the hard drive said that the film was in wide screen ratio (1:85) but the image on screen was in scope (2:39). The images was not warped as digital won’t do that, digital when played in the wrong ratio will just zoom the image up and crop the top and bottom, which this was doing. So check all the settings and could not see anything wrong with it. Image still was filling a scope screen so decided the best people to call are the owners of the projector, so I gave them a call to be told by the technical help line that yes the film was in wide screen but it would fill a scope screen. I explained that this was not possible but was told again the films ratio was wide screen scope. WIDE SCREEN SCOPE, what is this crap! So a ran many more test images to find out if the image was being cropped and yes it was, decided to speak to someone else who could not stop laughing when I told him about the wide screen scope, well it would turn out that the 3D setting were wrong and yes the film is now in wide screen (1:85).

Batman Dark Knight Day

Well it had final come, tonight I got to watch Batman, nearly 2 weeks early. Its about time as I have been waiting to watch this for a very long time. I will have a little review after I have seen it but I wont go in to any detail as I would like everyone to enjoy it as much as I hope to enjoy it (and I hate people who spoil films)

Batman Dark Knight day 6

So 6 days till I got to see one of my most anticipated films of this year (well its 5 as I didn’t blog yesterday).

 

I’m trying to keep away for all the clips you can view on the internet at the moment for Dark Knight, I decided to have the week before staying away from all the new stuff as I think it makes me want to watch it more and I’m not seeing any little extra stuff I don’t want to see, I’m a slight geek when it comes to stuff like that, I can sit with a new clip or a different version of a trailer and spot the 3 seconds of different footage compared to the last trailer, this is what happens when it becomes your work. So as I have no more new information (apart from today is when the films gets send from the US of A) thought I would bring you some other interesting information.

Batman Returns hit our screens in 1992, it was Tim Burtons second outing as director with our winged friend and I liked him as I director, he has this dark side to him which I think was exactly what batman needed and I think this can be seen when Joe Schumacher gets his hands on the next in the batman saga Batman Forever (TO MUCH NEON JOE). Anyway there are many facts you can read up on Batman Returns but one fact that seems to get missed is that is was the first film to have a Dolby Digital sound track, now hang on for all the people who would just switch off now, all the film lover and people who just dont like technology, if you enjoy films in any way shape or form this affected you in a big way. All the way up to Batman Returns sound was played in a 2 channel optical (analogue) track, this was left and right, there are slight alterations in the way the sound was mixed to give a slight surround sound channel but nothing that would add any serous definition to the surround sound track. Then we got Dolby Digital (think of Tape Vs CD) this is a 6 channel (left, right, centre, rear left, rear right and sub) and for the first time ever the sound could be mixed in a way when you could have whatever sound coming out of any 6 speakers. Ok that’s where I stop with geek talk and bring it in the ‘normal talk’. Lets say you are watching a clip from a war movie, Saving Private Ryan is a good example, the beach storming opening, in Analogue there would be explosions in the rear speakers as from all the speaker, the bass would be going with the big booms. In Digital there would be bullets from the left speaker with people screaming from the right, you could hear the engines from the boats in the left rear as that is where the camera has just left, as the camera turns the engines noise goes from left rear to right rear, the people screaming moves to the left rear and the bullets move to the left speaker, the sounds move around to fit the direction the camera is looking. With is new sound it added a new dimension to the viewing experience, its found on DVD and is now being introduced to HD TV.

There have been different version of ‘Digital’ sound from different people, from DTS to SDDS but 90% of the time at the cinema or at home you would be listening to Dolby Digital.

Batman The Dark Knight day 7

Ok nothing (again) to report about my upcoming film viewing, instead I thought I would talk about Batman Dead End. I found this one day while just general surfing the internet, it is a film made by a Batman fan called Sandy Collora, he made it on a really small budget of around $30000, that may sound like a lot but when you see the movie its a small amount.

In a nut shell the film is about Batman chasing down the Joker, its very dark and spooky, I’m not going to go any further then that as there are some wonderfully interesting changes in the direction of the film which I think are just fantastic. Click here to watch the film.

Batman Dark Knight day 8

Nothing really to report, the film is coming but I still have 8 days till I get to see it.

My girlfriend asked why we are getting the film so early, you may not know but everyone is paranoid about piracy, when you go to watch the latest big film on the opening day the projection team would have only got the film the day before, not to bad if there is just one but when there are 5 copies a something else big is coming out you can get times where you have 7 films all due on the following day and when you look at 1-2 hours just to make it up never mind check it things can get tight. Back to the point why would a film like Batman The Dark Knight come so early? You would need one fantastic camera to record a screen like an Imax screen, I think the problem does not lie with the cinema as the copies of films available on the internet don’t tend to be cinema copies but hey what would I know? I just work in the industry.

Batman Dark Knight day 9

I get to watch Batman Dark knight 2 weeks early, on a screen 85 feet high and wide and just to add a little icing to this already good looking cake ……. wait for it ……… I get paid to watch it!

 
 

If you are now reading his blog with white knuckles I am sorry, its not that I want you to get angry but if you had news like that would you want to keep it to yourself? I have decided to try and stay away from the new clips and TV spots coming out as there seems to be more and more footage appearing in theses clips and it don’t want to see much more.

 
 

So the countdown starts today and it starts at 9 days until in sat in the screen all excited.

Batman Dark Knight Imax Info

 
 

Ok I know I go on about how bigger and better Imax is but I did find this photo of what the reall diffrence would look like to you being sat in that screen.

You can read up on why Christopher Nolan wanted to use this format here.

The image on the left is a normal 35mm screen, and one on the right is a Imax screen

 
 

Batman Dark Knight Manchester Imax update

Batman will be showing in Manchester Imax screen, the film has 6 sections of the film that have been filmed with an Imax camera to give the full screen experience. If you don’t know much about Imax have a look here.

Anyway I can’t quite explain what it is like watching a film in the Imax screen, it’s not just the fact the screen is 85ft high and wide but with 14000 watts of sound it packs a punch. Well from what I have found out the Odeon Printworks are going to be showing the film before the release date in a preview evening, there will also be some sort of exclusive gift (some sort of 3D A3 poster)

 

News story on Batman in the Imax

 

Batman : The Dark Knight

I spotted this poster in one of the Manchester cinemas the other day, its for The Dark Knight if you didn’t spot it. The odd thing is the red writing at the bottom, I can’t work out what it could be saying

 

Catch up

Sorry it’s been some time since I have been back, work keeping me busy.

 

Ok Indi, to be honest not too impressed. It was a big change in the way the film came across from the classics I have come to know and love, some things that saves it a little are the facts, this film is set in the 60’s the high of UFO nuts. That’s it. I just felt like it was too laid out and didn’t really excite me.

 

Films that I’m looking forward to at the moment are:

Batman The Dark Knight is going to be just awesome, it is going to be playing in Imax and if you have not seen any films in Imax you are missing out sooooo much, it is just like watching a film on a normal screen you just times the screen size and sound buy 8. People who are lucky enough to get to see this film in the Imax will get 6 scenes shot in Imax camera so the frame will be full screen which in Manchester’s case is 85feet high and wide. I know someone how was lucky enough to have seen this film already and I’m told it is a very dark film. COOOOL.

Tropic Thunder, this film is simple, funny. Plot in a nut shell is war movie becomes very expensive, the film studio pulls all the funding but the director won’t stop, takes all the actors in to the jungle and puts them in a war and still films it. Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr and Steve Coogan head up the cast. Check out the trailer here or if you have iTunes you can get the more adult one.

Films out this week are:

Wanted has previews from Wednesday, this film has just got a 18 cert, from the info I got it was a very close call but the distributors must have wanted to keep whatever the BBFC wanted taking out. This movie looks like it could be very cool, it makes very little scene but not every movie has to. Staring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, and James McAvoy. For me 18 cert means violence and sex, two of the main parts for a good movie.

Prince Caspian is the second movie from The Chronicles of Narnia, the first one did take some money but not as much as expected, well they would have seemed to have put all their eggs in one basket with this one, they are spending a lot of money an multiple prints but I can see it doing the business.