Question about how IMAX works.

H

harmonica44

I read that about 20 percent, or something like that of The Dark Knight Rises was shot in IMAX. But I thought IMAX theaters had to show a movie on IMAX film, otherwise it would come out too blurry, or something. But it seems that since only a small percent of the movie was shot on it, that the theater can also take 35 mm film as well. But if that's true than why don't the IMAX theaters show other big hit movies on 35mm?

I have another question about theater projection as well. My cousin got a job working at the theater, and he says they don't use film anymore and it's all DVD. But when I go to theater I still dust and scratches in the picture. Is this added in by VFX?
 
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They convert the 35mm portions to 70mm for IMAX. The reason they don't do stuff that was at least shot in a little in IMAX originally is it would be a little pointless.

No major theater uses DVD to play back. All new ones are digital, and most older ones are converting to digital a screen at a time. They ship the movies on HDDs now. As far as dust and scratches, you're probably viewing on an older one that's not digital yet. Some films add it in, like Grindhouse, but most don't.

Many digital films do add grain, but grain isn't dust and scratches. Grain just helps it look much more organic without being super noticeable.
 
Okay thanks. But I saw some dust and scratches on The Dark Knight Rises, and my cousin who works at the theater said it was digital. You think that every IMAX theater would want 35mm movies or digital movies to convert up to IMAX to show more movies, hence make more money.
 
Yeah, there are so few IMAX theaters that they usually stay pretty full showing the same movie for a month or two straight. If it ain't broke...
 
harmonica44 said:
Okay thanks. But I saw some dust and scratches on The Dark Knight Rises, and my cousin who works at the theater said it was digital.
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Because they shot on film; the dirt, dust, scratches, and grain were introduced during the filming process... Just because a film is shown digitally doesn't mean it was shot digitally.
 
harmonica44 said:
Okay so how come when I buy those same movies later on DVD, the dust and scratches are gone?
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Umm... they're probably just not as noticeable... due to the decrease in resolution; they may do some touch ups after the down scale too. Plus the interlacing/pull-down will probably mask some stuff as well.

It doesn't seem like it's really gone to me though... I frequently see the dust, dirt, scratches, and hair on the film when watching films on television.
 
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