CRITERIA B

IMAX theatres’ astonishing quality is achieved by using film shots that are about 10 times larger than the regular 35 mm film stocks. These are square when shot and hence are not in the same proportion of the sides of the screen - they need to be compressed. The 75 mm ones give about double the resolution and are in the proportion of the screen sides. IMAX film shots are 70 mm high and 15 perforations wide (perforations are holes in the film stock that keep it steady)(howstuffworks.com, 29/01/09). Their projectors are different to the regular ones in several ways:
• The film in their projectors moves through horizontally rather than vertically.
• The shutter in these projectors opens for a longer time (rather than for a second) so more light in shone through.
• Bulbs in general theatre projectors are about 150- 200Watts while the IMAX lamps are 15, 000 Watts.
• The IMAX projectors weight approximately 2 tonnes
These projectors project the movie to a large dome which is approximately 30 metres wide – large enough to fill one’s field of vision.














Layout of an IMAX dome
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/imax1.htm

IMAX also uses a six channel surround system for its sound technology. This, in a typical home theatre system consists of 6 speakers – three front speakers (right, left and centre), a left and right surround speaker and a rear speaker – and a subwoofer (it is usually referred to as a 6.1 surround system due to the addition of the subwoofer) (howstuffworks.com, 31/01/09).
Also, IMAX uses 3D technology to enhance their films. LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) shutter technology, combined with polarized lenses (here, two synchronised projectors, with two different polarisations air the movie on the screen) makes IMAX movies very different to the others (howstuffworks.com, 31/01/09).

ITGS PORTFOLIO - ENTERTAINMET AND LEISURE criteria A

The art of movie making has evolved significantly over the decades – especially when it comes to 3-D production. From “Creature from the Black Lagoon” to “cars” and Ice Age” with the slow extinction of the stiff cardboard glasses and violent camera movements, 3-D movies seem to have gotten much more technical as time has passed by. The image and sound has improved considerably due to the increase in demand of such movies, IMAX Theatres raised the status of 3D film making since they first arrived in San Diego in 1973 (imaxmelbourne.com.au, 18/01/09). Hollywood now creates several 3D movies each year – perhaps too many. Walt Disney itself owns about 15 3D movie theatres while Twentieth Century Fox has over 30 3D movies on the way(Barnes, Brooks, 11/01/2009).
One of the major concerns with the number of 3D movies being produced is that US theatres cannot seem to cope with it. With the increase in income of 3D movies, movie studios seem to have started making many more 3D movies than earlier...and there aren’t enough number of 3D movie theatres to air the movies (Barnes, Brooks, 11/01/2009).
Apart from the regular theatre technology and projectors, the IMAX branches of theatres involve some very advanced IT systems such as dome technology, 3D technology, advanced sound systems and a forty-eight-frames-per-second video quality (howstuffwokrs.com, 18/01/09).
Only 1300 of North America’s 40,000 theatres have three dimensional technology. Financing the rest would take about $100,000 per upgrade (Barnes, Brooks, 11/01/2009). Bringing in more 3D theatre equipment would be too expensive. So, is it worth the IMAX experience?

ITGS PORTFOLIO - ENTERTAINMET AND LEISURE