1DC: "A Beautiful Planet" IMAX Film Shot Canon C500 & 1DC on International Space Station

"How I Trained Astronauts to Shoot the Stunning 4K Footage in A Beautiful Planet..."

"How I Trained Astronauts to Shoot the Stunning 4K Footage in A Beautiful Planet..."

James Neihouse ASC has a new article at the link below about the new IMAX Film, A Beautiful Planet:

How I Trained Astronauts to Shoot the Stunning 4K Footage in A Beautiful Planet from Space

http://www.moviemaker.com/archives/...t/eye-piece-a-beautiful-planet-astronauts-4k/

A Beautiful Planet is the seventh IMAX film shot in space by astronauts, and continues a three-decade long association with NASA that began in 1984, when IMAX cameras were first flown aboard the space shuttle.


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Thanks for sharing, and the film looks lovely.

But really....

Do you all remember when IMAX stood for something? If I'm not mistaken, IMAX themselves rated their 70mm film at roughly the equivalent of 12K resolution. ANyone who's seen a 15/70mm IMAX projection will never forget it. I get a touch of vertigo right now thinking of screenings gone by.

Now they're using middling 4K cameras and calling it IMAX. They even put an IMAX logo on the C500's LCD screen. Priceless.

And GoPros. Really? GoPros in an IMAX film. Speechless.
 
the whole process of exposing, processing, printing, storing and finally projecting 70mm films drastically reduces the perceived resolution. Also, IMAX isn't just about the "K", the material they shot go through their proprietary DMR process which is extremely sophisticated if you have seen it in person.
 
drummondb said:
Thanks for sharing, and the film looks lovely.

But really....

Do you all remember when IMAX stood for something? If I'm not mistaken, IMAX themselves rated their 70mm film at roughly the equivalent of 12K resolution. ANyone who's seen a 15/70mm IMAX projection will never forget it. I get a touch of vertigo right now thinking of screenings gone by.

Now they're using middling 4K cameras and calling it IMAX. They even put an IMAX logo on the C500's LCD screen. Priceless.

And GoPros. Really? GoPros in an IMAX film. Speechless.
Click to expand...

Let me ask how were they to get a 70mm camera in there, work it, load film, etc. etc. etc. for this film. This film and those shots wouldn't exist without using small cameras.
 
marvinhello said:
the whole process of exposing, processing, printing, storing and finally projecting 70mm films drastically reduces the perceived resolution. Also, IMAX isn't just about the "K", the material they shot go through their proprietary DMR process which is extremely sophisticated if you have seen it in person.
Click to expand...

Due respect, but for decades IMAX was absolutely all about the Ks. The name means Maximum Image. Massive film negative, massive resolution, and massive 90+ foot screens. The DMR you mention started in the 2000's. It's glorified upconverting. It was the start of IMAX slapping their name on any old tosh to make money. If you go on the IMAX wikipedia page, it talks mostly about the famous 15/70mm film variant of IMAX (or "actual real IMAX"). But there's not a lot of talk there about how most theaters with the IMAX logo slapped on it these days are regularly-sized multiplex theaters. Maybe the seats are a little closer to the screen to make it look a bit bigger. And they use 2K projectors!

They seem to be taking some small steps in the right direction by developing a camera based on the rather nice-looking Alexa 65, but that's still nowhere near the resolution or look of actual IMAX film: http://www.photographybay.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IMAX-Sensor-Comparison.jpg

I'm not one of these guys who fetishize resolution, really. I'll happily shoot with my C100s for years to come. It's just sad and a bit bemusing to see the IMAX name, one that stood for something very cool and unique, get cheapened and slapped on 2K "cinema."

People have been complaining about this since at least 2009:

http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/thats-not-the-imax-i-grew-up-with

https://consumerist.com/2009/05/12/does-your-local-cinema-have-imax-or-just-imax-lite/

http://www.lfexaminer.com/20100421shrinking-imax-screens.htm

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/imax-looking-punier-days-just/#:MrO6q8KNnXPB4A
 
mico said:
Let me ask how were they to get a 70mm camera in there, work it, load film, etc. etc. etc. for this film. This film and those shots wouldn't exist without using small cameras.
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They have been flying actual IMAX cameras into space to make films since the 80's. The first post says that.

And I said the film looks nice. I'd like to see it for a variety of reasons, and especially to see how our old Canon Cinema cameras look up there.

I just don't like them slapping the IMAX name on it, when this has nothing to do with what made IMAX the name it is.
 
drummondb said:
They have been flying actual IMAX cameras into space to make films since the 80's. The first post says that.

And I said the film looks nice. I'd like to see it for a variety of reasons, and especially to see how our old Canon Cinema cameras look up there.

I just don't like them slapping the IMAX name on it, when this has nothing to do with what made IMAX the name it is.
Click to expand...

I believe those Imax space shots you mentioned were cameras rigged outside and operated remotely from inside the space craft. This new film has the astronauts with cameras inside.
 
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drummondb said:
Thanks for sharing, and the film looks lovely.

But really....

Do you all remember when IMAX stood for something? If I'm not mistaken, IMAX themselves rated their 70mm film at roughly the equivalent of 12K resolution. ANyone who's seen a 15/70mm IMAX projection will never forget it. I get a touch of vertigo right now thinking of screenings gone by.

Now they're using middling 4K cameras and calling it IMAX. They even put an IMAX logo on the C500's LCD screen. Priceless.

And GoPros. Really? GoPros in an IMAX film. Speechless.
Click to expand...

I too share your rage and also experience the giddy sensation of vertigo when reminiscing of Imax screenings past. We should get a petition going or maybe a protest Facebook page or something.
 
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Plexi Head said:
I too share your rage and also experience the giddy sensation of vertigo when reminiscing of Imax screenings past. We should get a petition going or maybe a protest Facebook page or something.
Click to expand...

I would prefer we begin drilling through the Earth's crust so that we can blow out its core with a penetrative explosive capsule and then use a guidance system to pilot the planet around space.
 
If you watch the BTS video, they explain the new parameters IMAX has to work with when on the space station. The astronauts were the DPs, weight is everything ....and understand, The C500's 4K chip (and the 1DC) was the most bang for the pound in this case, so to speak, recording onto Codex recorders (which most studio features record to). Also, the amount of footage shot was very large....

Jim Martin
EVSonline.com
 
Jim Martin said:
If you watch the BTS video, they explain the new parameters IMAX has to work with when on the space station. The astronauts were the DPs, weight is everything ....and understand, The C500's 4K chip (and the 1DC) was the most bang for the pound in this case, so to speak, recording onto Codex recorders (which most studio features record to). Also, the amount of footage shot was very large....

Jim Martin
EVSonline.com
Click to expand...

Fun fact: 1D C was used as a stills camera by the astronauts.
 
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