http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/johnny-depp-the-biggest-outsider-of-them-all-406887.html

On IMAX and Hollywood

As The Dark Knight continues to break box office records I thought it might be worthwhile to examine one of the key features of the film’s success: IMAX. The film’s IMAX treatment has been getting some press lately, but I’ve read nothing that really situates the technology (or The Dark Knight‘s use of it) with the history of the format. Christopher Nolan’s second Batman film is, indeed, a cinematic achievement for incorporating –for the first time in Hollywood– the IMAX process into the visual structure of the film. Of the many accolades the film will likely continue to garner, this is one worth exploring further. Here are some thoughts on IMAX in The Dark Knight, its relationship to Hollywood, and its future.

The IMAX format originated as an experimental projection system for EXPO ’67 in Montreal, Canada. In 1970 the first IMAX system and film was presented at the Fuji Pavilion at EXPO ’70 in Osaka, Japan. Since then there has been no shortage of discussion in trying to link the large format process with commercial filmmaking. In the early 1980s, as the company expanded its theater and distribution network to include more locations in North America and around the world, technologically conscious filmmakers expressed interest in shooting with the system. Most notably, Francis Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas pledged their support of IMAX technology as a viable out-of-home theatrical experience.

The format boasts an image surface area that is up to ten times the size of normal 35mm film. Using 70mm film turned on its side with 15 perforations per frame, the frame size is square-shaped (1.34:1) as opposed to the wider processes of standard 35mm film. With such a large frame surface area, more light is capable of striking the negative, which results in sharper images with less grain. Audience seating in IMAX theaters such as the Ontario Cinesphere in Toronto– the world’s first permanent IMAX venue — consist of stadium rows that begin above –not below– the screen, which gives the impression of vertical as well as horizontal immersion. In the 1990s, IMAX patented a digital multichannel audio system to compete with other emerging formats such as Dolby Digital 5.1. Together, the immersive image and sound technologies offer spectators an “experience” unlike other conventional theatrical venues.

However, by the mid-1980s the IMAX format became associated with spectacular documentaries, travelogues, and short subjects that lent themselves to the immersive images and sounds of the process. Documentaries such as The Great Barrier Reef (1981) and Hail Columbia! (1982) and The Grand Canyon (1984) are three early examples of the types of films that dominated the IMAX brand: educational and spectacular voyages through space and the sea. Not unlike the early travelogues that helped Cinerama gain a reputation in the 1954 as an immersive and altogether new cinematic experience, IMAX seemed destined to be relegated to the specialty entertainment film, the novelty film, and the educational film.

Hollywood’s interest in IMAX resurfaced in the early years of this decade when the company announced its plans to innovate a system that would essentially convert traditional 35mm film into the 15/70mm IMAX format. This paved the way for conventional films like Beauty and the Beast, Apollo 13, and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones to be retrofitted with the IMAX brand and re-released in IMAX theaters. These retrofitted films were edited for time since the size (and tremendous weight) of IMAX reels prevented films from running longer than 2 hours. Current 2008 IMAX “platters” can hold up to 150 minutes of film. This process, which is called DMR (Digital Re-Mastering) offers a less sharp, less crisp image that is basically “stretched” to fit the taller format. Another option of the DMR format is to present a film in its original letterboxed format, which will leave empty space on the top and bottom of the screen. A further option has been to present Hollywood films in 3-D, such as The Polar Express and Beowulf.

At the same time, true 15/70mm films continue to be made and released on IMAX screens, including the recent film Deep Sea 3D (2006), which utilized 3-D imaging technology in addition to the traditional IMAX screen (and a beautiful Danny Elfman musical score that is made up of his concert work, Serenada Schizophrana).

With this in mind, it would appear that Hollywood has had a very limited relationship with IMAX. Each of the innovations mentioned thus far have been half-hearted attempts by studios and filmmakers to exploit the IMAX format. Hollywood is known for its conservative feelings towards innovative image and sound technology. A “wait and see” approach has dominated the industry since the very beginning, which is partly why it took nearly seven decades for wide film processes such as CinemaScope and Panavision to become an industry norm and not a novelty. In many ways, technical standardization is the result of a perfect storm of happenings: audience demand, economic security, and a film (or set of films) to ignite public interest. In other words, if a technology is cost effective, audiences demand more films to utilize it, and filmmakers have proven to be adept at using it, then it may be adopted by the broader industry. Other factors apply, of course, but I’m trying to simplify things, and these are some of the more dominant concerns of technological innovation in Hollywood.

So, then, why hasn’t IMAX fully partened with Hollywood studios and filmmakers? Why are we not experiencing more “conventional” films in the large screen format? The answer that has circulated in the industry and in cinema studies is surprisingly simple. I will let Tara Wollen answer it for us, since she has written one of the key articles on IMAX in the anthology Future Visions:

Digital Screen Technology

The average Hollywood blockbuster opens on 300-plus screens across the UK; most independent films, restored classics, documentaries and foreign language films still struggle to reach over ten per cent of those screens.

Digital screening cuts the cost of releasing films (a digital copy costs around one tenth of a 35mm print). That's why UK Film Council (now BFI) and the Arts Council England created the Digital Screen Network – a £12 million investment to equip 240 screens in 210 cinemas across the UK with digital projection technology to give UK audiences much greater choice.
Cinemas in the network have already screened non-mainstream films including Control, This is England, Good Night and Good Luck and the Oscar®-winning The Lives of Others, as well as classics like Meet me in St Loius, The Wizard of Oz and Casablanca.
Digital Screen Network cinemas hosted the UK Film Council and BBC Two's Summer of British Films season - a sell out tour running from July to September 2007 featuring British classics such as Goldfinger, Brief Encounter, Billy Liar, Henry V, The Wicker Man, The Dam Busters and Withnail and I.
Please note: no funding is currently available for cinemas.

Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire

The film made almost $9million at the box office however the ration of the fourth installment was a 12 where as the three previous films were PG, this may have restricted children under 12 seeing it.

Paranorma Activity & The Blair Witch Project

Paranormal Activity:

Budget:  

$15,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:
  $19,617,650 (USA) (16 October 2009) (760 Screens)
$77,873 (USA) (27 September 2009) (12 Screens)
£3,593,762 (UK) (29 November 2009) (394 Screens)

Director: Oren Peli

Writer: Oren Peli

Stars:  Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat and Mark Fredrichs

During the screening, people began walking out; Goodman thought the film was bombing, until he learned that the viewers were actually leaving because they were so frightened. He then realized a remake was unwise. Paramount Pictures, which acquired DreamWorks in 2005, bought the domestic rights to the film, and international rights to any sequels, for $350,000 USD. When the film was taken in by Paramount Pictures, several changes were made. Some scenes were cut, others added, and the original ending was scrapped, with two new endings being shot. The ending shown in theaters during the film's worldwide release is the only one of the three to feature visual effects, and it differs from the endings previously seen at the Screamfest and Burbank screenings. The theatrical release was delayed indefinitely because Paramount had put all DreamWorks productions on hold. Meanwhile, a screening for international buyers resulted in the sale of international rights in 52 countries. Only after Goodman became production chief at Paramount in June 2009 did the film finally get slated for a fall release.

Paranormal Activity premiered at Screamfest Film Festival in North America on October 14, 2007

The Blair Witch Project

Budget

$60,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend

$29,207,381 (USA) (1 August 1999) (1,101 Screens) (wide release)
$1,512,054 (USA) (18 July 1999) (27 Screens)
£750,822 (UK) (24 October 1999) (36 Screens)

Directors:  Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez

Writers:  Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez

Stars:  Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard

Production Co:  Haxan Films 

Bulley Boy- Marketing Campaign

Verve Pictures however, saw the potential of the film in the wider market beyond the arthouse, especially with a young black audience drawn by the presence of Ashley Walters (of So Solid Crew, here making his big screen debut) to seek out the film in key urban multiplex sites. In order to broaden the theatrical release of the film, Verve applied successfully for funds from the UK Film Council's P and A Fund.
The film was released on 8th April 2005, opening on 75 prints UK wide, in a combination of established independent cinemas and multiplexes concentrated in greater London and other major urban centres.
The poster design aims to convey the look, subject and tone of the film, supported by key press quotes, while also foregrounding the major presence of Walters.
The ad campaign, too, aimed for diverse audiences, interested in film and music, urban black and white. The campaign included advertising in all of the national daily newspapers that allocate significant space to film reviews, plus two tabloids, newspapers with a black perspective, a selective London Underground campaign and extensive use of radio stations with a concentration on R 'n' B and Garage, the musical forms with which Walters is associated.
Towards the end of its first six months of theatrical release, the film had grossed an impressive £450,000 at the UK box office, most of this achieved in carefully selected urban multiplexes rather than specialised cinemas. It was anticipated that the substantial audiences and awareness generated for the theatrical release would ensure success for the DVD release of the film, six months after the theatrical opening.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bullet_boy/  -link to Bullet Boy Reviews

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2- Marketing Campaign

Part of a franchise- It was the last film in the series. A poster promoting the film says 'It All Ends 7.15'
Studio- Warner Brothers.
Trailers- Action packed, the final trailer was released a few weeks before the release of the film and it is said the be the most violent and emotional trailer yet. The trailers make it clear that this is the final conflict between the two rivals.
Online- The Official Website. Photos, downloads, the score/soundtrack, 'Parseltongue Translator', 'The Muggle Hut' (sub site), a shop, and games. There is also a Facebook page.
Media & Publicity- A clip from the film was aired during an ABC movie marathon of the other Harry Potter films, 'Harry Potter: The Exhibition' toured museums. It got promoted at the MTV Movie Awards where they debuted a new clip.