Imax used to be considered odd.
TheOppenheimerdirector cant resist it.
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Like many of us, he was transfixed by the massive screens and the crystal-clear images projected on them.
Imax was not only a lot bigger than ordinary movies, it had higher resolution.
Imax was a hugely expensive format shot on gigantic and unwieldy cameras that required massive amounts of celluloid.
And what about the viewer?
Obviously, such fears turned out to be unwarranted.
Hollywood began releasing big features in Imax in the early 2000s.
DisneysFantasia 2000was a pioneer, and several otheranimatedDisney pictures followed.
These pictures hadnt been shot in Imax; they were shot on 35-mm.
Remember the blue flower at the beginning of the movie?
Most people couldnt tell the difference, but Chris and I could.
Keighley says that Imax did four months of testing to prove they could handle such a task.
Nolan and Pfister themselves conducted tests in Nolans backyard and garage with a 65-pound Imax camera.
The effect was enthralling, as if the movie were opening up and becoming more immersive before our eyes.
Then, his eyes brightened.
Or maybe we should do it in Imax.
Imax is very often seen as a format of vistas and landscapes, van Hoytema says.
But the faceisa landscape.
Its essentially a beautiful three-dimensional shape that has emotions and depth.
The cinematographer admitsOppenheimerwas the biggest challenge of his career.
Technically speaking, the large-format film cameras were not designed for shooting in intimate options.
What makes it different is its adaptation for Imax cameras.
This is the first time theyve slit black-and-white for the Imax camera.
That too required some reengineering on van Hoytemas part.
Black-and-white celluloid film has thicker emulsion, and running it through an Imax camera could have scratched the footage.
New gates and pressure plates had to be made for the Imax cameras.
The clarity of the image is downright supernatural.
Besides being massive and unwieldy, Imax cameras pose another problem on set: They are way too loud.
Deafening is how Emily Blunt, who plays Kitty Oppenheimer in the film, put it.
This makes shooting sound takes with Imax nearly impossible.
Pretty much all the sound in such scenes is added later.
Im just like, Oh my God, something is going wrong here!
So I turn around and I make eye contact with Chris like, Are you going to cut?
He just gave me the most gentle look.
His hands were like, Just go forward, just go forward.
So I realized I had to act like its not happening.
For starters, they will sometimes film key dialogue shots in 65-mm., which uses quieter cameras.
Okay, lets do a sound take right away.
The actors are in there, theyre in the zone, says Burton.
A lot of Chriss movies, its the whole experience that hes going for, says King.
Youre not just following word for word, like youre reading something.
Its a whole-body experience.
Garys a master at finding that razors edge of clarity.
Then theres the additional challenge of mixing that dialogue with the music and sound effects while maintaining its clarity.
OnOppenheimer, that task fell to postproduction sound mixer Kevin OConnell.
He was able to do a little bob and weave with the music especially, says King.
It was a real dance in the mix to make that work.
Its worth asking, even now, why Nolan does things this way.
He feels theres a natural human connection to actual photographed images, King says.
This extends to the natural sound as well, King feels.
As animals, I think we subconsciously recognize a lot of this.
It sounds almost mystical, but Nolan takes the philosophy even further.
He and his editor will watch a cut of a film every Friday.
Nolan finds that he watches his films completely differently when someone new is present in the room.
Thats the process of audience empathy.
Thats the basis of cinema.
Thats what distinguishes it from streaming or anything else.
