IMAX 3-D and the 15GP22

[cbenham]

Originally Posted by Pete Deksnis

The Wizard of Oz
75th Anniversary Release

The 75th anniversary release of the wiz plays for one week, unlike the 70th which ran only a single day country-wide.

Thursday September 26, 2013 is the last day to see the 75th anniversary version.


IMAX 3-D observations.

1. I have experienced two IMAX theaters: the large one on Broadway (around, what, 66 or 67th ?) and the Grand Rapids, MI one, which is much smaller.
2. Watching a 2013 update of a 1939 film is a better experience on the smaller screen, in my humble opinion, simply because you are so much closer to the image.
3. A most amazing and stunning visual experience in IMAX 3-D comes when the principals invoke the Good Witch, who inspires them to detox and move on to the Emerald City. If you recall, she starts a snow shower. Picture Glenda as a large vaporous apparition in front of the background principals. It's the snow that wows, as it's falling just a few feet in front of your nose!
4. Close-ups of the actors are also amazing and stunning in detail. See it to believe it.
5. But, while the hue agrees smartly with what my 15GP22 presents when viewing a 70th anniversary edition DVD, the IMAX color saturation is affected negatively by the polarized 3-D glasses. It's a shame, because saturated color was a 1939 Technicolor hallmark.
6. In the IMAX 3-D presentation, (a) the yellow brick road in the 75th anniversary presentation seemed to get lost in places after the group picked up the lion. And (b), this is a puzzler, Dorothy's dress isn't blue. What happened to the trademark blue and white gingham?! It was neutral, not blue.


15GP22 observations.
1. A 15GP22 presents 1939 Technicolor beautifully in both the hue and Technicolor-like saturation categories as found on DVD.
2. When Dorothy begins her ramble, the third munchkin who says 'follow the yellow brick road' is donned in rich green and yellow and is one of my color standards. It looked great in both venues, although a bit better saturated on the 15G.
3. All four times the witch comes and goes in a cloud of smoke has the IMAX 3-D presentation appearing -- not just less saturated -- but apparently slightly more orange than my 15GP22 shows it.
4. After Dorothy enters Oz, the 800-or-so pound 3-strip camera drifts slowly around the periphery of Munchkin land. There are water streams and ponds that are a much more intresting blue on the 15GP22.

Pete

I agree with your statements about the color comparison between the IMAX 3-D and the 15GP22 images.

My nitpics are with several different effects that seem to have been enhanced in the 3-D and its' sound.
When Glenda is leaving Munchkin Land there are seemingly enhanced 'sparkles' of light from the stones and jewels in her dress. Adding these artificial sparkles called attention to themselves and away from the action in the film. It wasn't necessary.

Further, the attempt at giving a higher overall resolution look to the entire film brought out thelook of the extremely short depth of field the original Technicolor camera and it's lens have because of the extremely wide aperture [iris] setting necessary and because of how insensitive the camera's filters and prisms and film combination were. Kodak Panchromatic film and the Technicolor camera had a rating of ASA5! [quoted from Wide Screen Museum Technicolor, page 6] Tremendous amounts of light were needed and the lens
could not be stopped down sufficiently to gain much depth of field.

The stereophonic sound and effects were good, however the dialogue was pretty awful.

My greatest complaint is with the IMAX dialogue sound. It kept drawing my attention away from the film action because although the 3-D effects and the character closeups put their images within 6 to 8 feet my eyes, the dialogue seemed to be coming at least 15 to 20 feet or more from *behind* the perceived position of the screen. It sounded thin and distant and was most disconcerting to listen to. This was a great disappointment to me.

I wonder why IMAX did not experiment wirth 3-D or Holographic sound, perhaps by Dolby or Carver, or one of the newer European companies?