For this special video made in partnership with IMAX, Tom's Guide visited the IMAX headquarters in Canada to meet with their experts and see first-hand the kind of technology that compelled esteemed filmmakers Christopher Nolan and James Wan to shoot Oppenheimer and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom with IMAX in mind.
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00:00As TVs continue to get larger, brighter,
00:02and more impressive every year,
00:04at Tom's Guide, we're always looking to find you
00:06the best home entertainment setup for your budget.
00:08And with all the convenience and comfort
00:10you get from watching at home,
00:12you may think that the best viewing experience
00:14is right from your couch.
00:15So, what are we missing out on
00:17by not seeing the latest blockbuster film
00:18on the big IMAX screen?
00:20Well, we're in Toronto, Canada, IMAX's headquarters,
00:23so let's find out.
00:25As we'll learn, there's a lot of visual, sound,
00:27and production magic happening in the background,
00:30which many of us probably don't think about.
00:32That makes watching movies in an IMAX theater like this
00:35one of the most exclusive and immersive viewing experiences.
00:38But maybe even more important,
00:40we're gonna give you that inside scoop
00:41on which seat is best in-house.
00:44Today, I'll be meeting some of the talented individuals
00:46who form part of the team crafting that IMAX experience.
00:50So, this is one of our in-house mixing studios.
00:52So, of course, with movies,
00:54the first thing that comes to mind is the visuals,
00:55but a lot of people don't realize
00:56how much work goes into the actual auditory experience.
01:00In a lot of ways,
01:01audio can be more important than the visuals.
01:03I couldn't agree more.
01:04Sound is one of those things
01:05that's an integral piece of the equation,
01:08and it's one of those things that unless it's,
01:11until it's missing,
01:12you don't really notice what you're missing.
01:13IMAX's sound system is completely different
01:15than everybody else's.
01:16When a Hollywood film is getting made,
01:18they're gonna mix for a bunch of different formats,
01:20and then they're gonna remix it specifically for IMAX.
01:23Our speakers actually go down almost a full octave lower
01:26than everybody else's.
01:28So, if the mixer chooses to,
01:29they can add that extra bass in
01:31to really make you feel it instead of just hearing it.
01:35When something explodes,
01:36you're able to literally feel it
01:39and feel like you're a part of it.
01:41So, really what comes together with the IMAX experience
01:43is everything all at once.
01:45One of the things that we really try and do
01:46is not break our system down into individual components
01:50because it's how everything merges together.
01:52One plus one sometimes doesn't equal two.
01:54That's really the way I would put things.
01:57And of course, the other major component is the picture.
02:00David Kempling is the director of camera operations at IMAX,
02:03and he's going to explain some of the elements
02:05that go into creating that unique IMAX picture.
02:08Where we start with the IMAX camera is the scale.
02:12If you shoot something with a small format,
02:15with a little sensor, a piece of film,
02:17you feel like you're kind of looking
02:18through a window into a scene.
02:20But if you shoot it with that larger scale,
02:22you feel like you're kind of looking over the fence
02:24into the neighbor's yard, like you're right there.
02:26And you can combine this with depth of field
02:30and with the qualities of lenses and with contrast
02:33and with focus and the great resolution.
02:36And when you add that to the scale of our screens,
02:39there's this whole sort of combination of events
02:44that occurs and you kind of sit there
02:45and you feel like you're right there.
02:47We have cameras that are decades old
02:49and they just run and run and run and run.
02:52Like the school bus that will just not stop.
02:55We've made films with some of the greatest filmmakers
02:58in the world.
02:59You can see that reality of a scene,
03:02especially at our scale and at our great resolution.
03:05And there's a quality there that's very visible
03:08and it becomes part of that entire experience.
03:11Over 90% of new films are shot digitally,
03:13but IMAX cameras use large format 70 millimeter film
03:16to create astonishing picture resolution.
03:19Film is film and digital is digital
03:21and you can simulate one with the other,
03:23but I think film will always have that mystique
03:25because it's very unique as a medium
03:28and it comes from analog elements.
03:31It's physical elements, all of those elements.
03:34I think that they create an IMAX experience.
03:37Now, even though I was expecting to learn
03:39all about the different cameras and sound equipment
03:41needed to create that IMAX experience,
03:43I wasn't prepared for the next part of my tour.
03:46So we're in our manufacturing facility right now.
03:48This is our class 10,000 clean room.
03:50Our system's having a lot of critical optics inside of them.
03:54As we're putting it together,
03:55we obviously have to keep the dust
03:56and keep all the components out of them.
03:58So inside of here,
03:59we've got a lot of our critical optical assemblies.
04:02They're broken up into various stations.
04:03We've got custom hardware
04:06that we've actually designed and developed in-house
04:08to be able to align all these things.
04:10Sterile conditions are essential
04:12and these rooms are designed to make sure
04:13not a single speck of dust
04:15is able to make its way into the production process.
04:17I would never have guessed that we would need lab coats
04:21and hair covers and to take our shoes off.
04:24Just, it's crazy just the amount of cleanliness required
04:28just to keep that level of...
04:30It's kind of like you're working for NASA
04:32to a certain degree, but you're working for IMAX.
04:34In addition to the new films that are being made
04:36with IMAX in mind throughout the production process,
04:39older films are also being adapted to the IMAX large screen.
04:42So DMR is digital media remastering.
04:46And so it was designed as a tool to take content
04:49and to convert it into our format.
04:51So the tool was developed as a means
04:54to maximize image quality where we could with that content.
05:00There are so many times when we've been
05:04in these screenings with filmmakers
05:06where they are seeing their picture for the first time
05:11and they're seeing it in a new way.
05:14And it's exciting.
05:15Some of the films that have been remastered
05:17for IMAX in the last few years
05:18include Jaws and E.T. to name a few.
05:22I think it's pretty fair to say
05:23that this is a very exclusive experience.
05:26Yeah, definitely.
05:27The movies only run for a certain amount of time.
05:29So sometimes one week, sometimes only two weeks.
05:31So if you don't see it in that first one or two weeks,
05:33we're already onto the next movie
05:35and you've missed your chance to see it in IMAX.
05:36What is your favorite seat in the house?
05:39So the simple answer is there's no bad seat in IMAX.
05:41They're all great.
05:43Alex Crabb is the manager of theater design at IMAX,
05:46making sure the experience for everyone watching
05:48is the best it can be.
05:50Part of a designer's job is to ensure
05:52that every seat in the auditorium is designed
05:56in a way where we could see with no obstructions,
06:00the full span of the screen.
06:03We bring the screen as close as possible
06:05to fill your peripheral vision
06:08so that you could look left and right
06:11and still be engulfed in the movie.
06:14Every seat is the best seat in the house.
06:16Of course, people do have great home theater systems now,
06:19but they don't have IMAX systems.
06:21And if they did, their neighbors wouldn't be happy.
06:24Does the magic ever wear off?
06:26Definitely not.
06:27Every time I watch one,
06:28the magic just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
06:31We've really been helping filmmakers understand
06:37that there aren't limits.
06:38And I think you've seen filmmakers
06:40that are pushing the IMAX experience
06:42as far as they possibly can.
06:44Everything is being optimized for our format,
06:47which makes it different and special.
06:49It's not a standard release.
06:51And everything that goes into it
06:54was designed and implemented for that experience.
06:58Everything.
06:59There's that chance you feel that
07:00maybe this will be the best film I've ever seen.
07:02That, to me, is IMAX.
07:04IMAX.
07:13Well, thanks for the amazing tour.
07:15I really appreciate it.
07:15Not a problem.
07:16It's been a great time.
07:17Thank you.
07:18So, as you can see,
07:19an IMAX theater is way more than just a larger screen.
07:23There's a lot that happens in the background
07:24that makes this an entirely different production.
07:27If you're like me,
07:28you haven't been to a theater in a while.
07:30Now, as great as it is to watch from home,
07:32from what I've learned,
07:34there's a lot I've been missing out on
07:35by not seeing movies in IMAX.
07:37You can get the full experience yourself
07:38at over 180 IMAX screens in AMC theaters,
07:42just like this one in New York City.
07:44But what do you think?
07:45Is watching it in IMAX worth the extra ticket price?
07:48Let us know in the comments down below
07:49and share which movie you're most excited to see in IMAX.
07:52Be sure to follow us on our socials,
07:54TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, at TomSka.
07:57This has been Paul,
07:57and until the next one, I'll catch you later.