'Dark Knight" Shooting in Imax, New Joker Pic Released!
Filed under: Action, Fandom, Tech Stuff, Distribution, Exhibition, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
The Joker is a larger than life character -- and he's about to get even bigger. The Dark Knight will be the first feature film partly shot in the 70mm IMAX format. Christopher Nolan is shooting four action sequences on IMAX, including the introduction of Heath Ledger as The Joker. "You can't do this on any home theater," Nolan says. "Batman has some of the most extraordinary characters in pop culture. We wanted the Joker to have the grandest entrance possible." And this won't be like when you go see Kickin' It Old Skool: The IMAX Experience, and it's just a larger, more stretched out image. These scenes are actually being shot on IMAX film. "There's simply nothing like seeing a movie that way," Nolan tells USA Today. "It's more immersive for the audience. I wish I could shoot the entire thing this way."
So why can't he? Well, for starters, there are only 280 IMAX theaters operating worldwide, and less than 100 show feature films. In addition, IMAX film is 10 times the size of standard, it's much more expensive, and it has to be shot using large, cumbersome cameras. Oh, and "they're loud," says Nolan. "We had to figure a way to eliminate sound so we could shoot dialogue." If you can't get to an IMAX theater, you'll still experience a hike in picture quality. In traditional movie houses, the scenes will appear more vivid, as though they were shot in hi-definition.
Below you'll find two official, newly released shots from The Dark Knight. The first is an IMAX shot of what appears to be a bank robbery gone awry. And the second shot is the first fully confirmed photo of The Joker in full hair and makeup. Pretty cool, huh? What do you think of the look?
So why can't he? Well, for starters, there are only 280 IMAX theaters operating worldwide, and less than 100 show feature films. In addition, IMAX film is 10 times the size of standard, it's much more expensive, and it has to be shot using large, cumbersome cameras. Oh, and "they're loud," says Nolan. "We had to figure a way to eliminate sound so we could shoot dialogue." If you can't get to an IMAX theater, you'll still experience a hike in picture quality. In traditional movie houses, the scenes will appear more vivid, as though they were shot in hi-definition.
Below you'll find two official, newly released shots from The Dark Knight. The first is an IMAX shot of what appears to be a bank robbery gone awry. And the second shot is the first fully confirmed photo of The Joker in full hair and makeup. Pretty cool, huh? What do you think of the look?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-29-2007 @ 11:19AM
Ian said...
"In traditional movie houses, the scenes will appear more vivid, as though they were shot in hi-definition."
A bit of a brain-dead quote really... You do realise that film is higher definition than HD, right? Typically film clocks in at 4K when scanned; of course film doesn't have a 'pixel' resolution being an analogue medium, but then again as a result it can record a much wider range of imaging as a result (both in range and resolution, which is based on the size of the grain). Admittedly you wouldn't know that going by the general poor standards of most distributed prints these days :)
I understand your intentions in the quote - i.e. the images will 'pop' more - but saying a film will look like HD is a bit of a downgrade. The efforts in digital cinema are to make HD look more like film (e.g. 24p, better LUTs and so on) and not the other way.
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5-29-2007 @ 6:22PM
Richard said...
I can only see two things in that second pic , "Jack" and "Sh*t" and Jack left town...
/never actually got to use that line before...
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5-30-2007 @ 4:27AM
Nathan said...
I think that shot is just of the Joker's thugs, as if he would release a shot of the actual Joker this early on. C'mon.
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6-19-2007 @ 4:09PM
Pinkwerewolf said...
Well, from what I can see in blurr vision, and the photo of the messed up face Joker on other sites. He looks pretty lame. Sadly, the joker looks lame. I cry for the younger audience. I thought they were going for "the killing joke" look. WTF? I think its more like somebody took a coloring book from the movie "the Crow" and put green hair and red lips on the guy. Crap. This is not a good day for the Joker. I thought they would at least do more with the prosthetics, as good as they are now. Look directors, don't change what DOESN'T need changing! The Joker being one of them. Uhg.
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