I was there about a month ago having a meal in the downstairs food court and all I saw was the original entrance still boarded up.
As I recall about the theater this was the only in-town AMC theater to feature 8-channel SDDS sound on the Ave. Grand screen. I saw ‘Lost in Space’ and ‘Heavy Metal’ (reissue/SDDS-8) and they sounded amazing!
^ oh now wait Jodar, let’s not be dissing the validity and worthiness of Lifeforce to not have a new 70mm print w/ DTS sound – ;)
I’m not fully understanding why you’re bemoaning the lack of surround sound on 70mm prints – if and when there wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place. Comparing them to newer soundmixing doesn’t seem very fair. Which begs the question: what were the pre-1977 movies that had aggressive surround sound? My first theatrical experiences in the retrospect were ‘Close Encounters’ and ‘Star Wars’. And gathering from the quad mix on the bluray: ‘Tommy’ (1975)
the echo chamber sound flaw shouldn’t be there, since all auditoriums are supposedly THX approved.
I really REALLY don’t understand why the five screen channel configurement isn’t being archived/encoded as such on the DCP’s when some theaters like the AFI Silver could replicate the original 70mm mix – since five speakers are already there in the first place. Secondly, the left center, right center channels are there for the taking on DCP … [well? – this isn’t rocket science folks, considering 7.1 is achievable as well as object based sound placement in Dolby Atmos – adding two additional channels to the immediate left and right of the center channel shouldn’t be THAT difficult – ???].
The only recent soundmixers that best implement panned/directional dialogue to excellent effect is the sound folk over at Pixar – listen to say ‘Toy Story 2’ on bluray and character voices are placed in the phantom space between the left-center, right-center speakers
that’s odd regarding ‘Lifeforce’ – with the lack of surround sound, since I distinctly remember it, when I saw it last year. There seems to be some differing information if the film in 70mm was five front + mono surrounds or three front/split stereo surround (or three front, mono surround + two bass channels: ‘baby boom’). The DVD and bluray have the surrounds in stereo.
In terms of 70mm 6-track sound, most of the pre-1979 films, was five front speaker/mono surrounds, hence why a lot of 70mm films sound front heavy and light on the surrounds.
I don’t know if you’re joking Jodar, but the upcoming presentation of ‘The Sound of Music’ is DCP, not 35mm (or 70mm for that matter). curious to know how this sounds since it’s 5 front/mono surrounds (70mm), but the DVD is 5.0 (three front/stereo surround) AND the bluray is 7.1 (three front/four channel surround + bass).
aside from two instances of misaligned reel changes and one scene where Noel Coward and Gertrude are swimming (the image looked tinged slightly yellow) “Star!” (in 70mm) looked and sounded amazing!! what a rare treat.
finally made it over to see a movie on the BTX screen. I liked how the screen pretty much used the entire wall, and the 7.1 audio of ‘The Lone Rider’ was thunderous and aurally intense.
I’m confused, the screens look to be 2.35 aspect ratio fixed, yet for movies that are 1.85 – do they crop off the tops and bottoms to fill the entire screen? This looks to be the case of the picture of ‘Monsters University’ framing on their facebook page.
how is the audio encoded on these DCP’s (three front channels + discrete surround and bass) or in the original cinerama configurement that includes the five channels behind the screen – this can be achieved on DCP, but I haven’t heard of any film/DCP archived as such.
yes, check out the documentary ‘Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood’ on the bluray which talks about the scissoring of the film and most notably features a pivotal scene that isn’t in either the cut down 3 hour cut AND the roadshow version.
speaking of ‘Lawrence’ it is rather interesting that the AFI will be showing it in 70mm and the 4K DCP – while the 4K has discrete surround, the original mix is five front channel + mono surrounds. Very strange that ‘Cleopatra’ didn’t have surround sound, since the bluray does. I didn’t bother seeing the restored ‘Cleopatra’ over at Landmark Bethesda since they screened it on the small screen (auditorium #1) – I might check it out here though.
from the museum’s website: “The Bullock Museum features Austin’s premiere IMAX Theatre. This 400-seat, state-of-the-art theatre uses innovative IMAX technology to create the ultimate film experience.
Unlike many IMAX theatres, ours is equipped with an IMAX projector that has both 2-D and 3-D capabilities. The Theatre can also show special films on a movie-quality 35mm projector.” The audio system is comprised of 44 speakers.
what’s very unfortunate, well in not only that 65mm still yields the highest resolution over “4K digital”, is that the five front channel soundmixes (prior to 1979 70mm 6-track: three front, two surrounds, plus bass) aren’t retained as such in DCP form – until studios start archiving the sound elements properly in DCP form (which does account and accommodate left/center and right/center channels), 70mm films/mag sound will always be superior.
another facebook message/confirmation is that playback can be projected 4K. Here’s also a link to the mini 70mm film fest that also makes mention to the Silver’s new DCP system: http://www.afi.com/silver/films/2013/p62/70mmspectacularpart2.aspx#sound
since this isn’t mentioned in the theater overview outside of the AFI Silver, the National Gallery can nearly screen every type of “film” presentation (except 70mm): 35mm, 16mm, HD-Cam, DCP, digibeta
question: does anyone know what DCP unit/projector is being used for the digital projected films? I shot them a message via facebook awhile back and have never received a response [how rude!] While I won’t go into the esoteric films mentioned in the latest ‘Summer 2013’ guide – two DCP presentations stand out: ‘The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp’ – which for anyone who’s seen Criterion’s bluray is beyond stunning. ‘Glory’ which I assume is from the recent 4K scan is having a Washington premier on Sunday Sept. 15 with an introduction by director Ed Zwick.
actually I shot the Silver a facebook message regarding future DCP presentations and they gave a response saying – it will begin as soon as next month. (I, of course, forgot to ask if they will be able to project 4K content).
‘Jedi’ would be cool in 70mm, but I’m thinking that it’s 35mm. Lucasfilms I seriously doubt would let them screen the film from projected bluray and the Silver can’t (as I understand it) show actual DCP’s. That has to change though, since the major studios are now threatening all new movies in 35mm will cease as of 2014. I saw ‘Lifeforce’ last year and I haven’t heard a 70mm feature THAT loud – the tremendous ending and notably the ending with the crescendo of music was hair raising and simply jaw dropping – don’t miss it this time Jodar!
oh so close, well apparently the internet article I read was off by two feet in regards to the width and height of the IMAX-D screen – tsk, tsk, tsk. Am curious in checking this out the next time I visit family in Syracuse. How much of a separation is there between the IMAX auditorium and the RPX one? – I know that at AMC Tysons, since the IMAX-D and the ETX screen share a wall (or there’s a inner hallway between the two), there is very minor sound bleeding of low frequency bass I noted during ‘Man of Steel’
I was there about a month ago having a meal in the downstairs food court and all I saw was the original entrance still boarded up.
As I recall about the theater this was the only in-town AMC theater to feature 8-channel SDDS sound on the Ave. Grand screen. I saw ‘Lost in Space’ and ‘Heavy Metal’ (reissue/SDDS-8) and they sounded amazing!
^ oh now wait Jodar, let’s not be dissing the validity and worthiness of Lifeforce to not have a new 70mm print w/ DTS sound – ;)
I’m not fully understanding why you’re bemoaning the lack of surround sound on 70mm prints – if and when there wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place. Comparing them to newer soundmixing doesn’t seem very fair. Which begs the question: what were the pre-1977 movies that had aggressive surround sound? My first theatrical experiences in the retrospect were ‘Close Encounters’ and ‘Star Wars’. And gathering from the quad mix on the bluray: ‘Tommy’ (1975)
the echo chamber sound flaw shouldn’t be there, since all auditoriums are supposedly THX approved.
and apparently they can show ‘film’ (or projected video) since they are hosting the GI Film Festival on the 31st of July.
as far as I am concerned, Fox is one of the prime studios that SHOULD be encoding it’s DCP’s with the original 5 screen channel mixes.
^ damn it
I really REALLY don’t understand why the five screen channel configurement isn’t being archived/encoded as such on the DCP’s when some theaters like the AFI Silver could replicate the original 70mm mix – since five speakers are already there in the first place. Secondly, the left center, right center channels are there for the taking on DCP … [well? – this isn’t rocket science folks, considering 7.1 is achievable as well as object based sound placement in Dolby Atmos – adding two additional channels to the immediate left and right of the center channel shouldn’t be THAT difficult – ???].
The only recent soundmixers that best implement panned/directional dialogue to excellent effect is the sound folk over at Pixar – listen to say ‘Toy Story 2’ on bluray and character voices are placed in the phantom space between the left-center, right-center speakers
that’s odd regarding ‘Lifeforce’ – with the lack of surround sound, since I distinctly remember it, when I saw it last year. There seems to be some differing information if the film in 70mm was five front + mono surrounds or three front/split stereo surround (or three front, mono surround + two bass channels: ‘baby boom’). The DVD and bluray have the surrounds in stereo.
In terms of 70mm 6-track sound, most of the pre-1979 films, was five front speaker/mono surrounds, hence why a lot of 70mm films sound front heavy and light on the surrounds.
I don’t know if you’re joking Jodar, but the upcoming presentation of ‘The Sound of Music’ is DCP, not 35mm (or 70mm for that matter). curious to know how this sounds since it’s 5 front/mono surrounds (70mm), but the DVD is 5.0 (three front/stereo surround) AND the bluray is 7.1 (three front/four channel surround + bass).
aside from two instances of misaligned reel changes and one scene where Noel Coward and Gertrude are swimming (the image looked tinged slightly yellow) “Star!” (in 70mm) looked and sounded amazing!! what a rare treat.
why hasn’t this been updated/included in the DC theater listings?
finally made it over to see a movie on the BTX screen. I liked how the screen pretty much used the entire wall, and the 7.1 audio of ‘The Lone Rider’ was thunderous and aurally intense.
wow, looked at their facebook page, $5 for a first run 3D movie (‘Monsters University’)– that’s dirt cheap.
I’m confused, the screens look to be 2.35 aspect ratio fixed, yet for movies that are 1.85 – do they crop off the tops and bottoms to fill the entire screen? This looks to be the case of the picture of ‘Monsters University’ framing on their facebook page.
how is the audio encoded on these DCP’s (three front channels + discrete surround and bass) or in the original cinerama configurement that includes the five channels behind the screen – this can be achieved on DCP, but I haven’t heard of any film/DCP archived as such.
yes, check out the documentary ‘Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood’ on the bluray which talks about the scissoring of the film and most notably features a pivotal scene that isn’t in either the cut down 3 hour cut AND the roadshow version.
speaking of ‘Lawrence’ it is rather interesting that the AFI will be showing it in 70mm and the 4K DCP – while the 4K has discrete surround, the original mix is five front channel + mono surrounds. Very strange that ‘Cleopatra’ didn’t have surround sound, since the bluray does. I didn’t bother seeing the restored ‘Cleopatra’ over at Landmark Bethesda since they screened it on the small screen (auditorium #1) – I might check it out here though.
from the museum’s website: “The Bullock Museum features Austin’s premiere IMAX Theatre. This 400-seat, state-of-the-art theatre uses innovative IMAX technology to create the ultimate film experience. Unlike many IMAX theatres, ours is equipped with an IMAX projector that has both 2-D and 3-D capabilities. The Theatre can also show special films on a movie-quality 35mm projector.” The audio system is comprised of 44 speakers.
what’s very unfortunate, well in not only that 65mm still yields the highest resolution over “4K digital”, is that the five front channel soundmixes (prior to 1979 70mm 6-track: three front, two surrounds, plus bass) aren’t retained as such in DCP form – until studios start archiving the sound elements properly in DCP form (which does account and accommodate left/center and right/center channels), 70mm films/mag sound will always be superior.
more specs: Christie (4K) projectors, 7.1 surround sound on all screens, digital 3D as well.
yes, the theater does have 4K digital projection.
another facebook message/confirmation is that playback can be projected 4K. Here’s also a link to the mini 70mm film fest that also makes mention to the Silver’s new DCP system: http://www.afi.com/silver/films/2013/p62/70mmspectacularpart2.aspx#sound
since this isn’t mentioned in the theater overview outside of the AFI Silver, the National Gallery can nearly screen every type of “film” presentation (except 70mm): 35mm, 16mm, HD-Cam, DCP, digibeta
question: does anyone know what DCP unit/projector is being used for the digital projected films? I shot them a message via facebook awhile back and have never received a response [how rude!] While I won’t go into the esoteric films mentioned in the latest ‘Summer 2013’ guide – two DCP presentations stand out: ‘The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp’ – which for anyone who’s seen Criterion’s bluray is beyond stunning. ‘Glory’ which I assume is from the recent 4K scan is having a Washington premier on Sunday Sept. 15 with an introduction by director Ed Zwick.
actually I shot the Silver a facebook message regarding future DCP presentations and they gave a response saying – it will begin as soon as next month. (I, of course, forgot to ask if they will be able to project 4K content).
‘Jedi’ would be cool in 70mm, but I’m thinking that it’s 35mm. Lucasfilms I seriously doubt would let them screen the film from projected bluray and the Silver can’t (as I understand it) show actual DCP’s. That has to change though, since the major studios are now threatening all new movies in 35mm will cease as of 2014. I saw ‘Lifeforce’ last year and I haven’t heard a 70mm feature THAT loud – the tremendous ending and notably the ending with the crescendo of music was hair raising and simply jaw dropping – don’t miss it this time Jodar!
oh so close, well apparently the internet article I read was off by two feet in regards to the width and height of the IMAX-D screen – tsk, tsk, tsk. Am curious in checking this out the next time I visit family in Syracuse. How much of a separation is there between the IMAX auditorium and the RPX one? – I know that at AMC Tysons, since the IMAX-D and the ETX screen share a wall (or there’s a inner hallway between the two), there is very minor sound bleeding of low frequency bass I noted during ‘Man of Steel’
I remember seeing ‘The Mutilator’ and ‘CHUD’ here, two really awful 80’s horror movies. Oh and ‘Flashdance’