The Blu-Ray is 16:9. There is no open matte version of Interstellar. The film was shot on 35mm anamorphic (2.35:1) and IMAX 65mm (1.43:1). The Bluray emulates the IMAX experience by switching between full 2.40:1 and 1.78:1 (cropped vertically from 1.43:1). The DVD is constant 2.40:1.
I have no idea. The one I saw on HBO was 1.78:1 pan & scan, as far as I could tell. There could be some scenes which were open matte. Someone has to compare from a broadcast version.
It’d be great if someone can capture an HD broadcast of the film, or even an SD broadcast where the channel logo and subtitles don’t ruin the image. I’m sure it can be found. Those in Asian/European or other countries in the North should try. This is because most of the open matte broadcasts (including HBO India) are in PAL format. European and Asian countries have PAL broadcasts. Ukraine is PAL, Russia is too, in all likelihood.
This open matte version would make for a great pseudo-IMAX experience and is well worth preserving.
The Terminator Full Screen is mostly pan and scan with very little info on the vertical space. T2 was shot on Super 35 with common top framing. The FS version has much more vertical area and loses very little at the sides. CG shots are pan & scan, and certain other shots are readjusted, etc.
Christopher Nolan’s movies are processed photochemically without the use of digital intermediates, and from this comparison it’s obvious the digital master was done independently from the photochemical reveal resulting in digital copies that differ greatly from film prints in terms of colour and contrast. I assume having someone come up with a digital master that matches a film print would be time consuming as hell and so don’t bother which IMO is a criminal oversight.
BTW, Anne Hathaway’s face is brighter in the film cell than in the blu-ray screenshot.
This! Also, the IMAX scenes in the Blu-Ray lack the punch. From the 70mm film cells that I’ve seen, the contrast is much deeper and the details are sharper on film than on the BD. Good luck for your project though!
What I’m most interested is in seeing the 2.40:1 to 1.43:1 version, as it was meant to be seen. I hope Nolan releases the IMAX scenes on another edition of the film, as he did with TDK Trilogy.
But the one they keep showing here in India is open matte (actually it’s a mix of mostly open matte and pan & scan for shots that were not protected). I do not have any equipment, but the broadcast is HD and it has two-line subtitles that come over the 16:9 border. So, it’s not useful.
An HD version definitely exists out there. Maybe Starz Hd, or the other HD channels that are there have it. Someone needs to keep a lookout for those. I have only SD cable TV, no HD.
Yep, same open matte version on HBO, which I saw. Shame the logo is too strong and cannot be obscured or removed without hurting the image. In the HBO SD version, the logo wasn’t blocking so much of the image, but the subtitles were.
The HD broadcasts should be open matte too. We need to find those, if possible.
Film IMAX was full 1.44:1 the entire sequence. I’m not sure how they cropped those shots, but they looked just fine.
Guys there’s definitely some mistake going on here. Either those shots were in 2.35:1 or they were opened up vertically, which makes the shots in the Starz version nothing but pan & scan. And if the other other IMAX scenes are open matte, why aren’t those two, do you guys get it? Because they were shot in 2.35:1 native, so they had no choice but to crop the native 2.35:1 footage for the Starz version.
There is no way that a DOP or director in his right mind would allow an anamorphic 2.35:1 grainy shot to be zoomed all the way to 1.44:1 or even 1.90:1. The max a film can be zoomed without looking terrible is from 2.35:1 to 2.20:1, done for 70mm prints.
You have to wonder if the IMAX scenes were cropped from 4:3 to 16:9 in height like the non-IMAX scenes were cropped down to 16:9 in width. That means some is still missing. From a completist point of view, this is fascinating, but with this being the 7th installment and all the others not being shot in this format, not to mention that the entire movie wasn’t shot in this format, it isn’t something I am going to worry about.
Most likely, But IMAX is a very large format film with tremendous detail. It can be cropped and zoomed as necessary. However, composition matters. Unlike 4:3 TV, IMAX is a HUGE screen, so the possibility of zooming is very very limited, unless you want too much grain or pixels (if shot digitally) in your face. From the IMAX comparison shots that were released online before the film came out, it’s established that they were composed for 1.44:1, but cropped to 2.39:1 for normal multiplex screens across the planet.
The IMAX aspect ratio was 1.44:1. It’s impossible to crop a 2.35:1 footage to 1.44:1. Do you realise how ridiculous the shot would look?
Is it possible that the entire IMAX scene was not in 1.44:1/1.90:1 (LIEMAX)? Maybe this BB8 shot was in 2.35:1, but it was so short and it was a fast scene that you didn’t notice the aspect ratio shift? I mean I’ve read in many forums that people failed to notice aspect ratio shifts on fast shots of partially IMAX filmed movies.
Even if this shot was in Full/half IMAX, I doubt it was a cropped shot. Because a zoom-in of a scope shot would look too big and bad on a giant screen.
I think, if you plan on doing a final version, please at least consider using the uncropped anamorphic shots. Those BB8 shots were done with 2.35:1 locked shots. There’s virtually no information left on the top and bottom. So, there is no way those shots could be opened up on an IMAX scene. The texture of those shots look very much like ones from anamorphic lenses. There is more grain, which won’t be the case with the IMAX scenes in the first place.
It’s like in Nolan films, there are multiple framings and cameras used within one scene-35mm anamorphic, IMAX, VistaVision, etc. Dan Mindell didn’t need to use IMAX camera for all the shots as they are really heavy. For shots with a lot of movement and within interiors, or close-ups, he’d just use the much lighter 35mm cameras, probably handhold them. The IMAX portions would naturally be mostly exteriors and plate photography.
Even if there was no aspect ratio shift during the falcon chase scene, it makes no sense to use a cropped pan & scan shot with less detail. So, for any shot within the IMAX scene that is cropped, it’s ideal to use the 2.35:1 footage instead.
adywan said:
One thing i noticed is that the two BB-8 shots inside the Falcon during the IMAX section are zoomed and cropped from the standard version.The BB8 shot inside the Falcon posted by PDB, above is open matte, not cropped. Which shots are you talking about Adywan? Can you please post an image comparison for those?
By the way, your re-composites are quite good. Just the Starz image portions appear pixellated. They can be easily fixed by a de-blocking filter and then applying some 35mm film stock grain to match the fine grain look of the 2D Blu-ray.
These shots have been zoomed and cropped
And a deblock filter and grain have already been applied to the re-composite
That’s because these scenes were shot with anamorphic lenses which gives a native 2.35:1 ratio. For such scenes, just include the 2D Blu-ray cinemascope counterpart. No need to use a cropped shot.
adywan said:
One thing i noticed is that the two BB-8 shots inside the Falcon during the IMAX section are zoomed and cropped from the standard version.
The BB8 shot inside the Falcon posted by PDB, above is open matte, not cropped. Which shots are you talking about Adywan? Can you please post an image comparison for those?
By the way, your re-composites are quite good. Just the Starz image portions appear pixellated. They can be easily fixed by a de-blocking filter and then applying some 35mm film stock grain to match the fine grain look of the 2D Blu-ray.
Have you seen the IMAX version? Just asking to confirm that’s all. Don’t mind.
It’s ideal to find one without either the logo or the subtitle obscuring the image. As for a fan-edit to combine the widescreen with the open matte, a source with logo and/or subtitle will look ugly.
The scene of Finn on Jakku after the TIE crash was also filmed on IMAX as per the BTS stills and John Boyega’s own admission. Was that scene expanded vertically as well? It may not have been expanded on IMAX, but could be done on the Cable broadcast version. Can anyone check if the Starz or whichever version has this other scene expanded?
@cpalmer2k, Don’t have it anymore.
Is there any way those scenes can be shared, PDB? They look awesome! It’s unlikely the studio will make them available anytime soon.
Those are open matte as well, because all HP films were shot on Super 35 cameras with spherical lenses, even Azkaban. HP 1,2,4,6 and 8 are shown open matte. Not sure about the others.
Or, maybe the filmmakers initially wanted to but in the case of the DC films, they saw the blunder with BVS and decided to cut down on the budget? Could be.
The one’s matched to the the French trailer and the telecine look good in my opinion, but fix the black crush on the regrades, don’t darken the skies, it’s blocking the stars. The Blue-purple tint really transforms the image. It creates the feeling of the icy cold waters of the atlantic, which is gone in the BD.
Also, I would advise you to turn up the contrast in the night scenes for the telecine regrades as the blacks are looking grey on those. The Film cell regrades are blown-out, don’t use those.
Finally, a photochemical timing and 35mm projection colours cannot really be recreated on digital intermediate sourced blu-ray which was digitally graded. We need a 35mm print to get close to that visual aesthetic. The Blu-ray, though quite beautiful, has a new colour grade. It looks too proper to give that imperfect but organic look of the prints. But still, good work, keep it up!
I have stills of actual film frames from 35mm release prints and have seen a telecine version made from the release print, recorded inside a movie theatre, which shows deeper blues hinging slightly towards purple in the night scenes, and a golden-warm palette in the day scenes. Same as the 35mm film frames from Cameron’s ‘Aliens.’ I could upload the pictures here, but OT doesn’t have such a feature.
Here’s an imgur link - http://imgur.com/a/hkVPI
These are from the TC. Compare it with the BD.
Here’s another - http://imgur.com/a/OjZJ5
You can find many 35mm film cells on ebay.co.uk up for auction.
Just search - Titanic 35mm film cell and it will do.
IMDB was listing IMAX 65mm as one of the shooting formats for ‘The Magnificient Seven’ (2016) but now only shows 35mm. Wonder why?
It remains to be seen if the IMAX scenes will be included on a later edition, like the Compendium set did for ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness.’
The important thing is it will be archived. So that’s a good start. Just keep us updated, Poita. Thanks.
It’s sad these re-releases are not happening worldwide. Back in the days of celluloid projection, I do recall seeing posters of old movies being played on theatres, many years after their original release. Now, it’s mostly only if the movie has a cult following and a 3D re-release.
