Viewing STAR WARS digitally and Ticket Information (1 Viewer)

[Anthony Thorne]

Rick MacCallum gilds the lily beautifully, as does the spin doctoring inherent in the article. Sure - filmmakers with $100 Million to spend will get 'beautiful' images because they've spent so much time and money treating and tweaking the imagery in post. Folks on a lower budget will be stuck with HiDef's tendency to blow out when confronted with bright exterior contrasts, among other woes.

Digital may be fine for post-production and projection, but for acquisition? F$@# that...

 

[RobertR]

The digital presentation of TPM that I saw in 1999 used a Hughes-JVC Dila projector and a hard disk array totaling well over 100 Gbytes of storage (people seem to be assuming that these movies have to be stored on DVD). And yes, it was uncompressed 20 bit digital audio.

 

[Kieran Coghlan]

Thanks, RobertR!

I knew there was another projector type used for the ep.1 digital showings. So, it was D-ILA and DLP. I did not know about the uncompressed 20bit audio though... pretty cool.

At 20bit/48kHz, the audio would take up only about 5.5GB for the 133 minute film... if the HDD array was around 100GB, then the video must have been uncompressed, too... ?

 

[RobertR]

Actually, Kieran, the video WAS compressed. I wasn't sure of the exact numbers, which is why I used the phrase "over 100 Gbytes". I seem to recall that the storage was more like 200 or 300 Gbytes, and used compression in the 5:1 range, which means that the uncompressed video would have been in the terabyte range.

It'll be awhile before DVD has that much capacity....

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Anyone from around the Philadelphia area making the trek to Jersey to see this film digitally?

I'll be going to New York City to see this film at some point in its "native format".
Neil

 

[Jeff Kleist]

We should all go together. I know a great place to eat right down the street from the Edgewater theater with digital.

 

[Dwayne]

We should all go together. I know a great place to eat right down the street from the Edgewater theater with digital.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

 

[Scott H]

The Kodak Digital Cinema system is installed and being tested at Mann's Chinese in Hollywood. Free walk-in morning screenings may be ongoing there. I do not know if it has been installed elsewhere. It uses prototype JVC chips and utilizes SUN Microsystems networked storage platform. The chips provide an on-screen resolution of 2048 by 1536, which is about three million pixels. It also uses the Kodak Color Management system which they claim benefits the resolution reduction from 4K+ film to 2K digital projection (HD cameras are ~1.5K).

Kodak is targeting around $75,000 per projector.

 

[Tino]

First show, first day, Edgewater..a beautiful theater BTW.
So...who else is goin'?

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I've been to Edgewater a couple of times (regular film presentations). Have they finally learned to dim the overhead lights all the way down? Harry Potter and Apocalypse Now Redux screenings were both seriously marred by washed-out images caused by the high (bright enough to read by) ambient light level.

 

[Tino]

Pete
I have never experienced that problem at the Edgewater theater. We are talking about the Edgewater Multiplex Cinema's on River Road right?
The few times I have seen a film there, the presentation was fine.
I saw TPM digitally in both formats (Paramus and Secaucus) and it was tremendous. I can't wait.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Yes, the new one. Sounds good, maybe they've improved things, so I'll give them a shot at something. Maybe I'll check out Clones digitally there after I see it on film somewhere else.

Interesting, I didn't think much of the digital presentation of TPM at those two spots...

 

[HenrikTull]

You can also check out Episode II digitally if you happen to be in Bergen, Norway.

 

[Vickie_M]

An article on IMDB (quoted from Wired magazine) says that only 19 theaters in the US are showing AOTC in digital. I thought I heard elsewhere that Lucas was hoping for 2000! It also says that Lucas says that no theaters will be able to play Episode III unless they're digital. The theaters better get moving! (Though I don't think the theaters should shoulder the burden of upgrading when it's the studios who will benefit most).

 

[Jeff Williams]

For everyone going to the Edgewater theater, what about the theaters in NYC at the AMC Empire and the Clearview Ziegfeld? Has anyone been to all three? I know I am going to choose one, but I want to know which one in your opinions is the best. Below is the list of the three(actually 4 since the AMC has 2) that are closest to me.
Multiplex Cinemas Edgewater
339 River Road
AMC Empire 25 Theatres (2 screens)
234 West 42nd Street
Clearview Ziegfeld Theatre
W. 54th Street
The drive is about 2 hours, so I want to get it right. Any suggestions or comments would be helpful.
Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Terrell]

Interesting, I didn't think much of the digital presentation of TPM at those two spots...

Wouldn't a digital presentation be far better if you're actually showing a film shot in digital? TPM wasn't shot in digital. It was shot with film.

 

[Ricardo C]

An article on IMDB (quoted from Wired magazine) says that only 19 theaters in the US are showing AOTC in digital. I thought I heard elsewhere that Lucas was hoping for 2000! It also says that Lucas says that no theaters will be able to play Episode III unless they're digital. The theaters better get moving! (Though I don't think the theaters should shoulder the burden of upgrading when it's the studios who will benefit most).

There aren't even 2000 digital theaters in the WORLD, let alone the US I think that quote confused how many screens Lucas wants for AOTC, be they digital or film-based.
And if Lucas truly thinks no theater will be able to show III unless it's digitally equipped, he might as well shelf the project. There's no way he'll be able to do a wide, all-digital release of Episode III in just three years.

 

[Terrell]

And if Lucas truly thinks no theater will be able to show III unless it's digitally equipped, he might as well shelf the project. There's no way he'll be able to do a wide, all-digital release of Episode III in just three years.

Agreed! He's just bluffing to try and get more theaters to add digital projection. I doubt he's serious. There's no way in hell Lucas will spend 125 million of his own money to release a film on a mere 100 screens. Even a Star Wars film would bomb. He's bluffing more theaters into getting digital. Watch him do a major backtrack when Episode III comea around and only 100 screens have digital projection.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Lucas will be lucky to have 500 theaters worldwide by the time episode 3 comes out that are equipped for digital. The conversion to digital projection is going to take 10-15 years, just as long as the conversion to digital television.

I've heard great things about the Edgewater, and NOT going into NYC cuts about 40min off the trip, plus there's Mitsuwa plaza right down the street.

 

[Tino]

Pete
What didn't you like about the TPM digital showings?
IMO, they absolutely blew away all the "film" presentations of Phantom Menace. I couldn't believe how crystal clear the presentaion was, not to mention how much better it sounded, compared to seeing it "normally" in a THX theater. I do remember some complaints about the digital showings, but I don't remember what those complaints were. FWIW, the Paramus presentation was better than the Secaucus one, whih was DLP I believe. I actually still have the brochure and ticket.
As for which of the above theaters is the best, I doubt few will argue that The Ziegfeld is clearly the best venue to see a film, digitally or otherwise. It is, IMO, one of the BEST theaters in the US.