Obviously, such fears turned out to be unwarranted. With Nolan's three-hour Oppenheimer, shot entirely in Imax and 65-mm., and his 2020 action thriller Tenet returning to Imax, it's worth looking at how we got here.
Using IMAX MSM 9802, Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2, and Hasselblad H5D-50c cameras alongside 35mm film, Nolan crafted awe-inspiring visuals that brought the vastness of space to life.
Oppenheimer was filmed in a combination of IMAX 65mm and 65mm large-format film. For the first time ever, sections were filmed in IMAX black and white analogue photography during backwards time shifting in the story.
“Oppenheimer,” which was recently nominated for 13 Oscars, made nearly $1 billion at the global box office, with a special emphasis on large-format presentations like IMAX 70mm and 70mm. “Tenet” was also filmed entirely on large-format film stock, but never got its full due on the big screen.
While it's impossible to shoot all of the movie in IMAX (as the cameras are too loud for scenes with dialogue), sequences that used the IMAX cameras will expand to fill the entire screen in 70mm theaters.
IMAX 70mm explained by Christopher Nolan | Oppenheimer
Why aren t full movies shot in IMAX?
IMAX cameras are notoriously noisy, making a sound that's similar to a low-displacement motorcycle, which makes filming bits of dialogue difficult for the sound engineers.
Tiger Child, the first IMAX film, was demonstrated at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan. The first permanent IMAX installation was built at the Cinesphere theatre at Ontario Place in Toronto. It debuted in May 1971, showing the film North of Superior.
Although Inception was not shot using IMAX cameras (anamorphic widescreen 35mm, with occasional 65mm, stood in), the movie was later exhibited in the format. The depth of field and aspect ratio takes on an appropriately cavernous and sweeping air, even in the routine dialogue scenes.
Imax was not only a lot bigger than ordinary movies, it had higher resolution. You could lose yourself in those images, which made the format ideal for immersive documentaries like Ring of Fire, The Living Sea, and, later, Blue Planet.
In a departure from his usual filming style, Nolan employed a multi-camera setup for this stunt, using the four existing Imax cameras. However, when the truck flipped over, it unfortunately (but a bit inevitably) landed directly on one of those cameras, resulting in the complete destruction of this valuable equipment.
“Oppenheimer” was shot using some of the highest resolution film cameras that exist. Like “Dunkirk ” and “Tenet,” “Oppenheimer” was filmed entirely on large format film stock, meaning a combination of IMAX 65mm and Panavision 65mm (think David Lean/"Lawrence of Arabia"), that's then projected in 70mm.
Earlier in the Wired interview, Nolan explained why he doesn't use CGI in his films, which would have been problematic if he had directed The Avengers. “I find CGI, however versatile it is, it always tends to feel a little safe to me,” Nolan said.
Each Imax camera is said to cost around $500,000, which leads us to the incredible story of how Christopher Nolan destroyed three of these amazing cameras, totaling a whopping $1,500,000. That's without knowing how well the filming of the hotly anticipated Hollywood blockbuster, Oppenheimer, is going.
The larger the surface area of a piece of film, the more photographic information it will contain. This means that an Imax image resolves much more detail and has very little visible film grain. Basically, Imax footage will look significantly cleaner and higher quality.
There are only 8 real IMAX in the world. For more information, let us tell you that many film productions claim that they have shot their entire movie in IMAX. This is not possible. Most of the movies are shot with IMAX digital, but IMAX is written on the poster of the movie release.
4DX will be fun only once for most. It is an experience in itself but movie is sidelined with distractions from movement etc. IMAX screen is much larger, brighter and better. it is meant for cinema lovers.
Avatar was shot on the Sony Venice 2, which is not a real Imax camera; it's basically a digital full-frame sensor, and while movies like Tenet or Interstellar are really shot in Imax negative, Avatar 1 and 2 are technically not true Imax experiences.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was filmed as part of the Filmed for IMAX program. The movie was shot with IMAX-certified digital cameras and features IMAX exclusive Expanded Aspect Ratio (EAR) throughout the entire film.
The TCL Chinese Theatre boasts the single largest IMAX auditorium in the world, and the third largest commercial movie screen in North America. The theatre welcomes more than four million visitors from around the world every year.
But what is it and why is it so special? Oppenheimer was shot entirely on Imax 65mm and Panavision 65mm film using some of the highest-resolution film cameras known to man. This is unusual; typically Imax cameras are used for big action shots and more convenient cameras are for other shots.
