The arrival of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has placed an increased focus on IMAX presentations. Audiences have been packing IMAX theaters around the country (and the globe) hoping to see the latest Nolan film in the premium format that the director prefers. It’s a format he has been test driving ever since The Prestige, and has refined and improved it with each passing movie. Nolan doesn’t do it alone, mind you. He has an entire team on his productions, as well as the collaborations of the Chief Quality Officers at IMAX, David and Patricia Keighley.
The married couple has been working at IMAX for the better part of 50 years. They have seen the large-screen, premium format evolve over the years, and has worked intimately with filmmakers – including Christopher Nolan – to make sure that movies shown in IMAX look as good as possible. When David and Patricia Keighley appeared on CinemaBlend’s official podcast, ReelBlend, the duo opened up about the science behind th3 eIMAX technology, and the importance of personal technicians at each IMAX location who are dedicated to the quality of the films being shown. As Patricia explained to us:
I think the profession of projectionists has changed greatly over time. And now very often we have technicians. We don't have projectionists. We have technicians. And seeing the pride that these projectionists take in these 30 film locations is really refreshing. … If every person who was involved in the show, if they took time and went into the auditorium – not just from the booth, actually go to the auditorium and listen and look – I think that would make a huge difference. And we've lost some of that. Because these technicians are responsible for six, eight or 10 rooms. Who knows how many. They don't get to focus just on the one experience, the way that they are now in these film locations. They're dedicated to that one room. And so those presentations are going to be better just because you have somebody in there all the time, paying attention to that room. That's something that's changed over the years that we, if we could bring that back in some way and pay more attention to the detail of what's happening in each of the auditoriums for everybody's movie, would all be better.
There’s no question that personal attention to the IMAX presentation can only help when an audience turns up to watch Oppenheimer, or Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One. IMAX is similar to 3D technology, which we often review to tell readers if the presentation is worth the additional cash. And the IMAX presentation absolutely changes from one location to the next, leaving a lot of control in the hands of the technicians that Patricia Keighley brings up.
Listen to their complete interview on ReelBlend:
Premium ticket sales for Oppenheimer over opening weekend contributed to nearly 50 percent of the movie’s box office, and we expect that interest to continue into week two. That’s why these 70mm Oppenheimer images are getting so much love, and why people like Quentin Tarantino are turning up at theaters to see the new Nolan. This is a phenomenon, coupled with Barbie, and good folks like the Keighley’s only ensure that when you pay that extra dollar, you are getting a quality IMAX experience.
