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"ID4"
World Premiere of 70mm DTS
at the Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
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This article first appeared in
..in 70mm
The 70mm Newsletter |
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Written
by: Torkell Sætervadet |
Issue 47
- December 1996 |
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 Independence
Day advert
If you want to see some 70mm film these days you have to come to
Oslo, Norway.
Because in Oslo, they recently ran "ID4" in 70mm!
And not only 70mm, but the Norwegians also managed to celebrate nothing
less than a world premiere of 70mm
DTS digital sound!
The following article will give you a few details of this event.
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Further
in 70mm reading:
What is 70mm DTS
Films in 70mm DTS
"Dinosaur" in 70mm
DTS
"Pearl Harbour" in 70mm DTS
"Blackadder" in 70mm DTS
Internet link:
Digital Theater Systems |
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 "Star
Wars" advert
The Norwegian people are often said to be somewhat strange and crazy, and
"You are crazy!" was 20th Century Fox first response when they
were confronted with Oslo Municipal Cinemas' idea: to arrange a gigantic
screening of "ID4" on a 40 (forty) meter/131 feet screen
for an audience of 4500 spectators! The screen was to be installed at the
Oslo Spectrum - a large combined concert hall and indoor sports arena in
the very heart of Oslo, Norway.
After some negotiations and discussions with 20th Century Fox, Oslo
Municipal Cinemas at last received a hesitating "Yes" to the
project.
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 The
worlds largest screen.
Picture by Torkell Sætervadet
Oslo Municipal Cinemas technical assistant also tried to convince
20th Century Fox that 70mm was the way to go for such a screening. Even if
it is obvious that you do not improve resolution itself by blowing 35mm up
to 70mm, the technical department claimed that a 70mm print could be
exposed to more light without buckling than a 35mm print, due to the fact
that the heat is spread over a larger picture area. Even with an efficient
cold light mirror and a heat filter, a 7 kW xenon bulb fed with the
maximum current produces such an amount of heat that a 35mm print will
suffer to some extent.
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 "The
Lost World" advert
To make the final decision, 20th Century Fox European Print
Manager, Mr David Kerr, came to Oslo with two rolls of film in his
suitcase; 50 meters of a certain part of "ID4" on 35mm
and the same 50 meters on 70mm.
The A/B comparison told us exactly what we expected: The brightest and
best looking picture was gained with 70mm. As this motion picture is shot
on Super 35 instead of anamorphic scope, the film did of course not have
the desired resolution, but the immense blow-up to a 40 meter wide screen
taken into consideration, the picture really looked acceptable.
The choice of DTS had two reasons. First of all, DTS is obviously much
cheaper than magnetic sound. In addition to this, the entire space between
the sprocket holes could be used for the picture. Every millimeter of
picture counts when you want to fill the largest cinema screen in the
world! This way, the original 2,35:1 aspect ratio was kept on the blow-up.
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 Cinemeccanica
Victoria 8 with Kinoton 7000 watt lamp house and Kinoton non-rewind
platter model ST-270.
Picture by Torkell Sætervadet
One of the leading companies when it comes to cinema technology in
Norway, Knutsen Kinotekniske A/S, had the responsibility for the
installation. They bought a Cinemeccanica Victoria 8 equipped with water
cooling, a Kinoton 7 kW lamp house and the Kinoton ST-270 platter system.
The projection lens used was the impressive looking ISCO Ultra MC with a
focal length of 62,4 mm. When it came to sound, Crusing Audio Concept
delivered a Turbosound system with a rated power of 80 kW.
The screen delivered by Mechanische Weberei in Germany was of the
so-called Open-Air type, without perforations. To obtain the status of the
worlds
largest cinema screen in the Guiness
Book of Records, the screen was measured by a police officer (!) to a
width of 40,24 metres/132 feet.
The first regular motion picture release in DTS 70mm, was meant to be the
restored version of Hitchcock's "Vertigo",
but the occasion forced DTS to proceed with the world premiere of their
new system. The DTS company backed the event heavily by bringing their
studio engineer from Brussels, Mr Hector Cordero. Mr Cordero also finished
the DTS 70mm installation at the Colosseum (1158 seats) in Oslo, as the
print was to be transferred to this cinema after the seven screenings at
the Oslo Spectrum.
The Norwegian premiere of "ID4" would of course be an
event even without the the Oslo Spectrum screenings, but the rumors of
this happening increased the interest immensely. Everyone wanted a ticket
to the show, and all of the 31.500 tickets were completely sold out three
days before the premiere, even if the tickets cost more than double a
regular cinema ticket. Fifteen minutes before the start of the show,
tickets were sold on the black market for eight times the rated price
(approx. USD 120)!
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 "Tomorrow
Never Dies" advert
The atmosphere in the auditorium was simply incredible during the
whole show. The patrons were very satisfied indeed, and did not notice any
of the problems: Of course the picture was anything but bright (presumably
15 candles per square meter) and anything but razor sharp, and
unfortunately the seams of the screen were anything but invisible. The
acoustics can never be perfect in such a hall either, so the show was
anything but a THX experience.
But in this case the main issue was the event itself; the feeling of
watching a film together with 4500 other spectators on the largest screen
in the world. Even in the eyes of a cinema technician, this special event
was nice to join, at least if I forget the curious feeling I had in my
stomach when I heard the applause from 9000 hands when the president said
"..Nuke 'em".
For a 70mm enthusiast, it was also exciting to see how the
DTS
70mm system worked, and it is nice to announce that the system
performed to everybody's satisfaction. Some minor running-in problems
occurred the day before the premiere, but this was easily solved when it
was discovered that the time code was more dense than the reference time
code. The print has been running in Oslo since September 19, and so far
there has been no use for the back- up DTS unit.
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 "Godzilla"
Knutsen Kinotekniske A/S even received a phone call right after the show
from a film producer in Hollywood that claimed that the successful DTS
70mm screening in Norway convinced him that he would like to start
shooting on 65mm and distributing on 70mm again thanks to the new
economical and convenient sound system. If this becomes reality, the
special "ID4" event in Norway means a lot more than
commercial success.
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 "Armageddon"
In the future Oslo Municipal Cinemas would like to do more screenings of
this kind, and for this purpose they urgently need 70mm, preferably shot
on 65mm. Lets hope that the rest of the cinema industry realizes that 70mm
is the only way to go for the major first run theatres, even with a screen
not as wide as 40 metres.
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 The
worlds largest screen.
Picture by Torkell Sætervadet. Click to see enlargement
Torkell Sætervadet (b. 1972) has had his passion for
cinema technology since he was a young boy, and he is now (-, at the time
of writing 1996) working as the technical manager for The Norwegian Film
Institute in addition to his job as a projectionist and cinema technician
at the Municipal Cinema Enterprise in Oslo. During his last eight years,
he has been collecting retired cinema equipment in order to establish a
cinema museum in Norway. As a Bauer enthusiast, he is now installing two
Bauer U2s in his home theatre. This will allow him to enjoy The Splendor
of 70mm as often as he likes.
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Updated
28-07-24 |
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