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"Dinosaur"
in 70mm DTS
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This article first appeared in
..in 70mm
The 70mm Newsletter |
Text and images by:
Mike
B. Smith, DTS |
Issue 63 - December 2000 |
For
the premiere of Disney's "Dinosaur" Buena Vista
International (Japan) decided to bring it to Tokyo in a big way. It was
called "DINOSAUR Super Revolution Preview in Seibu Dome."
The
premiere took place at
Seibu Dome just outside of Tokyo. This Dome is
primarily an indoor baseball stadium.
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Further in 70mm reading:
What is 70mm DTS
Films in 70mm DTS
"Pearl Harbour" in 70mm DTS
"ID4 in 70mm DTS
"Blackadder" in 70mm DTS
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Yes
the Dome is very reverberant for sound and one would expect sound problems
but somehow it really sounded great! The dialog was very intelligible and
the little bit of reverberant sound added an interesting effect for the
dinosaur roars and other sounds. For best viewing of the screen 20,000 seats
were available and all were filled.
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And
believe it or not, no tickets were sold, it was a free event. The picture
was a 70mm print with Japanese subtitles. It was made in the United States
at CFI Hollywood with print checks done at Technicolor. Digital Theater
Systems (DTS) was the only sound source for this event. To safeguard against
problems a dual projection, sound system, and prints were used.
DTS provided
two DTS-6D's for each system. The primary projector ran about 20 seconds
ahead of the back up system. The event went better than perfect. The entire
show ran on one projector and one DTS player, although no back up systems
were needed during the show, when you have a crowd of 20,000 you want to be
prepared!
After the show the entire stage exploded with pyrotechnics and a
live singer appeared on stage. I do not know who he was but apparently
someone very popular in Japan, especially with the girls who rushed the
stage and screamed during his one and only song. From what I was told his
appearance was not advertised. This surprised and delighted the crowd. The
overall response from the audience's experience was fantastic proving events
like this, as costly as they may be, still help promote the film and leave
lasting memories for people to tell their grandchildren.
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Equipment
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All Projection and local sound system was assembled by Victor ARCS Co., LTD
of Japan. This company did a incredible job.
Projector: Kinoton. Stage,
Screen and sound system speakers were assembled by the Hibino Corporation
and UDO Tours & Productions who also put on a flawless show. Screen
Picture Size: 13.5m high x 25m wide (44' high x 82' wide).
Speakers Center
Screen: 24 NEXO Alpha B1 Bass Cabinets & 30 NEXO Alpha M3 Mid/High
cabinets. Total Power: 23.7 kW r.m.s. Left & Right Channel: 24 NEXO
Alpha B1 Bass & 24 NEXO Alpha M3 Mid/High cabinets. Total Power: 28.8 kW
r.m.s. Sub Bass: 36 NEXO Alpha S2 Sub bass cabinets. Total Power: 28.8 kW
r.m.s. Left & Right Surround: 18 Turbosound TMS-3 cabinets. Total Power:
14.4 kW r.m.s.
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An
event like this takes many people, from all the workers who did the set up
including everything from erecting the massive screen, adding extra seats,
installing sound and projection systems, to placing promo materials on every
seat. The following is just a small list of the people who helped put this
big event into the history books. Buena Vista International (Japan): Kiyoko Yoshida - Manager Technical,
Mayumi Mizugaki - Assistant Technical and Satoru Otani -
Publicist/Marketing. Buena Vista (USA): Kent Petersen - Picture & Sound
Technical Advisor. UDO Tours & Productions: Shoji "Tommy"
Shigetomi. Digital Theater Systems (Japan): Atsuko Makayama - DTS Technical.
Digital Theater Systems (USA): Mike B. Smith - DTS 70mm Technical Advisor.
Hibino Corporation: "Casey" T. Miyamoto. Victor ARCS Co., Ltd.:
Mr. Hibara Katsuki Sato and everyone else.
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More
"Dinosaur" in
70mm DTS
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The
date for DTS 70mm "Dinosaur" in Japan was Sunday November
12, 2000. This was a one show only at the Seibu Dome in Tokyo Japan. This
was the opening Premier in Japan. After this one and only performance some
other cities in Japan were scheduled for sneak screenings before wide
release. All these other screenings were in 35mm only. To the best of my
knowledge this was the one and only showing of this 70mm print of "Dinosaur".
It was necessary to place subtitling on the print so this will limit the use
of the print anywhere else in the world. As far as I know Disney has no
plans to ever screen this print again. It was a one and only performance.
One more tech note that I think I failed to mention, because this
"Dinosaur" premiere was always planned to be shown in the baseball
stadium, this print was overexposed to help with the picture brightness and
the large projection throw.
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During
the print checks at Technicolor the picture looked a little washed out, but
when I saw the same print at the stadium the color looked great. Disney has
done screenings like this before and they really know what they are doing.
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Updated
28-07-24 |
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