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Wokingham, UK—Sep 30, 2016
Ang Lee Makes Cinema History with Christie® Mirage 3D Projector
“At 120 frames per second your eyes get
greedy,” said Hollywood film director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Life of Pi) at the EMEA first-showing of his
latest film, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, at a landmark 120fps, 4K 3D and with an astonishing
28 foot-lamberts per eye brightness as part of this year’s IBC Big Screen
Experience. It was one of many notable quotes on Monday’s conference of which Lee
was keynote speaker.
Long-standing show director
Julian Pinn opened the session promising, “I don’t think I’m exaggerating when
I say this is cinema history in the making.” Further underlining what the
audience was shortly to experience, Pinn added the clips would be shown on, “…the
Christie®Mirage, the only projector capable of showing 120fps,
3D, 4K at 28 foot-lamberts.”
Ang Lee discusses his latest film with
Julian Pinn at IBC 2016
Clips
from Ang Lee’s soon-to-be-released film from Sony TriStar Pictures, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016) -
the story of a soldier who fought in the Iraq war - were then shown. The Christie Mirage Series is widely used in demanding
applications such as 3D visualization, visitor attractions or theme park rides,
since it is able to achieve said high frame rate and resolution,
stemming from Christie’s investment in its TruLife™ electronics platform with
an industry-leading video-processing pipeline of up to 1.2
Gigapixels per second.
Pinn had spent some 18 months
working to bring the experience to IBC and the keynote session was not only
memorable for the audience’s reaction to seeing the movie clips but for the
insights that emerged from the on-stage discussion between the movie’s team; director
Ang Lee, technical supervisor, Ben Gervais; the film’s editor Tim Squyres; and
Scot Barbour, Head of Production Technology, Sony Pictures Entertainment. For
the 9-minute clip, the two Christie Mirage 4KLHs, the laser-light powered
version of the original Xenon-lamp based Mirage, were installed in the
auditorium, and a team of Christie engineers supported the screenings.
Ang Lee is known for both his
dramatic storytelling and his embracing of new technologies, such as his 3D
Life of Pi. Lee said the production team had decided to make the film in 120fps
because HFR removes many of the limitations associated with 24fps 3D. However Ben
Gervais revealed, “We never necessarily intended to see this film that way
because none of us had ever seen (120fps, 4K) and finally one week before
shooting we managed to get a set of (Mirage) projectors from Christie and all
of us were awestruck. We hadn’t seen anything like it before.”
Screening Room Benefited
from Latest in Projection Technology
They started shooting and Tim
Squyres, the movie’s editor said, “I had to cut at the highest resolution I
could which was 60fps. We were on the edge of what the system could do. Then
Christie came in with the Mirages; they brought the Christie projectors into
our editing room. We had the best screening room on the planet. Ideally we
wanted to see it as near as possible to how it was shot.”
Being able to see what they
were shooting daily in 120fps 4K had immediate impact during the shoot as Ang
Lee explained, referencing scenes set in Iraq, “We could see everything in that
burning sunlight. We saw we couldn’t use make-up.” Commenting on the clarity
and realism, he expanded with great honesty adding, “That’s the scary part, you
see the acting!” However, he also relished the artistic advantages. “Most
preciously to me were the faces. The film language has to change. I didn’t have
much choice (filming) but to stick close to Billy Lynn. You feel how they feel,
see the thoughts in their eyes.”
The discussion touched on
what Pinn had described as, “how the interplay of art and science come together.”
Lee’s view of this was, “It’s humbling. Artists respond to what technology is
giving us. I would go so far as to say this is a moment in cinematic history. I pick it up and take a leap of faith. I want
to stress that the picture is captured so every format (from 24fps to 120 fps) is
improved in my opinion.” An interesting observation from Lee and his team was
that the chemistry between art and technology differs at each level of frame
rate and resolution. “But every level has its own merit,” Lee observed. “The
compensation is the art. I think story telling brings wisdom to life. We are always telling stories. It’s how you
tell a story that makes the difference.” And the arch story-teller is taking
current projection technology to explore this art further. “I think the artist
and the industry has a lot of catching up. I’ll leave cameramen to figure out
how. Now we are just beginning.”
Christie
Mirage: Unmatched video processing bandwidth
The Christie Mirage series featuring
TruLife’s processing bandwidth is seen in amusement parks, casinos, museums and
public venues. The Christie® Mirage 4KLH projector head – the laser
version used at the IBC screening – combines Mirage’s unmatched video processing bandwidth
with the world’s brightest laser system, Christie Freedom® laser illumination
system. The projector has a potential of up to 60,000 lumens per head,
potentially up to 120,000 lumens when used in a dual 6P configuration (six
primary colour system). In the Rai Auditorium at IBC, the configuration was a
dual stacked Mirage 4KLH configuration; the 28 foot-lambert spec on the 17.00m
wide x 6.69m high Harkness Matt Plus screen required 72, 000 lumen and the laser modules were supplied
accordingly. One advantage of the Christie Freedom laser illumination system is
that the laser banks are separate from the projector, stackable and scalable.
Christie Links and Information:
About Christie:
Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc. is a global visual and audio technologies company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ushio Inc., Japan (JP:6925). Consistently setting the standards by being the first to market some of the world’s most advanced projectors, complete system displays, and cinema audio solutions; Christie is recognized as one of the most innovative visual technology companies in the world. From retail displays to Hollywood, mission critical command centers to classrooms and training simulators, Christie display solutions and projectors capture the attention of audiences around the world with dynamic and stunning images, accompanied by awe-inspiring sound. Visit www.christiedigital.com.
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