Monday, September 16, 2013

The Wizard of OZ: An IMAX 3D Experience

At yesterday's World Premiere at the Chinese of The Wizard of OZ: An IMAX 3D Experience, Oz Historian John Fricke, during his opening remarks, asked for the audience to indicate how many people had never seen the film.  Only a slight number of hands clapped. Then he asked, "How many of you have never seen Oz in a theatre?"  A much greater round of applause this time. And this is a shame. The trip to Oz is so much more interesting in a theatre for so many reasons.

And this lies at the heart of this new version of
Oz, which has been prepared for us to enjoy.

Most of us encounter the film, one way or another, on television, replete with commercials, interruptions, and everything else. I know I did.  The Yuletide tradition.

But then, there is encountering the film the way it was originally designed to be seen: in a theatrical setting, probably on a screen about 18 feet (or less) tall. And now, at the Chinese anyway, you have the film playing on a screen 46 feet tall and 61 feet wide, watching it from what you might consider to be a theatre balcony with no orchestra floor and shoved closer and lower to the screen: you are right there in the middle of it.

This is what the IMAX format was designed to do. Every IMAX theatre duplicates this approach. The large screen, the cliff of seats, the surround sound — it admittedly is very good at providing the viewer with an immersive experience. In fact, Oz was preceded with one of those short clips telling you about how great IMAX is — computerized space-graphics of chromed letters zooming and bobbing around, accompanied by sound effects meant to suggest speed and impact. All very calculated, all very dimensional.

And then, a strange thing happens. A slightly sculpted Leo the Lion shows up, then the credits roll for
Oz, and then into the opening of the film in sepia Kansas, and you know, the whole things looks very natural. The Wizard of Oz in 3D doesn't look in the slightest bit weird or strange at all.  I suspect that, since stereo photography had been around for a while even in 1939, whoever guided this 3D conversion had the taste and good sense to say to themselves, "If they had shot Oz in 3D back then, what would it have looked like?"

And this is what they have done. Provided you do not have the usual objections to 3D films, and that you do not suffer from the eye fatigue which so many people complain of, the experience of looking into the world created in the film becomes a really rather normal thing - you accept it right off. For a fellow such as myself, who has seen the film countless times theatrically, this is good news!

So that is out of the way.  The 3D is subtle and not overdone at all. Not even when they have a perfectly good opportunity, such as the shot looking up into the sky at the conclusion of the twister sequence, where the bottom of the house hurtles toward the camera — nope, they refrain from making that a "lookit everybody - duck!" moment.  That was not the point of the shot originally, so they hew to the through line they have set for themselves: don't be obvious.

The bigger issue (if you will pardon the pun) is that of the IMAX presentation. Since seeing the '59 Ben-Hur and Giant at the Chinese during the TCM Festival earlier this year, I have been musing on the subject of our spacial relationships to a screen.  Watching Ben-Hur on such a large screen provides you with a completely different relationship with the events presented, which had been staged counting on the fact you would be seeing it on a large screen in a theatre.


The aim of Hollywood during the 1930s was to make the sharpest, brightest color picture it was possible to make in 35mm (they tried 70mm, but it did not impress audiences at the time). Part of the visual design of
Oz is that, when the Tin Man is dancing, they simply provide him with a background that contrasts with his figure, set the camera at a good angle, and let him do his thing.  Stagey a bit, but appropriate for the moment. It was possible to get away with simple camera coverage like this for two reasons: first, the players on camera were, for the most part, seasoned vaudevillians, trained to perform. One did not have to cut to a new angle every second in order to hide the performer's lack of technique. And secondly, the image was so gorgeous to look at: sharp, colorful, a joy to behold.

When
Oz is enlarged to 46 feet tall, and one views it from the previously unimagined perspective of the IMAX bank of seats, a curious thing occurs, and it has nothing to do with sharpness. It has to do with the intimacy that has been gained. It seems strange to admit that a bigger screen would make for more intimacy, but it is true. All the old Hollywood directors liked the 1:1.33 frame, because it was so easy to compose close, intimate group scenes in the ratio. It is not surprising that the original 70mm IMAX was in this shape. The eye may reflexively sweep horizontally (hence widescreen), but that 1:1.33 image just fills your eyeline completely.

So much easier to compose groups in 1.33.
And so, the effect of stepping into the picture is greater.  I have noticed that with stadium seating, one tends to be less aware of the audience. Oz, I think, benefits from this to a degree, because it is a fantastical story happening to a young girl; when we do make the leap into the film's world, it is on a very personal level. Perhaps it is because we have all been introduced to Oz as children that does it.  We do not need an audience to enjoy it.

There are two scenes in
Oz that never fail to grip me by the throat, and they both have been intensified by the IMAX 3D treatment.  The first is the sequence where Dorothy returns to the farm with the twister and her being knocked out.  Let's just say that the threatening image of the cyclone in the background, ripping up the land, as the camera stealthily tracks along as Dorothy tries to get the storm cellar open - it's terrifying.  The new sound work here is simply shattering.  Like the 3D effects, it is not over the top, but it is loud, scary and rumbly.

The second is where, on the balloon podium, in a very close shot, Dorothy must say goodbye to her three friends, culminating in the best example of underwriting there has ever been: "I'm going to miss you most of all."  Just reading these words almost makes me weep. It is a very close composition, very tender and sincerely played by all the actors.

These moments are made all the more real because of their newfound depth and closeness.

The IMAX 3D version of
Oz gives us another way to see this most-cherished film, and I think that the way that they have done it is classy, respectful, and true to the spirit of the thing.  Let's hope they roll it out to IMAX theatres at Christmastime from here on.

4 comments:

  1. Very nice piece. I look forward to seeing this version of Oz this weekend!

    I'm also very impressed with your webpage, what a great resource you've created! Thanks from another Grauman's Chinese fan!

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  2. Thank you for this. I will be there Sunday at the 10:30 AM show, right there in the middle of row "N"

    See you around!

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  3. Bravo, Kurt. My family and I saw this yesterday and you captured the experience so well.

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    1. Well, this is very nice of you to say. It was a great show, and I wish the Chinese every success. My Metallica review has been posted. . .

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