[Narrator] Laser projectors. New large format film cameras. (parts clinking) Custom processing tools. This is the side of IMAX
you don't see in theaters. (foot banging) (reel clicking) It involves a huge amount of technology and the film can cost $2,000
per minute to produce. All to take movies from
looking like this to this. - It's a very immersive
presentation format. It really creates a
suspension of disbelief. - [Narrator] This is
"The Tech Behind" IMAX. - This is the place where
we do all the assembly of our critical components
in the IMAX laser projector. - [Narrator] When IMAX went digital to accommodate Hollywood movies, it had to make a lot of changes. IMAX's original projectors
used 15,000 watt Xenon bulbs to illuminate one frame at a time. Since each frame was so large, the resulting image could be, too. Digital projectors
often use similar bulbs, but the resulting images
aren't as large or as bright. That's because standard digital projectors have to split the light using a prism. Because of this, and some scattering that
happens in the prisms, the final images have lower contrast. So when IMAX wanted to adapt to digital, it had to design something totally new. Instead of using one bulb
and splitting the light, it built a new projector with no prisms and three
different color lasers. - This is the alignment
process for making sure that mirror is placed
correctly, so it could create that full color image in the
projector to high accuracy. And this is down to microns of precision, in terms of placement of these modulators. - [Narrator] This precision is important to meeting the same
standard with digital video that IMAX established with film. - [Narrator] Hundreds of
miles above the earth. - [Narrator] IMAX film
cameras have gone everywhere from the International Space Station, 250 miles above earth, to the Titanic, 12,000 feet underwater. - People are sort of awestruck by the scale of
everything, the size of it. If you start with that big scale, that's the best way to
end with that big scale. - [Narrator] IMAX film cameras
shoot on 65 millimeter film with 15 perforations, more
than 10 times the area of standard 35 millimeter film. And while many top of the line
digital cameras shoot in 4K, 65 millimeter film has
an approximate resolution of 18K with richer texture. - There's something about film
emulsion just making color from dyes and getting
texture from film grain, that's very unique and it just
gives a different aesthetic, a different sense of
color, a different sense of texture from digital
media that, at this scale, at the size of the IMAX frames,
it just looks very unique and almost irreproducible
by any other means. - [Narrator] But while this
film creates beautiful images, it was never well suited
for Hollywood movies. First, there's the issue
of motors like this. (motor humming) Which is used to pull the
giant film through the camera. It's so loud, it's hard
to record clean dialogue, and it can be distracting to actors. The cameras are also heavy, around 55 pounds when you add the lens, viewfinder, and 1,000 feet of film, and they require specific
training to operate them, which is why most movies
only use IMAX cameras to film certain dramatic sequences. (dramatic music) - It's not like a digital system where you can just turn
the camera on, roll it, and then just run it all day. A thousand feet of film in the IMAX camera only lasts for three minutes. - [Narrator] IMAX only
has nine film cameras, and they're all decades old. - Our current analog fleet does go back to the late '90s. It's not as easy to find all the suppliers and all the specialists that
maybe there was 30 years ago. - [Narrator] But based
on the success of movies shot at least partially on
film like "The Dark Knight," and "Oppenheimer," IMAX is in the process of making an entirely new film camera. It hopes to release it to some filmmakers within roughly one year. - I know it does sound a
little strange out there to modernize a film camera
at this day and age, but we wanted to bring a
large format film camera to a position where you
can act actually compete with the new modern digital cameras. It's made out of mostly
of composite materials, carbon fiber, honeycomb sandwich panels, the same stuff that your
Formula One is made out of. And titanium, the same stuff that jet fighters are
actually made out of. And besides the body
is getting new optics, a five inch full color
display for user interaction, wireless connectivity, all the while the camera's
actually taking 15 perf IMAX analog film in 18K,
that's super exciting. - [Narrator] In addition to
custom cameras and projectors, IMAX works with filmmakers and studios to enhance the visuals and sound of the movies in its theaters. That process is called remastering, and it ensures films don't look too grainy on its larger screens. This is what IMAX calls
one of its iconic theaters. Its stadium design is unusually steep, to give every seat a clear view. Up to 12 speakers localize sound, so everyone hears movies
at the same volume. The screen has an aspect ratio up to two thirds taller
than regular theaters. It's curved to look the
same from every angle, and it's made with perforated vinyl and coated in a proprietary silver paint, so it reflects light
with uniform brightness. Many IMAX theaters are smaller than this, so they can fit in
standard movie complexes, but all of them, the IMAX
theaters that play film and the smaller ones
that play digital movies are monitored and calibrated every day from operation centers like this. - All of the theaters are
connected through the internet, through a live line, and that machine language
is telling us things like, "I'm too hot, I'm too cold,
I'm offscreen, I'm onscreen. I have passed calibration, I
haven't passed calibration." So the technicians in
the room here can log into the systems, take control of them. So 95% of the time, we fix it right here. - [Narrator] The company relies
on these operation centers to make the IMAX experience
consistent across theaters. - Why immersive is so
important is it enables viewers to kind of feel like they're
right there in the content. And it's what we often
call in the business, a suspension of disbelief
where you get caught up in the content that's being
played in front of you and you feel like you're
right apart of it. (upbeat music)