Science and the Giant Screen

Giant screen films, known more commonly as IMAX films, are an emphatically visual mode of communication that premiered with the showing of Tiger Child (1970) at the Fuji Pavilion at Expo 1970 in Osaka, Japan. Today, these forms of visual display are characterized by specially designed two-dimensional (2-D) or three-dimensional (3-D) theaters, multistory screens, and surround sound audio systems. Giant screen theaters have historically been connected with educational or historic venues, such as science centers, museums, and cultural sites, but as the format has shifted from a primarily educational focus to an entertainment focus, stand-alone theaters are increasingly common. In 2009, there were approximately 350 giant screen theaters worldwide, with slightly more than half of these theaters affiliated with institutional venues.

The “giant” in giant screen references the size of the film frame as well as the size of the theater and the nature of the film experience. Developed by the IMAX Corporation of Canada, giant screen films are known for the size and extreme clarity of their images, which are claimed to make the viewing experience more real than reality through the sense of movement, travel, and emotional engagement, according to scholar Charles R. Acland. Giant screen frames contain approximately 10 times more information than the 35 millimeter (mm) frame and have an aspect ratio of 1.435 to 1, as compared to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ratio of 1.33 to 1.

Giant screen films are shown on both dome and flat screens, which range up to 30 meters high (flat [Page 686]screen) to as large as 30 meters in diameter (dome screen). The typical giant screen theater is about 22 meters wide and 16 meters high, or about 354 square meters; the largest dome and flat screens have screen size of 1,180 square meters and 1,051 square meters, respectively. In both theater configurations, the viewer sits directly facing the screen at a steeper angle than the traditional 35 mm theater space. Designed to mimic the range of human vision, the panoramic images of the giant screen occupy 60 to 120 degrees of the lateral and 40 to 80 degrees of the vertical fields of human vision (180 degrees lateral, 125 degrees vertical), notes commentator Tana Wollen.

Requiring both specialized capture and display technologies, giant screen films are shot using proprietary IMAX cameras that weigh as much as 110 kilograms, and they are displayed using a unique projection system that combines high-intensity xenon arc lighting with rolling loop movement on a horizontal projection platter. Even though, to conserve image area, the audio for giant screen films is on a separate audio track synchronized to the film with a minimum of six channels of sound, including dialogue, music, and special effects, a reel of giant screen film is still generally over a meter in diameter and weighs about 80 kilograms. The audio for a giant screen film is run through multiple speakers around the theater space, which are positioned to cue the viewer to action on the screen.

These high-resolution films are marketed on the premise of giving the viewer an experience of being incorporated or immersed in the filmic action. In a survey of viewers by Barbara Flagg, the primary reason cited by viewers who watch giant screen films is for this “you are there” feeling. This immersive characteristic of giant screen films is a function of the size of the screen and the images, which have been shown to have an impact on the viewer's responses to the content presented.

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