With an adventure encompassing the size and scale of Avengers: Infinity War, you want to ensure audiences have the best possible experience they can. In film, that means IMAX. In existence for over 50 years but only recently having gained momentum in mainstream filmmaking, IMAX is the only alternative viewing format in available that offers a far superior quality image than traditional widescreen movie framing. Now, in a new series with IMAX Corp, Marvel Studios President and Head Honcho Kevin Fiege along with directors Anthony and Joe Russo make the case for IMAX and convince fans as to why they should watch Avengers: Infinity War in the IMAX format.
For the uninitiated, Infinity War is the first movie to be shot entirely using IMAX cameras. That statement could come across as a misnomer though, as the IMAX camera we’re referring to here are is a Digital IMAX camera specially developed as a result of a collaboration between Marvel, Arri and IMAX. The Russos first used it to film a sequence in Captain America: Civil War before using them to film both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 in IMAX. In this featurette, the brothers and Feige largely talk about the differences in IMAX framing compared to widescreen framing and how it offers a much bigger viewing area (up to 26%) than the traditional 2.35:1 cinemascope format. Joe Russo explains:
The IMAX screen has a different height than a traditional movie screen. If you go to an IMAX theater, you’ll see a much taller view of the image. So if you’re in a traditional theater, it’s going to be narrower; if you’re in an IMAX theater, it’s going to be expanded. There’s more information in the frame, there’s more storytelling to look at. You see more of the characters, you see more of their powers. You see more of the scale of the film. It’s just presented on a much grander scale than a traditional movie theater.
One of the other reasons films are often shot on IMAX is to account for the height differences in characters. It’s the reason Joss Whedon shot The Avengers in the 1.85:1 ratio to allow The Hulk and Iron Man to be filmed on the same frame together, resulting in some convincing team up shots. Anthony Russo cites a similar reason and challenge with Thanos who is much taller than the human characters and heroes we’ll meet in this movie. To allow them all to share screen space, as well as give the directors more freedom in choosing their angles rather than limit themselves to adhere to the 2.35:1 ratio, the brothers found themselves gravitating towards IMAX as a natural choice, as Anthony elaborates:
We have characters in this movie like Thanos who’re taller than normal human beings are. When you’re framing those characters in the same frame, it can become really challenging with a normal aspect ratio to hold those height differentials in a single frame and it forces you into certain angles and certain types of frames and lens choices. And having that extra verticality gives us a wider range of how we frame and how we shoot these characters and how we present them in the same frame together.
Marvel Studios Lord Kevin Feige also weighed in on his thoughts on what the IMAX experience means to the viewer. According to Feige, not only does IMAX offer audiences an enlarged view with additional action occurring at the top and bottom, it also absolves the surrounding borders and completely holds your attention, resulting in an even more immersive experience.
When you’re in an IMAX theater, it takes up your entire field of vision. And you begin to forget that there even are borders. And you’re in the entire movie. And as a filmmaker, that’s what you want the audience to experience.
Skeptics have been keen to pinpoint that Digital IMAX is not truly IMAX, and they’re true to an extent. Even so, a normal IMAX viewing experience in this case should be much much superior than the traditional theatrical screening, not just in terms of the aspect ratio, but also in terms of clarity. The quality of imagery on the big screen bumped up massively when the Airport Battle of Civil War started. Even with Digital IMAX, the improvement in quality is noticeable, all the more reason for you to check this out on your nearest IMAX screen if you can. It seems the directors are taking extra measures to deliver a special experience to fans by doing things like maintaining secrecy through fake scripts and scenes and asking fans to refrain from spreading spoilers. This is only but another step towards that endeavor.
You can check out the entire featurette below which also shows multiple shots fro the trailer in the IMAX format (courtesy the IMAX version of the trailer) to get an idea of how it would feel like. In this case, the said footage should occupy more of your laptop / computer screen than the standard trailer release did.
What format are you planning on seeing Avengers: Infinity War in when it releases on April 27? Are you sold on IMAX for this movie yet? Let us know in the comments below.
