The Wizard of Oz in Imax and 3D

[Marr&Colton]

"There are very few people alive who've ever seen 'Wizard of Oz' in a movie theater, let alone an Imax movie theater," said Richard Gelfond, chief executive of Imax Corp. "We've been surprised by the level of interest we've had in it."


WHAT.....??? What planet has Mr. Gelfond been on for the last 45 years??

WIZARD OF OZ has been in constant theatrical distribution since the 1970s (and earlier?) not only run in "revival house" venues but also in the many restored movie palaces around the country. It is a top grosser in classic exhibition along with CASABLANCA, GONE WITH THE WIND, etc.

On top of that, where was he when WIZARD OF OZ was restored and reissued to virtually ALL first run theatres back in the 1990s?

Personally, I think the idea to make classic films 3-D and IMAX is strictly to sell tickets--historic preservation and presentation not considered!

JUST AS BAD as the "colorization" fad of the 1980s and 90s......

[earlytalkie]

I still recall the early '60s telecasts in which Danny Kaye (I think) warned viewers that the early scenes would be in black & white. I wonder at what point that bit of information ended. I know the little preamble of text vanished after awhile to make way for more commercial time.

I too, remember the '60s telecasts. Danny Kaye did host the showing as well as Dick Van Dyke other years. I remember the speech about the black-and-white, but we had a black-and-white set in those days, and my sister and I felt a little cheated that we couldn't see the color. My father was "holding out" until color was improved and we finally got our color set in July, 1969.

[fwtep]

Personally, I think the idea to make classic films 3-D and IMAX is strictly to sell tickets--historic preservation and presentation not considered!

I'm pretty sure the 1939 release was strictly to sell tickets as well.

[All Darc]

Yes, I know, and I ubnderstand the concept of create depth masks to ad to all elements.



But the background is painted, it's diferente form foreground and people are used to accept a painted backgrund as it is. If you add depth to that you will make people pay more attention and notice more the little deffects of the painted objects (drawing) .
Well, I supose... We need to see a aexample to be really sure...

When you do the conversion you can make the depth be anything you want. So, for example, if you have a foreground miniature you can make it seem the proper distance away. And you can make a painted backdrop have depth.

[syd]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutg ... story.html" target="_blank

"According to a short video that IMAX made, converting the 1939 classic about a girl’s adventures in a fairy-tale land to 3-D was arduous. The first part of the process sounds reminiscent of restoring an old painting: After transforming film reels to a digital format, the movie’s images are sharpened, and colorists remove dirt, scratches and imperfections from years of wear and tear. Then the stereo conversion begins, which consists of isolating individual objects in each frame and layering them to give a sense of depth. “The Wizard of Oz” is the oldest film to get this treatment.

The result is quite stunning and a lot less gimmicky than it could have been. The 3-D elements are subtle; what’s more noticeable is the clarity of the picture. Small details like Judy Garland’s freckled face and the Cowardly Lion’s carefully coiffed curls come into sharper relief. Each gem in Dorothy’s ruby slippers appears to sparkle individually at different times. Technologically, the third dimension doesn’t create too much of a wow factor — for example, the poppies didn’t pop nearly as much as one might expect — but there is a kind of deference shown to the fantastical film that has been a childhood staple for generations.
Seeing “The Wizard of Oz” on the big screen also offers an opportunity to consider the incredible special effects, considering the film was shot more than seven decades ago and long before computer-generated imagery. The black-and-white scenes of Dorothy battling against the wind as a twister approaches were especially transporting. And Toto’s impressive training all but ensures that another generation of kids will be clamoring for a Cairn terrier.

The only negative aspect of getting such a close look at the film is that some of those special effects fall apart under close inspection. The Wicked Witch’s green face looks more like makeup, and the quick cuts that allow the legs of the witch’s deceased sister to curl up and disappear under Dorothy’s house are more noticeable.

But “The Wizard of Oz” taught us that peeking behind the curtain doesn’t have to be a letdown. Even when the fantasy turns out to be the ministrations of a regular old human being, the magic remains.

PG. At tk. Contains some scary moments. 101 minutes."

[Salty Dog]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutg ... story.html" target="_blank

"According to a short video that IMAX made, converting the 1939 classic about a girl’s adventures in a fairy-tale land to 3-D was arduous. The first part of the process sounds reminiscent of restoring an old painting: After transforming film reels to a digital format, the movie’s images are sharpened, and colorists remove dirt, scratches and imperfections from years of wear and tear. Then the stereo conversion begins, which consists of isolating individual objects in each frame and layering them to give a sense of depth. “The Wizard of Oz” is the oldest film to get this treatment."

Hopefully at the same time they did this, they made a new 2D master after the cleanup and before
the 3D conversion for future use. Not that this picture hasn't already looked really-well preserved in all
previous reissues anyway.

[Derek Gee]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutg ... story.html" target="_blank

"According to a short video that IMAX made, converting the 1939 classic about a girl’s adventures in a fairy-tale land to 3-D was arduous. The first part of the process sounds reminiscent of restoring an old painting: After transforming film reels to a digital format, the movie’s images are sharpened, and colorists remove dirt, scratches and imperfections from years of wear and tear. Then the stereo conversion begins, which consists of isolating individual objects in each frame and layering them to give a sense of depth. “The Wizard of Oz” is the oldest film to get this treatment."

Hopefully at the same time they did this, they made a new 2D master after the cleanup and before
the 3D conversion for future use. Not that this picture hasn't already looked really-well preserved in all
previous reissues anyway.

It's kind of unclear whether any new scanning of the picture elements was done for the 3D project. I can't imagine WHY they would need to do so, having scanned all three negatives at 8K for the last restoration. I suspect WHV just turned over the digital files to Prime Focus for 3D conversion and those 3D files went to IMAX for the DMR processing. Lots of puffery in the promo piece about the IMAX audio system. There no sound information on the original elements that will need the extra dynamic range and frequency response of the IMAX sound system. A regular Dolby system will be quite sufficient.

Derek

[David Alp]

Yes Derek; I was thinking the exact same thing! For the 2009 bluray release ALL of this restoration was done already!! They did ALL that has been mentioned and MORE! They knitted together the 3 Technicolor YCM matrices so that there was no fringing whatsoever; in other words the 3 Technicolor strips of film (which had warped slightly through age) now fitted together perfectly... They got rid of ALL dirt, scratches and even the Cowardly Lions wire that moved his tail about with digital technology.... They color corrected the entire movie, and even made it more prettier than ever by a bit of color saturation that 1939 audiences never saw... Plus with the sound they turned it into 5:1 stereo using the original stems from Metro Goldwyn Mayer's sound recording sessions; (i.e stems were placed all around the recording studio to create a balanced sound, and then in 1939 were mixed to create a mono soundtrack); Well recently, for (I think?) the 2005 release, they re-mixed the sound to create genuine stereo by using the original stems. So as far as I can see the only work that IMAX had to do was to create 3D??

[s.w.a.c.]

I kinda miss the wire.

[Derek Gee]

Yes Derek; I was thinking the exact same thing! For the 2009 bluray release ALL of this restoration was done already!! They did ALL that has been mentioned and MORE! They knitted together the 3 Technicolor YCM matrices so that there was no fringing whatsoever; in other words the 3 Technicolor strips of film (which had warped slightly through age) now fitted together perfectly... They got rid of ALL dirt, scratches and even the Cowardly Lions wire that moved his tail about with digital technology.... They color corrected the entire movie, and even made it more prettier than ever by a bit of color saturation that 1939 audiences never saw... Plus with the sound they turned it into 5:1 stereo using the original stems from Metro Goldwyn Mayer's sound recording sessions; (i.e stems were placed all around the recording studio to create a balanced sound, and then in 1939 were mixed to create a mono soundtrack); Well recently, for (I think?) the 2005 release, they re-mixed the sound to create genuine stereo by using the original stems. So as far as I can see the only work that IMAX had to do was to create 3D??

Warners re-color corrected the film using a 3D digital projector as noted in the promo film. IMAX did some additional DMR work on the film after receiving the 3D files from Prime Focus, but as you note, the sound mixes were already done. IMAX uses a digital 6.1 sound system, so there might have been some conversion from the 5.1 mix done for Blu Ray to the IMAX 6.1 system. I'm still interested in finding out if they re-scanned all those negatives.

Derek

[David Alp]

Yes Derek; I was thinking the exact same thing! For the 2009 bluray release ALL of this restoration was done already!! They did ALL that has been mentioned and MORE! They knitted together the 3 Technicolor YCM matrices so that there was no fringing whatsoever; in other words the 3 Technicolor strips of film (which had warped slightly through age) now fitted together perfectly... They got rid of ALL dirt, scratches and even the Cowardly Lions wire that moved his tail about with digital technology.... They color corrected the entire movie, and even made it more prettier than ever by a bit of color saturation that 1939 audiences never saw... Plus with the sound they turned it into 5:1 stereo using the original stems from Metro Goldwyn Mayer's sound recording sessions; (i.e stems were placed all around the recording studio to create a balanced sound, and then in 1939 were mixed to create a mono soundtrack); Well recently, for (I think?) the 2005 release, they re-mixed the sound to create genuine stereo by using the original stems. So as far as I can see the only work that IMAX had to do was to create 3D??

Warners re-color corrected the film using a 3D digital projector as noted in the promo film. IMAX did some additional DMR work on the film after receiving the 3D files from Prime Focus, but as you note, the sound mixes were already done. IMAX uses a digital 6.1 sound system, so there might have been some conversion from the 5.1 mix done for Blu Ray to the IMAX 6.1 system. I'm still interested in finding out if they re-scanned all those negatives.

Derek

I would be very surprised if they re-scanned the original negatives all over again, because remember they have to re-scan it three times for 1930's Technicolor. One for each color, the Yellow, the Cyan and the Magenta, (and I think there might be a 4th roll of film which was the black shadowing? I'm never sure about that one??). But at any rate, it would have been a massive task to re-scan them again, but who knows, maybe they did?? I mean they have made over $3 million Dollars already on this 3D version, so it was maybe worth it???

Derek, what is DMR work on the film? Never heard of that?

Fascinating to hear that they have re-color corrected it again! I shall definitely be buying the new "75th Anniversary Oz" box set even though I haven't got a 3D television yet. I am presuming it comes with a 2D blu-Ray version of the film. Does anyone know how this Blu-Ray version will differ from the 2009 blu-ray? I'm probably buying the exact same copy from 2009, but there you go!

[Derek Gee]

I would be very surprised if they re-scanned the original negatives all over again, because remember they have to re-scan it three times for 1930's Technicolor. One for each color, the Yellow, the Cyan and the Magenta, (and I think there might be a 4th roll of film which was the black shadowing? I'm never sure about that one??). But at any rate, it would have been a massive task to re-scan them again, but who knows, maybe they did?? I mean they have made over $3 million Dollars already on this 3D version, so it was maybe worth it???

Derek, what is DMR work on the film? Never heard of that?

No 4th Black roll on 3-strip Technicolor. Info on DMR:

http://www.imax.com/about/experience/dmr/" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Fascinating to hear that they have re-color corrected it again! I shall definitely be buying the new "75th Anniversary Oz" box set even though I haven't got a 3D television yet. I am presuming it comes with a 2D blu-Ray version of the film. Does anyone know how this Blu-Ray version will differ from the 2009 blu-ray? I'm probably buying the exact same copy from 2009, but there you go!

From what I've read, the new Blu-ray only differs from the 2009 version in that the sound is now DTS-HD rather than Dolby. Otherwise it is identical.

Just in, a review of the set - new extras!

http://dvdmg.com/wizardofoz75br.shtml" target="_blank

Derek

[drednm]

I couldn't sit thru this one again no matter what the format and no matter how many bells and whistles they attach. Well maybe if they re-write the ending so that Dorothy and her menagerie are all slaughtered and Kansas blows away in the dust storm.

[Danny Burk]

This was just made for Ed:

http://www.theargylesweater.com/" target="_blank" (click today's date, 24 Sep 2013, if viewing at a later date)

[drednm]

Wizard of Oz coming at me from all directions!!

http://www.downeast.com/magazine/2012/april/north-east" target="_blank" target="_blank

I will be in Camden several times in October.....

[bigshot]

How do you preserve the original look of the Chinese theater and widen the proscenium to the size of a football field?

[fwtep]

So, I saw it. The 3D was nice but VERY understated-- almost to the point of "why bother" (besides the purist reasons for asking that). The print, however, was spectacular.

A few things I noticed this time:

- When the witch disappears in smoke after not getting the ruby slippers, the trap door opens up half a second too soon and is clearly visible on the floor.

- At one point in Munchkinland when Glinda raises her wand it strikes her hat and makes a tinkling sound like hitting a chandelier.

- When the wicked witch it talking to the flying monkey before sending them out, she says something like "I sent a little insect ahead, so they won't be any trouble." I've never noticed that before; did they ever shoot a scene where they're attacked by some kind of insect?

- When Dorothy and friends set out for the wicked witch's castle, the scarecrow is carrying a gun. It's a very fake looking gun, but I'd never noticed it before. That would definitely not be in there if the movie were made today.

One thing I was interested in seeing and it did turn out to be cool was how the painted backdrops were given depth. It looked nice. It kept the painted look, of course, so it was more like layers of flats.

So if the movie is still around and you're interested in seeing it on the big screen but not interested in the 3D, don't worry, it's not very 3D. Except the titles, and they look good. Even the MGM logo (lion and all) are 3D.

[westegg]

The insect reference lead to the cut "Jitterbug" number.

[Derek Gee]

How do you preserve the original look of the Chinese theater and widen the proscenium to the size of a football field?

Like this?

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2013/07/i ... _years.php" target="_blank

Derek

[Tilt Araiza]

- At one point in Munchkinland when Glinda raises her wand it strikes her hat and makes a tinkling sound like hitting a chandelier.

I noticed that for the first time, too. I could also see the edge of Bert Lahr's baldcap during the "Courage" sequence.

I loved the effect the 3D had on the painted backdrops. The poppy field really undulated off into the distance.

[David Alp]

- When the wicked witch it talking to the flying monkey before sending them out, she says something like "I sent a little insect ahead, so they won't be any trouble." I've never noticed that before; did they ever shoot a scene where they're attacked by some kind of insect?

The insect was "The Jitterbug" insect that the witch "sent ahead to take the fight out of them"... Here is a reconstruction of that deleted scene, the original negative has long since vanished, and all that remains now is the original soundtrack, the stills, and some amateur footage of a dress rehearsal of Judy and Co. dancing to the number.

[s.w.a.c.]

I remember first reading about The Jitterbug sequence in one of those early Book of Lists volumes, when it was describing scenes cut out of famous movies (it also included the spider sequence in King Kong, the piefight in Dr. Strangelove and others). Then a few years later I saw an amateur stage show presentation of The Wizard of Oz that included it. I think the song may have even surfaced on a 78 r.p.m. record, perhaps even in one of the original WoO "albums" on MGM Records.

As much as I wish the footage survived, I can see why they deleted it from the film altogether, although it's funny how that line setting it up remains in the finished feature. Part of me wished they could have included the full-length version of If I Only Had a Brain in the IMAX version, to take advantage of the 3D, but since the effect was so underwhelming it isn't that big a deal in the long run.

[precode]

So, I saw it. The 3D was nice but VERY understated-- almost to the point of "why bother" (besides the purist reasons for asking that). The print, however, was spectacular.

(snip)

- When Dorothy and friends set out for the wicked witch's castle, the scarecrow is carrying a gun. It's a very fake looking gun, but I'd never noticed it before. That would definitely not be in there if the movie were made today.

I'd never noticed the gun, either!

The 3-D is quite pleasing, especially in the Kansas sequences. I wouldn't want to see ON THE WATEFRONT in 3-D, but for a film like this it's fine.

Mike S.

[s.w.a.c.]

I wouldn't want to see ON THE WATEFRONT in 3-D, but for a film like this it's fine.

But that truck barrelling down the alleyway is so LIFELIKE in 3D!

Didn't notice the gun, but I spotted a toucan I don't think I'd taken note of before, right before they found the Tinman. Actually spent a lot of time watching the birds around his house during that sequence. And call me crazy, but I thought I saw someone hanging from a tree branch in the background...

(Yes, I'm kidding about the hanging munchkin.)

[Derek Gee]

Yes Derek; I was thinking the exact same thing! For the 2009 bluray release ALL of this restoration was done already!! They did ALL that has been mentioned and MORE! They knitted together the 3 Technicolor YCM matrices so that there was no fringing whatsoever; in other words the 3 Technicolor strips of film (which had warped slightly through age) now fitted together perfectly... They got rid of ALL dirt, scratches and even the Cowardly Lions wire that moved his tail about with digital technology.... They color corrected the entire movie, and even made it more prettier than ever by a bit of color saturation that 1939 audiences never saw... Plus with the sound they turned it into 5:1 stereo using the original stems from Metro Goldwyn Mayer's sound recording sessions; (i.e stems were placed all around the recording studio to create a balanced sound, and then in 1939 were mixed to create a mono soundtrack); Well recently, for (I think?) the 2005 release, they re-mixed the sound to create genuine stereo by using the original stems. So as far as I can see the only work that IMAX had to do was to create 3D??

Now we're getting some technical details on the workflow. Apparently, they DIDN'T rescan the whole film as they implied in that trailer. Warners supplied Prime Focus a 2K (why not 4K?) copy of the recent restoration (the DCP perhaps?) and that's what was used to generate the left & right 3D views. Warner's colorist Janet Wilson then color-corrected the 3D version and that must be what IMAX ran through their DMR process for release to theaters.

http://www.studiodaily.com/2013/09/conv ... -oz-to-3d/" target="_blank" target="_blank

Sound mixing:

http://geekdad.com/2013/09/wizard-oz-imax-3d/" target="_blank" target="_blank

This article implies that the theatrical mix is the mono original mix up front with effects and isolated music tracks to the side (Imax 6.1 mix).

Derek

[Clem Dickey]

The 3D was nice but VERY understated-- almost to the point of "why bother"

I suspect that one step of the "synthetic" 3D process requires enlarging the foreground objects a little in the horizontal dimension. To make a element look "closer", you separate it from the background, then shift the element to the right in the left eye's frame and to the left in the right eye's frame. Each shift will expose a sliver of the background which was behind the object. That sliver has to be fixed somehow. An expensive way would be to have an artist guess what was there and fill it in using a program like Photoshop. A cheap way would be to enlarge the foreground object until it covered the sliver. Only the horizontal dimension needs to be enlarged, but to avoid making faces look fat and wheels look out-of-round, the vertical dimension is probably also enlarged. But the greater the 3D effect, the bigger the "sliver" is, and greater the enlargement has to be. So to avoid having the foreground *noticeably* larger, they limited the effect, and the result was "understated."

[David Alp]

Bump!

Anyway!!! So when the heck is "This Wizard Of Oz" in IMAX theaters coming to England for God's sake?? Does anyone in the UK know? Been waiting for two months now and there are still no ads for it to be shown in the UK? I'm getting very annoyed!

[Robert W]

Bump!

Anyway!!! So when the heck is "This Wizard Of Oz" in IMAX theaters coming to England for God's sake?? Does anyone in the UK know? Been waiting for two months now and there are still no ads for it to be shown in the UK? I'm getting very annoyed!

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it, unfortunately. It was really designed to promote the 3D Blu-Ray ressue which took place the week after it ran in North America, coinciding with a dead spot in the release schedule for first-run feature films. Aside from the Chinese, it wasn't particularly successful as far as attendance goes.

[Jack Theakston]

Aside from the Chinese, it wasn't particularly successful as far as attendance goes.

With matinee shows at 9:15 and 11:15 only (which was the case at the IMAX near me), I'm not surprised. These are throw-away time slots.

[David Alp]

Oh? That is really odd because on other sites I have been reading how successful it was in the States, and how in some towns it was held over for an extra week due to demand for tickets. I.e it ran for two weeks instead of one.