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Variety; The Verge; THR

At NAB, Director Ang Lee Gives a Glimpse of the Future of Movies, and It’s a Game-Changer. Footage Stuns Viewers

Apr 17, 2016  •  Post A Comment

An 11-minute sequence from the Ang Lee’s new movie, “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” has electrified viewers, “leaving even experienced pros grasping for superlatives to convey what they had seen. Their praise wasn’t reserved for the technology, but for the film itself as well,” reports Variety.

Adds The Verge, “As part of the National Association of Broadcasters trade show, [Lee’s  3D footage] “was presented using twin laser projectors that delivered 4K images at an astounding 120 frames per second, per eye. That’s five times the frame rate that movies traditionally use, a change that Lee said provides crystal-clear images and removes unpleasant visual artifacts like strobing that can be present in traditional films, particularly when they’re presented in 3D.”

Praise for the screening was overwhelming. “‘I’m shaking,’ said Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers standards director Howard Lukk immediately following the screening,” reports The Hollywood Reporter. “That content combined with the technology — it was the most compelling 3D I have ever seen.”

Adds veteran technology and special effects master Douglas Turnbull, according to The Hollywood Reporter, “Awesome. And this was the worst possible scenario [for a screening setup]. It was like being there, which I anticipated. It looks like he will be delivering a stunning movie experience. I’m trembling. ”

“Since there is currently no single digital cinema projector capable of playing back 4K, 3D at 120fps, a projector configuration that used two 4K ‘Mirage’ laser projectors from manufacturer Christie, Dolby 3D glasses and 7th Sense’s Delta Infinity III servers for playback was installed at the Las Vegas Convention Center for the screening,” the Reporter notes.

Another reaction came from visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren, who told Variety, “I thought it was amazing and incredibly emotional. I started to talk to Ang about the technology stuff and said ‘What the heck am I talking about? It’s an emotional film. I’m totally with this guy and the experience he’s going through, as though I was there, at the moment, looking at it.’ Muren, a fan of high frame rate cinema, said of the 120fps format, ‘You can see the difference. And feel the difference. It’s really about feeling.’”

“The sequence chosen for viewing is 11 minutes intercutting an Iraq War battle with a celebration of the soldiers at an NFL game in Dallas,” says Variety. “The experience of the soldiers at home, as performers (almost props) in a celebration in a darkened stadium, contrasts with their firefight and hand-to-hand combat of the Iraq scenes.”

To read more details about the screening, we urge you to click on the links, above, which will take you to the original stories in Variety, The Verge, and The Hollywood Reporter.

 

 

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