The complete history of the IMAX camera
Few auteurs push the boundaries of cinematic storytelling quite like Christopher Nolan. Always striving to deliver the most immersive experiences to his audience, Nolan has championed a filmmaking technology that harks back to the golden age of cinema: IMAX. This format has become Nolan’s favourite, offering unparalleled visual spectacle and critically impacting his directorial style.
The way in which his newest film Oppenheimer was shot has almost generated as much buzz as the contents of the movie itself. It may seem a little confusing for the uninitiated (which is most of us), but worry not – we’re here to explain exactly what this IMAX business is all about. Since The Dark Knight in 2008, Nolan has been steadily amping up his experiments with the camera format. This culminated with 2017’s Dunkirk being shot predominantly in the format – something few other directors have attempted.
With his new atomic feature, Nolan has shot certain sequences in black and white. The problem is that the IMAX film size is 65mm, and you can’t buy 65mm black and white film stock. This means that the Oppenheimer director had it made to order, which also means this project is the first feature in cinema history to use black-and-white IMAX film.
IMAX, or ‘Image Maximum’, was a groundbreaking innovation developed by a group of Canadian filmmakers in the late 1960s. As a technological marvel, IMAX is both a film format and a set of cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. The intention behind IMAX was simple yet ambitious – to increase the resolution of the film so it could be shown on larger screens, providing audiences with a viewing experience that’s more immersive than ever before.
This is achieved through a unique process. Traditional film frames are run vertically through the projector, each taking up a small portion of the film strip. But IMAX’s frames are significantly larger and run horizontally through the projector. This orientation, coupled with the sheer size of the frames – around ten times larger than the conventional 35mm film format – results in a significantly sharper, brighter, and more detailed image. But how much sharper, brighter and more detailed, you may be asking. Well, the maximum resolution on the most advanced digital camera is 8K. The IMAX? Roughly 16K – it is the most detailed format of capturing pictures in the entire world. Period. But it’s not just the orientation of the film that makes IMAX unique; the cameras themselves are marvels of engineering. Designed to accommodate the larger film size, IMAX cameras are substantially bigger and heavier than their traditional counterparts. This is why Nolan commends cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema time and time again for having an “IMAX on his shoulders”.
One such screen that exemplifies the grandeur of the IMAX experience is at the British Film Institute IMAX cinema at Southbank, London. Opened in 1999, the BFI IMAX boasts the largest cinema screen in Britain, standing over 20 metres high and 26 metres wide. This site has become a beacon for cinephiles who crave the sensory overload that only an IMAX experience can provide. For Nolan fans living in the English capital, this is where you’ll want to try and watch Oppenheimer, as recommended by the maestro himself. He’s even given recommendations on his preferred seating position!
What does ‘filmed in IMAX’ really mean?
The use of IMAX technology presents unique challenges. The cameras are notoriously noisy, making them practically unusable for scenes with dialogue. Additionally, the film stock for IMAX is expensive, and the sheer size of the cameras makes them difficult to manoeuvre. While IMAX’s 70mm film cameras have long been renowned, the practicalities of using these bulky, noisy devices have often presented significant challenges for filmmakers. Recognising these constraints, in September 2020, IMAX launched the “Filmed In IMAX” programme. This initiative certifies high-quality digital cameras capable of creating IMAX-format films. Although none of the cameras certified thus far can achieve the 12K resolution of traditional IMAX film, they still offer high-resolution imaging, paving the way for more versatile and accessible IMAX filmmaking.
Movies like Top Gun: Maverick and Dune were among the first to utilise these certified cameras. Following suit, numerous projects between 2021 and 2023 were captured using these certified cameras, including The Suicide Squad, Eternals, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Thor: Love and Thunder. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was the first feature to use the new IMAX-certified ‘Red V-Raptor’ camera.
However, Nolan remains one of the few directors to have embraced the original format for its unparalleled ability to engross an audience. Indeed, he’s become a standard-bearer for the IMAX format. From the dizzying cityscapes of Inception to the cosmic vistas of Interstellar and the visceral action of The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan’s works exemplify the potential of IMAX to transport audiences into the heart of cinematic action.
As we look to the future of cinema, the IMAX experience continues to represent the pinnacle of cinematic presentation. Despite the rise of digital technologies and the convenience of streaming platforms, the unique, immersive quality of IMAX keeps audiences coming back to the big screen. In a world increasingly filled with distractions, the enduring appeal of IMAX lies in its ability to command our full attention, draw us in, and let us lose ourselves in the magic of cinema.
