不只是电影名词解释：IMAX，4K修复到底是啥？

喜欢看电影的人，对于诸如IMAX巨幕、3D版、4K修复之类的电影名词一点也不陌生。对于这些如数家珍的术语，你真的了解吗？你知道它们背后的故事吗？

今年的上海国际电影节SIFF新视野展映中，阿方索·卡隆的《地心引力》和克里斯托弗·诺兰的《星际穿越》都将登陆展映环节。与此同时，还有对IMAX发展做出过巨大贡献的“背后的女人” 托妮·梅耶斯的三部真正在太空中，用IMAX摄影机拍摄的科教电影《国际空间站》《哈勃望远镜》《美丽星球》，带你开启一段奇妙的太空深度漫游！

IMAX拓展了我们的视觉体验，那么4K修复技术就是把在时光中一度暗淡的光影情怀和胶片时代的瑰丽绮梦，重新带给热爱电影的人。

今年的上海国际电影节上最为瞩目的4K修复影片，是侯孝贤导演的经典之作《海上花》，老上海的旖旎风情，流光溢彩的珠玉锦缎，油画般的质感……都将细腻地再现大荧幕，带给爱电影的你最精致的观影体验！

跟着CGTN一起，开启上海电影之旅，探索我们熟知的电影名词背后的故事吧~

IMAX

more than 26-percent bigger

The screening of the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival is about to begin. Among all the 500 films to be screened in 47 cinemas across Shanghai, moviegoers who look for stunning visual effects could always expect some surprises from the IMAX screening category.

If you are a film enthusiast, you must be familiar with IMAX cinemas, and the thrilling moments of having monsters jumping out of the huge screen, or explosions occurring in front of your face.

With a 26-percent bigger screen than regular cinemas, IMAX claims they can enlarge your experience during the one or two hours of film watching and give you a more immersive enjoyment.

Before learning about what films we could expect at this year's SIFF, let's stop for a moment, and explore a bit deeper into the terminology and the ensuing digits that define it. 

Posters of the movies "Gravity" (L) and "Interstellar" (R). /Photo via Douban

A few facts about IMAX

Directly speaking, IMAX means bigger-than-standard screens with tall aspect ratio and steep stadium seating.

IMAX is the abbreviation for "Image Maximum." It is far more than just a screen. In fact, it is a complete system, with high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors and theaters.

A standard IMAX screen, first of all, has a width of 22 meters and a height of 16 meters. It features 70-millimeter films, which could provide a 10-times larger image than the 35-millimeter format. Meanwhile, it features a six-channel soundtrack system, providing all moviegoers with the same acoustic experience, no matter in which corner of the theater they are sitting.

The IMAX cinema at the China National Film Museum in Beijing, China. /VCG Photo

The design of the theaters is different as well. All rows are within one screen height, and all seats are set at a steep angle so that everyone faces the screen directly.

All those design features serve only one purpose – to give the audience the most shocking visual effect. But the "3D," which usually appears together with IMAX in their ads, is a different concept. Only the combination of the two can provide a complete IMAX experience.

As of 2018, China has over 600 IMAX screens in more than 180 cities. The highest grossing IMAX film is "Avengers: Endgame," and the highest grossing Chinese film in the North America market is "The Wandering Earth."

What to expect at this year's SIFF

It is a tradition for the SIFF to screen a selected number of IMAX films. This year, under the category of "SIFF Vision" special screening, two classic space exploration sci-fi films have been brought back to Shanghai cinemas: "Gravity" by Alfonso Cuaron and "Interstellar" by Christopher Nolan.

Together with the two blockbusters, three science and educational films are to be screened, "Space Station," "Hubble," and "A Beautiful Planet," directed by Toni Myers, the woman behind the IMAX movies.

All three movies are notable because they were actually filmed in space, and by the astronauts. Myers's job, therefore, included to teach them how to use IMAX cameras for film shooting.

Posters of IMAX educational films by Toni Myers, (L-R) "Hubble 3D," "Space Station," and "A Beautiful Planet." /Photo via Douban.com

During her career, Myers trained more than 120 astronauts and inspired quite a number of young people to join the space exploration.

"Space Station" was the first IMAX 3D film to be shot in space, which recorded the living and working of 25 astronauts from 16 countries in the International Space Station (ISS) 220 miles (about 354 kilometers) away from earth. It grossed 120 million U.S. dollars around the globe when screened in 2002.

The 2010 IMAX 3D film "Hubble" documented the Space Shuttle mission in 2009 of seven astronauts repairing and upgrading the Hubble Space Telescope 580 kilometers away from earth.

A file photo of producer Toni Myers taken at the California Science Center IMAX Theater on February 5, 2009, in Los Angeles, California. /VCG Photo

With a number of images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, the audiences have a rare opportunity to see the stunning view of the deep universe including the Andromeda Galaxy, Minkowski 2-9 Nebula, and Orion Nebula, which are beyond the imagination of any sci-fi works.

Myers died in February this year at the age of 75, and it is also a tribute to the woman behind the scenes in the space exploring genre and IMAX films development.

4K restoration

bringing luster of time back

For those who truly love the art of film the 4K restoration technique is no novelty at all.

The screening of restored classic films has been an essential part of international film festivals, from Cannes to Shanghai. 

If films are ways to capture moments in time, then 4K restoration could be seen as a way to restore the luster of time, as the technique takes old films and adapts them to modern movie-going experiences. At the annual Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), the 4K restored films are always worth seeing.

A still from film "Flowers of Shanghai". /Photo via Douban.com

SIFF's 4K restoration film screenings

The 1998 film "Flowers of Shanghai" is impressive to for its glamorous costume choices and the delicate display of daily lives in the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912) Shanghai. 

Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, who is famous for his application of full-length takes, the film was described by many as an oil painting in motion.

Images before and after 4K restoration. /CGTN Photo

There are only no more than 40 takes in this 130-minute film, and the exquisite and elegant "Shanghai style" has been depicted in details through the actors' performances, setting and clothing.

Posters of films (L-R) "Tokyo Story", "Flowers of Shanghai" and "Street of Shame". /Photo via Douban.com

But what is 4K restoration, and how does it work?

Bringing luster of time back

It is never an easy thing to restore a film, by which technicians need to transform footage from old plastic and gelatin cine film to digital film. They need to mend and clean the original cine films first, and scan them into 2K or 4K digital formats before starting to adjust the images, voices, colors, resolutions, and removing the scratches. All of this is done frame by frame.

And one second's worth of footage contains 24 frames, which means a two-hour film contains at least 172,800 frames of images.

A still from "Tokyo Story." /Photo via Douban.com

Most of the jobs need to be done manually, and it usually takes the technicians months to finish all the work. What's even more challenging is that they need to retain the original tone of colors, lighting and quality of the old films. From the skin and clothes of the actors to the application of light and shadow in the films, every detail needs to be taken into consideration.

This year at the SIFF, which is expected to be held from June 15 to June 24, the 4K-restored version of "Flowers of Shanghai" will make its international debut. Additionally, a number of other restored films including "Tokyo Story" and "Street of Shame" will also be brought back to big screens for the audiences.

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