One of the much-awaited films by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer, is releasing this week, and fans are excited to experience it on the big screens. To get the completely immersive experience of Oppenheimer, the question remains: Which is the best format to watch the film, among IMAX, Digital, 70mm, and more?
To answer this question, Jay Trautman, an assistant editor with over 15 years of experience, explained the making process of the film in a YouTube video. Trautman spent over a year on Oppenheimer as an assistant editor and was involved in the format conversions.
Before revealing the best options, Trautman explains how Oppenheimer was filmed. Most productions use digital cameras for filming, editing, and color correcting in post-production. This makes sense as makers release the films digitally, so this process creates uniformity. Meanwhile, some directors still enjoy using film cameras over digital cameras, including Christopher Nolan.
How did Christopher Nolan make Oppenheimer?
Filmmaker Nolan used IMAX cameras to film many sequences of Oppenheimer. These production cameras are not only huge but also create a loud noise. This leads them to use digital cameras to film scenes in smaller rooms and with the importance of dialogues.
- Many filmmakers use IMAX cameras and then edit and color-code them digitally before releasing them in digital formats, but Christopher Nolan doesn’t do that. In Oppenheimer, he first shot the movie on the IMAX equipment, produced it in a lab, and then printed them as reels. These film reels were then edited as videos and locked.
- Following that, the makers cut and spliced the original negatives together and color-coded by adjusting the timing of printing lights to balance out the color. At the end of this analog process, they print it into films. In Trautman’s words, basically, “It never goes through a computer.”
- Although the film does require adding CGI digitally, it is then once again reverted to its original format. Due to this, Jay Trautman recommends the audience watch Oppenheimer in its film prints in your nearby cinemas before it releases digitally.
Various film formats like IMAX and 70mm explained
https://youtu.be/_Otk_P68zfM
Christopher Nolan also used the Panavision system 65 format along with the IMAX. Both formats use the same film, but IMAX captures an image 15 perfs wide while system 65 captures five perfs tall. Editors blow up the five perfs shots and reduce the size of the 15 perfs shots to mix them.
- Due to this, an IMAX screen is taller and supports the 15 film perforations, while the 70mm screens are better for the five perfs scenes. So, a scene shot by IMAX will be cut off from top and bottom for 70mm while there will be black space above and below on IMAX screens for five perfs shots.
- Editors of Oppenheimer made sure to provide the same experience through both so that it wouldn’t be a significant problem. However, their focus was on the 70mm screens, making it the preferable format choice.
In which format should you watch Oppenheimer?
You can watch Oppenheimer in all formats as it will be equally entertaining, but we highly suggest opting for the IMAX if possible. The IMAX format will provide a completely immersive experience. So if you’re lucky enough to be near the 30 exclusive theaters that offer this format, then hurry to secure your tickets!
If the top choice isn’t available, assistant editor Jay Trautman also recommends watching the 70mm film print. This option will provide the best experience as the editors focus on this screen type while editing Oppenheimer. With that, here’s a list of the pros and cons of the Oppenheimer movie formats!
| Formats | Pros | Cons |
| IMAX 70mm |
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| 70mm |
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| 35mm |
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| IMAX Digital |
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| Digital Cinema |
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- If your local theaters miss screening our suggested formats, Trautman recommends watching the Oppenheimer film in a cinema before it reaches the digital screens. All you need to do is get that theater ticket on Friday to enjoy Oppenheimer first-hand!
The price of tickets
Trautman also suggests it would be an exciting experience to watch Nolan’s Oppenheimer in the various formats released to compare the difference.
In the United States, ticket prices are different based on the format of the film, the age of the audience, as well as the theater. However, the 2D is generally more affordable than 70mm, IMAX, or Dolby.
- An adult’s ticket for IMAX based on one of the theaters is $21.99, and the Dolby is $21.49. Meanwhile, the 70mm is $17.99, and the 2D is $15.
- The prices are highly dependent on the theater as the price of a children’s ticket for one of the IMAX theaters can be similar to an adult ticket for the other. The tickets are also selling out fast, so get yours now.
All of the details about the available show, timing, locations of the cinema and their prices, as well as projection format, are available to check on Oppenheimer’s official website: Oppenheimermovie.com
- Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer starring Cillian Murphy as the lead along with Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh, will release this Friday, 21 July 2023.
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