When the increase in television threatened film attendance in the 1950s, Hollywood responded by introducing several new Exhibition format Designed to get people back to theaters with the promise of Widescreen pictures and stereophonic sound. Cinemascope, cinerama and Showed were just some of these processes, which dazzled the audience and gave movies like “The Robe”, “The Bridge on the River Kwai”, and “Around the world in 80 days”, and attracted customers in mouths.
When exhibitors struggle with the emergence of streaming and decreasing theater participation, one of America’s largest living filmmakers has revived one of the largest of all Widescreen format, giving today’s audience the same reason to get their sofas as it Alfred HitchcockMichael Curtiz and other premiere leaders for their era gave in the 1950s. The lovely return of Showed started last year when Brady Corbet shot ”Brutalist“In the format and exhibited film In several arenas of 70 mm, a meter that approaches Vistavision’s high resolution – but that was just the beginning.
Now, director Paul Thomas Anderson have not just filmed but release ”One battle after the other“In Vistavision, with a handful of arenas that project the film in a format that has not seen the audience of a new release film since Marlon Brandos” One-Eyed Jacks “1961. (Happy viewers on the year TCM Film Festival did Get to see resuscitations of “We are no angels” and “Gunfight at the ok Corral” in real vistavision.)
Why is it important? And what does it mean for audiences, filmmakers and projectionists? Let’s break it down.
What made Vistavision special compared to rival format like Cinemascope was its greater negative – about twice as large as a typical 35mm film frame, since the film was run through the camera horizontally rather than vertically. As Margaret lived, who works with Martin Scorseses Film FoundationTold IndieWire: “With Cinemascope you have a four-perf negative.
Despite the superior quality, Vistavision ultimately became more or less outdated for film production, although it continued to be used to a large extent for special effects on blockbuster such as the original “Star Wars”, “Back to the Future” and “Jurassic Park.” “One battle after another” is shot with a combination of Vistavision and Super 35 and will be released in no fewer than seven formats. This has led to intense tension among cinefiles – and no small amount of error information.
In an example, a fan-created graphics recently took on social media and led to widespread confusion about image relationships between the different exhibition formats. (Among other things, it was incorrectly stated that the film would be released in an image ratio of 2.20: 1 in 70 mm) to clarify which formats “a battle after the other” will be presented in, their technical specifications and where they can see them reached indieview to the source: Paul Thomas Anderson.
Anderson referred us to three members of his post -production team: editor Andy Jurgensen, post -production manager Erica Frauman and associated editor Jay Trautman, who all handled the complexity of Vistavision and the film’s varying publishing print throughout the post production process. Together, they dealt with several important issues related to the different ways you can look at “one battle after another” when opened in theaters on September 26.
The interview below condenses and combines answers from Jurgensen, Frauman and Trautman in specific format to see “one battle after the other.”
What are the release formats for “a battle after another”, their image conditions and sound specifications?
Which image relationship is the film originally done?
The film was taken with a combination of Vistavision (8-Per) and Super 35 (4-Per) format. (“Perf” referring to the perforations that run alongside or – Depending on the format – Above and below the image so that the celluloid can be pulled through the projector.) Botth victims a tall enough negative to accommodate the fully IMAX 1.43: 1 Aspect Rat Rat Rat Rat Rat Rat Rat Rato To fit the 1.90: 1 IMAX or standard 1.85: 1 Aspect Ratios. Camera operator Colin Anderson used ground glass marked with frame lines for both 1.85: 1 and 1.43: 1 compositions to ensure flexibility in framing.
When the possibility of special views of Vistavision arose, Paul Thomas Anderson chose to present the film in a full 1.50: 1 Vistavision-frame, a picture ratio very close to the IMAX’s 1.43: 1. 5-Perf 70mm version is presented in 1.85: 1, Pelarbox within a 2,20: 1 frame, as well as the default DC.
How do the different publishing formats complicate the post process?
We often say that each publishing format offers its own unique experience of the film. In the photochemical world, it is impossible to make all formats look exactly the same!
Since the film was taken with both Vistavision and Super 35mm cameras, we had to navigate not only several publishing formats but also several catch formats. If we used the digital intermediate process that almost every modern movie uses, we would just scan all negative and change the size of it in a computer. But we cut and divide the camera negatively and print photochemically. This means that we had to find out how we create Vistavision negatives from our Super 35mm images and our digital visual effects. We started testing these processes over two years ago. In the end, photoem configured both an optical printer and a digital film player specifically for Vistavision, which allowed us to create all the necessary elements to install a complete Vistavision negative and produce a Vistavision publishing print.
Does Paul Thomas Anderson have a preferred format?
Paul has noted that the Vistavision presentation is closest to the film’s intended appearance, as it struck directly from the Vistavision cut negative. There are only four of these special screening places currently planned – in Los Angeles, New York, Boston and London.
That said, we always knew that there would be an IMAX edition, so from the beginning was 1.43: 1 and 1.90: 1 IMAX presentations (both film and digital) intended to be the most engrossing. This is the first narrative film presented entirely in IMAX’s image ratio 1.43: 1 (without hope between image conditions). 70mm (5-Per) version is an optical blast from Vistavision Cut-negative. It has slightly more grain and contrast, and its image relationship 1.85: 1 matches the DCP presentations without IMAX.
What does it really mean to catch and project in real vistas?
Unlike traditional 35mm film, which goes vertically through the camera port, Vistavision uses a horizontal feed. This allows the image to be recorded on a frame that is twice as large as a standard 4-perf 35mm frame, resulting in a finer negative negative with improved image quality.
Just like the cameras, Vistavision projectors must also run the movie horizontally. Very few of these projectors still exist today. According to Vistavision expert Charlotte Barker, “It has been exactly 70 years since Vistavision projectors were first installed for commercial use, debuted with Paramounts” Strategic Air Command “in 1955. Then, seven us theaters were equipped with vistavision projectors, adapted 2-foot scene. Square 17 in New York, Coolidge Corner Theater in Boston and Odeon Leicester Square in London.
Warner Bros. renovated two Ballantyne Vistavision projectors for use in Los Angeles and New York; Barry Wright (Bell Theater Services) updated its Vistavision projector in London. Boston Light & Sound had previously renovated two projectors delivered by the George Eastman Museum for the TCM festival in April 2025; These will be used in Boston. Each ballante projector is equipped with DTS readers to synchronize audio and equipped with custom-built plates that can run a full two hours, the 40-minute film on a single roll. The Boston site will use two projectors and play roll-to-wheels. Projectionists in each place receive specialized training to use the equipment.
Projection in Vistavision allows printouts made directly from the original CUT Negative to appear to an audience. This has not been possible for over 60 years. Historically, images that have been shot at Vistavision must be converted to another format for exhibition. As far as we know, this is the first new release film projected from real vistavision prints since “one-eyed jacks” in 1961.
Where can we watch the movie projected on film?
See below lists of selected cities when “a battle after the other” opens from September 26.
Vistavision engagement
Los Angeles, CA, USA – Vista Theater
New York, NY, USA – Regal Union Square 17
Boston, MA, USA – Coolidge Corner Theater
London, England, UK – Odeon Leicester Square
IMAX 70mm (15-Per) engagement
Dallas, TX, USA – Web Chapel IMAX
Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA – Autonation IMAX
Indianapolis, in, USA – Indiana State Museum
Irvine, CA, USA – Regal Edwards Irvine Spectrum 21
London, England, UK – BFI IMAX
New York, new, USA – AMC Lincoln Square 13
San Francisco, CA, USA – AMC Metreon 16
Tempe, Az, USA – Harkins Arizona Mills 18
Universal City, CA, USA – AMC Universal Citywalk 19
Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada – Cineplex Vaughan Imax
70mm (5-Per) engagement
Atlanta, GA, USA – Plaza
Austin, TX, USA – Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
Berlin, Germany – Delphi
Berlin, Germany – Zoo
Chicago, IL, USA – Music Box
Copenhagen, Denmark – Denmark Imperial
Dublin, Ireland – Irish Film Institute
Melbourne, Australia – Palace
Milwaukee, Wi, USA – Oriental
New Orleans, LA, USA – Prytania
New York, new, USA – Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Brooklyn
New York, New, USA – Angelika Cinema 1, 2, 3
New York, new, USA – Angika Village East 7
Oakland, CA, USA – Grand Lake
Portland, or, USA – Hollywood
San Francisco, CA, USA – Alamo Drafthouse New Mission
Silver Spring, MD, USA – AFI Silver
Somerville, Ma, USA – Somerville
Sydney, Australia – Ritz
Vancouver, BC, Canada – Park
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After the other” opens in theaters on September 26. Especially thanks to Benjamin Tucker for his help with this article.
