16 Executive Summary IBC Big Screen Experience MAGI It’s a kind of


Douglas Trumbull Filmmaker


Interviewed by: Adrian Pennington


Doug Trumbull is a legend. His visual effects magic features in 2001: A Space Odysseyand Blade Runner


.He directed the


sci-fi classic Silent Running which combined the smooth VFX futurism of Odyssey with a rusty, space junk look that pre- dated Star Wars.


His invention of Showscan, a hypervivid film process that combined 70mm film with a high-speed frame rate, was a pioneering moment for film projection. He invested in Showscan competitor IMAX, helping to bring the large format out of its specialist niche into the mainstream. Trumbull, now 72, is at it again. His new sci-fi short UFOTOG, screened at IBC2014, is made using a new process of his own creation dubbed MAGI. “The result is an immersive cinematic experience that cannot be described in words,” he says. “You must see it yourself to understand that MAGI offers an entirely new relationship between you and the action on the screen and a


new tool set for filmmakers.” His patented technique pairs the 4K image from two cameras rigged for 3D and each shooting 60 frames a second so aligned that when played back through a standard 3D projector the picture is delivered perfectly in sync with the system's cadence. “It delivers extreme fluidity of motion and amazing clarity with no strobing, no double flickering and a viewing experience that far exceeds conventional movie quality,” he claims.


He is hoping the industry will push to upgrade the Digital Cinema Package format (DCP) to embrace HFR technology. “I believe movies can be much more powerful than they are today without any adverse production cost,” he says. How is that possible? “You start with the production itself. If you shoot a 3D movie, the camera and lenses are the same; the lighting, sets, actors and props are all unchanged. All that changes is the data. Moore's Law is in our favour. Today you can buy a terabyte of


data for $50. The result is an experience so much more powerful [than current cinema] and revenues in theatres will be increased.”


HFR has made a comeback, notably with Peter Jackson's first two films of The Hobbit filmed at 48fps, but the results were critically panned for their video look.


“I feel personally, as a filmmaker, that applying a super vivid technology like 3D HFR to a fantasy subject matter may be inappropriate,” he says. “The Hobbitfell victim to the 'uncanny valley' [a term applied to the gap in empathy in the rendering of CG characters]. But when you dramatically increase the frame-rate to 120fps you jump over the valley to a whole new territory.


“Cinema has known 24 fps for 100 years and on modestly sized screens it's fabulous,” he stresses. “I'm not trying to change that – or threaten it. But if you want a different kind of experience, spectacular giant screen movies like Lawrence of


Arabia, then MAGI could be an appropriate way to make these kind of films.”


What about the aesthetic use


of different frame rates within a movie? “Absolutely. I have a patent on it. In the same way we can choose black and white or colour or alter colour saturation or brightness or anything else the filmmaker has in their toolset, so the ability to change frame rates on virtually any pixel as desired will become part of cinema's future. For example, a film may be conventional in every aspect but when we get a fast action sequence you could ramp up the frame rate to erase motion blur.”


For decades it seems he has made a solo effort to push cinema to new technical frontiers. He is also a realist. “The history of the motion picture industry is that is slow to adopt new technologies. Yet when a single movie – Avatar – can compel the industry to adopt stereo 3D projection this tells you all you need to know about what the audience want.”


“The ability to change frame rates on virtually any pixel as desired will become part of cinema's future”


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