Superman Returns

[Alan Lasky]

You needn't go to the 'hinterlands' to see how bad 35mm can be. The DALSA offices are in the San Fernando Valley, just over the hill from Hollywood and when we go to the movies up here the quality of the experience is simply appalling. Bad prints, projector problems, sound drop-outs, focus drift, and everything in between. Just inexcusable.

 

It's gotten so bad that we often drive to Hollywood to the ARCLIGHT (one of LA's 'Premiere' cinemas) and spend the extra money if we need to see anything projected 'correctly.' Not that these cinemas would do any better with 2K, 4K or any other technology. They just seem not to care at all anymore about the quality of the theater experience. Then everyone stands around with their hands in the air and asks: "Why is box office down?" Bah!

 

Alan Lasky

DALSA Digital Cinema

[Max Jacoby]

I saw the film tonight, mainly to escape my flat which is awfully warm at the moment. I am seriously asking myself what Bryan Singer has been putting up his nose again when he compared this to 70mm. Neither 'Scary Movie 4' nor 'Superman Returns' have impressed me with how the Genesis looked. The image just looks very lifeless and flat with really bad skintones. About the only thing I liked were the flares, at least they added some texture to an otherwise synthetic image.

[Adam Frisch FSF]

Not too impressed. Really weird skin tones, as has been mentioned. But also - it felt like there was chromatic abberation fringing outlines in many shots. Can't be the lenses, so I'm thinking maybe the CMOS/CCD does something weird?

 

The lacklustre and uninspired script, casting and execution didn't help either. And as usual - too many pointless close-ups.

 

The only thing I liked was the way they shot the airplane crash with longer lenses than one usually sees in effects and model work. Nice for a change.

[Guest Jim Murdoch]

I am seriously asking myself what Bryan Singer has been putting up his nose again when he compared this to 70mm.

 

His dealer must have been John Galt of Panavision, because he was telling me it was better than IMAX!

 

Yeah; there'e no bloody grain, but there's no low-level detail either....

[Max Jacoby]

What I forgot to add was that if you have the part of a German reporter, get an actual German to play the part, because at least they speak proper German! Obviously 250M doesn't get you as far anymore as it used to...

[Rolfe Klement]

off point slightly - but I was really impressed by the sound recording - and I NEVER notice that - I am always too busy looking to tear holes in the DP :-)

 

Not sure if this is cause they could boost the gain on the aaton and the mics cause there was no camera rolling (even at >20db)

 

I could almost hear her tounge hitting her mouth while she talked - I was impressed

 

thanks

 

Rolfe

[Chris Keth]

No, as it happens, there is no way of doing computer animation on 35mm film. Are you suggesting you can't tell the difference between Pixar animation and film origination? Maybe one day that will be the case, but not today :ph34r:

 

 

My God you seem to be angry about digital technology getting good. <_<

[Guest Jim Murdoch]

My God you seem to be angry about digital technology getting good. <_<

Well, no, as is happens I have absolutely nothing to be angry about.

 

Well, apart from the distressing number of inveterate verbal rod-whallopers who infest these sorts of forums, loudly parroting the regurgitated opinions of other, similarly uninformed wire-twangers on other forums, and whose closest connection to the film industry is probably an account with with the local Blockbuster, and whose sole source of outside information seems to be the drivel published by know-nothing journalists who couldn't get a real job in the film industry digging latrines on location in Morrocco.

 

But yeah, other than that, I'm good. B)

Edited July 23, 2006 by Jim Murdoch

[Guest Jim Murdoch]

What I forgot to add was that if you have the part of a German reporter, get an actual German to play the part, because at least they speak proper German! Obviously 250M doesn't get you as far anymore as it used to...

You think the average Yank is going to know the difference? (What "rest of the World"?) The Aussies are always complaining about what American producers think is an "Australian" accent; even known Australian actors have been heard to adopt that weird sort of "South African Cockney" on US TV shows, obviously under some sort of pressure. Perhaps that was what somebody decreed a "German" should sound like....

 

On the other hand, I have met quite a few German residents on my various trips to Australia, and most of them didn't sound terribly "German". So maybe they did advertise for a native German speaker, and that was what they got!

 

I have heard that Australian actors are sometimes deliberately chosen for speaking parts in US commercials because if done correctly, their accent is regionally unidentifiable to the US public, which is apparently not the case with English actors.

 

Then again, there seems to be endless work for English actresses in US-made films and TV shows. The producers seem unshakably convinced that any old scrubber with an English accent is going to sound posh, no matter how bad an actress she is!

[Chris Keth]

You think the average Yank is going to know the difference? (What "rest of the World"?) The Aussies are always complaining about what American producers think is an "Australian" accent; even known Australian actors have been heard to adopt that weird sort of "South African Cockney" on US TV shows, obviously under some sort of pressure. Perhaps that was what somebody decreed a "German" should sound like....

 

On the other hand, I have met quite a few German residents on my various trips to Australia, and most of them didn't sound terribly "German". So maybe they did advertise for a native German speaker, and that was what they got!

 

I have heard that Australian actors are sometimes deliberately chosen for speaking parts in US commercials because if done correctly, their accent is regionally unidentifiable to the US public, which is apparently not the case with English actors.

 

Then again, there seems to be endless work for English actresses in US-made films and TV shows. The producers seem unshakably convinced that any old scrubber with an English accent is going to sound posh, no matter how bad an actress she is!

 

 

British accents are invaluable to the movie business. Didn't you know that, in the movies, there are only two languages? There is English, and then there is British English representing everything else. :D

[Patrick McGowan]

off point slightly - but I was really impressed by the sound recording - and I NEVER notice that - I am always too busy looking to tear holes in the DP :-)

 

Not sure if this is cause they could boost the gain on the aaton and the mics cause there was no camera rolling (even at >20db)

 

I could almost hear her tounge hitting her mouth while she talked - I was impressed

 

thanks

 

Rolfe

 

Possibly post production audio work? With such an effects-heavy movie there must have been quite a large amount of ADR and foley work. The sound was great, audio seems like one thing the big Hollywood blockbusters excell at.

[John Holland]

Saw Superman Returns last night ,with my kids , 17 girl and 15 boy both wanted to leave halfway through, dont blame them ,felt sameway ,what a let down . Some people were leaving before the end . Anyone know why this $250 digital Panavision has not a DLP cinema showing this side of the pond ? john.

[Guest Jim Murdoch]

Saw Superman Returns last night ,with my kids , 17 girl and 15 boy both wanted to leave halfway through, dont blame them ,felt sameway ,what a let down . Some people were leaving before the end . Anyone know why this $250 digital Panavision has not a DLP cinema showing this side of the pond ? john.

$250? I can see how you might have thought that, but I think the budget was a bit higher :P

Personally I didn't think it was all that bad; it just didn't look quarter-billion-dollar-feature good. Where did all the money go, considering it was shot in Australia, with all the financial advantages that brings?

[Chris Fernando]

It's amazing what a quarter of a billion will get you these days, isn't it?

 

We could have had two "Waterworld's" for that price!

Edited July 28, 2006 by Chris Fernando

[Guest Jim Murdoch]

It's amazing what a quarter of a billion will get you these days, isn't it?

 

We could have had two "Waterworld's" for that price!

Or five Ishtar's :rolleyes:

[Bill DiPietra]

I thought it looked great.

 

I also thought the whole film was a very respectful tribute to Christopher Reeve.

 

Well done in all respects.

[Michel Hafner]

Caught a 2K DLP screening. Night scenes were awful and drowned in the gray blacks. Shadow detail was poor. Skintones were of the golden kind mostly, the opening credits were jaggies city (but not the closing credits) and aliasing popped up at times within the picture. Also some vertical structures moved badly when the camera was panning. Apart from that it looked nice. :D

I couldn't help but thinking how much better the HD-DVD will look on a Sony Ruby or a CRT projector. Especially the night scenes will have a totally different impact, become beautiful instead of a 'wash out'.

Michel Hafner

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