Markoe Bruce
Bruce Markoe serves as Senior Vice President of Post Production/Operations and DMR for IMAX Corp. He works closely with filmmakers to utilize IMAX cameras and new technologies to optimize and produce their movies for the immersive IMAX theatrical and home formats. Before joining the company, Markoe ran postproduction at Marvel Studios, Overture Films, Revolution Studios, MGM Studios, George Lucas’ Skywalker Sound South, and JHD Sound.
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What’s the best reason for filmmakers to consider IMAX? IMAX theaters are consistent in their design and equipment, as everything is done in-house. Our projectors are proprietary, as is our sound system. We have higher brightness and contrast. We calibrate all our theaters every day and have additional post technologies (DMR) to ensure the best image. This is now all interactive, so the filmmakers are in complete control of how the IMAX version looks and sounds. Because our screens are 50 percent larger on average than non-IMAX cinema screens, you do get a more immersive and unique experience. Why do some filmmakers want the IMAX version of the movie to be the “hero” version of their film? Many want to create an exclusive approach to how they make the movie for us. On the new James Bond film, cinematographer Linus Sandgren [ASC, FSF], and director Cary Fukunaga shot selected se-
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quences with our IMAX 15/65mm film camera. This was a first on a Bond film, and sequences were truly planned out to be shot on this large format with our expanded aspect ratio. The look and format excited the filmmaking team. When you know you have something special and plan for it, you take full advantage of its capabilities. Their only wish was that they could have shot more with the cameras, but we were limited on stock as Tenet was shooting at the same time. What are the limits of larger resolutions/formats from an IMAX perspective? The cameras are unique in format but can still be used under most filming conditions. The biggest limit is probably noise and weight. For closeup dialogue scenes, due to the size of the film frame in 65mm, the film is flying through the camera magazine and is thus audible. We have blimps that help, but in very quiet situations you still hear them, so looping most like-
ly will be needed. Although heavy and large, you can still hand-hold. Hoyte van Hoytema is amazing at doing action sequences handheld. There are always unique challenges on any big movie, and our camera department is great at working to solve them and even build and create new accessories and tools. What challenges do filmmakers need to be aware of when considering IMAX? As with shooting any film format, you need to give Kodak enough time to ensure they have the 65mm stock you will need. Typical film shows shoot far less than digital shows, but that’s up to the filmmaker. You have to remember that IMAX film loads only run three minutes long due to the frame size, but the crews are very fast at magazine changes once they do a few. No delays. Unique shooting requirements must be discussed with us to ensure the cameras are prepped properly and any custom accessories are built and tested.