How a movie gets presented in 70mm IMAX may seem like niche film nerd information, but a Cinemark Dallas assistant manager has sucked people far and wide in with his explanation of how it works.
Brandon Valdez, Cinemark assistant manager and IMAX 70mm projectionist, stands in the middle of the theater before a showing of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and begins chatting with the audience. After asking who had and hadn’t seen a 70mm film before and giving newcomers a round of applause, he launches into a 5-minute spiel about what makes a 70mm film so special. Watch:
The 70mm IMAX film for “The Odyssey” weighs 800 pounds
“For those of you that are inexperienced or uninitiated, 70 mm is unlike a traditional moviegoing experience,” he explains. “It’s not presented to you in a digital format. It’s using actual film.”
Holding up a strip of actual film, he continues: “70 mm film is a very rare style of presentation. We are one of approximately 40 theaters, not just in the United States but in the entire world, that has the capability to play films in 70 mm.” People come to Dallas from all over to have the experience, he shares. (One person was even there from Australia.)
Then pulls out more of the film strip, stretching it out to his full wingspan, showing the audience what 24 frames of 70mm film looks like.
“This right here is actually equivalent to one second of your movie,” he explains. Everyone “Oooohs” and “Ahhhhs” (at his prompting, which was delightful).
“If you were to stretch out the entire film from one end to another, it would be approximately 11 miles long,” he says. “When it first arrived here, before we assembled it, casings and additional leader that we needed to add onto the film, it weighed over 800 pounds. Okay? So it’s a lot of film that we’re dealing with up here.
He explains that the film gets fed into the projector at a rate of 24 frames per second and projected onto the enormous screen.
“This screen is five stories tall by seven stories wide, making it one of the largest IMAX screens in the state of Texas,” he says with pride.
Since it’s an analog presentation, not a digital one, the quality of the picture is better, he explains. If you get close enough to the screen of a digital film, you can see the pixels. With 70mm, you don’t see pixels at all, no matter how close your seat is to the screen.
The big sound is part of the IMAX experience
Then Valdez explains the sound, which comes from a set of speakers behind the big screen as well as two “massive” speakers in each back corner of the theater.
“The screen itself has a bunch of tiny microperforations that allow the sound to come to you, approximately 20 per square inch,” he says. The back speakers give the audience the surround sound experience.
Many people are sharing how loud showings of “The Odyssey” are. Valdez says that when the Dallas Cinemark played “The Dark Knight Rises” in 70 mm, the bass was so powerful that the auditorium light bulbs became unscrewed enough that they wouldn’t turn on after the film. (But they’ve since fixed that problem, he adds.)
Finally, Valdez explains that since this is an analog and not digital film, it has to have a human touch. A person, known as a projectionist,st, has to put it all together for the audience. That evening’s projectionist, he says, is Jennifer, and he invites the audience to turn around and say hi to her up in the projection booth.
People love a little in-person, pre-movie education, apparently
The video, shared by @goffygoober7349 on TikTok, has been viewed nearly 30 million times in less than a week. People made it clear in the comments that they loved the assistant manager’s passion and energy as he clearly enjoys educating the audience:
“He’s hyping up the 70mm IMAX experience, as Nolan intended.”
“Wait I want an educational film speech before my movie. :(“
“Can we tip the guy. Dude is phenomenal at his job. Kept me hooked.”
“I’m not even from America but I would definitely tip him.”
“GIVE THAT MAN A RAISE.”
“Nice to see them educating the audience instead of showing ads.”
“IMAX education > 30 min of Coke and car ads.”
“If I’m paying $35 for a ticket, this is what I wanna know.”
“Barely a single stutter or filler words. He’s meant to be a leader omg.”
“People like him are the reason I get up in the morning.”
“Humanizing the experience is exactly how you get people back into the theatres.”
And finally, a comment that showcases why millions have sat through Valdez’s talk:
“Not only have I been to a 70mm IMAX showing, and have already gone through one of these speeches, I’ve gone through it WITH this gentleman here. And yet I watched the entire thing again.”
It really is a joy to watch someone share something they’re really into, no matter what it is. For the folks watching “The Odyssey” at the Dallas Cinemark, Valdez surely made their moviegoing experience better. And for the rest of us watching at home, we learned a little something and enjoyed ourselves because he did. Nothing but wins for everyone involved.
