70mm Ultra Panavision and The Hateful Eight

Cinema has been a vital piece of American culture. Movies are a way to escape and live an experience of a different individual for 120 minutes. This past December (2015), Quentin Tarantino released 'The Hateful Eight' to audiences around the world. With films such as 'Reservoir Dogs', 'Django Unchained', and 'Pulp Fiction', Tarantino has captured the respect and imaginations of eager movie-goers. Quentin Tarantino does it again filming 'The Hateful Eight' in 70mm Ultra Panavision.

The Hateful Eight in 70mm Ultra Panavision

70mm Ultra Panavision was born out of the era when film studios were experimenting with different formats. Cinerama and Cinescope were commercial failures because of their costs and inconsistent film quality. What launched the practical use of 65 & 70mm film was the 'Ten Commandments'. 'The Ten Commandments' was filmed on 65mm film VistaVision widescreen. VistaVision was successful, but due to anamorphic lens distortions, was overtaken by Panavision; which reworked how light entered into an anamorphic lens.

Super Panavision vs Ultra Panavision

Both formats expand on the common film widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85-1.89:1. Super Panavision uses a spherical lens. Spherical lenses are common among 35mm films, and are much cheaper than anamorphic lenses. There are anamorphic attachments that can be used with spherical lenses. These attachments can cause issues with focal distances and require too much scene light. Anamorphic lenses distort the picture horizontally by utilizing the full frame on a 35mm or 70mm film. To counteract this distortion, the projector has an anamorphic lens that distorts the image back to the correct proportion. The anamorphic lens allow for a wider aspect ratio of 2.76:1 for the Ultra Panvision; while the Super Panavision's use of a spherical lens has an aspect ratio of 2.20;1; which is narrower than widescreen formats of 2.35:1 and 2.39:1.

Anamorphic lenses create a wide view and lens flares

It should be brought to attention that both Super and Ultra Panavision  formats use a MGM 65mm camera, and is later transferred over to a 70mm film. The extra 5mm on the film was saved for audio. Although nowadays, the audio would most likely be manipulated by digital means.

Considerable Mentions

Ultra Panavision format offers more than just a wider picture for the audience. Because of the increased frame of the film, there is more data and information available for the camera to capture. This equates to richer color depths and less visual noise compared to a 35mm film, but the same can be said for anamorphic lenses. The anamorphic lens allows for a higher quality depth of field, and ability to capture depth. 

70mm film can be downsized to 35mm and still retain an aspect ratio of 2.55:1. Because the Ultra Panavision uses the anamorphic lens, the aspect ratio is greater than that of the Super Panavision because of its use spherical lens.

This method of filming can only be done on analog. Digital has not been able to keep up with being shot at a 2.76:1 ratio. This is a reason as to why many movies shot today are done digitally. The 16:9 (1.78:1) aspect ratio is becoming the norm. With the explosion of indie films released on the internet and the downfall of the American theater industry, there is not much diversity among filmmakers who venture beyond different formats. 

Last Words

Tarantino knew when he made his latest film that he was holding onto a dying way of creating magic. His admiration to pay homage to a bygone era makes Take a moment to watch this brief video expanding on 70mm and the film-making process.