A Canadian entertainment firm is redefining cinema, as we know it today with the introduction of 3D technology at the 20th Century, writes TONY MOCHAMA
IMAXâs Addams Kahindi leads the writer and a Zippy Muli past the flat-topped, marble-foyered complex where the popcorn machines no longer pop (because theyâre gone) on the mezzanine floor of the 20th Century Plaza building, and into the main cinema-hall where the 21st century is under construction.
A few minutes earlier, we had sat with the stunning Russian IMAX director Anna Ratnikova at the adjacent âDancing Spoonâ restaurant as she explained exactly what they are doing with the famous 20th Century Cinema, to bring it into the 21st Century:
The new-look 20th century brings experience of reel-time theatre in 3D so that the patron is âcompletely immersedâ in that cinematic world. [PHOTO: COURTESY/STANDARD]
" IMAX Corp is an entertainment technology firm incorporated in Canada, specialising in motion picture and large-format motion picture presentations," said IMAX director Anna Ratnikova.
"Our main business is the design and manufacture of large-format digital and film-based theatre, which we sell or lease under revenue sharing arrangements to commercial theatres, particularly multiplexes like this one. Thereafter cinema is known as IMAX theatre," she said.
"We operate with large format 15-perforation film frame, 70 mm format (15/70-format) projectors and we convert two-dimensional conventional film into 3D Hollywood feature films for exhibition. The former 20th Century will be the first IMAX theatre on the entire continent of Africa."
Back in the cinema hall, oneâs eyes donât have to acclimatise to the 21st Century because the light spilling in from the outer foyer is sufficient. Pollina, a young Ukranian woman with dark hair and light green eyes is in charge of the construction that is very nearly complete, the chairs for the now unified giant theatre hall having just arrived from Mombasa.
"The grand launch of this IMAX theatre is Thursday, March 29," she announces confidently. "It will be like nothing Kenya has ever seen before."
Talking of seeing, up in the projector room as we dangle a few foot from the drop into an abyss that leads to concrete and planks with nails sticking out, a space that will soon be all plush chairs and red carpet and sound-proof wall, the Project Manager Taras Melynk farther explains their ground-breaking technology:
"To create the illusion of three-dimensional depth, the IMAX 3D process uses two camera lenses to represent the left and right eyes. The two lenses are separated by an interocular distance of 64 mm (2.5 inches), the average distance between a humanâs eyes.
By recording on two separate rolls of film for the left and right eyes, and then projecting them simultaneously, viewers experience 3D image on a 2D screen.
