Optimise your IMAX experience
In June 2010, the last IMAX cinema closed in South Africa due to a lack of profitability and interest from then licensed local investors Old Mutual. Well, after a 3 year absence, Ster Kinekor has just brought IMAX back to the nation, with the opening of its first new cinema in Gateway, Durban this past Thursday.
More IMAX cinemas are coming to the country soon, with Johannesburg the next venue on the cards.
Currently Durbanites can catch Thor: The Dark World in 3D IMAX for R90 a ticket. After that, in quick succession, there's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 2D on 22 November, Ender's Game 2D on 6 December and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 3D on 13 December.
Just three quick tips to really optimise your IMAX experience:
1) Make sure you sit in the middle rows of the cinema. Anything closer to the screen than 5 rows and you'll have a sore neck from constantly looking up at the action. Anything further away from the screen than Row J and you may as well be watching the film in a conventional cinema as you will lose the impressive effect of the towering IMAX screen.
2) Try to be as centred as possible in the cinema. Although I have contacted Ster Kinekor about this issue, the blue neon aisle lighting is currently way too bright, and distracts throughout the film. I don't normally get headaches from 3D movies, but my skull was throbbing after Thor. I suspect the intense light in the corner of my vision for 2 hours may have been a major contributing factor to the migraine.
3) Only watch films that have been shot specifically for IMAX. Well, this point is more of a personal preference. While I have mixed feelings about frequently pointless 3D, I am a massive fan of the IMAX format. Even if a film has been converted for IMAX, bigger is almost always better as far as cinema visuals are concerned. This said, until you have watched a film shot specifically for IMAX - The Dark Knight was the last example that South Africans got to experience - you won't realise the vast difference between shot-for-IMAX and an IMAX conversion. The Hunger Games sequel will be the first of the new releases made for the format (well, the Arena scenes anyway), so only then will locals see how this affects things.
More IMAX cinemas are coming to the country soon, with Johannesburg the next venue on the cards.
Currently Durbanites can catch Thor: The Dark World in 3D IMAX for R90 a ticket. After that, in quick succession, there's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 2D on 22 November, Ender's Game 2D on 6 December and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 3D on 13 December.
Just three quick tips to really optimise your IMAX experience:
1) Make sure you sit in the middle rows of the cinema. Anything closer to the screen than 5 rows and you'll have a sore neck from constantly looking up at the action. Anything further away from the screen than Row J and you may as well be watching the film in a conventional cinema as you will lose the impressive effect of the towering IMAX screen.
2) Try to be as centred as possible in the cinema. Although I have contacted Ster Kinekor about this issue, the blue neon aisle lighting is currently way too bright, and distracts throughout the film. I don't normally get headaches from 3D movies, but my skull was throbbing after Thor. I suspect the intense light in the corner of my vision for 2 hours may have been a major contributing factor to the migraine.
3) Only watch films that have been shot specifically for IMAX. Well, this point is more of a personal preference. While I have mixed feelings about frequently pointless 3D, I am a massive fan of the IMAX format. Even if a film has been converted for IMAX, bigger is almost always better as far as cinema visuals are concerned. This said, until you have watched a film shot specifically for IMAX - The Dark Knight was the last example that South Africans got to experience - you won't realise the vast difference between shot-for-IMAX and an IMAX conversion. The Hunger Games sequel will be the first of the new releases made for the format (well, the Arena scenes anyway), so only then will locals see how this affects things.
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