IMAX Reveals New Large-Format Film Camera That Filmed ‘The Odyssey’ and Boasts LCD Screen

The IMAX Keighley during filming of The Odyssey.

Much has been written about The Odyssey ; the first film in history to be shot entirely on the ultra-large-format IMAX system. However, it was only possible after IMAX released a new generation of cameras.

Director Christopher Nolan used the latest IMAX Keighley to shoot the historical epic, which can shoot 15-perf 70mm film far more quietly and efficiently than before. However, a new clip looking at the camera released by IMAX gives further fascinating insight into the advantages of the Keighley.

The Instagram video above gives better insight into how the camera actually operates. And as Y.M. Cinema reports, it is the digital user interface (UI) that is perhaps most intriguing.

Despite Kodak releasing a Super 8 camera with a digital LCD a couple of years ago, film cameras with digital telemetry are rare. Rarer still for large-format film cameras, and IMAX is the largest of all: every single frame has 15 perforations, that’s 360 perforations per second when running at 24 FPS — overall the film is moving at a lightning fast 5.6 feet per second.

The UI for IMAX Keighley.

Unsurprisingly, then, the film runs out pretty quickly and in the clip above, “42 seconds remaining” is visible at the bottom right of the screen; a pitiful amount of time to shoot a Hollywood film on. While mechanical counters have been present in film movie cameras for years, having it presented clearly on an LCD screen is most certainly new.

“That may be the real innovation visible in the clip,” writes Y.M. Cinema. “Not a digital sensor. Not electronic capture. Not a hybrid camera. But a mechanical IMAX film camera whose operating state is presented through a modern, clean, data-rich interface. This makes Keighley feel like a very different kind of film camera. It respects the analog mechanics of IMAX capture, while giving the camera team the kind of real-time system visibility expected from contemporary cinema technology. Is it the most advanced UI ever built into a film camera? That is hard to claim without full technical documentation. But based on the clip, it is fair to say this may be one of the most advanced interfaces ever seen on an IMAX film camera.”

While the new UI is no doubt helpful, the quieter volume of the camera was a huge game-changer for Nolan and cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema when they shot The Odyssey entirely on IMAX.

As PetaPixel reported last weekend, star Anne Hathaway commented on how loud the camera still is. But fellow star Tom Holland revealed that when the crew brought out the blimp — a custom housing built specifically to address the noise issue of IMAX cameras — it helped enormously.

“You can be shooting a foot from [an actor’s] face while they’re whispering and get usable sound. What that opens up are intimate moments of performance on the world’s most beautiful format,” Nolan adds.

Image credits: IMAX

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