A few week ago I got an amazing experience, that was actually two experiences wrapped in one neat little package: I was invited to a special preview screening of Hubble 3D at IMAX Sydney and for an exclusive tour of the projector room and set up they have there.

Something that I’m not sure those who invited me knew though, and which you might not know either, is I’ve been blind in my right eye since birth which makes the tales of this third dimension all you normal people go on about the same to me as you trying to imagine seeing with sonar – I get how it works, but can’t really appreciate it. Then again, all the reviews will no doubt focus on the 3D element – but I can tell you whether it’s any good at all. So, read on.

By the way, when I say exclusive there were about five of us invited, and as I understand it this is the first time the projector room has been open to the public since the cinema opened.  Along for the ride with me were people from Time Out, rogue tech writer and reviewer, Neerav Bhatt, and video guy and generally angry dude, Blunty3000.

The Projector Room

To keep this in order, I’ll cover the tour of the projection room first. While in some ways it feels like I’ve swallowed a PR tapeworm that is slowly infesting my mind with predigested phrases, it’s important to note that the Sydney IMAX is the biggest IMAX cinema in the world. It’s literally massive and if you’ve never been it’s pretty damn cool.

I have to admit I was a bit surprised at my fellow guests who seemed to focus on noting down info about the set up they run in Sydney that you can already find online and wandering around going “it’s big!” The phrase ‘negative faeces, Arthur Conan Doyle character’ springs to mind, but if you want those details and some video of the camera in action, check out Blunty’s video:

There are things not mentioned in the video, which I took time to quiz our host on too though. He mentioned that they use water and air ducting to keep the massive set up cool, but one of the things I think is pretty neat is that the air pressure is also used to stabilize the film which is one of the reasons an IMAX picture is so clear. Also, and you may know this already, but sound is not stored on IMAX film, unlike a film at a regular cinema, but the IMAX print instead includes tiny ‘pulses’ which are used to keep the sound, shipped separately, perfectly in sync with the action.

In regards to Hubble 3D, it was interesting to hear how the astronauts did as the cameramen and the difficulties director Toni Myers faced when your crew are so far away. Seems the NASA folk got the technical stuff down pact pretty quickly, which makes sense, but had more trouble with the artistic elements. Shots would not frame the action the best way or, more often, the tethering cords used during space walks would float unnoticed in front of the shot.

I also did my homework on topics like the London IMAX moving to digital and asked if we could expect to see the same here. Long story short? Not anytime soon. Why? Well, multiple reasons:

1. Cost is the most obvious one – these things are expensive, with the current project costing $1.6 million 10 years ago and still going strong. It’s not just buying the new equipment though, but also about negotiations on how the movies are delivered when you no longer need all those reels.
2. Then there are the technical reasons, the greater resolution of IMAX requires a lot of data so digital storage is a hurdle, plus there’s the issue of available light for displaying the footage.
3. Finally, when quizzed on London, I was reminded that London’s screen is 66% the size of Sydney’s – and the new digital projector’s image doesn’t even fill that, so it seems we’ll have to wait a bit longer for any upgrade that can match the current setup.

All in all it’s a pretty sweet operation they have there. I could say “if you’ve seen a projection room imagine that, but bigger” but watching them move around the sheer weight of the film and logistics had me pretty impressed. The Sydney crew certainly have it down pat and it was a real treat, for someone who likes big geeky toys at least, to get to see behind the closed doors. Did I mention it was big?

Hubble 3D

I settled in with my complimentary popcorn, drink and snacks of choice (maltesers if you must know), not expecting much - I’ve seen IMAX documentaries before and never been that impressed – so it’s probably worth leading with the note I made on my iPad during the screening:

Holy fuck. Screw the 3D, this shit is amazing.

Clearly one for the annals of well thought out literary and artistic criticism I know, but seriously: it’s awesome. The film takes you through the history of the Hubble telescope, its launch, issues, what it’s showed us, and its future. There are some slower bits – like early on when you’re learning about the telescope and you’re chomping at the bit for pretty space pictures – but overall it’s a lot of fun.

Some highlights:

1. The fly to and through of the Orion Nebula – this is alone worth the price of admission. (It’s what’s pictured above, although this does nothing to convey the experience.) To see the level of detail and understanding Hubble has given us and to be guided through a three-dimensional model of the nebula is simply breathtaking. My only complaint would be there weren’t enough sections like this.
2. Seeing the astronauts at work: from the difficulties of putting spacesuits on, to make a burrito in zero gravity to the moment in the repairs where the order to “just rip it off” is given, it’s a strangely candid view of one of the most unique jobs on the planet (or off it, as the case may be.)
3. Finally, the wide field shots towards the end, showing not just the number of stars but how there are estimated 100 billion galaxies across the universe, are enough to make anyone feel a bit insignificant.

Otherwise, I don’t know what else to say. If you have even a passing interest in space you should go along – it’s a great ride and you’ll see everything from galaxies to astronauts training in enormous pools. As for the 3D element? I can’t really comment. I learnt that while I had no trouble seeing Avatar in a normal cinema – as a the interlacing 3D glasses mean I can just look through one – the size of the IMAX screen means I still got double images on the edge of my vision. Everyone else seemed to enjoy the third dimension though, so if you’ve got two eyes you should hopefully get a kick out of it too.

Oh, and just because I take it you may have watched Blunty’s video above by the time you get to this: I disagree that the narration was that bad. I like Leonardo DiCaprio, so I may be biased, and while the script was clearly designed to be accessible to school kids, there were only a few moments where this felt forced for me.

Overall, I can’t recommend Hubble 3D enough – it’s an experience that I wont soon forget and one definitely worth experiencing on the massive IMAX screen. Sure, IMAX tickets cost more, but having met some of the crew I have to admit I’m much more likely to shell out the cash. When your lamps are $10,000 a piece and only do about 12,000 hours, you have some overheads.

I’ll leave you with this thought, from my hastily typed iPad notes:

I wonder if I can hit Neerav with this malteser and still get away with it when there are only 6 people in the cinema?

Hubble 3D opens at IMAX Sydney on August 13.