Celebrated director Christopher Nolan returned to FotoKem to craft unique 35mm and 65mm film finishing pipelines for his epic sci-fi adventure Interstellar. Having completed numerous projects at FotoKem over the years – including the 35mm blowup and re-mastering of Following, the original lab work and re-mastering of Memento, and the home theater release of Inception and The Dark Knight – Nolan's collaboration with the facility deepened on Interstellar to involve negative processing through film, digital and video finishing, and distribution.
"My experience of working with FotoKem dates back to 1999, and I'm happy to say in 2014 their photochemical post-production and film handling work is better than ever," Nolan said.
Nolan and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, FSF, NSC worked closely with artists and technicians at FotoKem to fine tune lab and digital processes to ensure that every scene, take and visual effect during production and post was reproduced accurately in all distribution formats.
FotoKem's involvement on the project started with 65mm negative processing, progressed to include 35mm VFX negative processing, and 35mm and 65mm negative cutting with acclaimed negative cutter Mo Henry working in a special room at FotoKem designed for the process. Other work included 35mm and 70mm answer prints, intermediates, domestic release prints, digital cinema mastering and home video transfers. A unique optical format conversion to extract both 35mm and 65mm/5p widescreen images from 65mm/15p source negative was designed and utilized in over one hour of the movie's content.
Seasoned film timer Mato worked closely with Nolan and Hoytema to fine tune scene-by-scene color, working with intercut original and intermediate elements to build the final film masters, with meticulous attention on color and mood for each scene. Mato teamed up with DI colorist Walter Volpatto and color scientist Joseph Slomka to ensure an exact match with the approved film print masters for the multiple digital deliverables.
The unique release structure of Interstellar allows audiences to experience the film on 70mm IMAX(tm) print, 70mm 5-perf print, 35mm print, IMAX(tm) Digital, 4K DCP and 2K DCP, with the IMAX 70mm(tm) print version being the highest resolution and most immersive of the available exhibition options.
FotoKem will also provide digital deliverables for home theatrical presentation, with Kostas Theodosiou supervising the color pass, his sixth time mastering a Nolan film for home release.
For more information about FotoKem, visit www.fotokem.com.
About FotoKem
FotoKem is an independently-owned, full-service post production facility serving the worldwide creative community. Since 1963, the company has been a trusted resource for every corner of the entertainment market, providing comprehensive post production expertise, high-end solutions and innovative in-house technologies. The company assists filmmakers in successfully bridging production and post, helping to navigate the expanding world of motion picture finishing technology. FotoKem offers a broad spectrum of services, including a full-service film lab, file-based workflows, digital intermediates, digital cinema packaging, mobile dailies, global data delivery, film and video finishing, audio mixing and mastering, visual effects, restoration, and production rentals. FotoKem has expanded over the years with the acquisition of SPY Post, Keep Me Posted, L.A. Studios, and Margarita Mix.
