Larger Than Life.IMAX IMAXNoun a film projection process that produces an image ten times larger than standard camera technology brings you Michael Jordan This article is about the former basketball player. For other uses, see Michael Jordan (disambiguation). Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. like you've never seen him before --eight stories tall! Fasten your theater seatbelts: you're about to take flight with legendary Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are a professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They play in the National Basketball Association. The team was founded in 1966, and has won six NBA Championships since. guard Michael Jordan. Liftoff starts at the foul line foul line n. 1. Baseball Either of two straight lines extending from the rear of home plate to the outer edge of the playing field and indicating the area in which a fair ball can be hit. 2. , 15 meters (49 feet) away from the basket. You both soar skyward sky·ward adv. & adj. At or toward the sky. sky  wards adv. . Then in mid-flight--Jordan freezes. You spin almost 360 degrees
around him, marveling at his gravity-defying technique. Then your flight
resumes, and you sail downward as Jordan slam-dunks the ball through the
rim.If catching a close-up with the ultimate basketball Ultimate Basketball is a NES basketball game. It was released in September 1990 by American Sammy. Gameplay The game plays like a conventional sports video game. all-star seems like an impossible dream, check out the IMAX-theater movie Michael Jordan to the Max. Using cutting-edge visual effects and film 10 times the size normally used to shoot movies, IMAX-theater projects Michael Jordan onto cinema screens up to 25 m (82 ft) tall and 30.5 m (100 ft) wide--so big a whale can appear life-size! "The giant screen makes you feel like you're actually on the court with Michael," says co-director Don Kempf from Giant Screen Sports in Evanston, Ill. "It's the closest you can get to him without actually meeting him." How did To the Max filmmakers capture Jordan's unrivaled athletic grace on the world's largest cinema screen? Turn the page to find out. GREEN SCREEN MAGIC No, this isn't a golf course--it's a movie set used in the making of the IMAX film To the Max. Why is Jordan surrounded by green? "We wanted to make it look like he was slam-dunking in a real stadium, instead of in a studio," explains cameraman James Neihouse. "Green is the color found least in flesh tones, so it's easy to separate the background from the foreground." Filmmakers use the green-screen technique to shoot an object or a performer against a green (or blue)-colored background, in postproduction post·pro·duc·tion n. A final stage in the production of a film or a television program, occurring after the action has been filmed or videotaped and typically involving editing and the addition of soundtracks. (work done after film and audio elements are complete), computer graphic artists electronically remove the green color recorded by the camera and replace it with another image. A popular example of green-screen trickery Trickery See also Cunning, Deceit, Humbuggery. Bunsby, Captain Jack trapped into marriage by landlady. [Br. Lit.: Dombey and Son] Camacho cheated of bride after lavish wedding preparations. [Span. Lit. : your local TV weather report. On your TV, it looks like a meteorologist (weather expert) points to a weather map, but in reality he or she indicates a blank green screen while weather maps are digitally superimposed su·per·im·pose tr.v. su·per·im·posed, su·per·im·pos·ing, su·per·im·pos·es 1. To lay or place (something) on or over something else. 2. . In films, the green-screen technique is especially handy when a director needs to make an impossible stunt--like an actor dodging a barrage of bullets--look real. So when To the Max filmmakers wanted to show Jordan dunking Dunking is a form of torture and punishment that was applied to scolds and supposed witches. In a trial by ordeal, supposed witches were immersed into a vat of water or pond, and taken out after some time, and given the ability to confess. If she confessed, she was killed. in ultra-slow motion--with Matrix. style special effects--they draped drape v. draped, drap·ing, drapes v.tr. 1. To cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds: draped the coffin with a flag; a robe that draped her figure. the background set in green. After the shoot, film images are scanned into a computer, which eliminates everything green; then Jordan's image is superimposed onto an image of a basketball court. "If Jordan had a lot of green in his skin, or in his clothes, the computer would eliminate parts of his body," adds Neihouse. Supersized Film Standard movie film is 35 mm in length with four sprockets lining each edge. VistaVision film is standard 35 mm film flipped horizontally, with eight sprockets on each side. It captures more detail than a regular frame. IMAX film is 70 mm in length, with 15 sprockets on each edge--the largest film size created so far. It captures extraordinary detail but requires a giant screen for viewing. The IMAX film frame (above) is 10 times the size of a conventional movie frame. So images onscreen on·screen or on-screen adj. & adv. 1. As shown on a movie, television, or display screen. 2. Within public view; in public. reveal far more detail than normal movies. Filmmakers must scrutinize scru·ti·nize tr.v. scru·ti·nized, scru·ti·niz·ing, scru·ti·niz·es To examine or observe with great care; inspect critically. scru each shot, since even a tiny flaw, like an actor's pimple pimple, small pointed elevation of the skin that may or may not contain pus. The formation of pimples is frequently associated with infection, irritation, or overactivity of the sebaceous and sweat glands. Repeated eruptions of pimples are often termed acne. , will be magnified. Right, with all of its attachments, an IMAX camera can weigh up to 91 kilograms (200 pounds). Its enormous size made it difficult to maneuver around the courts in To the Max. THE BIG PICTURE To create the 45-minute IMAX feature, Don Kempf and his crew spent more than 18 months filming courtside court·side n. The area immediately bordering the official court of play, as in tennis or basketball. shots of Jordan and the Chicago Bulls at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. "We had great seats, but the IMAX camera can be a real beast to work with," admits cameraman James Neihouse. "With all of its attachments, it can weigh up to 200 pounds!" Ten pounds of that weight comes from the film itself. Each reel contains 305 m (1,000 ft) of jumbo-size film. Each flame of most conventional movie film is 35 mm in length, with four sprocket holes lining each edge (sprockets help the film advance in a camera or projector). But IMAX film is 10 times larger, measuring 70 mm, with 15 sprockets at each edge (see left). Why go XXL XXL Extra Extra Large XXL Extra Extra Long ? Images captured on jumbo film can be enlarged to fill the enormous screen without losing clarity, explains Neihouse. With smaller film, Jordan would appear blurry when drastically enlarged. That's because film is made of tiny light-sensitive metallic silver crystals. When the camera captures Jordan on film, light from the bright parts of his image bombard bom·bard tr.v. bom·bard·ed, bom·bard·ing, bom·bards 1. To attack with bombs, shells, or missiles. 2. To assail persistently, as with requests. See Synonyms at attack, barrage2. 3. the crystals and break them down into silver dots or grains. Chemicals used to develop the film burn Jordan's silver-dotted image onto a negative, an image in which light and dark spaces are reversed. In the final stages of development, chemicals are used to reverse the image back to its original color and position, creating a positive print. The challenge comes when the image is projected onto the giant screen. Light from a projector passes through a curved magnifying lens, enlarges the image on each frame of the film, and casts it onto the screen. But if the image is blown up too large--without increasing the number of silver grains that compose the image--it becomes distorted. Jumbo film prevents image distortion In geometric optics and cathode ray tube (CRT) displays, image distortion is a deviation from rectilinear projection, a projection in which straight lines in a scene remain straight in an image. It is a form of optical aberration. by capturing more information in the form of tiny silver grains. "It's like painting the screen with 10 cans of paint instead of one," says Neihouse. IT'S BULLET TINE! One of the most stunning scenes in To the Max captures Jordan gliding through the air in super-slow motion. In mid-jump he freezes, as the camera appears to wheel around him. How was the scene created? Kempf recruited the visual-effects team that masterminded slow-mo stunts in the recent flick The Matrix. The team specializes in a new camera-technique called "bullet-time," which relies on rapid-fire photography and computer animation. "The action is designed to look like it was filmed with one roving camera circling Jordan mid-leap," says visual-effects producer Diana Giorgiutti from Martex Entertainment in Alameda, Calif. "But in fact the action is pieced together using photographs from 90 stationary cameras and a computer." Building the bullet-time rig (see photo on p. 17) and aligning cameras for the 15-second Jordan slam-dunk scene took four days. First, an artist drew a series of three-dimensional sketches based on previous film footage of Jordan flying through the air. Then graphic artists scanned sketches into a computer and used them to generate a map detailing Jordan's position during various stages of flight. The computer calculates a series of equations that pinpoint the exact location and angle of each camera. Based on the math map, a technical crew arranged cameras in a 220-degree circle around the basket, where Jordan performs his magic. The highest camera is mounted atop a 4.3 m (14 ft) steel pole to capture Jordan at the peak of his jump. The remaining cameras slope downward--with the last camera perched at .6 m (2 ft) to capture his landing. A cable snakes from the back of each camera to an electronic firing Electronic firing refers to the use of an electric current to fire a cartridge, instead of a percussion cap. In modern firearm designs, a firing pin and percussion cap are used to ignite the propellant in the cartridge and propels the bullet forward. panel controlled by a photographer. Again, using the computer-generated math map, technicians determined each camera's focal length--the distance from the camera lens to the image of a distant object (in this case, Jordan). Painstaking adjustments are then made to each camera's aperture, an opening that controls the amount of light entering the camera LIGHTS CAMERA, ACTION Finally, the cameras are ready for Jordan. "The first thing he said when he walked onto the bullet-time set was, `Cooool,'" says Giorgiutti. When Jordan leaps into action, an electronic signal triggered by the photographer commands each camera to fire fractions of a second after one other. The result: a sequence of 90 still photographs, aligned in a comic-booklike strip. The photos are developed like normal pictures, scanned into a computer, and converted into a digital format, or series of numbers called binary code binary code Code used in digital computers, based on a binary number system in which there are only two possible states, off and on, usually symbolized by 0 and 1. Whereas in a decimal system, which employs 10 digits, each digit position represents a power of 10 (100, 1,000, (numeric computer language). This allows Jordan's image to be synchronized from one pose to the next. "After the photos were digitized it took us another three months to prepare the shot for the IMAX screen," explains Giorgiutti. "It's a lot of work, but it's worth it!" You can catch To the Max at over 57 IMAX theaters nationwide. To find a theater in your area, or to peruse pe·ruse tr.v. pe·rused, pe·rus·ing, pe·rus·es To read or examine, typically with great care. [Middle English perusen, to use up : Latin per-, per- cool images from the movie, check out: www.mjtothemax.com. Larger Than Life larg·er than life adj. Very impressive or imposing: "This is a person of surpassing integrity; a man of the utmost sincerity; somewhat larger than life" Joyce Carol Oates. * Physical Science: Technology * Visual Effects * Film Cross-Curricular Connection English: Have students research an outstanding athlete in history and write a mini-biography on his or her life. Did You Know? * An IMAX movie Camera runs through 102.5 meters (336 feet) of large-frame film per minute. A standard movie camera uses only 27.5 m (90 ft) of film per minute. * Characters never exit scenes in IMAX films because it draws the audience's attention to the side of the giant screen--away from the center of action, * Michael Jordan left college to join the NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= , but returned to finish his bachelor's degree in the off-season. National Science Education Standards The National Science Education Standards (NSES) are a set of guidelines for the science education in primary and secondary schools in the United States, as established by the National Research Council in 1996. Grades 5-8: abilities of technological design * understanding about science and technology * science and technology in society * science as a human endeavor Grades 9-12: abilities of technological design * understanding about science and technology Resources For more information on IMAX, visit the web site: www.imax.com "IMAX: The 15/70 Filmmaker's Manual," by the IMAX Corporation, 1999 The Way Things Work, by David Macaulay (Houghton Mifflin Houghton Mifflin Company is a leading educational publisher in the United States. The company's headquarters is located in Boston's Back Bay. It publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers , 1988) Larger Than Life 1.g 2. c 3. e 4. b 5. a 6. h 7. f 8. d VOCABULARY BUILDER, p. TE6 1. Chicago Bulls 2. binary code 3. meteorologist 4. seventy 5. green 6. focal length Focal length A measure of the collecting or diverging power of a lens or an optical system. Focal length, usually designated f ′ 7. aperture 8. negative 9. bullet-time 10. post-production Bonus: eighteen Larger Than Life: Michael Jordan Meets IMAX Directions: Match the word(s) on the left column with the correct definition at the right.
-- 1. negative a. series of numbers
called binary code
-- 2. bullet-time rig b. an opening that controls how
much light enters a camera
-- 3. focal length c. a circular setup of 90
stationary cameras
-- 4. aperture d. helps film advance in a camera
-- 5. digital format e. the distance from the camera
lens to the image of a
distant object
-- 6. green-screen technique f. a negative image reversed
back to its original color
and position
-- 7. positive print g. an image in which dark and light
spaces are reversed
-- 8. sprocket h. special effect for film and TV
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