Dubai gets the much bigger picture with Imax

The Imax seven-storey screens are popular across the world and in Dubai audiences are lapping up the almost vertiginous experience of watching films in that format.

The large Imax projector of the Meydan Imax Theatre, above. Razan Alzayani / The National

Edwynn Olaes, a cinema worker, handles the 15,000-watt projector lightbulb with extreme care.

As the chief projectionist at the Meydan Imax Theatre, not breaking the giant bulb is very much part of his job description.

Mr Olaes, 37, is standing in a chilly room at the back of Dubai's newest cinema where the clattering projector, almost as big as a car, houses two such bulbs. Fed by a giant spool of film carrying the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, the projector beams the images on to a huge screen, the hallmark of Imax cinemas, in the theatre below.

"This is so heavy. And it's all mechanical," says Mr Olaes of the multimillion-dirham projector.

One of just two Imax theatres in the UAE, the cinema boasts an enormous seven-storey screen measuring 29 metres wide by 22 metres high.

The cinema's chief executive, Goulam Raza Amarsy, hopes for similarly large audiences, amid blockbuster growth in box-office revenues elsewhere in the country.

"Imax is still kind of unknown in Dubai," said Mr Amarsy. "It has been slower than elsewhere. But with the opening of this Meydan Imax ... we believe it will open up in this region."

Amid a few teething problems following the opening of the Meydan Imax, The National spent the day there to find out what keeps the projector whirring.

9am

Mr Amarsy arrives at his office early, despite the day's first screening of The Dark Knight Rises not scheduled until 5.30pm. Sitting in his office, he has plenty on his to-do list.

"Our ticketing system is not fully operational and it's dragging us down a little bit," says Mr Amarsy.

The chief executive, whose BlackBerry phone buzzes with about 50 calls a day, certainly has a stressful job. The Imax company is based in Canada and should anything go seriously wrong in Dubai, technicians and replacement kit has to be flown in.

The Dark Knight Rises is the first commercial movie to show at the theatre, although it did screen a few educational films previously.

The fact that the Batman director Christopher Nolan chose to film part of the movie in the Imax format was fortuitous for the cinema. But that didn't make the red-carpet screening on August 15 any less stressful. "On the night of Batman we were praying that nothing [would go] wrong," said Mr Amarsy.

10.30am

Five Imax staff arrive in Mr Amarsy's office for their daily meeting, which is today held a little later than usual.

It's something of a family business, with Mr Amarsy's wife Afsana holding the role of chief operating officer and daughter Fereshteh the special projects manager.

Despite showing blockbusters such as the Batman movie, the Imax also has an educational focus and attracting schools to the movie theatre is a big part of the business.

Laila Barakat, the business development executive at the Meydan Imax, is responsible for liaising with schools about trips to the Imax and gives the team an update on the current situation.

12 noon

Mr Olaes is in the projection room. He has completed his morning check of the bulky Imax equipment and does not have much to do before preparing for the 5.30pm screening.

Giant reels of film stand on either side of the projector, ready to feed it at a rate of 24 frames per second. The film for the Batman movie, which weighs 245kg and comprises of 237,314 individual frames, arrived in three parts, and Mr Olaes was responsible for splicing the film seamlessly together.

12.30pm

Food is top of Mr Amarsy's mind during his pre-lunch meeting. But that's only because Jean Marie Triolet, an independent consultant in the food and beverage business, is here to see him.

The cinema has popcorn and ice cream stands, as well as a N K D Pizza stand. But Mr Amarsy is hungry to offer more.

"There's a saying in the cinema business that exhibitors are making money on the popcorn. In many ways, it's true because by the time you pay your royalties and your operating expenses, there's not much left from the films," he says.

Mr Amarsy assigns Mr Triolet the task of developing a coffee-shop concept by the end of the week.

4pm

Back in the projection room, Mr Olaes demonstrates how he runs the film into the projector prior to a screening, which he typically does about 30 minutes before a film is due to start.

He meticulously feeds the end of the Batman film from the giant horizontal spool and through a maze of rollers on the projector.

The inside of the projector is filled with mirrors, which bounce light from the two bulbs out of the projector lens. For 3D films, both bulbs are illuminated, with film feeding in to the projector from two sides. But for 2D films such as The Dark Knight Rises only one lamp is in use.

Mr Olaes pulls down the lid of the projector and turns on the single bulb, which ignites with an audible whoosh. Using a touch-screen console linked to the projector, Mr Olaes configures the film and very soon it is ready to play.

4.30pm

Mr Amarsy is on the phone with the Imax company, negotiating the rights for an educational movie to be shown later in the year. It's not the "hard-nosed" bargaining one may expect when negotiating over a Hollywood film. "We are in two worlds. We are in the education, teaching world for our documentary films. And we are in the world of Hollywood, competing with cineplexes," says Mr Amarsy.

4.45pm

It is nearly time for the first cinema guests to arrive and John Llaneta, an usher, is waiting for them.

A common complaint among UAE cinema-goers is that fellow audience members talk loudly or use their mobile phones during their film. Mr Llaneta, dressed in black and carrying a walkie-talkie and torch, says he employs a zero-tolerance approach to this.

5pm

Ken Peralta, the business development executive at the Meydan Imax, is helping out at the box office with ticket sales. There are only two showings of The Dark Knight Rises today but there are more at weekends. A few cinemagoers are now trickling in.

Mr Peralta's role also involves attracting groups of tourists to the cinema but he admits it is early days for the destination.

"Not too many people are aware of the complex yet. But it is a beautiful, new and attractive destination," he says.

5.30pm

Arthur Davis, 48, a marketing consultant to the cinema, is sitting in the foyer. He is emailing a software supplier in New Zealand about the printed cinema tickets.

Another part of his job is to design events around the film premiers held at the cinema, as well as events such as opera and musical nights. "The idea is that it will be the talk of the town. Once you've been here, you will remember you have been here," says Mr Davis.

7pm

More than half way through The Dark Knight Rises, Erwin Alab, 30, mans the projection room, having taken over from Mr Olaes, whose shift has ended.

The Filipino is working in semi-darkness, with a shaded light in the corner, as the clanking projector beams the movie through a small window on to the screen below.

"When the machine is running, it's too much noise," says Mr Alab.

His job is to monitor the picture and audio and check the film is not being damaged by the machine. To do this, he feels the corner of the film as it is fed out of the projector. "If there is damage we will stop the movie," he says. This has happened once before with another film but everything is fine tonight.

8.30pm

Mr Alab is still working. He works from about 4pm to 1am and is responsible for starting the film for the busier 8.45pm showing. He will then fire up the projector's power-hungry bulb, ready for another wide-eyed audience.