Atlanta, GA—Oct 21, 2004
Barco Digital Cinema captivates audience during open air Shark Tale movie
premiere
arco Digital Cinema is pleased to announce its
recent collaboration with DreamWorks Animation in the highly successful U.S.
premiere of their new animated feature Shark Tale in New York City. The
invitation-only, outdoor event, dubbed “Sharkspeare in the Park,” was held on
Monday September 27, 2004 at the Delacorte Theater in New York City’s Central
Park. For this event, Barco provided its Barco D-Cine Premiere DP 100 2K DLP
Cinema™ technology projector. Among the 1,800 in attendance were many of the
film’s all-star cast, including Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie,
Renee Zellweger and Martin Scorsese. The event was also attended by the film’s
executive producer and co-founder of DreamWorks SKG, Jeffrey Katzenberg as well
as all of the film’s filmmakers. Released on October 1st, the film has held the
#1 spot on the boxoffice charts since its opening and has accumulated over $120
million in domestic boxoffice grosses to date.
The Barco projector was set-up outdoors for the NY premiere, projecting a
brilliant 18,000 Cinema lumen image onto a 60’ x 33’ screen. Barco’s DP100 2K
projector is based on the latest generation TI m25 DLP Cinema™ technology,
offers 2048 x 1080 display resolution, 18,000 Cinema lumens light output, a
minimum contrast ratio of 1700:1 and DLP Cinema™, CineBlack™, CinePallete™,
CineCanvas™ and CineLink™ image control.
Less than two weeks ago, Barco provided two of its DP100 2K projectors for the
movie’s successful Venice premiere in the city’s famous Piazza San Marco. For
this event, the Barco projectors were arranged in a side-by-side configuration,
allowing images from each projector to merge into a single, magnificent 36,000
Cinema lumen image. Approximately 6,000 people attended the Venice gala, which
included appearances by Will Smith and Robert De Niro, in addition to many other
members of Hollywood’s elite.
Avica Technology Corporation, a leading provider of technologies and services
for Digital Cinema post-production, distribution and exhibition, utilized its
Hollywood-approved FilmStore
technology to prepare the content for transport and delivery for both the NY and
Venice screenings. Avica then deployed its FilmStore PlayerTM to manage and
screen the movie, including subtitles, in the challenging outdoor environments
at the Piazza San Marco and the DelaCorte Theater.
Barco’s revolutionary ACSAR2, a powerful, yet user-friendly scaler and router,
was used before and after both screenings to display poster projection and show
picture-in-picture video of guests as they arrived for the event. The processor
is designed to convert any incoming signal to the DVI digital input of the
D-Cine Premiere DP100 Digital Projector head.
Barco’s proprietary D-Cine Communicator software was also used during set-up and
during the screenings to remotely control the projectors. The software offers
the operator a comprehensive array of easy to access menu pages, providing full
control of the D-Cine Premiere’s digital input, output and screen display via a
combination of simple buttons and WYSIWYG displays.
“We’re proud to have been asked to support DreamWorks with the digital
presentations of yet another important production in two such prominent venues,”
said Nicholas Clay, Avica’s Chairman and CEO. “Screening a premiere digitally in
technologically difficult circumstances, such as the 45.9’ by 84.9’ outdoor
screen and the dual projectors used in the Venice premiere, shows tremendous
faith in the reliability of our system and the process of digital cinema
overall.”
"We are very pleased to have played an important role in the world’s first two
outdoor DLP Cinema™ display events, and we are especially pleased to have
supported DreamWorks Animation, which continues to be an important industry
partner in major motion picture releases such as ‘Shark Tale’ at the Venice Film
Festival and in New York,” stated Scott Spector, Vice President, Barco Digital
Cinema America.
Following 10 years of pioneering market development ‘Barco Digital Cinema’ is
one of only three projector manufacturers to be awarded the license for Texas
Instruments DLP CinemaTM display technology. Since its award in 2000, Barco
Digital Cinema has developed the industry's widest range of projection solutions
for digital cinema including its state-of-the-art 'D-Cine Premiere' 1.3k and 2k
projectors, 'Communicator' software control and 'ACSAR' alternative content
processors now installed in leading Post facilities and Digital Cinemas
worldwide.
