Breath-Taking Documentary Explores The Universe In IMAX 3D

[ Watch the Video “Hidden Universe 3D In IMAX ]

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Filmmakers have developed a 3D production for IMAX theaters displaying some of the greatest high-resolution structures in the universe.
Hidden Universe utilizes state-of-the-art telescopes to give the inhabitants of Earth a view of our Universe like it’s never before been seen. Only a handful of people are able to peer into some of the greatest telescope facilities in the world, but this new IMAX experience enables that opportunity for everyone.
The film explores the European Space Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT), as well as the internationally-supported Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).
“The experience of filming in the Atacama Desert at such world-class observing facilities has been amazing,” said film director Russell Scott. “Some of the otherworldly locations among the Andes mountains almost make you feel like you’re on another planet, and this sensation of nature – beyond what we are used to – is exactly what I want to transmit to the audience.”
Viewers will be able to sit down and enjoy a tour of deep space in the comfort of an IMAX cinema. They will be taken on a journey deep inside galaxies and nebulae, skimming over the surface of the famous Red Planet, and get the closest they will ever be to the Sun.
Filmmakers also created 3D simulations based on data gathered by the VLT, ALMA, and deep space telescopes such as NASA and the European Space Agency’s Hubble Space Telescope.
“Hidden Universe will explore the Sun, our human connection to the cosmos, and amazing views of faraway galaxies in a previously unseen way – giving a fresh insight into the Universe,” explains producer Stephen Amezdroz.
British actress Miranda Richardson, who won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the art-house hit Enchanted April, will be narrating the film. Richardson also received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for her role in Louis Malle’s 1992 film Damage.
December Media is the production company who helped produced the film. It is one of Australia’s most experienced production companies and is best known for its documentaries.
Lars Lindberg Christensen, ESO’s Head of the education and Public Outreach Department, said they were enthusiastic about the chance to showcase images from ESO telescopes in IMAX.
“Only the IMAX format can really convey the breathtaking experience of seeing humanity’s most advanced telescopes in action,” Christensen said.
In 2010, award-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio narrated the IMAX documentary Hubble 3D about the mission to upgrade the Hubble. Astronauts upgraded the space observatory during the STS-125 mission in 2009, adding a new set of IMAX cameras to the Hubble. NASA and IMAX first added 3D cameras to the Hubble Space Telescope back in 2001 for the production of Space Station 3D.