‘Swan Lake’ Becomes an ‘Immersive’ Viewing Experience Guided by IMAX Cameras

IMAX gets a lot of attention for its ability to convey bombast in a theater — but bombast doesn’t always mean special effects or an atomic blast. Bombast can also be physical agility and soaring Tchaikovsky melodies, and the proof is coming to filmgoers November 8, when Pathé Live brings a production of “Swan Lake” to IMAX theaters.

The ballet has been staged and filmed many times since its initial, poorly received premiere in 1887; in addition to the 1966 production starring Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev, there is the filmed production of Matthew Bourne’s all-male adaptation. But director Isabelle Julien put all of them aside when she began work on bringing the Paris Opera’s “Swan Lake” to IMAX, with a cast that included Sae Eun Park as Odette/Odile, Paul Marque as Prince Siegfried, Pablo Legasa as Rothbart, and the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet, with Vello Pähn conducting the Paris Opera Orchestra.

“I know [the other films], but, simply, I always start from scratch,” she told IndieWire through an interpreter. “And the proposal that was made to me was that of an IMAX film, so, of immersion. Is it my camera implementation that makes it this movie? Or is it because it’s this choreography that I adapt? No, I don’t think so. I really believe that it’s because it’s an IMAX movie. I started from scratch from the proposal of making an IMAX film, which meant a fully immersive innovation through images. It was then the camera equipment that guided me.”

After several tests to see which camera best suited the needs of the production, Julien settled on the RED V-Raptor [X] XL due mainly to post-production needs. That camera was on a crane, while a Steadicam was the only onstage camera for the performances. “We filmed the ballet at the Opéra de Paris on the stage of the Opéra Bastille,” she said. “There was no possibility of space, all the space is taken by the dance. So the only camera that could fit into that space was the Steadicam.”

Filmed over four days (two of them without audiences) and with no camera rehearsal, the film brings to life both Tchaikovsky’s world-famous score and Nureyev’s 1986 choreography. In almost every way, “Swan Lake” was poised to be the best possible candidate for the first ballet to be captured in IMAX.

‘Swan Lake’Natalia Voronova

“It’s cinematic,” she said. “It’s music that we are all familiar with. And the choreography has become part of our unconscious. We are so familiar with ‘Swan Lake,’ and it has all the ingredients. And then it’s the Opéra de Paris, you know, and it’s the choreography by Nureyev.”

Throughout, Julien remained focused on retaining the purity of the ballet, directing the Steadicam operator to leave the stage if it might interfere with the dance. And while it’s breathtaking to see ballet performed in vivid IMAX, the Tchaikovsky score is also well provided for with next-generation IMAX precision sound.

“The music is fantastic. You know, it’s just so huge. But so are the images,” Julien said. “I’ve been very careful to keep the right proportion between one and the other, and to be very respectful of the idea of the opera, which is made of both, so hopefully we manage to do so, and we were successful.”

As for how many times she’s now seen “Swan Lake,” Julien couldn’t say. “it’s amazing, but I don’t get bored watching it again and again.” And neither will IMAX audiences.

Pathé Live will release “Swan Lake” November 8 in IMAX theaters and November 10 in theaters worldwide.