`Buffalo' Takes Eye To The Max

Stephen Low's ``The Last Buffalo,'' which opened this weekend in British Columbia, can be shown in only one theater in the world: the CN IMAX Theater at 999 Canada Place in Vancouver.

It's the same theater that was built to house the Expo 86 movie, ``Transitions,'' which was directed by Low's father, Colin. Both were filmed in a spectacular 3-D IMAX process that requires a large booth with two synchronized super-70-millimeter projectors.

In the four years since the debut of the process, it's changed so much that Low Jr. claims the usual complaints about 3-D - eyestrain, headaches, ghost images - have been eliminated completely.

``Technically and aesthetically there have been lots of improvements,'' said Stephen Low by phone from Vancouver. ``The polarization has been improved on the projector and the glasses you wear. The light loss has been reduced by about 20 percent, and there's a new camera design.

``As an experiment, a group of us watched the movie 15 times in a row to see if we noticed any strain or exhaustion. It's pretty close to perfect alignment.''

The system was already impressive four years ago, chiefly because the IMAX process moves film through the projector less violently than standard 35mm. The super-70mm IMAX frame conveys about 20 times more visual information than 35mm, and more light is displayed on the screen. The result is a smoother joining of the two images necessary for a 3-D effect, and a brighter, more detailed picture.

``We're developing a 3-D aesthetic all our own in these films, although it's just another step in the history of cinema's attempts to come as close as possible to what the eyes and ears pick up,'' said Low. ``All filmmakers try to duplicate a 3-D effect. It's why directors use dolly shots in 2-D films, it's why they play with lighting to suggest depth.''

Described in the press kit as ``a moving statement about the need to protect wildlife in its natural habitat,'' ``The Last Buffalo'' may sound like another documentary in the vein of Stephen Low's earlier IMAX movies, ``Skyward'' and ``Beavers'' - which has been playing for nearly two years at Seattle's Eames/IMAX Theater at Pacific Science Center.

But the wildlife footage, filmed during a 40-week period in southern Alberta, is at the service of a script that's a considerable departure for Low and IMAX movies in general. The original screenplay is a work of fiction that recalls ``Twilight Zone'' and the short stories of Ray Bradbury.

``The story is a variation on the (Noah's) Ark theme,'' said Low, ``but I probably shouldn't say too much more about it. It's about the complexity of man's relationship with the world - with his need to destroy and create - but there's a lot of debate about what it really means.

``It's more a hybrid than a documentary, although it has its underpinnings in documentary film. The nature footage was more difficult to get because of the 3-D equipment. You're forced to use 2,000 pounds of gear vs. 150 pounds of normal IMAX equipment.''

Low exposed 275,000 feet of film, some of it at high speed (48 frames per second instead of 24) to create slow-motion sequences. He found he was forced to drop some of the material in order to maintain narrative momentum.

``We filmed one complete buffalo stampede, with about 200 animals, but it ended up on the cutting-room floor. We went for the story rather than the gimmicks.''

``The Last Buffalo'' was created for Expo 90 in Osaka, where it was seen by nearly 2 million people at the Suntory Pavilion (the theater was only a temporary site). A Japanese beverage company, Suntory, sponsored the film and did not ask for changes when it was finished.

``They didn't care how disturbing it was,'' Low said, ``which is unusual for a sponsor. They didn't say `forget it' when they saw how dark and sinister it turned out. They looked at it and said, `It's time for an audience to see something disturbing.' ''

According to Andre Picard, head of development at IMAX, ``The Last Buffalo'' generated so much interest at Osaka that three more 3-D IMAX theaters are scheduled to be built: in Japan, Montreal and Illinois.

``We're also hoping to establish an IMAX theater in Moscow,'' Picard said. ``We've been working for two years on it, and we think we're making progress. It took 10 years for MacDonald's to get a franchise there.''

Now that the process is more accessible to the public, with theaters in most major cities, Hollywood directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, John Boorman and George Lucas are toying with IMAX. The National Geographic Society is currently co-producing its first IMAX movie.

Late in 1991, the first feature-length IMAX production will be released: a concert movie called ``Rolling Stones: Steel Wheels.'' Stephen Low's next project is a 2-D IMAX production about the sinking of the Titanic.

``The Last Buffalo'' plays at 1, 2, 3, 7 and 9 p.m. daily in Vancouver, with 4 p.m. shows added through Jan. 6. Also on the program at the evening shows is an earlier 2-D IMAX production, ``Heartland.'' Tickets are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, $4 for children. For information, call 604-682-6422.