Report on the Dolby Atmos & DTS:X screening of "Girls und Panzer: The Last Chapter, Episode 1," which is like a fun-filled attraction.

Ahead of the [Dolby Atmos & DTS:X] screening of "Girls und Panzer: The Final Chapter Episode 1" that started on April 7, 2018, an advance screening was held at AEON Cinema Makuhari Shin Toshin (Chiba Prefecture) on March 29. In addition to the screening of the Dolby Atmos version, a talk event was held by Miwa Iwanami, the sound director, Takayuki Yamaguchi, the recording coordinator, and Yasumasa Koyama, the sound effects supervisor. The venue was filled with excitement as many fans enjoyed the even more advanced sound of Galpan. I would like to report on the preceding screening and introduce the charm of "Girls und Panzer: The Final Chapter Episode 1" [Dolby Atmos & DTS:X] with some additional questions I asked the three speakers directly afterwards.

After the screening, the manager of AEON CINEMA Makuhari Shin-Toshin called for the three members of the Gal Pan sound team, Miwa Iwanami (sound director), Takayuki Yamaguchi (recording coordinator), and Yasumasa Koyama (sound effects) to take the stage. First, Mr. Iwanami could write a thank-you note to the 300 fans who had gathered despite it being a weekday. Then, he talked about various episodes of the sound effects, drawing laughter by saying, "It's impossible to have a stage greeting by only three old guys from the backstage.

I always do all the talking, so this time I'm going to ask you two (Mr. Yamaguchi and Mr. Koyama) to do the hard work! He began by talking about his own desire to have an Atmos screening of "Galpan.
About four years ago, when I saw the Dolby Atmos production of "Zero Gravity," I felt that Japanese movie sound was far behind. We need to make Dolby Atmos films in Japan as well. I wanted to deliver this to the "Galpan" fans, who are sensitive to the sound and enjoy it," said Mr. Iwanami.

Mr. Iwanami thought this way, but he had a hard time finding an actual opportunity.

There are many reasons, but one of them is the environment of the movie theater. As you can see in this venue (AEON CINEMA Makuhari Shin-Toshin ULTIRA Screen 8), in addition to the speakers placed all around the walls, there are two rows of large speakers on the ceiling, for a total of 16 speakers. To create a new Dolby Atmos-compatible surround environment like this would require a lot of space and cost a lot of money. In addition, because Japan is an earthquake-prone country, safety standards for installing speakers in the ceiling are strict, making the threshold even higher. These circumstances have kept the number of screens compatible with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X from increasing, and as a result, it has become difficult for content creators to produce Dolby Atmos and DTS:X sound sources. However, I have a personal belief that entertainment must always continue to produce ambitious works that incorporate the latest technology, and every time I have been offered a theatrical animation project, I have asked if I could make it in Dolby Atmos. Among them, the Dolby Atmos screening of Galpan had become a long-held wish," he said.

Under these circumstances, Mr. Iwanami started with what he could about Galpan, little by little.

Starting with the superb bombastic screenings at Tachikawa Cinema City, we were able to create the best possible sound for each cinema with the cooperation of various cinemas nationwide, including 4DX and 7.1ch screenings," he said. In addition, we are also offering 9.1-channel up-mix screenings at AEON Cinema Makuhari Shin Toshinshin. Thanks to the many people who came to these screenings, we were able to present [Dolby Atmos & DTS:X] screenings this time. Thank you very much.

Mr. Koyama also introduced "Girls und Panzer: The Final Chapter, Episode 1" as a work of great care.

Although this is an event screening of an OVA, everyone, including the sound and video production staff, wanted to make it a work that surpassed the theatrical version. The screen was designed for 4DX and stereoscopic sound. In fact, 5.1ch and 7.1ch screenings were conducted, leading to this [Dolby Atmos & DTS:X] screening.

Finally, the Dolby Atmos & DTS:X screening was decided, and the sound for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X was produced. The sound production began in January, and the final adjustments were made over a day in February at a certain location. The hardest part of the project was the sound effects technician, Mr. Koyama, who said, "Yes, you're right.

Yes, you're right, it was hard work (laughs). (Laughs.) But I thought that if we didn't compete here, there would be no future for sound in animation and Japanese films, so I put a lot of energy into the work. Incidentally, we added a lot of sound this time. The sound of the flags on the flag trucks, for example, is something we had never done before, so you may be able to hear the difference easily. On the other hand, we were able to take advantage of the unique feature of Dolby Atmos, which is the ability to precisely set the position of the sound, in a way that is quite easy to understand," said Koyama.

At this point, Mr. Iwanami and Mr. Yamaguchi explained about Dolby Atmos, in which the sound source can be positioned anywhere within the 1000-point grid of height, width, and height.

In this case, the sound source is about the size of a volleyball on this screen, and it can be placed anywhere in a billion locations," he said. This allows any seat in a Dolby Atmos-compatible theater to reproduce the position as intended by the production team," said Iwanami.
DTS:X can achieve the same effect, although the system is different," said Yamaguchi.

(Mr. Yamaguchi) Indeed, it was possible to clearly see from where the off-screen cast members were speaking to the audience. In addition, the separation of the sound sources into separate tracks improved the separation, and it seemed as if even the smallest of details were clearly audible.

With Dolby Atmos, the positional information of the sound can be set to be thin, making it easier for various sounds to reach the audience," said Koyama.

The best part of Dolby Atmos is the sense of localization. What is easy to understand is that the position of dialogue becomes clear even when it is off-screen. I think it is easy to understand where Momo-chan, who is off-screen, is speaking from.

And no matter where you sit in the theater, you can hear the sound from the same direction. It's really wonderful.

On the other hand, recent Hollywood movies tend to have a narrower dynamic range, and the Dolby Atmos effect is not emphasized as much. This is due to the fact that Hollywood films are now being distributed and viewed on smartphones, tablets, etc. without much interval after the theatrical screening. It is difficult to create extreme sound expression with such media (which lacks sonic expressiveness). That's why this time, we dared to stick to Dolby Atmos-like expression, and made it so that the differences are clearly visible.

I told them to make it more Atmos (laughs)" (Mr. Iwanami).

(laughs) "It was popular to say 'more Atmos-like' (laughs). (laughs) But I think the result was quite good. In the case of Galpan, if you reduce the number of channels, you end up cutting the sound. That's why I can say with confidence that the Atmos version is the most sound-intensive screening style among the Galpan films.

When I later asked Yamaguchi about the difference between Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, he told me that the master created in Pro Tools is exactly the same, but the output from it is different for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. The differences in sound between the two systems seem to be at a minimal level, dependent on each system.

This is the third Dolby Atmos film our team has worked on, and I think we were able to create a spectacular Dolby Atmos (and DTS:X) sound that is unique to Galpan. I wanted the sound to be like a sound attraction. I think you will experience how much fun a movie can be with sound," said Iwanami.

I am proud to say that this is a big challenge for Japanese films. To be honest, if enough of you see the film, we will be able to continue showing it in Dolby Atmos and DTS:X in the future. This will greatly affect not only the continuation of Galpan, but also its other productions. I hope you will support us in this endeavor," said Yamaguchi.

We have created a wonderful soundtrack that makes the most of the qualities that only a movie theater can offer, so please come and see it.

(Interview and text by Kenji Nomura)


(C) GIRLS und PANZER Finale Projekt