In the latest episode of Denoised, hosts Addy Ghani and Joey Daoud dive into several significant developments in filmmaking technology and AI applications. From Christopher Nolan's commitment to shooting his upcoming film entirely on IMAX cameras to companies reassessing their AI strategies after disappointing results, this episode examines the intersection of traditional cinema techniques and cutting-edge technology. The hosts also explore Microsoft's new fact-checking AI model that aims to address the problem of AI hallucinations and inaccuracies.

Christopher Nolan's Odyssey to be Shot Entirely in IMAX

The hosts kicked off with news that Christopher Nolan's upcoming film, The Odyssey, will make history as the first blockbuster to be shot entirely using IMAX cameras. While Nolan has famously used IMAX for portions of his previous films like Oppenheimer, this represents a significant technical milestone.

According to Joey and Addy, IMAX has developed new cameras specifically for Nolan that address previous limitations of the format:

• The new cameras are lighter and less noisy than previous IMAX equipment

• Improvements to the scanning pipeline will allow for faster processing of dailies

• This enables more practical use of the high-resolution format for dialogue scenes

"That's incredible because it's such a big uptick in shifting back into film," notes Addy. "But this is film 3.0. This is 'Go Big or Go Home' film, now using modern technology to really make film easier to live with and shoot with."

The hosts also highlighted a statement from IMAX's CEO that 2025 will be a record year for IMAX, with an unprecedented number of films either shot with IMAX cameras or formatted for IMAX presentation. This suggests a broader industry trend toward premium theatrical experiences that differentiate from home viewing.

Joey pointed out that this represents a significant shift in moviemaking: "It's good for the theatrical experience because it gives you a reason to go see this in the theater, to have an experience that you just couldn't match at home."

The Film Renaissance Continues with M. Night Shyamalan's VistaVision Project

Building on the film technology discussion, Addy and Joey shared news about M. Night Shyamalan's next project, Remain, which will be shot on VistaVision, another classic film format making a comeback.

Addy expressed enthusiasm for VistaVision as an alternative to IMAX: "My personal preference, if you're gonna shoot on film, shoot it on VistaVision. It's way cheaper than IMAX and it gives you a more exaggerated film look than IMAX does."

The hosts discussed how VistaVision offers several practical advantages:

• It uses 35mm film stock, making it more economical than IMAX's 70mm format

• The format provides a distinct "OG Hollywood vibe" in the final result

• It was used by cinematic masters like Alfred Hitchcock

This trend toward traditional film formats occurs alongside advances in digital filmmaking, with the hosts noting that filmmakers like Zack Snyder primarily use RED digital cameras for their ability to capture high frame rate action sequences.

"I'm super happy that all of this is making a comeback with the added benefit of modern VFX, which makes this so magical," Addy remarked.

The hosts emphasized that modern filmmaking allows for multiple approaches, with Joey noting: "It kind of shows that there could be multiple lanes. You could have these big temple blockbuster films and throw everything at it and bring in these cool celluloid, thematic extravaganzas. And then also, we have digital so we could make a lot more stuff and stories and films. You can have both."

Companies Reassessing AI Strategies After Disappointing Results

Shifting to technology news, Joey and Addy discussed recent headlines about companies reconsidering their AI implementations after failing to see expected returns on investment.

They highlighted two specific examples:

• Klarna, the buy-now-pay-later service, had previously announced becoming an AI-first company but is now rolling back some AI initiatives and returning to human workers

• An IBM study found that only 25% of CEOs report that their AI initiatives have delivered expected ROI, and only 16% have scaled AI enterprise-wide

The hosts provided context for these developments, noting that many companies jumped into AI implementation too early, before the technology was mature enough for certain applications.

"If you were trying to jump into this two years ago, it was pretty crappy," Joey observed. "ChatGPT-3 was kind of cool-ish, but it still needed a lot of hand-holding."

Addy characterized this as "the AI bubble contracting" but emphasized that current AI capabilities are significantly more advanced than those available a few years ago: "If you repeat that same experiment today with today's capabilities, I bet the results would be very different."

The hosts also discussed how AI adoption has been more successful in specific domains, particularly coding and software development, where AI-powered IDEs and development tools have proven highly effective.

"If you look at the big trends of companies like Meta and Google, if you look at the AI use cases across the board, the number one use case seems to be coding and software development," Addy noted. "That stuff is so good."

Joey agreed but expressed concern about relying too heavily on AI without understanding the underlying principles: "The scary thing is if this is all you know, or how all you learn on, what's the future gonna be like when you don't know how to troubleshoot or how this is actually working under the hood?"

Microsoft Research's AI Model That Flags Its Own Inaccuracies

In the final segment, Addy introduced Microsoft Research's new AI model called Claimify, designed to address a common problem with large language models: their tendency to provide incorrect information with high confidence.

"We use ChatGPT every day in our lives... Does it ever come back to you with 'I'm sorry, I don't know that one?" Addy asked, to which Joey confirmed that AI models are often "confidently incorrect."

Claimify addresses this issue through several mechanisms:

• Disambiguation: When answers are vague, it forces the model to provide more precise information

• Decomposition: It breaks down complex statements and verifies each component independently

• Context awareness: It asks for additional context from users to improve answer accuracy

Looking at the research paper, Joey described it as a "high-end fact checker" that analyzes statements, flags issues, and verifies information.

"It's really pertinent in the world where we live with a lot of fake news and just a lot of inaccurate information or AI output," Addy observed. "Who knows if it's true or not?"

The hosts discussed how this technology could be particularly valuable for applications like search engines, news organizations, and academic research, where accuracy is crucial.

"I think this is the most interesting time because now we are seeing this stuff really come into fruition in a useful way," Addy said, noting that we're seeing a new level of refinement in AI applications.

Joey added that different AI models are increasingly specializing in particular tasks: "I think we're getting where all the large models are pretty good baseline right now, and it's figuring out the specialized tools and applications for them."

Conclusion

The diverse topics covered in this episode of Denoised highlight the ongoing dialogue between established filmmaking techniques and cutting-edge technology. Whether it's Christopher Nolan pushing the boundaries of what's possible with IMAX or Microsoft developing AI systems that can verify their own accuracy, the media and entertainment industry continues to evolve through both preservation of craft and technological innovation.

What's particularly notable is how traditional film formats are experiencing a renaissance at the same time that AI capabilities are being refined and specialized. Rather than one replacing the other, we're seeing a layered approach where different tools serve different purposes.