M+E Daily

Before Warner Bros. released “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” in theaters March 25, director Zack Snyder (“300,” “Watchmen”) touted the film’s use of Dolby Cinema, the theatrical combo of the high-dynamic range (HDR) video offered via Dolby Vision, and the object-based sound technology of Dolby Atmos.

Turns out Snyder wasn’t the only crewmember who loves Dolby’s technology.

“We saw a reel or two in Dolby Vision, and then we had to go to IMAX to check out a 70 mm print, and I was like ‘What’s this garbage?’” said John DesJardin, visual effects supervisor for “Batman v Superman,” speaking at a recent screening of the film in Hollywood, Calif. “From my end of things, visual effects wise, the whole color depth in an image has been a problem since visual effects were first being done, and we were limited by our bit depth when we first started doing these things.”

Making each pixel in every frame able to best represent the full range of brightness people see in real life is what Dolby Vision brought to the table, according to “Batman v Superman” editor David Brenner.

“To me, Dolby Vision wouldn’t have changed the way … we made the film,” he said. “I just remember the first time we saw [what] we created, I couldn’t believe it. The fidelity, the blacks and the bright spots, were always what I hoped film would be. It just looked better, like it should have been.”

Yet the HDR video of Dolby Vision was only half the story, according to Scott Hecker, supervising sound editor for the film. While the same sound elements for “Batman v Superman” may be mixed in 5.1 and 7.1, it’s Atmos that truly brought the sound alive.

“Truthfully, our brains are wired so when we hear something true, that feels real — and we’re in the business of suspending disbelief every day — I think that’s really the main thing with Atmos,” he said. “Sonically, it’s amazing, because that sound, the way we can make objects, and put certain sounds in different parts of the theater, and feel things fly over our head, you’re brain says ‘That’s real.’”

Chris Jenkins, sound re-recording mixer for the film, said the audiences of just a few years ago weren’t as sophisticated with their theatrical audio, and wouldn’t miss what Atmos brings to the table. That’s not true today, he said.

“Today there’s so much more information, just because of the nature of our society,” he said. “I think the layers we get with Atmos, the soundscape you can present, it’s a much more natural environment, thing you don’t hear in a 5.1 field. It helps people to tell stories.”

“Batman v Superman” marks just the latest major studio release to see the Dolby Cinema treatment, with “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens,” “The Martian,” “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2” and “Deadpool” all hitting theaters with Dolby’s technologies.