If you get a chance to see 2001: A Space Odyssey in Cinerama on
September 28th, do so. When I saw it in NYC when it was first released
in 1968 that's how I saw it. I was mightily impressed!
Malcolm

*******

On 8/7/2012 6:00 AM, Scott D. Smith wrote:
> OK, this topic is getting a bit far afield now, but since Mike started
> it it, I figured I might as well follow up...
>
> For those interested in Cinerama, the Arclight Theaters in Hollywood
> will be presenting another run of all the Cinerama titles (some with
> new prints), running from September 28th to October 4th. See:
> https://www.arclightcinemas.com/news/promotion-cinerama?promo=spotlightM1
>
> If you've never had the opportunity to view these films in their
> original format, you don't want to miss this. While some of the titles
> will unfortunately have to rely on digital projection (in 4K, I hope),
> many will be projected in the original Cinerama three-projector film
> format. Although there are still Cinerama system in Seattle and
> Moscow, it is highly unlikely that all of these titles will be
> presented together at showing anytime in the near future, so see 'em
> now while you can.
>
> FYI: The screenings that Mike alludes to were done by John Harvey at
> the New Neon Cinema, which had been extensively remodeled for the run.
> What started out as a special one month run ended up going for 3 1/2
> years before they finally had to shut it down! (BTW: The print of "How
> the West Was Won" was an original Technicolor IB print, and was not
> faded in the least. Some of the other titles though, such as "Roman
> Holiday", were unfortunately Eastman color prints, which had gone
> severely magenta).
>
> It was John who was responsible for putting Cinerama back on the
> screen, and is owed a huge debt of gratitude by the entire film
> community. When I first met John, he had assembled full Cinerama
> system in the living room of his home in Dayton, where we were treated
> to a private screening of "How the West Was Won" (with all three
> projectors run single-handedly by John)! While I had seen the film in
> it's original Chicago run, I was really too young to appreciate it (or
> even remember it, for that matter...) It was stunning.
>
> Fortunately, I was not the only one who was enthralled to see the
> original presentation of the film, and soon John had a steady stream
> of visitors arriving at his door in Dayton, which prompted him to
> mount a special run at the New Neon theater (with lots of assistance
> from Larry Smith). Sadly, John has suffered from a series of strokes,
> which has severely curtailed his activities. A huge loss, IMHO.
>
> For those who are interested in more information on Cinerama, see:
> Martin Hart's excellent site
> at:http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingcr1.htm, along with
> Thomas Hauerslev's site:
> http://www.in70mm.com/newsletter/1997/49/afterglow/index.htm These two
> guys have assembled a massive amount of material-you could spend days
> on their sites.
>
> RE: 30 FPS Todd-AO, we have the original Norelco projectors (along
> with the curved gates), just no venue to set them up with a curved
> screen!
>
> Sorry to get so far astray on this thread, but thought it might be of
> interest to some...
>
> --Scott
>
> Scott D. Smith CAS
> Chicago Audio Works, Inc.
>
> On 8/6/2012 6:21 PM, Michael Biel wrote:
>> About 10 to 15 years ago there was a theater in Dayton, Ohio which had a
>> local collector re-do the theater for Cinerama, and they had weekly
>> showings using original prints. Unfortunately most were not Technicolor
>> so have faded to magenta. But it was still great to be able to have
>> Leah experience it. There are about four or five theaters that can still
>> show it including one in Seattle, and Moscow, Russia, and I understand
>> that the one in London does not use original equipment. Now, if only
>> there was some place to see original curved-negative, 30 fps Todd-AO.
>>
>> Mike Biel [log in to unmask]
>>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] archiving slide-tape shows (was voca-film
>> technology)
>> From: "Randy A. Riddle" <[log in to unmask]>
>> Date: Mon, August 06, 2012 6:10 pm
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 2:11 PM, Richard L. Hess
>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> The point I think I was originally trying to make was that properly
>>> archiving one of these shows is very difficult to retain full impact.
>> Any kind of audio-visual preservation is only giving the viewer and
>> listener and approximation of what the original experience of the
>> media was like.
>>
>> With film, it's really impractical to set up a Cinerama system without
>> a great deal of basic funding and maintenance. Even a chemical or
>> digital based restoration of an old film isn't going to have the same
>> look and feel of original nitrate or Technicolor elements. It's can
>> be a compromise in some cases to save something and make it available
>> for later researchers versus not having it in a viewable form at all.
>>
>> Doing a plan for a "proof of concept" for one of these multimedia
>> slide shows would make an interesting journal article or presentation
>> that might look at the relative costs, advantages and disadvantages of
>> doing it through a 4K or 6K master versus a computer controlled
>> version using multiple high-def projectors and some approaches with
>> the major audio-track formats used to control the systems.
>>
>> rand
>>
>