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
>
|