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
>