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This topic comprises 8 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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Topic: Is 70mm Gone For Good?
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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 12-23-2003 01:27 PM
Bobby Henderson wrote: quote:
Commerical movie theaters are far better off sticking to showing film prints. The only way I would advocate a video-based system for commercial theaters is if it were something totally different from the home and impossible to implement in the home.
I don't think 70mm has a chance as a mainstream format. It had its heyday and will only decrease in presence and popularity.
I agree with the sentiment that theaters need to improve the presentations they are doing now before they worry about improving the film stock they are showing.
This is where theaters will always be able to deliver a better experience than can be done at home, no matter how nice a home theater setup they have.
I think everyone here agrees that 35mm can be done much, much better than it usually is in most multiplexes. Show prints are reportedly of better quality than those that are sent nationwide, but that's probably not the most significant factor that affects the experience one has when seeing a movie at a theater.
When, and only when, a theater has every other aspect of the movie-going experience nailed, should they be looking to the studios, labs, and distributors to provide a better product to them. Unless there is something physically wrong with the print, the theater has the ultimate responsibility for competing with home theaters.
This is a responsibility that many theaters do not take seriously.
Make sure that the sound is perfect, make sure that the picture is in focus and doesn't jitter. Make sure you aren't projecting on the wall and that you are framing it properly. Make sure your customers can't hear the projector running, distracting them from the experience you are supposed to be immersing them in.
When you have that done, then make sure that the staff is courteous, make sure the concessions are good. Make sure the bathrooms are clean and are something people aren't afraid to go into. Make your theater a place that people want to come to by using interior and exterior design that builds on the magic people want to feel when they go to a movie. Accessorize those elements with standees, posters, and other items that support that experience.
70mm shows were great not only because the picture and sound were very good. They were great because theaters used to make a big deal out of them. This can be seen when some films are brought back for limited engagements. The mere act of marketing it as something special to attend draws the audiences. I've seen photos of theaters here in Milwaukee that would build custom marquee displays for the movie they were showing.
That's spectacle and grandeur, and it's fun. That's what people should get when they go to a movie. That's what very few will ever be able to replicate in their own homes. If you don't do better than they can do at home, why should they go to the theater when the movie will be out in six months or less?
Too many theaters treat customers like cattle at a stockyard, only wishing to get them in and out as quickly as possible. This attitude keeps many people home in the first place. I believe that studios will start toying with the idea of skipping the theatrical run, pouring all of their marketing efforts into the DVD release. Theaters should be very afraid of losing the monopoly they have on movies, and this fear should be a motivating factor to improve the movie-going experience if professional pride isn't.
I apologize for the rant, but this gets back to the issue of the experience, not just the film format. If digital cinema can improve on the problems that many theaters have with sound and picture, I'm all for it. It's then two things that are taken care of in a long list.
70mm doesn't cure any of these ills, and just isn't practical when so much could be done within the existing framework theaters have available to them.
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Stephen Furley
Film God
Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002
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posted 12-23-2003 02:11 PM
The GK projector linked to by Gordon on Cinephoto (Hugh McCullough's site) was one of a pair installed there for Battle of the River Plate; they may also have been used for one or two other films. between these two machines were three standard 35mm mchines, the odd-looking BTH Mk.1 SUPAs.
One other London cinema was equipped, I think with Century machines, and I have heard that Pinewood studios had a pair.
When I was a student at a London college in the early '70s, I saw a short length of Vista film, I was unaware of the format then, and one of the lecturers told me that a pair of the machines had been stored at the College when taken out, from where I don't know, but were no longer there. The College was all 16mm then, but had previously trained 35mm projectonsts.
Some time ago I had a discussion with another forum member who knew the whereabouts of parts of these machines. I cannot say more, as this was by private e-mail, unless the member comes forward, but it would be good to see one of these machines restored. Some of the parts are the same as on standard Kalee machines, so it may be possible to obtain spares.
This page:
web page
Shows the covers of two interesting looking booklets, scroll down to below the Odeon one. I assume that the Technirama demonstration was in 8-perf, not a reduction,but I don't know if the projectors were fitted with mag heads for this. The Widescreen Museum page with the picture of the Century projector also shows the Kalee Varamorph light eater, sorry, prismatic variable anamorphic attachment, almost certainly used for the Odeon Technirama show. The Kalee projector shown on this page is a model 21, standard 35mm machine, not the Vista one.
A few years ago a reel of the old 'Battle of the River Plate' print was run on a modern projector at an exhibition at a small studio in London (Grip House). It was faded to almost pure magenta, but still looked very impressive. Sadly, there was no sound head on the machine.
A few frames from this print can be seen Here:
Note the VD track which seems to have very little, if any silver in it. The film which I saw at the college had a conventional silver + dye duo-bilateral track, so it must have been from some other film. This suggests that at least two films were run in the format in this country. A couple of frames were also included in Sion Hanson's 'Fantastic Formats' booklet, which accompanied his lecture of the same name.
p.s. do visit Hugh's site, he has some interesting pictures there. I've never met him, though he lives very close to me.
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