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Author Topic: Cinerama returns to Seattle Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-01-2003 10:45 AM                        Mark--they do switch between 24 and 26fps at Bradford, and the screen there is pretty good, too. The only thing there which is sub-optimal is the placement of the curved screen--it is farther away from the audience than would be ideal in order to have enough space to fly in a flat screen in front of it for "normal" shows.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-01-2003 10:58 AM                     Scott, I was only referring to the U.S. attempts at Cinerama. Bradford is an exception to all the mess in the U.S., and its probably the closest the world will get to Cinerama Done Right! Mark  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 03-01-2003 12:12 PM                        Hello Paul, Not being a projectionist and actually had a hand in Cinerama film presentations, I can only go by what I read and learn in film journals and here at Film Tech. I must have either misread the article or the the person who wrote the article may have had his facts wrong. Thanks to you, Mark and Film Tech, I now have the correct information. By the way, I have seen every Cinerama film produced at the long demolished Princess Cinerama in downtown Honolulu in the late fifties and many of them again at the Cinerama after they were finished with the regular run of "THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM" and "HOW THE WEST WAS WON". I even saw the Cinemiracle film "WINDJAMMER" there and the terrible presentation of "THIS IS CINERAMA" in single strip 70mm. I believe I have had the opportunity to see all of the film formats except a true presentation of Ultra Panavision films projected on a super wide screen showing all of the picture information on the print and Dimension 150. "PATTON" played in Honolulu at the Kuhio Theatre only in 35mm during it's road show engagement and the road show of "THE BIBLE" was shown here in 70mm but only on a flat scope screen masked to a 2.20.1 ratio at the Varsity Theatre. I dont know if the article I read was correct but a true Dimension 150 presentation called for a large and lightly curved screen. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Thomas Procyk Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1842 From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-02-2003 10:54 AM                     Well then it's settled. The new Film-Tech Cinemas MUST feature a proper Cinerama auditorium. Seriously, though. I have never seen a show projected in the format but it sounds like these US sites aren't really giving it the treatment it deserves. I still feel bad for not going to the Seattle Cinerama when I TOUCHED THE OUTSIDE WALL!! We were on our way to a Poetry Slam competition and really couldn't stop for a visit. So close, and yet so far away. =TMP=  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-02-2003 11:18 AM                     Thomas, You didn't really miss much.....I was really disappointed on my first trip there when it re-opened and I went INSIDE to see the movie! I had expected to see the film on the big Cinerama screen, but low and behold there was a smaller (essentially flat as compared to the real screen there) screen that the films are run on every day. What a huge disappointment!! They are so close to doing it right but still so far far off course there..... If you go to any of them I'd say go to the Dome as every day films are shown on the deep curve screen, not a real Cinerama screen either but at least you'll get the idea. You can also see three strip there on a somewhat regular schedule. Mark  |  IP: Logged Paul Linfesty Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1383 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 03-02-2003 11:20 AM                     Claude Dimension 150 was generally meant to be shown on a deep curved screen similiar to Todd-AO (113-120 degree). Very few engagements of of either THE BIBLE or PATTON were actually seen in D-150 in their roadshow engagements. The L.A. showing of THE BIBLE was at Statewide's Beverly Theatre in 70mm on a convential screen. In NYC, a court ruling on a contract FORCED the Loew's State to install the screen (judge ruling was that since the theatre had coughed up the huge guarantee there was no reason they couldn't afford to install the screen. For Patton, neither of the LA roadshow engagements (Pantages, move-over to Pacific Beverly Hills) was shown in D-150, just in 70mm. Only a later regular engagement run at the Egyptian presented it on the D-150 screen.  |  IP: Logged Michael Coate Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1904 From: Los Angeles, California Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-03-2003 07:30 PM                     quote: Not being a projectionist and actually had a hand in Cinerama film presentations, I can only go by what I read and learn in film journals and here at Film Tech. I must have either misread the article or the the person who wrote the article may have had his facts wrong. Thanks to you, Mark and Film Tech, I now have the correct information. Claude, I recently commented in another thread ("TV Series 'Miracles' Shot in scope?") about American Cinematographer mentioning the fps of the original Cinerama format as being 26 (correct) in one article and 30 (incorrect) in a separate article in the same issue...and this was only a few issues ago. quote: For Patton, neither of the LA roadshow engagements (Pantages, move-over to Pacific Beverly Hills) was shown in D-150, just in 70mm. Only a later regular engagement run at the Egyptian presented it on the D-150 screen. There was a Palm Springs, CA engagement in the fall of 1970 that was advertised "in D-150!" at the Camelot Theatre (a theatre known to have been one of the "official" so-called D-150 venues).  |  IP: Logged Peter Kerchinsky Master Film Handler Posts: 326 From: Seattle, WA, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-04-2003 04:24 AM                     Mark: FYI the screen problem at Seattle's Cinerama has been fixed and all looks good now. Not sure where you are coming from with this, but one this we ol' timers have to remember is that when this process came out not many of these guys were around then and they did the best they could with reprocuding this system. I have to say the people I worked with on this festival did the very best they could to take us back to the 50s and present it the way it should be shown. I have no, an mean no, complaints to the people I worked with to make absolutely sure it looked just right. Considering all the drawbacks we faced during this week long run I believe we did a fantastic job. We all pitched in to make sure it was done right. You know, we can't all be perfect,  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 03-04-2003 08:24 AM                     Claude, The Perfect Vision magazine, while interesting, is quite often inaccurate in regards to film issues. Their film articles are poorly researched and should be taken with a grain of salt. I saw HTWWW in Dayton Ohio a few years ago. They were running an original Dye Transfer (IB) Technicolor print, which looked outstanding throughout. The sound on the full coat was quite good, with clean clear high end and great dynamic range, as you would expect from mag-stereo of that time. The only issue was the amount of tape hiss, which could be removed with modern technology. /Mitchell  |  IP: Logged Sean Weitzel Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 619 From: Vacaville, CA (1790 miles west of Rockwall) Registered: Dec 1999 posted 03-04-2003 11:14 AM                     I'll vouch for Peter's comments. I was very impressed with the presentation. The amount of behind the scenes dedication from everyone really came though. (Even if the colors didn't make it on the eastman prints of WJ and SfP.) The strip screen doesn't blow in the wind anymore, but there are still some slight gaps between the strips that produce a kind of hairline effect that almost looks like scratched film. But since it didn't change, it was pretty easy to look beyond it. It was nice to meet all of the people and say hello. Although I wasn't sure who was from FT and who was not.  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 03-04-2003 01:41 PM                     I'm flying out there tomorrow to see How The West Was Won and This Is Cinerama!  |  IP: Logged Peter Kerchinsky Master Film Handler Posts: 326 From: Seattle, WA, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-04-2003 02:31 PM                     Jesse Not sure if you'll get this in time but be sure to look up us projectionists when you're at the theatre. Ask for Dave Miller. Jim Touhey, Dave McCrae, Brian Whitish or myself. We'd love to give you the "grand" tour. Enjoy.  |  IP: Logged Sean Weitzel Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 619 From: Vacaville, CA (1790 miles west of Rockwall) Registered: Dec 1999 posted 03-04-2003 03:25 PM                     Jesse, also look out for Dave Strohmaier (Cinerama Adventure tee shirt, beard, glasses, and a sony video camera) he'll answer any questions you have. And get booth pictures. Mine were not as good as I had hoped they would have been. I'd like to share my photos if no one from the theater would object. I deeply appreciate being allowed to stay around and document this beautiful theater. I'd name names here, but I lost my slip of paper with people's names written on them. Anyways, very high resolution versions of these images can be emailed if someone is interested. Sean W's Seattle Cinerama photos [ 03-04-2003, 04:50 PM: Message edited by: Sean Weitzel ]  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 03-04-2003 05:29 PM                        quote: ...from Peter K.: the Seattle Cinerama is holding a Cinerama Festival Peter, we saw today's showing of "This Is Cinerama" (also saw Jim outside, after the show). Considering the challenges you all faced, the presentation was fantastic. Anyone can go in there and nitpick what they see and hear... but considering when that show was filmed and the technology of the time, you did an amazing job. Well done! Jack  |  IP: Logged Darren Briggs Master Film Handler Posts: 371 From: York, UK Registered: Dec 2001 posted 03-04-2003 06:16 PM                        Pictureville in Bradford run there Cinerama correctly. 26fps for This is Cinerama etc and 24fps for HTWWW. Genuine strip screen too! All 3 cinerama mechs are switchable between 26 or 24fps by the flick of a switch. (Cinemeccanica Vic8 Cinerama mechs) Also show 70mm via a D150 lens on the curved screen which looks amazing, (Patton in D150 and DTS70, how cool!) Darren  |  IP: Logged

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