This is topic World 3-D Film Expo (September 12-21, 2003) in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-11-2003, 09:38 PM:
 
I am creating this "sticky" thread for Jeff Joseph at Sabucat. The reason for the topic being posted so early is so people can plan their vacations and trip to California if they would like to attend. This is a rare show indeed and may be one of the last public 3-D performances ever.

Everyone may use this as a normal forum thread for discussion. Just click "post reply" as always.

3-D Film Festival Website


 
Posted by Paul Trimboli (Member # 1509) on 05-11-2003, 11:41 PM:
 
I love 3D and wish I could fly over and watch the film festival. The films really need to be transfered to digital becuase with a computer it is very possible to fix the problems from when they filmed it, registration errors ect. They could then be reprinted on film and preserved! These are peices of history they we should never lose!
 
Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 05-12-2003, 12:17 AM:
 
Actually, the dates are from September 12-September 21.
 
Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 05-12-2003, 12:49 AM:
 
WOW!!!! I sure wish I can take in the entire series. The cost of the tickets would not be too bad but buying plane tickets, hotel for ten days, car rentals plus my work schedule will force me to pass on this great 3-D series. [Frown]

I recall seeing "DRUMS OF TAHITI", "CHARGE AT FEATHER RIVER" and "ROBOT MONSTER" in regular 2D when they were first released and did not know the films was originally photographed in 3-D until I saw the film and noticed the 3-D effects. After I watched the movies, I took a close look at the movie posters and lobby cards and sure enough, all mention of 3-D was covered over with tape or blacked off with a marker.

All of the movies that are scheduled are great but why was "HONDO", that great John Wayne film not included?

-Claude
 
Posted by Jeff Joseph (Member # 511) on 05-12-2003, 12:52 AM:
 
Most of the material is owned by various Hollywood studios who do not currently have interest in working with 3-D video. And of course, we can't transfer this material to video or computer files; it's mostly under copyright.

While some of this material has been preserved (the bigger titles like "House of Wax" and so on), many no longer survive in the 3-D format. Some negatives have been lost, others destroyed over the years. A very sad story.

For the titles that are the "last surviving prints", well, this is it. One screening of each print. It's very likely at least half of the 33 features that we're running will NEVER be screened in 3-D again.

And by the way, we are also running a number of very rare shorts, including the 2 Disney cartoons and "Adventures of Sam Space", which was heretofore considered a "lost" film.

Regarding "Hondo": Michael Wayne owns this. He refused to clear it... then he died. And his estate is "honoring his wishes".

Jeff Joseph
SabuCat Productions
 
Posted by Paul Trimboli (Member # 1509) on 05-12-2003, 07:37 AM:
 
Is it just me or a film studios really stupid!? Don't they understand how they are such an important part of cinema history?
 
Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-12-2003, 08:15 AM:
 
I can't wait for this! Hopefully I'll get to meet some fellow Film-Tech folks there.

[Cool] [Cool] [Cool] [Cool] [Cool] [Cool] [Cool] [Cool]
 
Posted by Aldo Baez (Member # 790) on 05-12-2003, 12:20 PM:
 
Ouch! I live right here but $320 for tickets.. and I probably wouldn't even be able to go everyday either.
 
Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 05-12-2003, 01:16 PM:
 
So, who IS going?

I'm booked for:

Fri... Sep 12... 7:00PM... HOUSE OF WAX
Sat... Sep 13... 4:15PM... GOG
Sat... Sep 13... 10:15PM ... IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE
Sun... Sep 14... 5:45PM... STEREO TECHNIQUES
Fri... Sep 19... 9:30PM... DIAL M FOR MURDER

>>> Phil
 
Posted by Christian Appelt (Member # 1067) on 05-12-2003, 03:14 PM:
 
Phil, you`ll have to dress properly for that 3D festival!
"Ro-Man" has a diving helmet on his head and wears an ape costume!

Or was that picture taken when you attended the Japanese Monster Movie Festival? [Smile]
 
Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 05-12-2003, 05:29 PM:
 
Hi Jeff,

I did not know Michael Wayne had passed away. When did this happen?

Michael Wayne had a strange way of handling the right to his late father's best films that people want to see the most. Much of John Wayme's older films are easily accessible but why has the rights to films such as "THE HIGH & THE MIGHTY and "HONDO" held under tight control by the Wayne estate?

-Claude
 
Posted by Jeff Joseph (Member # 511) on 05-12-2003, 05:41 PM:
 
There are 4 Wayne titles, including "Hondo" that are owned by the Wayne estate. I don't know why, but I suppose John Wayne had enough clout to get ownership. Michael died just a few weeks ago. We had been in discussions to run "Hondo", but he was very much against it. The sad thing is: He struck a brand new print, so all we needed was permission to run it. He was convinced that it needed a big reissue...

Jeff
 
Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 05-12-2003, 06:11 PM:
 
Michael Wayne appears to have been a very short sighted person because the 3-D festival in September at the Egyptian would have been a perfect way to re release "HONDO" and give it the kind of "Big Bang" opening he had wanted the film to receive.

What a sad case of missed opportunity. [Frown]

-Claude
 
Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 05-12-2003, 07:51 PM:
 
Christian,
You can thank my ex-friends, Michael Shaffer, Brad Miller, and Daryl O...whatever his name is for that! [Razz]

But it does provide me some flak protection since some here think I stir the pot up with my posts. I would NEVER post anything controversial! I'm too shy.

>>> Phil
 
Posted by Kevin Baglow (Member # 721) on 05-13-2003, 04:56 AM:
 
This sounds like a must see to me. Will have to get organized and go. [Cool] Looking foward to meeting fellow film techers.
 
Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-13-2003, 09:47 AM:
 
quote:
So, who IS going?
I'll be there for the entire festival! Woohoo!
 
Posted by Patrick de Groot (Member # 858) on 05-13-2003, 02:19 PM:
 
I've read on the website:
No anaglyphic (red/blue) "3-D" here; all films at the Expo will be run as they were intended to be seen: In 35mm "double interlock", Polaroid system

Can someone tell me what this does exactly mean?
 
Posted by Joe Beres (Member # 678) on 05-13-2003, 02:49 PM:
 
Is there any way anyone could do a video booth tour for those of us that are nerdy enough to want to see how they make this happen, but can't attend?
 
Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-13-2003, 02:58 PM:
 
It means two prints (a left eye print and a right eye print) are run simultaneously on two projectors that are "interlocked" in such a way that they run at *exactly* the same speed. The projected images are polarized at 90 degree angles to each other, as are the 3D glasses that you wear to view the presentation. A silver screen is required so the light keeps its polarity on its way to your eyes. The images being polarized at right angles to each other keeps the left eye image from getting to the right eye, and vice versa.

It's pretty much the way IMAX 3D works, as well as all the 3D movie attractions you'd find at Disney World, Universal Studios, etc.
 
Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 05-13-2003, 11:00 PM:
 
I'll be seeing KISS ME KATE.
 
Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 05-17-2003, 05:33 PM:
 
My wife and I will be there all day Saturday the 13th
 
Posted by Bill Langfield (Member # 818) on 05-18-2003, 02:40 PM:
 
HEY,

Was not the last 3d 'General release fim' ever made was some Animated space thing that used the split polorised lens (still got that Lens/gizmo in bio somewhere), that basically boiled down to the 35mm(single projector) film being projected in a erm 'super 16mm' giving a 'C/S' ratio.

And created a BIG headache for viewers if there was a spice done out of frame (by two perfs), would the same thing happen to your head if the dual projectors went slightly out of sync?

Perhaps it would not matter that much as the correct polorised image is still being sent to the correct eye.

I'd hate to be the projectionist at the festival.
I wish you luck, hope all goes well.

OFF TOPIC:
And I wish I could get there, but I'm in lots of trouble here because of the posts I make HERE! (F/T) - Which means a certain company is not giving me any shifts - as punishment?
You know who you are, and I know you'll read this - please get over it, or at least post replies and not keep running off to H/O with printouts from Film-Tech.

Bill!
 
Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 05-18-2003, 10:49 PM:
 
STARCHASER: The Legend of Orin
 
Posted by Bill Langfield (Member # 818) on 05-22-2003, 01:06 PM:
 
Paul, yup thats the one. But was it the last film in 3-D or that format even??

Hmmm, A strange thing happened today, a company I work(ed) for fired me today, because they decided my above post was in reference to them. It was amazing, surreal even.
I'll miss doing my odd shift there.

Film-Tech's disclaimer, she no work! (So careful what you say guys!!!!)

Bill.
 
Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 05-25-2003, 12:32 AM:
 
Bill, Im sorry to hear that.

STARCHASER was the last polarized split frame 3-D film to play the local multiplex in Bakersfield, so it was probably the last "general release" one, at least in that format.

I do know there was one of the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET crappola films that used it for the last reel, but this was in red/blue or red/green anaglyphic format, although with some color in the image. All I remember about it was the "cameo" by Roseanne Barr and the cheesy cardboard 3-D glasses the CAST put on to "protect" them from Freddy (and serve as the CUE for the audience to slip their matching cardboard thingies on).
 
Posted by Andrew Duggan (Member # 1302) on 05-26-2003, 11:01 AM:
 
Bill, that sucks, I'm sorry to hear that. Things like that continue to amaze me sometimes. It seems that the basic point of sites like Film-Tech are to help people learn and grow in their profession, so I can't understand why companies have such a hard time with it. I guess they like to deal with inexperienced nervous 18 year olds from the concession stands in the booth...

As far as the festival goes, this sounds great, and I'm going to be out there for as much of it as I possibly can. Hope to run into some of you other film-techers while I'm there.
 
Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 05-29-2003, 04:37 PM:
 
I posted this yesterday, but with the change in servers the message disappeared. Anyhow, last week I was fortunate enough to get a sneak preview of some of the material planned for the 3-D festival in Jeff Joseph's very own 3-D private screening room. All I can say is DON'T MISS IT! He's got some absolutely amazing stuff in store for you. Kudos to Jeff for pulling this together.
 
Posted by Kevin Baglow (Member # 721) on 06-03-2003, 10:17 AM:
 
I'm triply keen to fly over for the ocasion-- as just read that HOW THE WEST WAS WON will be showing at the ARCLIGHT in three strip cinarama on Fri 12 Sept too.
 
Posted by Andrew Duggan (Member # 1302) on 06-12-2003, 12:30 AM:
 
Well I just made my travel arrangements to go out to LA for part of, if not all of the show. (My "travel arrangements consist mostly of calling a few key people and saying "uhhh...So I'm gonna be gone for most of september...so...ya know...spead the word and don't, like...uhhhh...try to call me...or anything..."

I'm going to leave early and sortof mosey my way across the country and hopefully make it in time for the first night. I'm going to try to rope another local into going as well, since my preferred meathods of moseying travel (hitchiking, short Greyhound rides, the occasional freight train hop) get pretty lonely.

Anyhow, hope to meet a lot of you out there!
 
Posted by Jeff Joseph (Member # 511) on 06-13-2003, 11:36 PM:
 
Andrew:

I would strongly urge you (and others) to purchase tickets as soon as you can. I think it is very likely that we will sell out most of the shows before September 12th.

Jeff
 
Posted by Jeff Joseph (Member # 511) on 06-23-2003, 08:25 PM:
 
We passed a huge milestone today for our 3-D Expo. We had our rehearsal at the Egyptian!

We had the silver screen set up, then the masking put on, then we RAN some double interlock 3-D! Then we tore it all down!

This was the last "big" project that needed checking for our shows. If anything went wrong, we wanted plenty of time to fix it. But it all went exactly right!

Some pictures can be found as follows:

Picture 0 is the screen going up, no masking yet.

Picture 1 is the masking being installed.

Picture 2 is the screen, with masking. The shadow on the screen is from the scaffolding...

http://www.sabucat.com/pics/screensetup0.jpg
http://www.sabucat.com/pics/screensetup1.jpg
http://www.sabucat.com/pics/screensetup2.jpg

By the way, we made a deal with the Hollywood Roosevelt today for a good rate for people to stay there during the Expo. Details will be on our website this weekend.

http://www.3dfilmfest.com

Jeff
 
Posted by Don Furr (Member # 1469) on 07-15-2003, 05:16 PM:
 
I will be attending along with my partner David. We are flying out of Atlanta Thursday morning and returning Monday. We'll be in attendance for several screenings beginning Friday night. Look forward to meeting all forum "folks" attending.
 
Posted by Jeff Joseph (Member # 511) on 07-16-2003, 01:14 AM:
 
This will be part of our press release next week, but: Our presentation of "It Came From Outer Space" will be in stereophonic sound...first time this will be seen/heard in stereo in 50 years!

Jeff
 
Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 08-24-2003, 11:24 AM:
 
In researching the Stars Wars topic regarding 70mm in Tucson, I ran across the following in early 1977 AZ Daily Star.

I do not remember this, but apparently the Oracle View cinema had a 3-D install for a special engagement. House of Wax ran for about a month or more, I believe. Also shown was "Stewardesses" and "Andy Warhols Frankenstein".

I think I posted this elsewhere, but in the early 1980's, Mr. Vincent Price was a guest lecturer at the University of Arizona. I was fortuniate to be able to attend, and what a treat to listen to Mr. Price recite Poe's "the Raven". I was also able to chat with Mr.Price for a substantial period of time after the lecture. What a gentleman! This lecture was followed up with a speciaal 3-D engagement of "The House of Wax" at the Catalina Cinema.
 
Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 08-31-2003, 07:45 AM:
 
Jeff wrote:

quote:

Most of the material is owned by various Hollywood studios who do not currently have interest in working with 3-D video. And of course, we can't transfer this material to video or computer files; it's mostly under copyright.

While some of this material has been preserved (the bigger titles like "House of Wax" and so on), many no longer survive in the 3-D format. Some negatives have been lost, others destroyed over the years. A very sad story.

For the titles that are the "last surviving prints", well, this is it. One screening of each print. It's very likely at least half of the 33 features that we're running will NEVER be screened in 3-D again.
Jeff,

Much as I would like to attend, there is no way that I can make it. I had another look at the dates last week to see if I could get there for the last few days, but it just isn't possible. Of course, there are many others who won't be able to see these screenings, due to other committments, illness, tickets being sold out, any number of reasons, including not having been born yet!

What happens to this material after the festival is not within your control, but the rights oweners should be encouraged to, at the very least ensure the preservation of all of these films, and, hopefully, occasional exhibition of them in years to come. Maybe a successful festival, with sell-out shows will be able to revive interest in this material. There used to be small 3-D seasons in London every few years. These included material in various formats, typically the Festival of Britain shorts plus 'House of Wax' in two strip, 'The Stewardesses' in side by side anamorphic, a couple of '70s under and over titles and maybe one in anaglyph, not a great deal of original '50s material, but even this seems to have stopped now.

Since you are about to screen them, none of the films in the festival has yet reached 'lost' status, (though I understand that the original soundtracks for some, e.g. 'House of Wax' and the Festival of Britain films are no longer available), it is still possible for them to be preserved.

The owners of the films must be aware of the festival, otherwise the films couldn't be shown, after the festival is over maybe they will see this material as having some value, and ensure its survival. Maybe a large number of letters on the subject from festival-goers and members of these forums would also help.

Good luck with the festival; sorry I can't be there.
 
Posted by Jeff Joseph (Member # 511) on 08-31-2003, 01:36 PM:
 
Not sure what you mean that the "Festival of Britain" films' soundtracks don't exist... they don't? The BFI told me that they had prints of all of them, just that they didn't want to loan them out... is this incorrect?

Jeff
 
Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 08-31-2003, 04:44 PM:
 
The prints of the Festival of Britain films which are run at the National Film Theatre are the original ones from 1951. Most of them are in good condition, considering their age. I think the last time I saw them one film had to be withdrawn from the programme due to print problems, but the others are were fine. The films are always run now with the combined mono optical backup track, the explanation given is that the original separate stereo (three track magnetic, I believe) tracks ae 'lost'. Unless these tracks have been 'found' in recent times, which I would be very pleased to hear, they can only now be heard in mono. The survival rate of early stereophonic soundtracks does not seem to be good, sadly.

'Royal River', I think it was released in the U.S. under a different title, was shot with a remarkable six strip camera rig, basically two three strip Technicolor cameras mounted side by side. The inter-ocular distance had to be greater than it should have been, which prevented its use for close-ups, but it worked well for longer shots.

Any chance of running a 'mini' 3-D festival sometime, maybe next year, with some of the material from the big one, somewhere on the East coast? If it were any month other than September I would probably be able to come over.

As a matter of interest, what is the seating capacity of the venue you are using for the festival?

Once again, good luck, hope all goes well.
 
Posted by Jeff Joseph (Member # 511) on 08-31-2003, 05:55 PM:
 
Stephen: Are you sure these shorts were in stereo? That's odd if true; 1951 would be VERY early for stereo. As far as I know, these were always in mono.

I don't think "Royal River" was ever released here. We are, of course, running it as part of "Stereo Techniques", which includes "Around is Around", "Now is the Time", "Black Swan", and "Solid Explanation". In addition, we are running "Eye on the Ball" with "Inferno".

And, although we're not saying what is being shown as part of the "Rarities" screening, don't be surprised if other British material shows up there as well...

Jeff
 
Posted by Jeff Joseph (Member # 511) on 09-01-2003, 12:29 AM:
 
Just a reminder to everybody that the 3-D Expo starts in less than 2 weeks, September 12th.

Tickets are currently on sale at:

http://www.3dfilmfest.com

Note: Some of the shows are sold out already, but Expo passes ARE still available, which allow one to see all of the shows, including the sold out shows.

Jeff Joseph
SabuCat Productions
 
Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 09-01-2003, 04:26 AM:
 
Jeff wrote:

quote:

Stephen: Are you sure these shorts were in stereo? That's odd if true; 1951 would be VERY early for stereo. As far as I know, these were always in mono.
Yes, they were in stereo, and it was indeed very early, probably the first use of stereo since 'Fantasia'.

The 'Telekinema' at the FOB was intended to be the cinema of the future; it had 3-D, stereo sound and also television projection, none of which were to become widely used in normal cinemas at the time, but didn't have widescreen, which soon became almost universal.

Photographs of the Telekinema projection box clearly show the two sound reproducers, and I have known two people who worked at the Telekinema, Charles Beddow, who retired some years ago as Chief at the National Film Theatre, but still an active member of the Projected Picture Trust, and the film archivist and historian John Huntley, who died last month. Both spoke of the stereo system.

I believe Bob Furmanek is involved with your festival. I met him last year when I came over to hear 'Forbidden Planet' in Perspecta. Give him my regards, hope to see him again someday.
 
Posted by Jeff Joseph (Member # 511) on 09-01-2003, 10:39 AM:
 
Wow, too bad they don't exist in stereo. You're quite right; very little does. We're running "Kiss Me Kate" and for the first time in 50 years, "It Came From Outer Space" in stereophonic sound.

We had a test last week of our system: 2 projectors and a hard drive with the 3-channel sound. Incredibly good stereo!

Jeff
 
Posted by Bernie Anderson Jr (Member # 410) on 09-02-2003, 03:19 PM:
 
I just went to the website, and was very surprised to see that several of the shows have already sold out. That's fantastic!

Congratulations Jeff.
 
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-14-2003, 09:46 AM:
 
So who is out there for the festival? Anyone have a report?
 
Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 09-14-2003, 11:27 AM:
 
I attended last night. I saw KISS ME KATE (a short review in the review section.) First let me say that this was a POPULAR event. The screening was a virtual sell-out (with at LEAST 100 people in the standby line who were out of luck. I had an extra ticket that I was able to sell). I headed straight up to the balcony to get a last row cente seat. Fortunately, the film was projected Academy so blocking heads in the row ahead of me didn't affect the image too much.

This is a pretty informal theatre. Staff asked to see hands of those who had empty seats so they could see how many people to let in (there were very few empty seats, probably less than 10). Then we became "models" for various shots with our glasses on, imagining various scenarios. Then the Bugs Bunny cartoon started (Lumberjack Rabbit). The 3-D here was used mostly for deep backgrounds. Excellent print, though. It has held up very well. Then on came KISS ME KATE in full stereo sound. This was an outstanding print. And its full of the rich colors that makes a total lie to everything Robert Rodriquez said about the "new" 3-D process he used on Crap Kids 3. The only 35mm polarized features I've seen before over-and-under (and side-by-side for House of Wax and Dial M For Murder) and the dual projection used here really showed the difference. Just how can Hollywood keep regressing in the technical field is beyond me.
The projection work was outstanding. No technical glitches. I'm not sure how they synched up the sound since the film was attached to the mono optic cartoon, but no matter. Convergence was right on.

The showing was followed by a Q&A by two of the film's stars, Kathryn Grayson and Tommy Ralls. Grayson noted (incorrectly) that because the film was 3-D and used two cameras, the film had to be shot twice, once for one camera and then restage the same shot for the other camera. There were a few groans in the audience, but people were very polite in not correcting her. But she was very lively anyway.

I only wish I had pre-bought tix for IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, but there was no way I could have gotten a ticket from the standby line (another sell-out).

A great time at the movies (I saw How the West Was Won at the Dome that afternoon).

I bought the 25 cent cardboard glasses, and I actually found these to be much more comfortable (I wear glasses) then the rigid plastic type. The flexibility of the cardboard helped the comfort level.
 
Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 09-15-2003, 10:56 PM:
 
Just returned from Hollywood....
Saw
Catwomen of the Moon
Gog
Kiss Me Kate
It Came from Outer Space
at the 3D festival

The event took place at the Egyptian Theater, a theater much too small for this event. (640 seats I heard) It could easily have been held at a theater twice as big, which would have given the movie goers ALL a good seat.

Kudos to the projectionist, whoever he was. He did a great job. I don't believe he was named, but he should have gotten the spotlight and taken a bow. Good job.

Catwomen
was a scream. THe print was in tough shape with many slugs (blackout sections to replace missing footage) on the left eye. But I didn't care and most others didn't either as this was such a fun movie to watch and laugh at. The 3D worked fine.

Gog
I never knew this was is color. I had never seen it anywhere but on TV as a kid. I can't figure out what I thought was so scary about this movie. The left eye print was pink but the right eye print was pretty good so it balanced out fine and looked fine. The 3D worked fine and it was great to see this (not so) scary film again.

Kiss Me Kate
Absolutely stunning. Brand new print in stereo.
Everything was excellent.

It Came From Outer Space
Excellent print, I think. 3D didn't work well at times, maybe because I was forced into the 4th row from the screen (see below). This was the print I went to see but had the shittiest seats of all 4 films.

What was Wrong?
The technical side of this festival was done with excellence. The seating and crowd rangling sucked much ass.
There were 3 levels of ticket holders. Season ticket holders, individual ticket holders that were re-entering (had seen the previous film), and individual ticket holders that were there for the first time or only time.
When it was time for the show to start, first the season ticket holders went in. I don't know how many season ticket holders there were, but I would guess hundreds. These season ticket holders stampeded in and grabbed the seats and then they grabbed a bunch more and "reserved" them for their friends. The next group to go in was the individual ticket holders that were re-entering. What hadn't been grabbed by the season ticket holders or "reserved" by them, were available to the re-entry level ticket holders. As you might imagine there wasn't much left after the season ticket holders grabbed and reserved their seats. Finally after all this, the individual ticket holders that had not been in before were let in to fill up the leftover seats. These were seats like front row extreme left and right and single seats here and there in the extreme edges.
While I was waiting to re-enter (I think for Gog) I got to thinking...If there were all the season ticket holders (like I said there were hundreds) and all the previous movie watchers all went back in, no new ticket holders would EVER get in.
To top things off the back 4 rows (prime) were "Reserved" for, I'm not sure who. This took out quite a chunk of seats. During "It Came From Outer Space" an ADDITIONAL 3 rows were "RESERVED FOR RAY BRADBURY" I was the second in line to "re-enter" and I RAN into the theater and could not find two seats for my wife and I until the 4th row from the screen.
I can't imagine why it was handled this way. I bought my tickets shortly after the festival was announced (months ago) and feel somewhat had. The only thing I can imagine is that there was really no caring about the viewers (or maybe who the viewers were), only that all the seats were sold. All of this could have been handled in such a better way. It's called "ASSIGNED SEATING". The way that works is that each seat is assigned a letter and number (row and column) and a price. Those SPECIFIC seats are sold to the patrons. There are NO LINES, NO PUSHING, SHOVING OR STAMPEDES. NO CHEATING by people holding seats for their friends. You know what you are getting, and you buy or don't. There are no bizarre lines. That "might have a chance" to get in. I'd have paid three times what I paid for an assigned seat.
This festival could have been 10 times better than it was had seating not been so pathetically mishandled and had it been in a decent sized theater.
I'm glad I went but would never go to another "festival style" seating event 1500 miles away. Glad I had other movie fun while in tinsel town (see "How The West Was Won" review).
 
Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 09-16-2003, 06:03 PM:
 
quote:
Kudos to the projectionist, whoever he was. He did a great job. I don't believe he was named, but he should have gotten the spotlight and taken a bow. Good job.
The Egyptian Theatre projectionists are Paul Rayton, Jesse Rodriguez, and Sidi Henne.
 
Posted by Rich Greenhalgh (Member # 1393) on 09-16-2003, 06:17 PM:
 
We are currently attending the World 3-D Expo at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. In addition to the usual local suspects, we have met people from New York (a Bradford alumni), Atlanta, Virginia, Connecticut, Missouri, Indiana, Germany and Brazil. They are all here to see this amazing week of 3-D, HTWWW at the Cinerama Dome and the important showing of David Strohmaier's "Cinerama Adventure."

I am about 5 years too young to have seen any of these films first run and I never really wanted to see them projected anaglyphically in most recent retrospective showings. This festival has given us a real appreciation for these films and the 3-D process of the day. While some are better than others, this process enhances every film we have seen. The process is not just something to use for a few comin'-at-ya effects, it adds depth and interest to every scene.

Jeff Joseph and Sabucat Productions have simply produced the most complete and amazing once-in-a-lifetime 3-D festival on the planet. Paul Rayton and his crew at the Egyptian Theater are projecting every feature and short in the Polaroid 3-D process on a newly installed silver screen in perfect registration. Some of the films we have seen are beautiful, newly-struck, prints. Others are last remaining prints. Some were thought no longer to exist. All of the films are shown, as they originally were, with an intermission to allow for one reel change.

House of Wax was well deservedly sold out. Though the stereo sound track no longer exists, the new print is excellent. A fascinating short, Motor Rhythm and a Q&A session with special guest Paul Picerni, rounded out the auspicious start of the festival. Mrs. Andre DeToth, the director's widow, was in the audience.

Jeff told us that Stranger Wore a Gun was the only film shot on Eastman "Stripper Film" which Technicolor locked away thereafter. The new print looked good.

Gorilla at Large was a surprisingly good mystery with Raymond Burr. The color print looked good and the Q&A with Raymond Stevens was illuminating.

Cat-Women of the Moon was shown from an original print which was as sharp and grain free as it gets. This cult classic was great fun. The color short Adventures of Sam Space was very entertaining and the Q&A with the head Cat-Women was a hoot.

The left-eye print of Gog was thought to be lost forever and the negatives no longer exist. While a bit faded, this recently found left print is in good registration with the right print and the good color from the right print allowed us to enjoy some very well done 3-D effects. Joe Dante hosted director Herbert L. Strock and actor William Schallert in an interesting Q&A session following the feature.

The Kiss Me Kate sold-out audience was one of the most appreciative in my recent memory. This new print was just a delight to see, if a bit warm in color balance. It was shown in stereo for the first time in fifty years. Bugs Bunny delighted the audience in Lumber Jack Rabbit before the show and special guest Kathryn Grayson and Tommy Rall made the Q&A a most memorable event.

While we were watching Kiss Me Kate, another sold-out audience waited to see It Came from Outer Space at 10:30 PM. The studio loaned the original 3-track mag soundtrack to Jeff Joseph who magically got Chace Productions to donate their services to transfer it to a hard dive which was synced with the two projectors to provide the appreciative audience with a rare opportunity to see this show in both 3-D and stereo. A surprise citation from the mayor of Los Angeles was presented to Ray Bradbury to commemorate this occasion during the Q&A which preceded the film. A Universal Nat King Cole short rounded out the evening.

Sunday we were back at it at the Egyptian for more 3-D films. Some of these films are really quite excellent. And then, well, there are others. First up on Sunday was a rare (perhaps not rare enough) showing of the 1953 classic, "Robot Monster" (which has obtained a richly deserved 2.1 rating from all of us who rate films for our friends at IMDb).

Before the film, we were treated to a screening of the short "Stardust in Your Eyes" which was made by the same people who produced "Robot Monster." It was designed to be run before it, but apparently never did. In it, actor Slick Slavin delivers a humorous monologue featuring a number of impersonations (including Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Jimmy Stewart and others) about their reactions to 3-D.

As with Cat-Women of the Moon the previous day, the audience showed remarkable respect and restraint for Jeff's new silver 3-D screen by not throwing things at it during this not-to-be-missed film. One can only wonder if Western Costumes was overstocked on gorilla costumes that year . . . After the film, the director's son had a few words to say followed by a surprise special guest. Ro-Man came out of retirement to the great delight of an almost full house. He later terrorized those waiting for the next show in the theater forecourt.

I must add that Paul Rayton was kind enough to ask me if Jack Greenhalgh, the cinematographer, was a relative of mine. While I have heard of him, gratefully (in this case) I can confirm that he is not a relative. I did look him up and found that he was involved in 199 films from 1926 to 1953. I found it interesting to note that his work on Robot Monster, appears to have been his last job . . . .

The stand-by line for a much better film, "Creature from the Black Lagoon" was out to the street an hour before the show started. That show was great and all enjoyed the Q&A with Julia Adams after the show.

If you are interested, I can recommend the all-color Festival Program AND the excellent DVD (with over 40 3-D trailers and some fabulous early 3-D footage which can effectively be seen anaglyphically with the included glasses. These are available on the festival website at www.3dfilmfest.com.

Thursday we will take a night off to see HTWWW at the newly outfitted Cinerama Dome. This is a new print which we saw last December at a special SMPTE showing. Personally, I like John Harvey's pieced-together Technicolor IB pint better, but this new print IS really very nice.

I have some interesting pictures which I took outside the theater. If anyone is interested, let me know. Festival rules prohibit shooting in the theater but photos are being professionally taken so hopefully these will soon show up on the festival website.

Richard Greenhalgh
Pasadena, California
 
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 09-27-2003, 09:22 AM:
 
At the risk of repetition, I will post here the post that I made over at Jeff's 35mmForum site because it spoke to some of Greg's complaints about the seating process. Plus we should all hound Jeff until he gives up the details about the interlock of the PC soundtracks to the projectors! And posts PICTURES of the booth.

quote:
Another standing ovation for Jeff and crew. I saw practically every film (over-slept and missed ROBOT MONSTER and had a long lost college buddy reunion and missed GUN FURY and THE NEBRASKAN.

I wanted to do a day-by-day critique of the shows as was done here so well by our fellow forumites, but my laptop died two days before I left Brooklyn. But here, back at the ole desktop PC, I'll relay a few other observations.

The thing that impressed me most, aside from the magnitude and historical importance of the event itself, was what it proved. I had only seen a handful of the titles when I was a kid and I do remember getting a headache on at least two occasions and heard many people who talked about their first 3D experiences and complained of headaches from eye strain. My take on this, even at that age, was "hell, a headache is a small price to pay to see this incredible 3D!!" This expo proves that with proper projection and modern computer designed lenses (which have much tighter tolerances and thus less magnification error), polarized dual 3D is virtually headache-free. Not once during this marathon (some weekend days we were watching 10 hours of film) did I, nor anyone with whom I spoke, ever get any headache or eye discomfort at all. And there was no ghosting. I recall the films in the 50s, you always seemed to have some ghosting. Perhaps the polaroid material today is better, I don't know, but these images were never marred by ghosting.

Another enlightening fact that came out of this expo for me, was the fact that aside from the 3D "gags," the dimensional aspect of the image almost disappeared as an oddity and became as natural as color imagery in a color film. The fact that you are experiencing color isn't an intruding awareness -- it is just there and it disappears into the experience....it isn't a constant presence in your conscious mind. Same thing with 3D -- after seeing the first few films, the dimensional effect because natural and unobtrusive. This was most apparent in the titles that were made at the end of the 3D run in which the producers thought they would play lots of flat engagements. DIAL M FOR MURDER and MISS SADIE THOMPSON were very much in this vein -- the sense of depth and space was as natural as is normal vision, and mercifully, nothing was thrown at the viewer.

The one incredible fact that I had never had any knowledge of and which knocked my socks off, was the single strip Technicolor process whereby the images on the film are polarized right in the emulsion so no polarizing filters are needed on the projector AND, marvel of marvels, BOTH EYES are on the single strip of film!! What an incredible invention! The Walt Disney short that was shown in this process -- MELODY -- proved that the picture was brighter (no filter is necessary in front of the projector lens) and what's even more significant, such a print could be played in any single projector booth! Every one of the titles in the expo that still have existing left and right eye negs could theoretically be printed to this system and shown theatrically in any theatre. But, of course, this would require a Technicolor lab (no such thing any longer) and the Polaroid Land technology. One could only imagine what this system would have done for 3D if it were used in the 50s -- no misalignment of dual projectors or their lenses -- basically a single projector system with all the benefits of a bright image and full frame resolution (unlike the crappy half frame/half resolution of the over/under system). You could even do CinemaScope with this system. Imagine; THE ROBE, not only in CinemaScope, but in 3D!

I was also surprised to see how much mis-registration there was between the two eye images due to the natural aging/shrinking of the original elements. If you took off the glasses, the two images were literally doing a dance -- up down, back and forth -- with each other. Yet the eye seemed to be able to handle this without much effort or strain. Put the glasses back on and the eyes and brain locked those dancing images hard and firm together. This tells me that the projection in the 50s must have REALLY been quite imperfect.

As for the seating process, I must admit it could have been done with less confusion, but that's easy to say in hindsight. I don't think the idea of giving a preference to the subscription pass holders by letting them in first was a major problem, nor is it unprecedented. It is done all the time -- our subscribers not only get in first, but they get priority to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public. And they can pick seats of their preference as well. There have to be some perks for people who shell out 2 or 3 hundred dollars up front over those who purchase single tickets. Ours even get private meetings with the artists backstage.

It seems that of the few hundred full pass holders (Jeff would verify the number), they pretty much distributed themselves evenly throughout the theatre with some preferring the front seats and some the stadium section. I didn't see people holding lots of seats. There were occasions where some people would hold seats for other full pass holders who already were in the theatre by reason that they were on the pass holders line. They would have gotten in before the single ticket line anyway. Lots of times people would hold seats for whoever was next to them so the person could go to concessions or the rest rooms, regardless of whether or not they were single ticket or full pass patrons.

Reserved seating can work, but it becomes a much more time consuming process to get people seated and it requires a much larger compliment of ushers. The one thing that I would have suggested -- something we do whenever we have a near full house in our small theatre -- is to have ushers standing in the isles at the front of the theatre and insisting that as the patrons fill up the seats, they move to the center of each isle and DON'T LEAVE ANY EMPTY SEATS. That is a must for quick and painless seating -- something the Expo would have benefited from; it eliminates the confusion you have where you have to find vacant seats, asking people to point out where there are "holes" in order to fill them with bodies, as happened at a few of the shows. If everyone is forced to fill all the seats in the row as they enter, that "seat search" is eliminated. That would be my only criticism of the seating process. Everything else was top draw.

One other little point: it would have been nice to have given people name tags and an area to congregate specifically for the 35mmForum and Film-Tech forum people. I did meet some folks from the MusicBox in Chicago and the Cinerama tech guys, but couldn't find some of the forum members who were there. Name tags would have helped.

Naturally I was dying to see to see the booth setup, but hesitated to even ask knowing that there must have been dozens of people with the same request and which would have been impossible. But galdang it, WE WANT PICTURES! And an explanation of HOW that stereo dump to the computer was locked to the print of IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE.

Jeff, any chance you can post some pictures of the booth equipment on the 3D website before it is shut down? Pictures and LOTS of technical details! We are all drooling to see this stuff.

Frank

 
Posted by Jeff Joseph (Member # 511) on 09-27-2003, 07:23 PM:
 
Pictures and video will be going up in the next week or so.

Jeff
 
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 09-28-2003, 12:55 AM:
 
Very, very cool.

And may I suggest that Brad make Jeff an honorary Film God.

Frank
 
Posted by Jeff Joseph (Member # 511) on 09-28-2003, 01:41 PM:
 
We hired a still photographer and just yesterday I got the proofs (we shot FILM). He DID take a few digital images, but the rest will need to be scanned.

I just couldn't bring myself to have digital as our main source of still images.

Jeff
 
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 09-30-2003, 12:03 AM:
 
quote:
I just couldn't bring myself to have digital as our main source of still images.
I use both. My Kodak digital camera is great for speed and convenience, especially when I want to send or post the images. But for images I want to treasure or push to the limit (e.g., unavoidable underexposure, really high magnification), film is still my choice.
 
Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 09-30-2003, 09:11 PM:
 
Film is my choice also, but what I do is get Kodak Perfect Touch processing with a CD. The processing is pretty good for machine work, the negs come back clean and they provide an index print. The CD gets an index print as well and that way I have all my images in electronic as well as physical form. And it's relatively inexpensive.
 
Posted by Jeff Joseph (Member # 511) on 09-30-2003, 11:37 PM:
 
A great article on the 3-D Expo:

http://www.leonardmaltin.com

thanks,

Jeff
 
Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 10-01-2003, 12:55 AM:
 
I'll second what Martin says about the Kodak Perfect Touch processing, available as the 2-day processing at K-Mart & Target. There's some sort of automated digital adjustment that's made to print exposure that's pulled out a bunch of seat-of-the-pants shots. The downside of that is if you're getting fancy with exposures, it sometimes makes a decision you don't like. Also, the sharpening that's done to prints helps shaky or blurred shots, but makes them look a tad flatter. Overall, though, it's my choice for drop-off processing. I don't use their picture CD option, or their pictures-on-the-web option (the res was so lo on those!)
 
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 10-01-2003, 04:27 PM:
 
Thank you for the kind words about Kodak PERFECT TOUCH film processsing. Basically, a form of "digital intermediate" for consumer photographers: [Smile]

http://www.kodak.com/go/perfecttouch

Kodak Perfect Touch processing FAQ

Does amazing things to improve image quality. I use it all the time now. [Cool]
 




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