Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Circlorama Theatre in Picadilly Circus, London

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Posted by Thomas Hauerslev (Member # 566) on 07-14-2004, 08:34 AM:

Does any of the British readers of Film-Tech have any recollections of the Circlorama Theatre on Picadilly Circus in London?

I´ve added a postcard and an advert on in70mm.com and with your help I hope to be able to add the full story about the films, cinema and installation.

About Circlorama translated from a German article:

A new cinema by the name "Circlorama" opened in the beginning of May. The audience is is surrounded by a circular screen. The "Circlorama" process was developed by the Russian professor E. Goldovsky, Moscow Cinema Research Institute. This London cinema is built between Shaftsbury Avenue and Denham Street and it opened May 9, 1963. The circular auditoria measures 18 meters in diameter and has a height of 15 meters. There is room for 500 spectators. The foyer is downstairs with room for a 1000 people.

The screen surrounds the audience and has a total length of 45 meters. The bottom of the screen is raised 2½ meters above the floor. 11 Philips FP20S projectors each projects 1/11th of the total circular image. The 9-channel sound is played from a separate 35mm Philips sound reproducer. The projectors and sound reproducer is locked together electronically. For sound reproduction 51 separate speakers have been installed behind the screen and in the floor. The entire installation can be remotely controlled from one control unit.

For this installation the Philips projector FP20S have been equipped with gas pulsed light type SPP 800. This type of light offer s a constant and flicker free light and does not require adjusting like carbon arcs.

The Russian title "Russian Roundabout" is filmed with a special rig consisting of 11 cameras which covers the complete circle. The films contains scenes from Moscow and 200 horse riding Cossacks. A second film is in production.

The idea for this process is not new. A similar process was presented five years ago during the Brussels world expo in 1958 by The Walt Disney Company and the Ford Motor Company. That version was presented using 11 16mm projectors, where "Circlorama" is using 35mm film and professional 35mm projectors. The result is by far more realistic.

There are 20 shows daily. Each performance last 20 minutes and ticket price is DM 2 for adults and DM 1,40 for children. There are no seats, the audience is standing in the middle of the auditoria and can watch the film from all sides.

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 07-14-2004, 08:51 AM:

I've not seen it in London, but I did see something very similar in Moscow, in 1974. There were either 9 or 11 screens, with a gap between them, through which the image was projected onto the screen opposite, so it had to be an odd number. There were no seats, the audience just walked around in the area inside the screen. I don't remember how we got in, whether there was a door in one of the screens, or we came up steps from below, or what. I think the size would have been similar to the one in London. I didn't see any of the technical equipment, so I do not know what they were using, but I'm pretty sure it was 35mm. I think the aspect ratio of each image was 1.37, or something close to it, and the sound was directional, but I've no idea of the details.

This was at a place with a name something like the 'Exhibition of the achievements of the National Economy'. The show only lasted a few minutes.

Have a look back in this forum, and the 'yak' one; within the last year I posted a question to our member from Russia about it, and she did reply.

I do remember that there were the usual problems with multi-film systems, there were quite bad mis-alignments between the projectors, and in colour balance between the prints, and/or light sources.

Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 07-14-2004, 11:01 AM:

Thomas,

James Robertson in Australia is a member of Film-Tech worked at the Circlorama, hopefully will see your post. There’s also a good article in one of the old magazines of The Projected Picture Trust, who might be worth contacting.

I did see myself Circlorama at Piccadilly, and cannot say I was that over impressed due to the large black gaps between the screens. The best circular screen process I’ve seen was at Disney’s Epcot, which I think, was The Canadian Experience, using 9 projectors.

Just out of historical interest, when Circlorama folded it was replaced with a single screen News & Cartoon Cinema. The equipment was a pair of clapped out Simplex projectors onto RCA 1041 soundheads, which two years later were replaced with Philips FP 20s when renamed the Classic Cinema showing feature films. Easy Rider (1969) ran for over 9 months to packed houses.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-14-2004, 12:55 PM:

Sounds very similar to Disney's "Circlerama" and/or "CircleVision 360":

http://books.elsevier.com/companions/0240804112/formats.htm

quote:
Circlerama
Walt Disney Company
1955
9/11x1-16
360 degrees

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/epcot/epws-china.htm

quote:
The "Wonders of China:
Land of Beauty, Land of Time" is a 360º Circle-Vision film shown in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest. Spectacular scenery and stunning footage of China includes the Great Wall, the Forbidden City of Beijing, the Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia, the Yangtze River and the tropical rain forests of Hainan Island. There is no seating in this theatre, only rails for guests to lean against so that they can fully experience the Circle-Vision effect.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/epcot/epws-canada.htm

quote:
In the Maple Leaf Mine, the 360º Circle-Vision theatre shows the film "O Canada". The diverse culture and landscape of the vast country is shown in this spectacular 18 minute presentation. The amazing scenery of the Rocky Mountains, the sweeping golden Prairies, Montreal's grand cathedral and the Maritime coastal fishing villages, are sure to delight all who see it. Seeing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on their graceful horses performing the Musical Ride and surrounding you in the theatre, is truly a magnificent sight. A tribute to the changing seasons of Canada includes a scene of an Arctic snowfield, dogsledders, skiers, ice skaters and hockey players. Some of Canada's wildlife including bobcats, Canada geese, eagles, possum, wolves, bears, bison and a thundering herd of reindeer are introduced to visitors.

Another impressive 360º experience is that of the spectacular aerial precision flying team, the Snowbirds. In order for guests to fully appreciate the Circle-Vision, there are no seats in this theatre, only rails for the guests to lean against.

http://www.naimark.net/writing/expo.html

quote:
CYLINDRICAL SCREENS

Cylindrical screen theaters, showing 360 degree panoramas, are fundamentally different in concept and execution than either flat or dome projections. First, a panorama is directionless with no one proper place to look (or hide, if you are the camera operator). Traditional panoramic movies are non-narrative and landscape-based, with locations carefully selected for interesting viewing from all sides.

Panoramic imagery can be recorded several ways. A special lens or mirror can be designed to map a panorama into a donut-shaped image. The Swiss Volpi Peri-Appolar lens is an example, but these solutions tend to be either low quality or very expensive. Another way is to use a camera with a rotating slit such as the Globuscope or Widelux still cameras, but these designs are problematic for motion picture recording. The most common way has been to use multiple cameras arranged for total coverage.

Disney's popular CircleVision format uses nine cameras and nine projectors. The camera pod consists of all 9 cameras pointing up into mirrors such that each camera shares the same virtual nodal point. The projectors are hidden in the vertical mullions between adjacent screens, projecting on the screen opposite; hence the odd number.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 07-15-2004, 06:51 PM:

Saw it at Walt Disney World years ago, probably around 1973. The best part of the whole thing was watching the other people watching the film. You stand to watch ot and there is a railing in front of you. Most people were swaying about depending on the cameras movement, I don't think they realized how much swaying everyone was doing. It was hilarious to see it.

Mark

Posted by Ron Yost (Member # 1850) on 07-15-2004, 09:03 PM:

Was/is the "Circlerama" at WDW 35mm or 16mm? Never have seen it, but I remember enjoying the one at Disneyland in the 60's several times. It was 16mm, I believe??

I remember seeing pics of the circular camera rig in "Popular Science" magazine, I think .. a bunch of Arri's mounted on a metal plate, if I remember correctly.

Anyway, Disneyland's version is long-gone .. it was in the original Tomorrowland. Haven't been there in years, so maybe they have a newer version tucked away somewhere.

Ron Yost

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 07-15-2004, 10:05 PM:

Am pretty sure it used Eastman 25's at WDW. The Arris were 16M's if I remember correctly.

Mark

Posted by Thomas Hauerslev (Member # 566) on 08-16-2004, 01:55 PM:

Anyone heard of a Circlorama title called "The Swinging Blue Jeans".

I got this interesting e-mail today:

I remember seeing this Circlorama film on Central Pier in Blackpool, Lancashire, circa 1964. The film featured 'The Swinging Blue Jeans' and parts of 'Russian Roundabout' also. At the time it was a great novelty but was short lived.

David Slack

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 08-16-2004, 06:53 PM:

At Disney, the original show projectors were Ballantyne Pro 35's that were replaced by Bauer Selecton II 16mm machines. Then replaced by video.

Having done several "CircleVision" venues, below pics are interesting as they are from a high-end dance club that was video based. Keeping in mind that this was B4 DVD and DLP technology, it is interesting cuz of the scope of the venue. The club had an 80ft diameter "TORUS" suck screen. Air box and all was rigged to move up 30ft to clear the dance floor when not needed.

Nine Sony 1252 projectors with line doublers since this was an NTSC system. In other venues these were replaced by cross-firing DLP projectors.

VJ Control Room overlooking the dance floor.

Mock-up during final test. Notice the 3D 870 mock-up in the background.

In the back is one of the 9-camera 35mm CircleVision rigs that Don Iwerks (on the left) and myself (the jerk on the right) built. We also built a video version.

>>> Phil

Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 10-05-2008, 06:11 AM:

It has been 1510 days since the last post.

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 10-05-2008, 06:11 AM:

Are any of these systems still operating today? Despite the various technical problems they were an interesting curiosity.

I've just found something on the one which I saw in Moscow, the 'Круговая кинопанорама'. Interestingly, it says that this re-opened in 2006 after a long period of closure, and there are a couple of pictures from that year. I don't know if it is still open today.

web page

The building still looks as I remember it, not exactly a quality building, it looks like something that was put up quickly, and expected to be short-lived, and the fabric of the building now seems to be in poor condition; the water running down the walls, combined with the cold Russian winters, seem to have taken their toll on the brickwork; it may not be there much longer. The various styles of posters are quite interesting.

Having seen the pictures I remember now that the screens were high up, and the doors would have simply been below the bottom edge of them. The interior picture shows a few seats; I don't remember these being there when I visited the place, but I can't be sure; it's hard to believe that it's almost 35 years ago now.

The full size pictures are of high resolution, much larger than my monitor screen, and you can see quite a bit of detail if you zoom in. Unfortunately there is no technical information given. The projection equipment is hidden behind the screens, and projects through a port in the gap between between pairs of screens. I don't know if they rewound the 11 prints between each show, or if it ran on some sort of endless loop system; the show only ran for a few minutes, so only a fairly short length of film would have been involved. I doubt that there would have been room for a cabinet type loop system, running the film up and down on rollers behind the screen might just have been possible, but the doors would have been a problem, you couldn't have run it down to ground level. I suspect that it was just run on reels, and rewound; the shows certainly weren't continuous.

Something that I had mis-remembered was the aspect ratio, it seems to be less than 1 for each panel. How did they do it, increased frame height as with Cinerama/Kinopanorama, frame masked on the sides, full size frame with horizontally-running film? I've no idea. There seems to be a control desk behind the audience, which I don't remember, and also a large effects/slide projector of some sort with bars for mounting equipment on it, rather like an overgrown Aldis Tutor slide/strip projector, but there's no sign of control gear for any sort of arc; if it was incandescent then it must have been several kW from the size of the thing, and would have put a lot of heat on whatever it was projecting; metal gobos maybe, but I doubt that film, or glass plates could take it. The floor covering seems to be breaking up. Looking at it again,I'm not sure if it is breaking up, or it's supposed to be like that, some sort of strange crazy paving. Either way, It looks very odd, and I don't remember it being like that when I was there.

Do we have anybody here from Moscow that could find out? Or do we even have anybody that actually worked there. Can anybody who has seen the Disney system compare the two?

[ 10-05-2008, 08:19 AM: Message edited by: Stephen Furley ]

Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 10-05-2008, 10:06 AM:

quote: Bernard Tonks
I did see myself Circlorama at Piccadilly, and cannot say I was that over impressed due to the large black gaps between the screens. The best circular screen process I’ve seen was at Disney’s Epcot, which I think, was The Canadian Experience, using 9 projectors.

It is a few years since I last visited Epcot, but the Canadian attraction could still be running according to the website updated only two years ago.

Epcot- Canada: Experience the Great White North Disney-Style, Eh!

If you are interested in learning more about Canada, take a trip to O Canada!, the 360 degree theater. There you will find a Circle Vision film about the Canadian countryside, Canadian people and culture… you get the idea. The cool thing about Circle Vision is that it is actually filmed with multiple cameras so that you can have, literally, a 360 degree view. Admittedly, the film is a little outdated, but the breath taking shots over the Rocky Mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the snowy Rideau Canal in Ottawa are amazing.

The film itself is 22 minutes long, but it’s standing room only, although I believe they will allow wheelchairs. Strollers and other motorized carts will have to wait outside. The reason you will be standing is so that you can get a full view of all the screens- in front of you, to your left and right, as well as behind you. There are bars that you can lean on for balance because it can be a little disorienting getting used to this unique viewing format. If you miss the beginning of the show, you will have to wait outside (in a shaded, covered area) for the next show, so depending on your timing, the most you should have to wait is 22 minutes for the next show- it's a pretty big theater, and I've never had to wait for a second show, even during the busiest times.

web page

In the Maple Leaf Mine, the 360º Circle-Vision theatre shows the film "O Canada". After 20 years "O Canada" got a much needed update in 2007. Canadian native Martin Short is the host. His comedic talents combine with the vocals of Canada Idol winner Eva Avila giving this film a brand new feel. Some of the original circlevision movie is used. New footage was filmed at Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Niagara Falls. This is combined with current images provided by the Canada Tourism Commission. web page

[ 10-05-2008, 11:12 AM: Message edited by: Bernard Tonks ]

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 10-05-2008, 10:18 AM:

I think the O'Canada film has been redone semi-recently. I know that the Canada pavillion was refurbed not too long ago.

The China Pavillion also has a Circle-Vision 360 system (as John pointed out above).

The last time I was in these exhibits (probably within the last 2-years)...they were most definitely film based. Video projectors don't start up with that much racket! They are really quite noisy.

Steve