This is topic Happy Birthday CinemaScope in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 09-16-2004, 09:56 AM:
 
CinemaScope is 51 years old today. The Robe premiered on Sept 16, 1953 in New York City, and the world just seemed to get wider...

/Mitchell
 

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Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 09-16-2004, 10:14 AM:
 
between this and no school b/c we were supposed to get a tropcial storm b/c of Ivan.....it's time to party
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 09-16-2004, 10:23 AM:
 
Hey Mr. Moderator man.....shouldn't this be in yakity yack?
 

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Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 09-16-2004, 11:27 AM:
 
51 years of brighter more detailed images.
More than half a century of seeing the whole frame.


 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 09-16-2004, 11:29 AM:
 
As opposed to full frame silent, or 1.33, 1.66, etc.?
 

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Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 09-16-2004, 11:32 AM:
 
Daryl wins.

Thats what happens when I post 30 seconds after waking up.
 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 09-16-2004, 11:35 AM:
 
Yay! Daryl 1 - World 5,323,654,214,342

Sleeping past 9am, must be nice!
 

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Posted by Bill Langfield (Member # 818) on 09-16-2004, 01:40 PM:
 
Happy 51st CINEMASCOPE

Thank god WALL-TO-WALL cinemas have not killed it.
You know, those places that use top/bottom masking CLOSING in to go to 'scope' Oh great you watch the ads/trls in w/s, then the feature STAR WARS starts, and the picture shrinks by a 3rd.

Twits.

C/S might just hang in there as the 16:9 DVD (and [WS] TV) helps, keep the format alive.

There is nothing more I love, than when that last trailer finishes, screen blackout (as the turret is turning), then the FOX logo hits (with increased volume), and the masking slowing rolling out to 2:35.1. Oh what a feeling.

Bill.

DEAN: Take care from that storm. Been hearing about it for a few days.
 

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Posted by Peter Mork (Member # 1336) on 09-16-2004, 03:33 PM:
 
God loves all formats equally. I'm glad there's a choice.
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 09-16-2004, 03:56 PM:
 
Bill - I hate the wall-to-wall thing too, with the bigger flat image, but fortunately, the situation you describe rarely happens in US cinemas - the ads and previews are usually available in both flat and scope, so you don't have to change the format after the previews.
We had the same situation you have in Germany, where all the rolling stock and most of the previews come in flat, then we would also change lenses and move the masking. Since all of our cinemas had side masking, the "scope" effect would always happen, I liked that.
 

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Posted by Wayne Keyser (Member # 2420) on 09-16-2004, 09:00 PM:
 
I always thought it was a lot better as "Tohoscope," but then the popcorn always needed wasabi to go down well.
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 09-16-2004, 09:32 PM:
 
Have you seen a lot of "Tohoscope" pictures in the theatre?
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 09-16-2004, 10:00 PM:
 

quote: Daryl C. W. O'Shea

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As opposed to full frame silent, or 1.33, 1.66, etc.?

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quote: Mike Olpin

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Daryl wins.

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quote: Daryl C. W. O'Shea

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Uh, last I checked the standard silent aperture (in use from about 1899 to the late 20's) used the full frame.

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quote: Daryl C. W. O'Shea

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Odd that it took over 10 hours for someone to call me on it though.

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I just got home, and noticed it as soon as I read it.
 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 09-17-2004, 12:02 AM:
 
Nope, I'm just plain wrong again. I wish Thursday never happened. I don't think I said a single intelligent thing all day.
 

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Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 09-17-2004, 12:35 AM:
 
Yes, I have seen many TohoScope films in a theatre...
 

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Posted by Bill Langfield (Member # 818) on 09-19-2004, 02:37 PM:
 
John,

quote: John Wilson

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I almost agree with you about going into the feature, but I prefer a change-over than a turret change.

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I'd like that too, but you cant have 2 projectors for EVERY screen, it was ok in the days of twin cinemas. However Gezz, the turrets only take 1.7 seconds to turn, the black out is a nice way of saying the bullshit is over (slides/ads/trls) NOW here's the MOVIE

Bill.
 

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Posted by Ian Joseph Parfrey (Member # 2682) on 09-20-2004, 05:43 PM:
 
Scope is great.
70mm is better
THATS when the bullshit stops!

"I love the smell of oxide-shedding in the morning"
 

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Posted by Bill Langfield (Member # 818) on 09-21-2004, 11:43 AM:
 

quote:

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Scope is great.
70mm is better
THATS when the bullshit stops!

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Oh boy, IAN do I AGREE.

So what 70mm films have you been running/ran lately?

The last 70mm we had was Titanic. (before that it was 2001, I think that one is over forever)

We were going to run 'It's Mad Mad Mad World', the ratio was some weird shit, and required a special lens, so they opted out.(Yes JOHN, cheap asses)

Problem is it's all DTS only now, with two players set up in tandem, AND a dvd player running (for sound) in case of a sound drop out. (keeping them in sync is another matter)

When we have 70mm, we have two projectionist's on, and I make a point of sitting in the theatre for a few minutes to 'take in how good it looks'.

However I think the general public, can't tell the difference.

It's like the sound. Believe me, more cinema's are running in SR rather than SRD
(because the error rates suck)and no one says a word.
EDIT: Opps, ignore the ABOVE line, Cp500's are cool, Da20's suck.

Bill.
 

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Posted by Ian Joseph Parfrey (Member # 2682) on 09-21-2004, 05:39 PM:
 
Hi Bill.

It's been a long time between 70mm drinks, I'm afraid.
The last 70mm I ran was at the Village Centre Bourke St Melbourne.
And that was a 35mm blow up......The film?....A class bit of R rated Stallone called "Cobra". Man, what a waste!!
We had heaps of problems with the audio on that thing. If I remember rightly, the techo's thought it was the original encoding. It had a completely different recording system to anything else. Wasn't Dolby or Ultra Stereo but something different, can't remember the name.... might have been "Eagle Stereo". Anybody know what it was?

Compared to the likes of "Baraka" or "Hamlet", both SHOT in 65mm and screened in 70mm, that "Cobra" didn't stand a chance.
How did "Titanic" look? That was a Super 35 blow up, interesting to hear about the pic quality.
Totally agree with your sentiment about the public not noticing the difference. Is that because they haven't seen proper 70 too often?
At MIFF this year, we had a few probs with the error rates on SR.D. mainly due to chunks of emulsion ripped from the sprocket area from previous screenings. Blokes I have spoken to seem to think the error rates are higher on basement readers than the Dolby penthouses.
A cinema with a good speaker system and a properly aligned A chain can compare very favourably with SR.D. Mainly the ground noise that gives the game away, scratches, clicks and pops- that sort of thing.

I miss my Starlet! Come back, all is forgiven!
 

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Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 09-21-2004, 06:05 PM:
 
70mm lately ?????
Oh, God - it was 1999 last time: BARAKA (real thing) and OUT OF AFRICA (1:85 blow up, but beautiful) both prints quite worn, I'm afraid. The gear is still here, though. Only trouble is that every danish distributor is named Scrooge for second name.

Before those very last two, it was the restored SPARTACUS - something for the eye, but my CP65 had trouble making this one sound as great as the two old ones mentioned. (Shouldn't it be possible, even on a 65 ? Or is 70mmSR impossible on the small box) Before that, it was them all every second year as repertoire, until the prints were worn ut. Maybe one ught to do a list someday for the REEL THING ERA of Malling 1974-1999.
-Normally we had only one 70mm print of each available title in Denmark. Things fade - Just imagine, what a standard 2004 audience would do, if You closed the curtain after a couple of trailers and gave them a 3-4 minutes overture. STAMP, -they would ! - STAMP !
Those were the days - next step will be - or maybe retirement as an option.
 

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