“Almost like a real web
site”
|
IN7OMM.COM
• Search |
Contact
• News |
e-News |
• Rumour Mill |
Stories
• Foreign Language
• in70mm.com auf Deutsch
WHAT'S ON IN 7OMM?
7OMM FESTIVAL
• Todd-AO Festival
• KRRR! 7OMM Seminar
• GIFF 70, Gentofte
• Oslo 7OMM Festival
• Widescreen Weekend
TODD-AO
• Premiere |
Films
• People |
Equipment
• Library |
Cinemas
• Todd-AO Projector
• Distortion Correcting
PANAVISION
• Ultra Panavision
70
• Super Panavision
70
|
|
VISION, SCOPE & RAMA
1926
Natural Vision
1929 Grandeur
1930 Magnifilm
1930 Realife
1930 Vitascope
1952 Cinerama
1953
CinemaScope
1955 Todd-AO
1955 Circle Vision
360
1956
CinemaScope 55
1957 Ultra
Panavision 70
1958 Cinemiracle
1958 Kinopanorama
1959 Super
Panavision 70
1959 Super Technirama 70
1960 Smell-O-Vision
1961 Sovscope
70
1962
Cinerama 360
1962 MCS-70
1963 70mm Blow Up
1963 Circarama
1963 Circlorama
1966 Dimension 150
1966
Stereo-70
1967 DEFA 70
1967 Pik-A-Movie
1970 IMAX / Omnimax
1974 Cinema
180
1974 SENSURROUND
1976 Dolby Stereo
1984 Showscan
1984 Swissorama
1986 iWERKS
1989 ARRI 765
1990 CDS
1994 DTS / Datasat
2001
Super Dimension 70
2018 Magellan 65
•
Various Large format
| 70mm to 3-strip |
3-strip to 70mm |
Specialty Large Format |
Special Effects in 65mm |
ARC-120 |
Super Dimension 70
| Early Large Format
• 7OMM Premiere in
Chronological Order
7OMM FILM & CINEMA
• Australia |
Brazil
• Canada |
Denmark
• England |
France
• Germany |
Iran
• Mexico |
Norway
• Sweden |
Turkey
• USA
LIBRARY
• 7OMM Projectors
• People |
Eulogy
• 65mm/70mm Workshop
• The 7OMM Newsletter
• Back issue |
PDF
• Academy of the WSW
7OMM NEWS
• 2026 | 2025 | 2024
• 2023 |
2022 |
2021
• 2020 |
2019 |
2018
• 2017 |
2016 |
2015
• 2014 |
2013 |
2012
• 2011 |
2010 | 2009
• 2008 | 2007 |
2006
• 2005 | 2004 |
2003
• 2002 |
2001 |
2000
• 1999 |
1998 |
1997
• 1996 |
1995 |
1994
|
in70mm.com Mission:
• To record the history of the large format movies and the 70mm cinemas
as remembered by the people who worked with the films. Both during
making and during running the films in projection rooms and as the
audience, looking at the curved screen.
•
in70mm.com, a unique internet based magazine, with articles about 70mm
cinemas, 70mm people, 70mm films, 70mm sound, 70mm film credits, 70mm
history and 70mm technology. Readers and fans of 70mm are always welcome
to contribute.
•
Disclaimer |
Updates
• Support us
• Testimonials
• Table of Content
|
|
|
Extracts and longer
parts of in70mm.com may be reprinted with the written permission from
the editor.
Copyright © 1800 - 2070. All rights reserved.
Visit biografmuseet.dk about Danish cinemas
|
| |
From Sweden to Seattle
Mission Report from The Big Screen 70MM Festival |
Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter
|
Written and photographed by: Anders M Olsson, Lund, Sweden |
Date:
06.10.2013 |
A hotel room with a view.
During the 1950s and '60s when
Cinerama was at
its top popularity, it would have been virtually impossible to travel the
world and visit all the 3-strip Cinerama theaters. There were hundreds of
them. Today there are only three left, not counting one or two private
facilities that are not open to the public.
I had already visited Bradford and
Los Angeles (Hollywood), and the only one
remaining was Seattle. This year (2013) I got the chance to go there, to
make my "collection" of current day Cinerama cinemas complete.
The Cinerama movie theater in Seattle is perhaps the most convenient of the
three to reach by plane. From the airport it's only a 35 minutes train ride
to downtown Seattle. Walk north a couple of blocks from Westlake Station,
and you're there. It's also very easy to find somewhere to stay. There are
lots of good hotels within walking distance. I stayed at The Warwick Hotel
which is so close to the cinema that it's almost too good to be true.
|
More in 70mm reading:
Från Sverige till Seattle Mission Report från
The Big Screen 70MM Festival
From Sweden to Seattle Gallery
Seattle Cinerama 70mm Film Festival 2013
Rare, Classic Films to Screen at
Seattle Cinerama Theatre
Brief Cinerama report
from Dave Strohmaier
Seattle's Cinerama Theatre is
getting technical upgrade
Internet link:
seattlecinerama.com
|
The theater itself is pretty ugly on the outside. The building looks just
like a big, over-sized box. Once you're inside, it gets better. It's not
remarkably beautiful, but it's functional, and the seats are comfortable.
The Big Screen 70MM Film Festival is not
an annual event. It's arranged with some irregularity, slightly at random it
seems. The last time was two years ago. Compared to other festivals, it's a
pretty basic event. They take a selection of 70mm and Cinerama films and run
them straight through without any special fanfare. There are no
introductions, no lectures, no guest artists, no program booklets, no
souvenirs, no surprises, only the movies and an awful lot of popcorn. With
that in mind, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the audience is 99%
locals.
The entire festival ran for 2½ weeks, but I only stayed for the final week.
More wasn't needed since most movies were shown at least twice. With only
one or two movies a day on the program, it was essential to find other
things to see and do. Luckily, the town offers many tourist attractions and
many great eateries and cafes. Starbucks has its headquarters here, so
there's a Starbucks at almost every street corner.
| |
On the very first day I met
Matt Lutthans who spared no
effort during the week to make sure that I had a good time in Seattle. Matt
is well-known amongst Cinerama fans. Some 15 years ago, he formed The
Cinerama Society of Seattle and campaigned for saving the cinema when it was
threatened by demolition. Billionaire Paul G. Allen (one of Microsoft's
founders) heard of the effort, bought the theater and had it refurbished.
The 70mm program started with a few of my favorite movies: Baraka, 2001: A
Space Odyssey, Vertigo, and The Sound of Music, and one not so favorite -
Patton. I had to skip Lawrence of Arabia to take care of my jetlag.
Just like in Bradford, the theater has two screens, one "flat" (which isn't
really flat, but slightly curved) for regular films and a deeply curved
Cinerama-screen. But unlike Bradford, where you just press a button, it's a
complicated and time-consuming procedure to switch between the two. I
expected the 70mm films to be shown on the flat screen, but to my delight,
everything was projected on the curve.
| |
The Cinerama Theatre as seen from my hotel room.
Most of the 70mm movies looked great on the Cinerama-screen reaching all the
way down to the floor, but it should be noted that even though the screen is
"louvered" (made up of a number of vertical stripes), the louvers are angled
incorrectly so that they do not cancel out any cross reflections. A single
sheet screen would have worked better. As it looks now, you get all the
disadvantages of the louvered screen but none of its benefits.
The main projection booth is quite small considering that it must hold two
regular 35/70mm projectors, one digital projector and the center ("Baker")
Cinerama projector. They solved it by putting the projectors on rails so
that you can move one machine at a time up to the projection window. In
addition, there are two more booths for the Cinerama side projectors.
| |
Approximately 10 minutes before the intermission,
2001: A Space Odyssey was
interrupted, and the house lights came on. Apparently a member of the
audience had fallen ill, so an ambulance must be called. The paramedics
arrived within minutes and took him to the hospital. We were told that he
had been well taken care of before the show could eventually continue. Then
the projectionist did something very rare and commendable. He rewound a few
minutes and restarted the reel so that the audience wouldn't have to miss
anything.
The festival came to its conclusion with two movies in true three-projector
Cinerama: How the West Was Won and This is Cinerama. To me, they were the
highlight of the festival, but I regret to say that the screenings weren’t
perfect. In addition to the cross reflection problem, there were some
serious focusing issues with the Able and Charlie projectors. Cinerama
should be razor sharp, but in this case it was not. Also, This is Cinerama
had a very noisy soundtrack.
There are only three places in the world where you can see real
three-projector Cinerama, and Seattle has the potential to become the very
best of them. The festival deserves better than to be just a local matter
for the people who live here. Like its "siblings" in Bradford and Los
Angeles, the cinema should be able to attract fans from all over the world.
And I think it might, with some proper marketing, associated events, and
attention to the technical shortcomings.
| |
|
|
Go: back - top
- back issues -
news index Updated
21-01-24 |
|
|