vistavision vs technicolor

This next video shows us how the Technirama process was done and how it was different from its competitors: Technirama worked for a time, but it didnt solve the challenges that the dye-transfer process presented. Your email address will not be published. Seems that other VistaVision films can still be seen in selected special cinemas in the USA. The first such marks will appear approximately 5 feet in from the start of the reel and the second set of marks will appear 8 feet in from the start of the reel. Technicolor, Hollywood (CA), USA (color) Film Length : Negative Format : 35 mm (horizontal) (Eastman 25T 5248) Cinematographic Process : Digital Intermediate (4K) (2020 remaster) VistaVision Printed Film Format . "The Story of VistaVision" by Keith Wilson, This page was last edited on 23 December 2022, at 02:00. All re-recording will be to a single-sound-track magnetic master which will have been re-recorded (dubbed) with monaural monitoring. Were in a golden age of TV writing and development. The Wizard of Oz doesnt start in color though. Heres director Francis Ford Coppola talking about his perspective on Technicolor. The picture negative is Eastman Mazda color taking stock. Cameras with the sensor are Red Ranger Monstro, DSMC2 Monstro, and Panavision DXL2. This includes lenses down to 24 mm, which will give a photographic angle of coverage slightly above 75 degrees. For a 1.85/1 picture, the top of the picture as seen on the screen should just cut the line. The control units for Perspect-a-Sound will be available from Westrex and other manufacturers. The camera numbered VistaVision #1, used on Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments, films by Alfred Hitchcock, and others, was offered at auction on September 30, 2015, by Profiles in History with an estimated value of US$30,000 to $50,000, with a winning bid of US$65,000. We have now arrived at a turning point where the product has been markedly improved, and if the theaters are to gain the advantage of this improvement they must have good equipment. In addition to the movies not having the distortion of anamorphic, VistaVision provided an option for filmmakers and theaters that wanted a widescreen experience that didnt sacrifice height or width and could be easily presented nationwide. Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by benjaminhuf, Mar 18, 2012. The variable prismatic expander lens, such as manufactured by Tushinsky also has the capability of projecting any ratio of squeeze, from a ratio of 1/1 to 3/1, if anyone ever produces a picture for such a wide aspect ratio. The most important feature of VistaVision is the large negative and its optical reduction to the standard print. Create robust and customizable shot lists. The color was enhanced through the use of a special development process that was used to good effect in films such as The Vikings (1958) and The Music Man (1962). If the picture is being projected in the aspect ratio of 1.85/1, the projectionist will frame on the dashed line, and if the picture is to be projected in the aspect ratio of 2/1, framing should be on the little dot below the dashed line. Unlike most other types of filmmaking, the VistaVision camera process involves turning the film stock on its side, so that the perforations are at the top and bottom of the image (instead of on the left and right). Enter The Wizard of Oz perhaps the most famous Technicolor movie of all time. New film formats were coming out around this time and filmmakers had new ways to shoot their movies without having to rely on movie studios. slightly less depth of field than vertical pulldown 35mm. VistaVision squeezed prints will carry a standard photographic sound track with control track for Perspect-a-sound. For VistaVision directional sound it is only necessary to have three loudspeakers, as shown by A, B, and C, Figure 4. By the early 21st century, computer-generated imagery, advanced film scanning, digital intermediate methods and film stocks with higher resolutions optimized for special effects work had together rendered VistaVision mostly obsolete even for special effects work. A three-color process that used a split-cube prism to expose three independent strips of film that would capture either red, green or blue. Many VistaVision cameras were sold off internationally beginning in the early 1960s, which led to a significant number of VistaVision format productions (which did not use the trade name) in countries such as Italy and Japan from the 1960s to 1980s. Not only is The Wizard of Oz enshrined in the annals of cinema history for its production design, but for its technical brilliance as well. It is our opinion that this move will give greater dramatic effectiveness, greater simplicity and greater flexibility, at a lower cost and with less service trouble than any other multi-horn system. In studies made by Paramount we find that seams become more apparent with time. VistaVision release prints will play in any theater anywhere in the world with an improvement in picture quality. A two-color process that used subtractive complementary colors onto a single strip of film. DRIVE-IN PRESENTATION OF VISTAVISION FILMS. It was Paramount's decision then, as it is today, that the 2.66/1 aspect ratio is too wide for its height. After the 1956 delivery by Mitchell Camera Corporation, the converted Technicolor Three-Strip cameras immediately became obsolete, and were surplus to Technicolor's operations. An effort is being made to relieve the present critical shortage by working out modifications for the standard NC and BNC cameras so as to have double-frame film movements. With VistaVision on a screen 50 feet wide, the seating will be acceptable down to 25 feet from the screen and will be very satisfactory at 38 feet from the screen. At the time, Technicolor cameras required incredibly bright lights to work as intended. The light level used on interior sets is between 350 and 600 foot-candles, with most shots running between 400 and 500 foot-candles. In the 21st century, color in film typically falls under the domain of color grading and color correction. Enter Technirama: an anamorphic process with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Well, it takes a bit of explaining, so if you can, please join us as we look into the origins of VistaVision, what it was like, and why it still matters today. In this case the picture composition will not be as good as the picture composition from a VistaVision standard print which has been "cropped" from top to bottom. However, the theaters should vary from these defined ratios as required to fill the screen. VistaVision allowed patrons to see more and therefore gain more enjoyment out of a feature. I thought it was Technicolor, as I remember reading that they used Technicolor's optical printer at one stage of preparing VistaVision prints. in English from Florida International University, along with certificates in Film Studies and Asian Studies. As indicated before, All VistaVision release prints will have standard photographic sound tracks which will play on any existing standard optical sound heads. VistaVision standard prints can be projected in any theater in the world with an improvement in picture quality. When providing prints for theaters, nothing special was required, as the movies would be copied onto regular 35mm film that could be shown at any theater that had a widescreen (which, by 1954, was most of them). This scene is squeezed horizontally in the squeeze ratio of 2/1 which gives a negative image in the aspect ratio of 1.33/1. The VistaVision system has a large gain in depth of field if the image height is maintained the same as on standard photography. Persons outside of Paramount who are interested in the purchase of cameras should make their inquiries directly to the camera companies and any orders for cameras should be placed with these companies. But many were left traumatized or sick including the original Tin Man actor Buddy Ebsen, who was poisoned from the silver make-up. It is contemplated that we shall derive the same benefit on black and white pictures that we are now gaining in color photography. - VistaVision. The first of these, Cinerama, debuted in September 1952, and consisted of three strips of 35mm film projected side-by-side onto a giant, curved screen, augmented by seven channels of stereophonic sound. This was well before the shooting of the first CinemaScope picture, and well before the theaters were equipped with 2/1 expander lenses. A lot of studios didnt think it was worth the time or energy. Paramount has already photographed background projection, inserts, special effects, miniatures, etc., with the VistaVision camera. VistaVision is a high-resolution widescreen process that uses 35mm film. One look at a good seamless screen, as compared to a screen with seams, is all that is necessary to convince anyone that a screen with bad seams should never be used. It was pointed out to the Motion Picture Research Council and the motion picture industry in a letter dated February 11, 1953. Mitchell VistaVision Cameras . This recommendation still stands. The rich colors often associated with VistaVision films such as "The Searchers" and "Vertigo" is a byproduct of Technicolor's dye transfer printing process which is a non-photochemical process and was entirely . This process is a predecessor of today's Super 35 format which also uses a 1.85:1 ratio, but uses one-third more frame area than a standard 1.85:1 matted into a 4:3. Marlon Brandos only directorial effort, One-Eyed Jacks (1961), was the last of the VistaVision films Paramount Pictures produced. This video shows how Disney pulled off a miracle through technical expertise: Theres no doubt about it, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a masterpiece of its time and one of the best animated movies of all time. Briefly, the VistaVision process includes new wider angle lenses to give greater scope on the big screens; new cameras through which the 35 mm negative travels horizontally eight sprocket holes per frame (instead of 4) giving a negative image with an area of nearly three times the area of the standard negative image. No more VistaVision in use today, at least not for film. As the years went by, fewer and fewer movies used Technicolor. In CinemaScope projection, the image passes through an anamorphic expander lens which expands the image in the ratio of 2/1. This is not hindsight. By using a different sized aperture plate and wider lens, a normal Academy ratio film could be soft matted to this or any other aspect ratio. He cant stop talking about aspect ratios. The negative was "scribed" with a new form of cue mark, made at the start of each 2000-foot (610 m) reel. Motion picture studios expend hundreds of thousands of dollars in a meticulous effort to deliver the best possible technical quality along with good entertainment. Technicolor is a series of processes used to first produce color in motion pictures. In considering cropping, most people think of a possible quality loss from the cropped print. We are not prepared to make a definite recommendation at this time. Technicolor is modifying a number of their three-strip cameras for VistaVision double-frame horizontal exposure of a single negative. As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissionsfrom qualifying purchases from Amazon.com. Less expensive anamorphic systems such as CinemaScope and the more expensive 70mm format became standard during the later 1950s and 1960s. PRODUCTION TECHNIQUE WITH VISTAVISION PICTURE. Nevertheless, in 2008, ILM was still using the format in some production steps, such as for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and a VistaVision camera was used in the semi-trailer flip scene in The Dark Knight when there were not enough IMAX cameras to cover all the angles needed for the shot. A compressed print is shown in Figure 3. While this process is behind why the image quality was so good, it also meant that the film stock would run out twice as fast. But although many knew about the changes, few had seen them all put together in a single picture. Just as VistaVision had a few flagship engagements using 8-perf horizontal contact prints and special horizontal-running projectors, there is a bit of evidence[citation needed] that horizontal prints were envisioned for Technirama as well (probably with 4-track magnetic sound as in CinemaScope), but to what extent this was ever done commercially, if at all, remains unclear. The angle of tilt should not be over 1/3 the projection angle, and the writer is opposed to tilting the screen over 5 degrees. If the picture is being projected in the old 1.33/1 aspect ratio, the projectionist will frame with the top frame line just above the top of the projected picture as in the past. Several manufacturers are supplying adapter lenses to be used on old long focal length lenses in place of supplying good new short focal length lenses. What color stock were films like The Searchers, The Ten Commandments, and To Catch a Thief shot on? Available for both RF and RM licensing. Of these three types of lenses, the prismatic type is the only one that can be made variable. The steps of the VistaVision process are explained in the following paragraphs under: 4. In the VistaVision process standard camera lenses are used in photography and a standard (non-squeezed) large negative image is obtained. However, VistaVision caught a true second wind during the New Hollywood era of the 1970s. What is Technicolor? Were here to help. One of the objectives of VistaVision is to FILL THE SCREEN. This is in keeping with the recommendation made earlier in this writing. Any producers desiring to use the VistaVision trade-mark must agree to abide by such quality requirements as are deemed necessary by Paramount. VistaVision could be (and most often was) further printed down to standard vertical 35mm reels keeping its 1.66:1 widescreen aspect ratio, which meant exhibitors did not need to purchase additional projection equipment, unlike CinemaScope. Today, dozens of Technicolor cameras still exist, dormant and rusty from lack of use. 118 related topics. It may be a relic of a bygone era, but like CinemaScope, its influence can still be felt today. In the 1/1 position these lenses will project standard prints either of the old standard type or the VistaVision standard type. If the theater is to take full advantage of the improved quality of the VistaVision print, the theater must have good projection equipment and a LARGE SEAMLESS SCREEN. De Mille's 'The Ten Commandments' (1956). ; ; ; ; ; ; ; We believe that in our use of the VistaVision process we have selected the best ratio of negative area to positive area for motion picture making. A group of young filmmakers wanted to use the format to film visual effects shots in their upcoming science-fantasy movie. The 75 degree angle is wider than that used in any other motion picture process, except Cinerama and Todd-AO. However, screen height may also be limited in balcony houses by the maximum height that can be seen from the back row of the main floor where the sight line is eclipsed by the overhang of the balcony. These markings are to be made less apparent than change-over markings and are to be used by the projectionist in gaining proper framing in the projection of VistaVision pictures. Theater supply companies have tables and can recommend the proper focal length lens to give the desired picture width. You may not be able to make a film in Technicolor anymore, but that doesnt mean that there arent tools available to make great use of color in your films. Five months later, in February 1953, Twentieth Century Fox announced that they would soon be introducing a simpler version of Cinerama using anamorphic lenses instead of multiple film strips; a widescreen process that soon became known to the public as CinemaScope. How to Use Color in Film [w/ Free E-book] , The Ultimate Guide to Call Sheets (with FREE Call Sheet Template), How to Break Down a Script (with FREE Script Breakdown Sheet), The Only Shot List Template You Need with Free Download, Managing Your Film Budget Cashflow & PO Log (Free Template), A Better Film Crew List Template Booking Sheet, Best Storyboard Softwares (with free Storyboard Templates), Best Spike Lee Movies and TV Shows Ranked for Filmmakers, What is Practical Lighting in Film? Although the clarity of these 8-perf prints was striking, they were used only for premiere or preview engagements between 1954 and 1956 and required special projection equipment. In adapting theaters for Perspect-a-sound, it is not necessary to make any changes on the projection machines. Its easy to forget just how different the filmmaking process was then compared to now. What is VistaVision, you ask? Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. In this case the Drive-lns should gain in screen illumination and also gain slightly by the larger projected images of the players. In the CinemaScope process the sides of the picture are cropped down (to make room for the magnetic stereophonic sound tracks) so that the final aspect ratio of the picture when projected is in the ratio of 2.55/1. If the framing is incorrect, he will make a correction and gain a check observation by viewing the second framing signal. Further, these same prints can play with stereophonic sound in theaters having Perspect-a-sound control equipment. White Christmas, Strategic Air Command, To Catch a Thief, Richard III, and The Battle of the River Plate had very limited (two or three) prints struck in the 8-perf VistaVision format in which they were shot. Substitutes Johnstone . Today, Technicolor is perhaps more known for the end result of the coloring process than the process itself. VistaVision is a high-resolution widescreen process that uses 35mm film. In theaters where the screen width is limited to under 30 feet, and where there is adequate height, we recommend a screen aspect ratio of 1 66/1, reducing the height only when necessary for good viewing. vistavision vs technicolor. Paramount suggests PERSPECT-A STEREOPHONIC SOUND for the very large theaters and for use by exhibitors who feel that they should have a stereophonic or directional effect. Complete camera specifications on a proposed new camera were mailed last October to all camera manufacturers. The oval will then be expanded to a circle in projection by the variable prismatic expander lens. But by this point, and for the first time, Technicolor filmmaking was made widely possible. By 1950, there were more than a few competitors carving out Technicolors market share. 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A group of young filmmakers wanted to use the format to film effects.