American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1963)

Phenomena such as the Beta Lyra star, with its spiral-shaped luminous trail, the Super Nova (an exploding star) and the Andromeda galaxy were created by means of multi-plane ani¬ mation techniques using glass “cels” up to five feet square. The coloring for these heavenly objects was derived from authentic color photographs taken at Mt. Wilson Observatory. A dense celestial cloud of wispy gas — called Lagoon Nebuls — was simulated by con¬ structing a large wire tunnel, which was sprayed first with artificial cob¬ webs and then with prismatic colors of blue and red. It was built in break¬ away sections so that the camera could move through it. With filming now underway, facili¬ ties had to be adapted for processing and printing. Because of the non¬ standard characteristics of the raw stock it was necessary for Technicolor to modify its 70mm friction drive posi¬ tive machine to negative processing. Lin Dunn, Don Weed and William Liittschwager combined efforts to con¬ vert a Model J Bell & Howell continu¬ ous printer to 70mm for the printing of dailies and release prints. Special film-handling equipment, such as gang synchronizers, splicers, etc., was built by Benson-Lehner. It developed that optical printing would be necessary to superimpose the main images of the planets over the star backgrounds and to create other special effects. For this Film Effects of Hollywood designed and built a special optical printer. This incorporated a second Benson-Lehner camera set-up for bi-packing and a newly-built pro¬ jection head. So that experimentation in the pro¬ jection phase might continue during production, the complete dome and projection system were set up on Stage 10 of Hal Roach Studios, in Culver City, Calif., this being the only avail¬ able building in Los Angeles having sufficient ceiling clearance to accomo¬ date the installation. Two months be¬ fore opening of the Fair the dome and equipment were dismantled and ship¬ ped to Seattle for installation. A sound system was incorporated, consisting of a four-track Ampex 35mm tape trans¬ port synchronized to the two projectors with a switching circuit to tie in to the particular projector in operation. The dome was suspended from the ceiling within the square building so that the axis had a 10-degree incline normal to the 10-degree slope of the 26 YEARS OF QUALITY REVERSAL PROCESSING • Specialists in high speed or standard reversal processing • Security clearance • Free Vacuumating • Films returned same day • Customer extra service: Special prices on Eastman & du Pont Reversal Film Area Code 301 — 422-4333 NATIONAL CINE LABORATORIES WASHINGTON 17, D. C. ■ ■■■■■ tiered audience area within the audi¬ torium. It was intended that the audi¬ ence should stand during the showing, for which hand-rails were provided. The projection booth was elliptical in shape and centered to the dome. The projection lens extended from the booth at a height to provide a clear throw to the screen. Cinerama oper¬ ated the exhibit during the entire run of the Fair using a crew of six pro¬ jectionists in three shifts, and giving 33 continuous performances a day for 184 days without any down-time due to equipment malfunctions. Twenty re¬ lease prints were used in over 6,000 performances for an average of 264 performances per print. Meanwhile, “Journey to the Stars” continues to thrill visitors to Seattle’s Spacearium, which is now part of a permanent science exhibit established after close of the 1962 Fair. Reduced to 35mm format and projected on a 30-foot dome, the film recently played to more than 40,000 people at a space show presented by the Lytton Center of Visual Arts in Hollywood. It will also be a special attraction at the forth¬ coming Los Angeles Home Show. ■ ROLL CUE! Continued from Page 342 verbal directions are done in a falsetto voice to distinguish them from the recorded cue text. The scenes are now ready to be shot. The tape is rewound to a predeter¬ mined start and, after the sync re¬ corder has attained speed, the cam¬ eras are rolling, and everything is properly slated, the director gives the command, “Roll cue! ’ At this point, the recorder begins to play back the pre-recorded text of the script, feed¬ ing it to the talent by means of a con¬ cealed hearing aid earphone, thus pro¬ viding aural prompting or cueing and making unnecessary the conventional “idiot cards” or mechanical prompting device for this purpose. With a minimum of practice, the talent can follow the cue playback and stay about a half-sentence behind it in his delivery. Moreover, he can maintain better “eye contact” with the camera lens, his overall perform¬ ance is improved, and retakes are cut to a minimum. 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