International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1955)

le individual screens. This leeway is obtained by using variablefocus "Expanso" lenses manufactured by the Pacific Optical Co. The camera system for shooting the Circarama show presented fewer problems than the projection system. Eleven of the Cine Kodak 16-mm The Circarama cameras are shown above mounted on a platform so that each of the eleven cameras covers one segment of a complete circle. Most of the shots were taken with the above rig fastened to the top of an automobile. cameras were mounted on a turntable so as to point in all directions and then synchronized to each other. The cameras were activated by eleven separate drive shafts linked together in sync by means sprocket chain. Most of the sequences were photographed at 24 frames per second, but one special scene was photographed at eight frames per second to give the illusion of speeding down Wiltshire Boulevard in Los Angeles at 90 miles per hour. The sequences were usually photographed with the turntable rig fastened securely to the top of a station wagon. All sequences were shot on Commercial Kodachrome film. "Trip to the Moon" Another Disneyland feature that makes imaginative use of motion pictures and special sound effects is the "Trip to the Moon," sponsored by Transworld Airlines. After being "briefed" for 15 minutes in another small theatre by means of a film that describes what rocket ships and interplanetary travel will probably be like, "passengers" are conducted by a TWA hostess into a room built to resemble what experts believe the interior of a rocket ship will look like 50 years or so from now. The "trip" to the moon is accomplished You may offer free parking . . . Jj| Your usherettes may ^j^£ be the smartest . .. -trinnor ±—i — innnp £D£Jpp£f^<~ v— v r^r v — imr-)r^ BUT EVERY PERFORMANCE STILL MUST BE PERFECT! A perfect performance calls for equipment that rolls in top shape from earliest matinee to midnight show. The best man to keep it that way is an expert RCA Theatre Service Engineer. And he's the only man who's backed by all the broad technical resources of RCA. RCA SERVICE COM PA NY, INC. A Radio Corporation of America Subsidiary Camden, N. J. by means of synchronized rear projection into two "scanners" inside the "rocket ship." A narrator introduces himself as a TWA captain and explains that the first 42 seconds of the flight will be too noisy for conversation due to the rushing tail blast. Then he announces Circarama's electronic nerve center. The control panel at left signals automatically when the film breaks or a bulb burns out on any of the projectors. The control unit makes a complete electronic test after each presentation to insure that all units are in working order before it frees the mechanism for the next showing. The unit at right is the Kinevox Sound Reproducer. that the ship has passed the speed of sound and will shortly reach a velocity of 38 miles per second. Background sound effects provide realism. The audience hears the radio from the tower, then the sound of the "blast off," radio bearing signals and additional rocket thrusts. The "captain," acting as if all this were normal, carries on his narration of the flight. Powerful Illusion Created While the "passengers" feel an artifically-stimulated vibration of their seats, they watch the "scanner" in the center of the floor. This is actually a rear projection movie screen. They see the flame of the rockets and the receding Southern California coast line. Then they look up at another "scanner" above their heads to watch the space ships progress through layers of clouds and into the outer atmosphere. Through the scanners they watch the ship circle the moon and return to earth. A small plastic model of the moon, reproducing craters and other landmarks as faithfully as possible was used in filming this sequence. A third attraction at Disneyland which makes effective use of motion pictures is a show sponsored by the Richfield Oil Co. A CinemaScope cartoon presents a capsule history of how the earth was formed billions 32 INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST • SEPTEMBER 1955