Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Mar 1954)

A Functional Setting for the “Wide-Screen” Picture The fifth and concluding article of “Theatres and the New Techniques” By BEN SCHLANGER Theatre Architect & Consultant throughout the technical progress of the motion picture, the main objective has been to increase the realism of the performance. If all of the conditions of real life could not be reproduced, it was hoped to represent the critical ones so convincingly that the spectator experienced sensations of real life, according to the effect desired by the film creators. CURTAIN SCHEME: Plan of screen area in half-sections to show two different treatments. The Zone C areas (see Figures K-l and K-3) can be treated with permanent finishes as described in the text. The Zone B areas may be made up of light framework covered with diffusive screen material to provide a luminous screen surround (structures for this purpose are available prefabricated to scale). In Scheme B (right-hand side of drawing) the curtain follows the curve of the screen, with use of movable dark masking to change projected picture sizes. While this is a practical method, it causes a break in the continuity of light intensity from the picture to its surrounding area. Scheme A is a method of avoiding this by employing secondary light projected in color by a stereopticon on to the surplus screen when a picture narrower than the screen is projected. If a screen surround of the "synchronous" type indicated abov& (illuminated by reflected light of the picture) is used, its surfaces should be included in areas covered by the stereopticon border when a picture less than screen width is projected. In Scheme A the curtain is indicated at the junction of Zones B and C, which should be the position with use of a "synchronous" luminous surround, for this position avoids a curtain pocket between it and the picture, where it would otherwise interfere with the luminous continuity of picture and surround. Increasing the picture size, as now being done with “wide-screen” technique in its various forms, contributes to that objective in a number of ways. Through wide-angle cinematography and stereophonic sound, it affects the production material itself. Then by virtue of its magnitude relative to the size of the audience, it gives the performance “presence” (in contrast to the traditional presentation, which made the picture seem remote), and it fills so much more of the field of vision than former practice allowed that less extraneous material (such as stage fittings, architectural devices, etc.) is included in the spectator’s view to undermine the illusion which the performance is trying to produce in his mind. The less there is of such extraneous material, the better chance the performance has to give a sense of real experience. While the scale of the performance introduced by “wide-screen” is a great advantage over that obtaining in the past, it cannot practicably occupy the entire field of vision. Horizontally, that field is normally 180°; fortunately, however, the effective field is considerably smaller than that, so that for a part of the audience, that nearer the screen, the picture can occupy enough of the field of vision to dominate it regardless of its immediate surroundings. OTHER AREAS AFFECTED But a large portion of an audience is too far away from the screen to be oblivious of the areas around it. Patrons at extreme sides are similarly involved in the influence of the surround. Another factor is head shift, which at various points in a performance may be demanded by “wide-screen” technique. Thus it is, that even though the effective visual angle is only about 60°, the surfaces around the screen and of forward walls and the ceiling of the auditorium (see Figure K-l) are properly subject to treatment that will reduce them to a minimum as visual competitors of the picture. These auditorium surfaces have become a part of the problem to a greater degree because there is a decided increase in the amount of light reflected from the larger screens on to the walls and ceiling. A way 18 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954