Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1953)

182 I SAW CINEMASCOPE Our observant author of "Stereo Movies" now compares the two cycloramic projection systems — Cinerama and CinemaScope JACK E. GIECK, ACL In two previous articles (see January and March 1953) Movie Makers has described some of the technical aspects of Cinerama, a three-projector, cycloramicscreen projection system. Then, in my recent May article (see Stereo Movies — Novelty or Nonpareil?) , I discussed the merits and demerits of Hollywood's first true stereoscopic motion pictures. Each method is an aspect of the film capital's answer to the near-fatal tug of television. Since then, through the kindness of Kurtz Meyers, head of the Detroit Public Library's audio-visual department, I have been privileged to attend a press review of CinemaScope, 20th Century-Fox's life ring for the lonely box office. The Robe, that studio's first production in this new medium, is scheduled for release in October of this year. CINEMASCOPE VS. CINERAMA At first glimpse, CinemaScope seems to achieve many of the effects of Cinerama — but at far less cost, since it uses only one standard projector. It employs a huge curved screen, as does Cinerama, in combination with multiple-track stereophonic sound. Like Cinerama also, it appeals to one'9 peripheral vision to achieve the illusion of depth and to conjure up a "sense of participation" in the minds of the audience. Since these two motion picture innovations do employ similar staging, I believe fellow movie makers will be interested in a comparison of their methods, as well as an opinion concerning their relative effectiveness. To make such a comparison as objectively and as fairly as possible, I first attended a CinemaScope demonstration as a member of the audience, having seen Cinerama twice during the preceding month (the first time from the mezzanine, the second from the fourth row of the orchestra). After the demonstration, I went backstage to examine the screen and the multiple loudspeaker system, following which I went upstairs to the projection booth to look over the special projection and sound equipment. Here, I also talked t@ one of the CinemaScope technicians (N£Mascope screen size: TAND/WD SCREEN SIZE S 1 ' STEREOPHONIC SOUND OWES THREE-DIMENSIONAL EFFECT SO SOUND COMES FROM POINT OF OAIHN ON SCREEN CINEMASCOPE LENS ON PROJECTOR NEARLY THREE TIMES as wide as it is high, the CinemaScope Miracle Mirror screen is here compared to standard 3 by 4 aspect. and remained while the operators began the next showing. After the second showing got underway, I wandered about the theatre, observing the screen from various locations. Finally, I left the theatre for Detroit's Music Hall, where I watched the finale of another Cinerama performance and had a chat with one of the Cinerama technicians. Thus armed, I give you my report: THE "MIRACLE MIRROR" SCREEN When the red plush curtains of Detroit's Fox Theatre rolled apart they revealed a gently curving screen of monstrous size, almost filling the huge proscenium. Masked dimensions of this "Miracle Mirror" screen are 65 feet in length by 27 feet in height, a foot larger in each dimension than the arc of the Cinerama screen. But the CinemaScope screen is much flatter; the total "dish" is only 5 feet at the center. Cinerama's screen has a radius of curvature of about 25 feet and covers 146 degrees of arc, while the radius of the Miracle Mirror is equal to the length of throw from the projection booth — about 135 feet at Detroit's Fox Theatre. This means that the CinemaScope screen represents only about 28 degrees of arc. To reduce keystoning (the tendency for a picture to widen at the bottom because the down-coming projection beam, striking the vertical screen surface at an angle, spreads more at the screen's bottom than at its top), the CinemaScope screen is tilted backward at an angle of 6 degrees. Curving the broad screen prevents similar keystoning sidewise. In Detroit, the Cinerama projectors shoot upward at a slight angle, but this is compensated for optically. As previously reported, the Cinerama screen is composed of 1100 vertical strips of perforated whdte plastic tape. Setting each of these strips at the proper angle prevents reflection of light to the opposite side of the screen, where it would spoil the picture. Since it is so much flatter, the CinemaScope screen is not faced with this problem, but it is nonetheless novel. The front of the Miracle Mirror is a continuous surface of perforated fabric -which has been coated with an aluminized plastic. Into this plastic surface, millions of tiny concave mirrors have been embossed. These have somewhat the same effect as the glass (or plastic) beads on a Da-Lite or Radiant screen; that is, they reflect the light directionally toward the audience, instead of wasting much of it on the walls and ceiling of the theatre. It is, of course, well known that beaded screens serve a relatively narrow viewing angle (10 to 15 degrees on each side of the projection axis) ; but it is claimed that the mirrored surface of the CinemaScope screen covers the entire auditorium uniformly. To me, however, the picture appeared brighter from the balcony than from the main floor. SOME FAULTS OBVIATED The preview program opened with a few shots of a midget auto race, followed by several scenes of New York harbor. The picture was BIG — there is no denying it. A ferryboat which crossed the harbor in the fore