fECflllIRAfilA sPEctAtI ii TECHNIRAMA SPECIAL Supplemenl ro KINE,IiATOGRApH WEEKLY

EIEE 4L ciz-rA, - L i..- I

aY 30.1957 tv TECHNIRAMA SPECIAL Supplement to KTNETAATOGRAPH WEEKLY t ,MOST IMPORTA]YT FORM OF POPT]LAR E]YTERTAIIYI,TETYT'

f2.0 and these rnav be used wide open i-t necessary really big money will be taken in cinemas specially to photograph ai very low lighting levels.- designed or refitted to show fi1ms with the very optimum quality of picture and sound, coupled, I-n the-studio it is quite-f2.8 convenient and I economical to work at for med,ium and long of course, with personal comfort for the audience. ihots and to stop down to about f4;0 for crlose- Such shows (inappropriately at present called uos if it is desired to hold the backciround reason- road shows) would piovide for extended runs of a6lv sharo. A noteworthv point is the extraordin- good films in large centres o,f population before ariiv fine' definition, greai depth and freedom -general release. froin distortion right out to the very edges ot Technirama has been designed with this in Yiew the frarne. and double-frame positive prints, made directly This enables the director to take full advantage from doublerframe negative, such as was used for of the verv wide field of view for developing the the Dremiere of " The Monte Carlo Story " in action ana t"tting the story, at the same time being Turii in December, 1956, give a pictorial quality close enoush to ihe artists to see clearly the eyes, on the screen which has not yet been faciaI expiession and imporlant details. The aonroached'ihis bv anv other means. director ivorking with Technirama for the-fl-rst kind of qdatity, plus high fidelity multi- t-ime- ioon realisEs that this obviates the need for channel sound, intelligently used, will re-estab- covering lish the colour film in its rightfu[ place as the most manr individual close-ups and other focus result that he achieves more screen important form of entertainment fo'r the general Technicolor Technirama camera wilh coupleil shoti. with the 2,000 ft. magazines ii-J'oei Aav and finds that inst€ad o,f using twice public. anamorphic lens and as mirch negative rawstock, as one would expect, he is only using 50 to 60 per cert' more than normal photographv. There is room for study of this special adv-an- taee bv directors and it is expected that, when thls if fullv understood and exploited, it will actuallv be iess expensive to shoot in Technira-ma GREATEST ADVAI\CE SINCE ihan iri ordinaiv, standard photography. In other words.'set-ups the savine in shooting time because ot fewer could more tlan offset the.Hlodest inJreate ln'cost of negative rawstock and develop- THE COMING OF SOI.]I{D "t"orr,nn orocedure for a Technirama film is simie a"nd very economical. CinemaScopetype says IACK CARDIFF iusties ire maie in either black and white or colour. If black and white is chosen for reasons TN this crazv rnixed-up world of muddled Here is an all-round development to satisfy -economv. be- And that means oi then colour " autopilots " can I ratio,s and confused presentation tech- all three sections of the industry. made bv oiihtins a short section of the action od r positive progress. preceded slate for that niques, to use the idiom of our American ' ',thJ ca-erannan's point of view it is aiiieqiriiea ta[e, bv the ,the greatest with From narticular scene. cousins, Technirama is truly esoeciallv welcome because it is a development '-ttris. uuio-pilots are admirable for- checking the mostest on the ball. wiLh oldntv of suts. We gave Technirama a fact, all-the cololrr values in a scene and, if they are ['ve seen a hundred " developments " come stiff t'est 5n " Geend of the Lost." In iubsequentlv joined up, more or less in the correct go. seen " progressive had we',planned it-l don't think it could have guide and. mostlv, I've filrmed in the Sahara deser't' i""iir'ritv, ihey prouide an excellent to.the outlooks." I've- seen the " ultimate tech- been toughet. We Laheraman and Technicolor. when 500 m,iles from civilisation. grading film for mood nioue." the ultimate death. I've seen a dozen The elements fought us with the ferocitv- of a ileciding"i.arErl-the on the of the glow of before answer Drintlng. " inventions " bloom in the hot mad doe- On one oicasion \ile were trapped in a --Another is the separa- advanced publicity and wilt in the heat of fierce sa-iidstorm which forced grit, dirt and sand ooiirt worih noting that primitive tion masters required for making. dissolves, since studio practice. behind rhe ,prism. Although we had only thev are made bn an optical printer, need only t've ieen enoush to rob me of my enthusiasm facilir.ies wre stripped and cleaned the came-ra in- traa in rrorkine order in titne for the te ltightty longer than the net Length. of the cut-rn and turn me inio a hard, embittered cynic inA it lilm believing in anvthing which is l.abelled neit day's shooting. Since we saw no rushes optical dupe; on an average -thls. .results.ln capablei'orosress of a-savinq of about f1,000 compared wlln ma-xrn-g " or " ihe ultimate technique." we livedon faith from tha,t daY on' length of the scenes invotved, 'Anf, now Technirama. Since it was a Techni- Now I have slarted work on " The Viking " masters- the full Technirama, course. To do this I which is the usual Practice' color development I must conf,ess I had more of !qv-e -; i"itt in its iromised abilitv than most. Having asain-in Dostponed'my directorial chances. J think So much for the financial and teqhnical aspects sdine be woith waiting for because rnean' film as compared wltr now corno'leted one film in the system, " I-egend ifis io of making a Technirama the L6st." can rtruthf'ully say I regard this while- we are experiencing the greatest photG' i"t"ni photographv; the more these of I And I want to com- as the greatest technical and artistic development sraohic revolution of all time. iactors-are"iaiiirii' examined in detail the more 6e i part of tha,t revolution' ^oii"u"dt. tti"v appeii to be. But when we con-sider since ithe coming of sound. iriij-iit--i-pir*ifii question of the qualitv .of the release prints that are shown to the ultlmate ;1;6;"ft-i; thi-world's cinemas, then Techni- iami stands in a class bf itself. Technirama release prints are usually ot tne unirn-irtl" iype,'theaties comdatible wi[h CinemaScope' tiil'i"i- itto".6 that have- not been A;ipi;d wiih anamorphic- projector lenses' nort- ariarirbrphic or unsqueezed prints can be made.' print made (via matrlces, These tivo types o'f are Jack Cardifr (teft) fiom the oridnal negative onlY' ''ttr".'-*i-Tvoid degradation of who will introduce . tEe shocking the presentation of colour. definition, gTadation, grain'-etc', seer.all prints are made trom ln-ter- " The Curtain Rises too o,fien when bad on ;;ii".;: Ttrli oeiirioration of colour film values on Technirama " opinion' a maio'r. factor June l, discusses i;";i;;;; piiittlt, in mv points new black-and-white- films durlng.tn€ on the in the retdrn to prlnl process with Hans Dast vear or two. A degraded co'lour -IS pdnt view. of the Nieter, director of fi'.i,in'Jit ., irom tne of the demonstration fiIm ii,?i?i"ii,inZn even a pobr black-and'white print' '"ii;;;-td film exeiutives would take. the.time iffiuri"i"'iii the films on which thev ]uvq fir'itii"a-roritii-il care and unlimited expense at loc-al ;;:;;;; n; io iei sn co unt rles then so mtthi n g -wgu$ il"ii;;1";b;;i"itre oeptoratte-to travesties o'f their Hirni-;i,;i;* ohered the ultimate customers in their names ! '"#ir; ii'tti'tutu"r I firmlv believe that the

-.5 t AY 30, t957 TECHNIRAMA SPECIAL supplement to KINEI{AToGRAPH WEEKLY v

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t- vi TECHNIRAMA SPECIAL Supptement to K|NE{AAToGRAPH wEEKLY ilAY 30, t9s7

NO TTETHING TROUBLES i i by Maximum definition without tears in 'Davy' BAYNHAM British Technirama HOhtRt -the first film I technical HEN it was announced that Ealing footage that would have been used if it had been i -t proposed to use Technirama, Techni- shot in normal black and white, it was estimated supervisor of i v Y color's new anamorphic system for for budgeting purposes that the increase would " Davy," nobody was more surprised than the be about 65 per cent. This estimate proved to be i generous, because fio,otage actually Ealing Fihns rank and file of the Ealing production staff. the shot- i policy, including " shorr ends "-reached onty 46 per Ealing policy, from the technical point of cent. above normal black and white. The bogy view, has always been somewhat conservative, of double footage had been laid. inasmuch as technical treatment has followed Eal,ing Films wras tJre fust Bri,tish co,mpany to the creative requirements of the script, not use .[he Tecrhnirama pnocess and, wi,Lh t,he grea,tes,t led it. Ealing stories have never been written "respect to Tec,hnicol.oir, we an.ticjpated lhat ,tihere around gimmicks bu,t they have sometimes wo,ud'd be a few teething troubles, so we crossed given birth to them. our fingers an'd sla.nted work. In this manner, Ealing pioneered the mobile studio unit (for providing alternative SMOOTH PROGRESS NEWSREEL locat'ion shooting during bad weather); the Shooting on the prod,uotion ,p,roceeded use of ultra-violet lighting and fluorescent smoo,Lhly. A( first, only 1,000-ft. were and 'rnagazines dyes for trick work; radio telephones for available for uhe Teohnira,rna camera, whridh location communications; use of synchronised necessrirated f,requen,t interrupt,i,ons for reloadrimg fin. magnetic tape and so forth. The techni- and resu,l'ted in a Jarge quantilty of " s,trort onds." outlook Davy however, seemed at It wirlil be realised thaL il,lfi fil,rn travelling at DUBBING cal on " " d,oubie speed, ri't is ,l.are[y safe 0o star,t turning first to be somewhat different. on a dia;logue scene r\rith only 200 ft. in the feed IIlragAZlneS. CHARACTERISTICS A rule was therefore made to scrap " short SERVICES jum,ping ends " of less than 50 ft., to retain those of 50 tt. Were we now on the anamorphic to 150 ft. for mute inserts and to can up and LIflIITED band-wagon, shaping our stories to fit the 2.35:1 retain " short ends " of 150 ft. to 250 ft. for short screen? The answer was in the negative- dialogue scenes of minor importance, Not many are praud to have supplied metaphorically and physically! In " Davy " we days passed before Technicolor was able to pro- had a human story with Oovent Garden Opera vide 2,000-ft. magazines, and this eased the House and music 'hall background which definitely " short-end " position and speeded up floor shoot- called for the 2.35:1 shape and for colcur. Which 1ng. system meet requirem,ent the IEClINI(OtOR oould this and at Prioture oorqpositio,n was prirnarily oo,mposed same time have the following desirable for 2.35:1, burt the camera operator had rlo bear in.mind tlbat an "unscranr,bled" 1.85:1 versiron with their special Westrex (a) Absence of distortion during panning and rnightt ,be required fo,r some terr,i,tories. There- tracKtngtrackins o{of, cameras.cameras- fo,re, rimn,orntant dharacrters and props were rnoved track for 16mm. release copies (b) Avoidance of apparent wideningwrdenmg ofoI actors'aclors' from ;tlre 1.85:1 .b,order line in ,the vuewfinder, years. faces at certain distances,distances. fr.om the camera. erither with,:n it or oorrnplotely ouLside .of it. It for more than ten (c) Top quality opticals-dissolves and fades- is ,t'he " rharlf-irn and tralf-ou,t " position wtr'ich withoutwlthout resortingresortlng to the expensiveexDensive method migilrt cause dtifficu,h,ies wdt,h mrul,riple versions. Wesirex area and density of duping complete scenes. (d)) The availability of severseveral sets of colour tracks are now available for negative facilities without risk of degrada- REMARKABLE tion due to duping. this purpose. la,rge negative systern, IighttLing (e) Extreme sharpness without need for exces- Fo,r a area intcnsl,lies used by Douglas Slooombe were sive amounts of studio lighting and the ond stopping down of the camera lens. remarkably low. l,t wes trhe small sets, with NEWSREET (f) points srplit $oous pno,blems, whioh oal:led for stopp.:ng All of the above to be covered using piling ,the to standard 35-mm. Eastman Color nesative.negattve. tihe Jens d,own and on ligh,t up abou,t 600 foot cand,les. Many of the long shots, DUBBING SERVICES We had been watching the progress of quite a nurnber.mber pa,nricularly those wiithou.t arris'ts in the fore- ofo[ anamorphic-systemsanamorphic systems Iorfor somdsome time.time. ground, were shot at f2.8. This applied to LIAAITED [e yere impressed by the first experimental shots Technirama, which compared soveral rernrarkable Sho,ts taken in the Oovenit studio of very well with Garden Opera Ho,use. the fastest recording the highly expensive widle-gauge s!stems and plovided seemed to have many practical ,advantages in Tecrhnioo,lor daily Eastman Col,or in the business offers the piliots tih,e f.t. each slate,,b,ut rushes ' operation-including aitaiI 6f those specified -above. of first l0 of - df _those - Ibove. were yiewed ,in b{ack and whi.te. When lhe pro- Sir Michael Balcon made the decision that recording duotion is finally ed,l,ted and the negative is cu.t. full range of " Davy " should be made in Techniran Tec,hnico'lff prepare first British production use proc€ss. wi'lI lhb usual-colo,r facrli- requiremenls Westrex to the ties for prin,ting high definition 35-mm. imbibr- with t::on 'pninrts. An advantage in *r.is respect is ,tha,t Equiiment. TECHNICALITIES eq.ually good c,o.lour fac:ldties can be provided for maki'ng prints in d,ifferent te.rritories. The _ To, short circuit many techqrical queries, I circulated short degradatio,n of colour qual,ity wrhich reyu,l,ts "[rorn 16 mm., 17.5 mm., 35 mm., a and simple technicai desciip- duping,is avo,ided. tion of Technirama to theth; Ealins or.oductiononoar"tJn qaff.staff. This gave simple explana-tion Several trirrnes dtlring sh,ooting, ,ool,our piloits magnetic, optical AREA and . a of how we.re vierved on lhe huge screen orf the Ernpire, Technirama worked and what we honedhoped it worrldwould I-eicesterLeicester achieve in.carrying Sq,uare, and eJse*rhere,elsemrhere, and were iom- DENSITY-six dubbing heads, out the specific siript requirc- par.edrpared, wrthwith nr$-c_[assfirst-class exannples_of fiIo,re conven- ments of " Davv." phorogr4phy. photographic. One of.the points tionaltiona'l anamorphicanarnorphic The resr.rJrs magnetic, which had- to tc emphasised were alwavs,!healways ,!he same: tiethe DalryDaw colourcolorl'r nilo,lspilo,ts was care in thE use of film " " stock. Film tiavellins were so sharp in oo,nlparison that ,they al.most lmmediate synchronised play- at double spee4speed would seem toto implyimolv that doublE cut you! the amount ,of stock film would'6e corconsumed. As q matter of fact. wluh very J,ong th.rows back from magnetic. Consultations with Basil Dearden and M,ichael fronr- the pr.ojector .i,i Relph, and with to tih€ screen was-oot ea6,v the lighting cameraman. Douslai for ,the projection,ist to make the mosrt of thi Slocombe, made me revise ihis axi.om. The h-ish defin,ition NEWSREEI dnd picture definition we dhat was availa.ble. would expect froniTechfri- Burt even if focu,sing was Jnore cr,i.trical for rama enabled shooting to be blanned with less abso;lute to,ptinnunn resurl,ts, it always resuJted in a DUBBING SERVICES camera set-ups, and the freedom from the usual p:oLure sha"r,pe,r grainy anamorphic distortions and less ,t/han any ol.her Hi lrED allowod ereat mobiliiv J5fim. colo,ur s)lstem we had seen to d,ate. Wi,th lor the,€amera and for cutting. Teohnirama, we had Finally, instead of an inirease succeeded in achievinc lhe 19 LISLE STREET, W.C.2 - in nesative maxim.u,m definition vifto.ut teething tro-,ubles GERrad 4476 and 7105 toolage of 100 per cent. as compared wiih the and wi,throut tsars.

t AY 30,,9s7 vilt TECHNIRAMA SPECIAL Supplement ro KiNETAATOGRAPH wEEKLY

An appreciation by R. HOWARD CRICKS, FBKS, FRPS SOON WT SHALL WONDTR HOW WT ENDT]RED THE PICTURT QUALITY OF TODAY'S FILMS mounting of the Delrama cinema negative image to produce unsqueezed prints for firted with the insenious ECHNIRAMA restores to the which orovides slmultaneous focusing of the back- pictorial quality which was normal wide-screen projection. screen the additional ins ten:s and of the Delrama prisms. The view- projection tech- The principle of inirodrcing .ana' lost when the new morphosis into the printing operation rs ,tselt finlder was masked to an sspect ratio of 2.35: l. niques appeared. 'Granularlty and loss of ouiti imoortant. A couple of years ago Dr. Finallv. I was able to see doublerframe projec- definition which results from an undue kslie Kriooo lectured to the Roval Photographic tion at itie Savoy, Hayes, Middlesex, which seats magnification (anamorphic or otherwiseF Societv on'the new techniques ahd discussed the 2,350. unavoid- on a mathematical the- loss of sharpness which seems 'basis.oroblehs of oicture definition On the 40-ft. screen definition was again superb. anamorphic optical He cdncluded by advocating two alterna' is Ken. Grey, able with the ordinary pic- However, critical focusing still vital: svstem-are eliminated. With Technirama tive svstems which cavd Dracticallv identical of iechnicolor, who accompanied us, sat with the we get back the picture quelity of five ture 6ualitv: one ias sirbstantiaily anamorphic remote-control focus knob on his knee, occa- to other substantially T-echniram-a. years ago. Vishvision, the sionally giving it a twist to bring the picture into - exceot for i lower anamorphic ratio which would pin-point focus. This ilaim may seem reasonable when we produced prints' have non-conrpatible is not the machine are discussing the horizontal projection of a prin'ted paper The oroiector at the Savoy Althoueh not indicated in the describ,-ld dlse*here, but an adapted Century, lying double-frame contact print; it may seem a U. Phot. Sci., Mav/Apr., 1956, p. 50). Dr. Knopp' the projection of on its side. To the right is the take-off box and little rash when considering so far as I recall. ureed the introduction of ana- loft the take-up' frame little grounds the ootical soundhead, and to the an imbibition print having a morphosis in the prinilng operation on the from'which it followi that the sound is ahead of larger than the standard 4 x 3 frame upon a thai even wirh a double-size frame 'Lhe coarier IttJ pl"i"." instead of behind it-actuallv 18* screen of double the former area: yet I grain o'f the negatiye emulsion was not capable of tiames in advance. The illuminant is the as a com- OouUie believe the claim is fully justified. iontainins so much image information new Mole-Richardson Gaumont-Kalee mirror arc, pressed a-nd reduced image on the finer-grained *hi.tr. runnine at 115 amp., produced a picture positive stock. which'meter readines indicated was slightly above FUNDAMENTALS The first examples of Technirama which I saw the BSI standard of brightness. on the screen ivere some colour pilots from Technical details of the system are given else- " Davv " (the first British fi[m to be shot in the where.rere. Here is a brief summarvsummary of it: Mechani- o-."rt). which Sir Michael Balcon was good LO\\ ER COST cal,ly,eal,lv rhethe camerammera is nracticallvpractically identical with that Enoush'io show Craham Clarke and myself at -VistaVision, been in of VistaVision, the 35-mm. negative travelling Ehtrie. Bavnham Honri was justifiably enthusias- Hitherto, the prints'Douglas I had seen had horizontally, producing a double-frame image. tic at the iesults. For the first time we saw a gait-an Color. Slocombe, who photo' but the i6meraiamEra carrlescarries a Delrama anamorpha.namorph Dicture in the 2.35:1 ratio absolu[ely sharp to sraohed " Davv," assured me that prlnts by tne having a squeeze ratio of 1.5 to l. Fundamentally. ihe extreme corners, with a depth of field com- ieri Technicolor imbibition process were lnd.ls- that'-s all there is to it. parable with that of a black-and-white picture. Linsuishable from Easiman Color. I he maJor Technirama is purely a camera process. What iiiri"i-in tttiJ improvement is that matrices are us€ the producer or distributor makes of his nega- bv sepiration direct from the E'astman ir"w mia. ' quality tive is entirely up to him. He may make contact NOTICEABLE GAIN t"ibi""ie.ii".. if experience -proves the prints from the double-frame negative, which can of imbibition prints to be adequate tne wnote be .pioiected iupon a VistaVision-type proijector Next. "The Monte Carlo Story" was trade shown industry will gain, thanks to the lower cost oI fittea 'ivith a special Taylo'r.Hobso'n proiecto,r at the London Pavilion with never so much as a pnnts. pic- credjts. I anamorph which, instead of magnifying the meniion of Technirama except in the When the principle of anamor-ohosis burst upon ture horizontally, com;oresses it vertically end, sat in the fourth row of the stalls. Never has the ur"'nilii il6ira'irirm.iini attentjon was paid to used in conjunction with the Vistatal backing Riviera been portrayed in such superb Technirama, on. the -photo-gain ii' ii'iitiiit--i.piications. lens, produces a screen image of the highest sianhv: but 6erhaos rhe most noticeable ;;rit;;:'-it a--icientificnllv eng!neered pri nciple' quality. iroi" itre orocess w'as the gleam of the polished latest developments in.o.ptlcs ano - rigging of the emolovinq the Foi general release, the Technirama negative will woodwork- and the details of the .ranib[e of oroducing results of the hlghest sLln- more often be optically reduced to a standard vachts. The sraceful and un-grandmotherl:r figure ilii.'"ri-;i, unive"rsal process, since.fro'm the anamorphic print, additional anamorphosis being irf Diettich iuffered no distortion when she was nisative can be made prints pracllcally any introducrd in printing.to give the siandard squeeze photographed in- close-uP.- As Baynham,.'n Honrl maKes went down to the deiired standard. ratio of 2: 1. If the print has an optical track or Thei a party from the Klne. clear in his contribution, the addltlonal cost rn r magoptical tracks, the aspect ratio will be prac- fech"icol

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! CAMDENTOWN..,LONDON,N.W.l TECHNIRAMA SPECIAL Supplement to KINEIIATOGRAPH wEEKLY IAAY 30, T957

Technicolor and the Dutch opticians, aided by Frank Durban's engineering experience, a proto- DELRAMA-THE TECHI\IRAMA type moiunting was evolved which provided the n&essary adjustment between the two prisns. ln the p,hotograph reproduced, the handle working over a cahbrated scale adjusts the set- CAMERA AI\AMORPH ting of the prisms, and simultaneously, the gear seen at tlle left engaging wirh the mounting of whichever lens is in use, operates the focal adjust- TN the attainment of the high standard of ment. The knob on the vertical shaft is adjusted I deflnition demanded of the Technirama according to the focal length o[ the lens in use. r pro...., factor was optical However, it is more usual to adj,ust the focus a major lhe by a Selsyn rernote oontrol. svstem o[ the camera. Tests made bY Technicolor, both in London and in Holly- One of trhe prototypes was tested by Techni- wood, with anamorphic systems of the cylin- color in London, and the other was sent to Holly- none them wood. Exhaustive tests, including special drical lens tvpe showed that o[ definition charts, demonstrated that at last an was capable 6i complying with their stringent ideal optical system had been found. For the requirernents in regard to picture quality' first time an anamorphic picture was photo- Attention was directed to the Delrama graphed, perlectly sharp to the extreme corn€rs; orinciole: this consists of two curved reflect- there was a cornplete absence of flare, and of ing facei (either mirrors or prisms) arranged geometrical distortion of the image as the lens in-the form of a periscope. It has an out- was focused for close-ups-a characteristic whicrh in practice means that a glamorous actress will standing advantage over any other anamor- put phic use reflection not suddenly on weight as the camera moves syitem: that it makes o[ in to c,lose-up. (even though the type and not refraction completely successful used employs prisms. these act as So were the tests that actually Technicolor enterod into a contract with Oude reflectors, not relractors). Delft and J. Frank Brockliss, Ltd., for the ex- One major shortcoming o[ other systems was cl.usive rights throughout the world f,or the new immediately overcome: chromatic aberration. Delrama. As a result, Technirama will be the This defeci, common to all refracting systems, The Delrama camera attachment only process able to make use of this unique whether lenses or prisms, is oornpletely absent optlcal systern. from a reflecting system. It appeared also that other failings of refractive systems might be While a flnal model of the mounting was being was oommissioned forthwith. Manufacture of perlected by Technicolor, lhe manufacrure of a obviated: gaometrical distortion, internal reflec- the prisms had to start fr.om scratch, with tions. etc. quantity of prisms was commissioned, sufficient speciilly selected glass mouldings. The produc- to cater for the needs of the whole world. Havine made oreliminarv tests with a standard tion of the special curves of the reflecting sur- Technicolor decided to investi- Final acceptance tests were put in hand on Delrama-system, faces necessitated complicated modifications to Italian locations. and as a result, the first film sate more-fullv the Dossibilities of t-his unusual the grinding and polishing machines. Snrical orinciole. Th-e reoresentatives of Techni- to be completed in Technirama was " Tthe Monte c6lor, with Frank Durbdn, general manager o[ But these prisrns could not be considered in Carlo Story." For the first time, cinema J. Frank Brockliss, Ltd., the British distributors isolation: thev had to be married to the camera audienoes saw a picture in the rnodern format, for the Delrama, visited the Oude Delft factory, which was being built in the Technicolor camera with the sharpness of definition of the 3 x 4 in the old Dutch town of Delft, and stated the department. Provision had to be made for the picture-a standard of photography which re- problern to Dr. A. Bouwers, inventor of the orisms to be adiusted at the same time as the moves the reproach that in magnifying the pic- Delrarna. iens was focused. By close co-operation between ture we have lost its pictorial qualities.-R. H. C. They required an optical slstem having an anamorphic or sque,ezc ratio of 1.5 to l, instead of the customary 2 lo l. ll must be capable of covering the large diameter of lens needed for a double-frame negative, and of ernbracing a horizontal angle of vie.w of at least 60 deg. lt HOW THE DOt]BLE-FRAITE must give exceptional sharpness in every point of the picture, to the extreme corners. It must i be free of geometrical distortion of the fore- t ground image. SYSTEII WORKS Dr. Bouwers and his computer vanished into their design office. Wilhin a couple of hours HE versatility of the Technirama pro- cation of anamorphosis, in that anamorphotic they reappeared stating that the requirements cess makes it applicable for projec- correction in projection is achieved by vertical could be fulfilled. The systern would be of tbe tion in any of the established methods compression of the image, instead of by prismatic and not the mirror type, as used in projection: and ratios. It is-cla,imed, however, that the hor.izontal expansion. cinema the curved surfaces of the performance reached when is process prisms which produce the squeeze effect would acme of is it The Technirama double-frame used in conjunction with double-frame projec- utilises the inherent advantages which have " be neither spherical nor cylindrical, but of a I specially computed curvature. tion as demonstrated at the Odeon, Leicester been proved in both the VistaVision and The construction of a couple of prototypes Square. The system incorporates a new appli- anamorphotic process€s. Tlhese ad,vantages have ,been ex,p,lained rnore fully elsewhe,re, burt new optic,al p.rojection equipment ,has n,ow been deve,loped that y'ieldsi t,he ,high standard of .performance whic,h will d,o Congratulations to justice to,the dnherent capabilities of the process. 'Hi.therto the expansio,n of the compressed print image necessary to restore the su,bject detail to its ;orrect pro$ontions has been acf,ieved by tte TBCHNICOLOR use of rhorizontal expansi.on anamorphotic attachmenls whioh can tbe oonsidered as wide- on presenting their latest process angtre attaohments operative rin the hor,izontal plane only. For a given screen width and pro- lector gate w,idrh, this demands the ,u,se ,of a UUTTCHNNRAMIA'N broiecti6n lens whose focal lenguh is greater than ihaf .reouired for straiEhtforward oroiectio'n. In gdneral, .tle opt-ical disadvantages of tftris We have had the pleasure of supplying PhotograPhic m€thoA are that the-expansion characteristrics of tihe anarnorp,hotic attachment exaggerate 4ny Chemicals organisation some time. lack ,of srhari defi,nition produced by tfie projec' to their for tion lens aloire and tle anamorph also introdu'ces its own deterioration of irnage quarlity to a sienificant desree. An advantage, however. RILEY & SONS LIMITED fdilows from tle ,use of longer focal length pro- JOHN jection lenses, since t'hese will be covering small'er Chemical Manufacturers ansular fie,lds of view. Ee{o.re the introduction of the Vistaral range HAPTON, Nr. Burnley, Lancs. Tel.: Pailiham 290 o[ double-frame projection lenses, developed by Tavlor. Tavtor an-d Hobson, the standard of defi- London Ollice: Gt. Eastern House, 154 Bishopsgate, E.C.2. Iel.: BlShopsgate 2981 nition and uniformity of screen jllumination continued on Page xii l i l I j F J hAY 30.1957 TECHNIRAMA SPECIAL Supplement to KINEI{AToGRAPH WEEKLY xi

I[unrHEHru TnANsprnr Acuury r.,' ;'{ .' (r[N[0N) ! .,' rrMrTE[ '. o [..,'' F r:., F.:-,.:' .i For your Shippinq Ki,.b" . S.:, ' Inrwarding and Travel arrangemerts, cali Fi'., F,.., N[]HTHEHN THANSPOHT AGENTY ttt N.T.A. HIIUSE 47 IUIiE STNEET sT. JAMES',S . [[1\[IIIN, S.W.l

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GTOVIR IOUIPilITIII & $IAIIONIRY c0. LID. General and Commercicil Printers High-class Ollice Stationery and Equipment

-a- With Best Wishes for the success ,f TtrCHNNRAMIA A weekly loqd ol l,Oollt. film cqns from Mr. S. Shelford being delivered by u:ho has had happy associations uith the Technicolor organisation tr/IITROPOI,ITAI{ for III'IISTER [0. [TN. aery many years a-

Heud Ollice and. Shouroont : TECHNICOLOR LTD. $2 $R0tlD 0nttil R0Ail . Hil$BU[y pARt( . il.4 lor *IECHITIRATUIA" Archway 4922 works: Archway 7277 832 GREEN LANES . WINCHMORE HILL . N.2I ,ii TECHNIRAMA SPECIAL supplement to KINE IAATOGRAPH WEEKLY I(AY 30, 19s7 F ,1, of the four-picture spr-ocket qsed o:n conventional THE DOI]BLE-FRAME Droiectors. and in oider to keeo-a its inertia to a iniiimum,'itiniriimum, it is machined from'afrom frigh-dutyrhigh-duty light alloy. lt is subjected to a -surface-hardening treairnent to ensure a long working life. SYSTEM-contd.' r , \'_ \_: The ,projector shutter is of the single blade tended to deteriorate rath-er rapidly with increas- type,tvne. rotatingr.otatine at twice frame soeed,speed. TheTh€he edeeedge ing angular field. This led to a situation in which of the shutter blade thus rnolres very rrapidly the advantages to be gained from an increased across the light beam, and the total anglengle of projection lens focal length out-weighed the ot'her obscuration of the shutter is less than it would two disadvantages described above. be ,if a two-t laded shutter were used, Tthe opticarl projection equip,ment used at trhe once ^accordanceoer frarne. Odeon. l-e.icester Souare. .breaks awav tfiese In with normal G 'from ice the mecharism is oil bath lubrica t raditi6oal rnethods^ o,f .a nam orprhotic project i on by the adorption oi' .r'Ifcw anarn,o,rrp,hotic pr'in- ,whit,h Gaumont-Kalee double-frame projector device, and embodies a long .plcture ci,ple can rhc'rrlre .,uied to ,its ful,l lffect in cdnju,nbtig4_.with lew range of Vista.tal maintain 4dequate contr,ol of the_-fiIm. . ., is of the front oppning type, and can be .P.rojecr[ton,Ienses. 1.5 desig;ned cover this range ;l,Sihort projecti,on lenses ratio of and it is to wibbout di{urffiflffiaiq', the_ projectioJ'-also lens. focal ilenglh Vistatal lenses vignetting. 'lhe pr arc capable of covening large release print areas of without The 1ee&n6nntlcojitnount (whth(whrch also has P Tlhe Odeon de,rnonstration uses rthe new vertica{ renrote ffitrol focusing) is 4 in. in I wit*o,ut ttre sacr,ifice of defioition and ilJumina- con- :suitable pic'ture rvfiticrh. in cornpression anarnoriphotic attac,hment in is thus for accommodating tion towards the ed,ges of the junciion ,in. lens produce a past, rhad been considered inevitable. Ilhe wjth a 4 Vistatal to large diarneter,diameter, with rear components su the pictu,re ,of 45 19 w.iLh a exis,tence ,type of lens rneans ttrat there is approxirnately ft. x ft. larle to do jirstice to the pe-rformance orf this 125 ft. no ,longer an adva,ntage to ibe gained, frorn an tthrow of rbo'u,t machine. The Gaurnont-Kalee double-frame projector in Provision is also made for water-cooli anam,orprhotic syste,rn wh'ich demands an increased just conyentional p.rojeclion foca,l alte.rnative use at the Odoon is not a rear part of the gate and, in addition, lens length; and projector an systems can be c.oarsidered. 35-mm. turned on its back; it is of velociiv air iets are directed at the film to I It lhas tbeen fou,nd that jf ,th€ com,p'ressed entirely now design. its teniperatirre and stabilize its position. The fr,ame area of the new projector is about horizontal gso,metry of the film image is co,m- just The soundhead is a separate unit, two designs pensaled by verticaI compression ,in ,projection 800 sq. mm., which is 2] times that of the of which are availablejone for optical sound (rhen old standard projector frame. ,one .r instead of rhor,izontal expansion trhe ,order only, and capable of handling both optical 'i anamor,photic attachment willl reduce the effeots In to conform with Technirama, the film and magnetic sound. has to run through the projector from left to of any srma.ll res,idual err,ors ,in the rpr,o:jectioo Provision can also be made for multiple lens an'd, at the same time, ,its .orrn co,ntrj'butio,n right viewed from ohe screen, whereas in a con- ventional projector turoed on its back, the film cbannel stereophonic reproduction with follower of errors will be greatly reduced. control gear. ,is ,by would run in the opposite direction. heads and Selsyn interlock Vertica'[ compressi,on best acrhieved a pris- projecting Tthe The film goes thr.ough the sound.head before. This new equipment is capable of nutig 1r,oa of ana,morp,hofic at,tachment, pictures quality quite large optical codlstruction .of tlhe Vistafal projection the picture head, and accordingly the fued spool of very high on to ,rear glass icreens. For i light source, there is the new lens inclu,des an unusual,ly large box is now at the bottom and thc take-up at the mirror diameter close ,pil'ane collecrs top. The spool box capacity is 6,000 feet Mole-Richardson daumont-Kalee 16 in. to the film whic,h 1.9 an fu,lrl li,ght (approximately 1,800 metres), so that a maximum arc lamo havine an ootical soeed of fi and the arnouni,of emitted fro,m the corners burns orf .trtre projec,tor gate. o[ 30 minutes' continuous running is possible. axial m^aenifica-ti,on rif 7 x. This lamp ilenses produced The film is up from the bott6m spool box 1l-mm. iositive caibons in a rotating head at The Vistatal are in thirteen drawn between the focal lengfhs in. and passes through the soundhead, above which 130 ampi, and includes a heat filter oovering the range 3 in, 'to 6 projector. in f in. ste'ps. TLhey cover flhe Technirama pro- it is twisted through 90 deg. to pass horizontally arc and the jector gate size d 1.42,in. x .88 in. and,have a through the projector. At the far end .of the A screen illumination of approximately 19,000 relative aperture of f/1.9. The vertical oompres- proiectors. lumens can be obtained with no film in the gat€ sion anam,orphotric attaoh'ment ,has a cornrpression The intermittent sprocket is twice the diameter but with the shutter running.

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