IMAX - (EYEMAX - Maximum view for eye).

The opening of the IMAX Theater in Hyderabad marks a new epoch in the evolution of Indian cinema. Having revolutionized the movie viewing experience world wide, this technology is all set to make a paradigm shift in the Indian Cinema as well. The fact that our capital city has the first IMAX Theater in the entire South India ipso facto makes this event more significant to us. Prasad's IMAX theater that was flagged off to the Hyderabad public on 25th of July has the following distinctions

South India's First IMAX theater India's 3rd IMAX theater World's largest 3-D IMAX screen

This Prasad's IMAX multiplex is located on the banks of Hussain Sagar lake at the heart of Hyderabad. This IMAX multiplex is a part of Buddha Purnima project area, which is an initiative of AP Tourism department. With this, Prasad joins the big league of 225 IMAX theaters that are spread across 30 countries.

What is IMAX technology?

IMAX Company, head quartered in New York and Toronto, is one of the most reputed entertainment companies in the world that has produced several entertaining movies like T-REX, Island of Sharks etc. The word IMAX is derived from maximum image. People who got a chance to watch a movie in the IMAX equivocally opine that it is the largest and most exciting film format in the world. IMAX 15/70 image screen is ten times larger than the conventional 35 mm film format and three times larger than the conventional 70 mm film format. Needless to say that it "is the ultimate experience in film exhibiting technology and film viewing".

IMAX specifications at Prasad's

The Prasad's IMAX theater features world's most powerful projector that beams on 29 meters wide and 21.93 meters high screen. It also has a six channel sound system that puts across 12,000 watts of digital surround sound. There are 44 custom designed speakers equipped at strategic places in the theater to give the complete digital experience. This IMAX screen has 15-perforation and 70 mm format instead of usual 5-perforation and 70mm format. The 'rolling loop' technique ensures the smooth run of the movie on the screen.

A 61.5 crores project

Prasad's IMAX multiplex is spread across an area of 2,35,000 sq ft. The project cost is about 61.5 crores. The promoters Prasad group have chipped in 26 crores while IDBI, Andhra Bank and Punjab National Bank are funding this project to the tune of 30 crores through term loans. IDBI is also participating in the equity with Rs. 5 crores of funds.

First Multiplex in Hyderabad

This Prasad's entertainment center also sports five 70 mm screens along with the IMAX screen. Out of these five screens, four are being used for public exhibition and one screen is reserved for private shows. Along with the screen, the Prasad's also has foot courts and shopping malls that are spread over three floors of approximately 70,000 sq feet. The entire multiplex is centrally air-conditioned one.

Theater capacity

Screen Type No. of seats

IMAX 635

Regular 392

photo Gallery (Photos by Narasaiah)

IMAX (short for Image MAXimum) is a motion picture film format and projection standard created by Canada's IMAX Corporation. The traditional version of IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems. A standard IMAX screen is 22 metres (72 ft) wide and 16.1 metres (53 ft) high, but can vary.

The world's largest cinema screen and IMAX screen is in the LG IMAX theatre in Darling Harbour, Sydney. It is 29.42m (approximately 8 stories) high by 35.73m wide — covering an area of more than 1,015 square metres.[1]

IMAX is the most widely used system for large-format, special-venue film presentations. As of April 2009, there are 320 IMAX theatres in 42 countries, with about half of these located in the United States. About 60% of IMAX venues are commercial theatres with the other 40% being located in educational venues.

Variations of the traditional IMAX format include IMAX Dome (using a tilted dome screen) which is sometimes called OmniMAX, IMAX 3D and IMAX Digital.

Contents

1 History 2 Technical aspects 3 IMAX variations

o 3.1 IMAX Dome / OMNIMAXo 3.2 IMAX 3Do 3.3 IMAX HD (48 fps)

3.3.1 History 3.3.2 Production issues

o 3.4 IMAX Digital 3.4.1 Digital Backlash

4 Content 5 Awards 6 Other uses 7 Technical specifications 8 IMAX venues 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

History

The desire to increase the visual impact of film has a long history. In 1929, Fox introduced Fox Grandeur, the first 70 mm movie format, but it quickly fell from use. In the 1950s, CinemaScope (introduced in 1953) and VistaVision (1954) widened the image projected from 35 mm film, and there were multi-projector systems such as Cinerama (1952) for even wider presentations. While impressive, Cinerama was difficult to set up, and the seams between adjacent projected images were difficult to hide.

The IMAX system was developed by Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor, Robert Kerr, and William C. Shaw. [2]

During Expo 67 in Montreal, Kroitor's In the Labyrinth, and Ferguson's "Man and The Polar Regions", both used multi-projector, multi-screen systems. Each encountered a number of technical difficulties that led them to design and develop a single-projector/single-camera system based on a technology called "Rolling Loop". Tiger Child, the first IMAX film, was demonstrated at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan. The first permanent IMAX system was set up in Toronto at Ontario Place in 1971, and is still in operation. During Expo '74 in Spokane, Washington, a very large IMAX screen that measured 90 x 65 ft (27.3 x 19.7 m) was featured in the US Pavilion (the largest structure in the expo). About 5 million visitors viewed the screen, which covered a person's total field of vision when looking directly forward. This easily created a sensation of motion for nearly everyone, and motion sickness in a few viewers. However, it was only a temporary screen for the six-month duration of the Expo. Several years later, a standard size IMAX screen was installed, and is still in operation at the renamed "Riverfront Park IMAX Theatre."

The first permanent IMAX Dome installation, the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater and Science Center, opened in San Diego's Balboa Park in 1973. The first permanent IMAX 3D theatre was

built in Vancouver, British Columbia for Transitions at Expo '86, and was in use until September 30, 2009[3]. It was located at the tip of Canada Place, a Vancouver landmark.

Over the summer of 2006, IMAX's stock fell markedly (by as much as 60%) with the announcement of an SEC investigation[4], falling again when the announced third quarter earnings were behind the previous year's.

Technical aspects

A comparison between 35 mm and 15/70 mm negative areas

An IMAX camera inside a display case

The 15 kW Xenon short-arc lamp used in IMAX projectors

The intent of IMAX is to dramatically increase the resolution of the image by using a much larger film frame. To achieve this, 65 mm film stock is run horizontally through the cameras. While traditional 65 mm film has an image area that is 48.5 mm wide and 22.1 mm tall (for Todd-AO), in IMAX the image is 69.6 mm wide and 48.5 mm tall. In order to expose at standard

film speed of 24 frames per second, three times as much film needs to move through the camera each second.

Drawing the large-format film through the projector was a difficult technical problem to solve; conventional 70 mm systems were not steady enough for the 586x magnification. IMAX projection involved a number of innovations. William Shaw of IMAX adapted an Australian patent for film transport called the "rolling loop" by adding a compressed air "puffer" to accelerate the film, and put a cylindrical lens in the projector's "block" for the film to be vacuumed up against during projection (called the "field flattener" because it served to flatten the image field). Because the film actually touches the "field flattener" lens, the lens itself is twice the height of the film and is connected to a pneumatic piston so it can be moved up or down while the projector is running. This way, if a piece of dust comes off the film and sticks to the lens, the projectionist can switch to the clean side of the lens at the push of a button. The lens also has "wiper bars" made of a felt or brush-like material which can wipe the dust off the lens as it moves up or down to keep the show clean. IMAX projectors are pin stabilized, meaning 4 registration pins engage the sprockets at the corners of the projected frame to ensure perfect alignment. Shaw added cam-controlled arms to decelerate each frame to eliminate the microscopic shaking as the frame "settled" onto the registration pins. The projector's shutter is also open for around 20% longer than in conventional equipment and the light source is brighter. The largest 12–18 kW xenon arc lamps have hollow, water-cooled electrodes. An IMAX projector is therefore a substantial piece of equipment, weighing up to 1.8 tonnes and towering at over 70" [178 cm] tall and 75" [195 cm] long. The xenon lamps are made of a thin layer of quartz crystal, and contain xenon gas at a pressure of about 25 atmospheres (367 PSI); because of this, projectionists are required to wear protective body armor when changing or handling these in case the lamp breaks (e.g. due to a drop to the floor) because the flying shards of crystal could be deadly when combined with the high pressure of the gas within.

IMAX uses a stronger "ESTAR" (Kodak's trade name for PET film) base. The reason is not for strength, but precision. Developing chemicals do not change the size or shape of Estar, and IMAX's pin registration (especially the cam mechanism) is intolerant of either sprocket-hole or film-thickness variations. The IMAX format is generically called "15/70" film, the name referring to the 15 sprocket holes per frame of 70 mm stock. The bulk of the film requires large platters rather than conventional film reels.

In order to use more of the image area, IMAX film does not include an embedded soundtrack. Instead the IMAX system specifies a separate six-channel 35 mm magnetic film synchronized to the film. (This original "mag-stripe" system was commonly used to "dub" or insert studio sound into the mixed soundtrack of conventional films.) By the early '90s, a separate digital 6-track source was synchronized using a more precise pulse generator as a source for a conventional SMPTE time code synchronization system. This development presaged conventional software. The software works in a similar style as the DDP except that instead of the audio file being based

on discs, it is instead played directly off a hard drive in the form of a single uncompressed audio file containing the 6 channels which are distributed directly to the amplifiers rather than using a decoding method such as Dolby Digital. Many IMAX theaters place speakers directly behind the screen as well as distributing the speakers around the theater to create a three-dimensional effect.

IMAX theater construction also differs significantly from conventional theaters. The increased resolution allows the audience to be much closer to the screen; typically all rows are within one screen height. (Conventional theaters seating runs 8 to 12 screen heights) Also, the rows of seats are set at a steep angle (Up to 23 degrees in some domed theaters) so that the audience is facing the screen directly.

IMAX variations

IMAX Dome / OMNIMAX

The frame layout of the IMAX Dome film.

The Control room of an IMAX Dome Theatre.

In the late 1960s the San Diego Hall of Science (now known as the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center) began searching North America for a large-format film system to project on the dome of

their planned 76-foot tilted dome planetarium. One of the front-running formats was a double-frame 35 mm system, until they saw IMAX. The IMAX projector was unsuitable for use inside a dome because it had a 12-foot-tall lamp house on top. However, IMAX Corporation was quick to cooperate and was willing to redesign its system. IMAX designed an elevator to lift the projector to the center of the dome from the projection booth below. Spectra Physics designed a suitable lamphouse that took smaller lamps (about 18 inches long) and placed the bulb behind the lens instead of above the projector. In 1970[5], Ernst Leitz Canada, Ltd. (now ELCAN Optical Technologies) won a contract to develop and manufacture a fisheye lens projection system optimized to project an image onto a dome instead of a flat screen.

The dome system, which the San Diego Hall of Science called OMNIMAX, uses a fisheye lens on the camera that squeezes a highly distorted 180 degree field of view onto the 70 mm IMAX film. The lens is aligned below the center of the frame and most of the bottom half of the circular field falls beyond the edge of the film. The part of the field that would fall below the edge of the dome is masked off. When filming, the camera is aimed upward at an angle that matches the tilt of the dome. When projected through a matching fisheye lens onto a dome, the original panoramic view is recreated. OMNIMAX wraps 180 degrees horizontally, 100 degrees above the horizon and 22 degrees below the horizon for a viewer at the center of the dome. OMNIMAX premiered in 1973 at the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater and Science Center showing two OMNIMAX features, Voyage to the Outer Planets (produced by Graphic Films) and Garden Isle (by Roger Tilton Films) on a double bill.

IMAX has since renamed the system IMAX Dome. However, some theaters may continue to call it OMNIMAX.

OMNIMAX theaters are now in place at a number of major North American museums, particularly those with a scientific focus, where the technical aspects of the system may be highlighted as part of the theme interest. The projection room is often windowed to allow public viewing and accompanied by informational placards like any exhibit. Inside the theatre, the screen may be a permanent fixture, such as at the St. Louis Science Center (which also plays a short educational video about the OMNIMAX system just before the feature film); or lowered and raised as needed, such as at the Science Museum of Minnesota (where it shares an auditorium with a standard IMAX screen) and the Museum of Science in Boston. Before the feature begins, the screen is backlit to show the speakers and girders behind the screen. IMAX Dome screens may also be found at several major theme parks.[citation needed] While the majority of OMNIMAX theaters in museums focus on educational and documentary films, on special occasions, as with the release of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, major studio releases are also shown.

IMAX 3D

To create the illusion of three-dimensional depth, the IMAX 3D process uses two camera lenses to represent the left and right eyes. The two lenses are separated by an interocular distance of 64 mm (2.5"), the average distance between a human's eyes. By recording on two separate rolls of film for the left and right eyes, and then projecting them simultaneously, viewers can be tricked into seeing a 3D image on a 2D screen. The IMAX 3D camera is cumbersome, weighing over 113 kg/250lbs. This makes it difficult to film on-location documentaries.

There are two methods to creating the 3D illusion in the theatre. The first involves polarization. During projection, the left and right eye images are polarized perpendicular to one another (or right-hand and left-hand circular polarization is used) as they are projected onto the IMAX screen. By wearing special eyeglasses with lenses polarized in their respective directions to match the projection, the left eye image can be viewed only by the left eye since the polarization of the left lens will cancel out that of the right eye projection, and the right eye image can be viewed only by the right eye since the polarization of the right lens will cancel out that of the left eye projection. Another method for 3D projection involves LCD shutter glasses. These glasses contain LCD panels which are synchronised to the projector which alternates rapidly at 96 frames per second between displaying the left and right images which are momentarily viewed by the appropriate eye by allowing that eye's panel to become transparent while the other remains opaque. While the panels within these active-shutter 3D glasses alternate at 96 frames per second, the actual film is displayed at 24 frames per second.

Several films produced in the RealD 3D process for release in conventional theaters have also been presented in IMAX 3D, including Dreamworks' Monsters vs Aliens Columbia Pictures' The Little Engine That Could and U2 3D.

IMAX HD (48 fps)

Variations on IMAX included the 48 frames per second IMAX HD process, which sought to reduce strobing and offer a more high definition image by filming and projecting at twice the normal film rate.

History

The IMAX HD system was tested in 1992 at the Canada Pavilion of the Seville Expo '92 with the film Momentum. It was deemed too costly and abandoned but not before many theaters were retrofitted to project at 48 frames, especially in Canada.[citation needed] A theme park in Germany also used IMAX HD for a film in the mid-1990s.[citation needed] The Disney parks attraction Soarin' Over California features a modification of both IMAX HD and IMAX Dome, projecting in 48 frames per second.

Production issues

The doubled IMAX HD frame rate means that each IMAX HD reel lasts half as long, and the logistical implications of this reach all the way up the film production chain. IMAX production by default is at least 3 to 5 times more expensive vs common 70mm production. The increased production costs make IMAX HD problematic regardless of overall production funding issues, and the format has not seen significant adoption.

IMAX Digital

A digital version of IMAX started rolling out in 2008. The new system is a projection standard only; there are no digital IMAX cameras.

Digital IMAX systems can show either normal or 3D content in DCI or IMAX digital format (which in itself is a superset of DCI). The digital system alleviates the need for the use of bulky film reels and facilitate inexpensive distribution of IMAX features, the more compact nature of digital equipment means the system can fit inside a normal multiplex cinema complex rather than the specialised buildings IMAX normally requires.

Despite those advantages, one big disadvantage is the resolution of the picture is much lower than normal IMAX. The screens used by digital IMAX installations are also much smaller (28x58 feet) than those found in traditional IMAX cinemas. The digital installations have drawn some confusion based on poor consumer differentiation to the traditional 15/70 IMAX.

Deals have already been signed with Hollywood studios for IMAX 3D features, such as "Shrek Forever After 3D".

IMAX digital currently uses two 2K-resolution Christie projectors with Texas Instruments Digital Light Processing technology alongside parts of IMAX's proprietary system. The two 2K images are projected over each other, producing an image that is potentially of a slightly higher resolution than common 2K digital cinema. Originally, IMAX had been considering using two Sony 4K projectors.[8] Some reviewers note that this approach may not produce image quality higher than using one 4K projector, which are available for some non-IMAX theaters, including AMC's own.

IMAX recently signed a deal with AMC to start utilizing IMAX digital beginning July 2008 in the US. In December 2008 two digital screens were opened inside Odeon Cinemas in the UK [11]

and three inside Hoyts Cinemas in Australia with a fourth to follow later in 2009[12].

Digital Backlash

IMAX Corporation's decision not to designate the new digital installations in any manner has led to a backlash by some viewers who are disappointed to have paid a premium to view an IMAX

presentation only to find it being shown with much lower resolution on a screen of relatively ordinary size.[13] Some reviewers have pointed out that the visual artifacts due to low resolution are detrimental to the picture quality, especially for viewers seated closer to the screen. [9] The company argues that there are different screen sizes for the original IMAX, and the first few rows of seats are removed for the digital IMAX screens to make the screen look larger than its real size.[14][15]

Content

The use of the IMAX format has traditionally been limited to specialty applications. The expense and logistics of producing and presenting IMAX films has dictated a shorter running time compared to conventional movies for most presentations (typically shorter by about 40 minutes). The majority of films in this format tend to be documentaries ideally suited for institutional venues such as museums and science centers. IMAX cameras have been taken into space aboard the Space Shuttle, to Mount Everest, to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, and to the Antarctic to film such documentaries. An IMAX documentary about the success of the Mars Exploration Rovers was released in 2006, titled Roving Mars and used exclusive data from the Rovers.

One of the first attempts at presenting an entertainment film in the IMAX format was The Rolling Stones: Live at the Max (1991), an 85-minute compilation of concert footage filmed in IMAX during the band's 1990 tour, edited to give the impression of a single concert.

Later in the 1990s, there was increasing interest in broadening the use of IMAX as an entertainment format. More entertainment IMAX short films were created, notably T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (directed by Brett Leonard), which had a successful run in 1998 and Haunted Castle, released in 2001 (both of these were IMAX 3D films). In 1999, The Old Man and the Sea became the first fully-animated film to be released on IMAX screens and proceeded to win an Oscar. The same year, Disney produced Fantasia 2000, the first full-length animated feature released exclusively in the IMAX format (the film would later have a conventional theatrical release). Disney would also release the first 2D live action native IMAX entertainment film, Young Black Stallion, in late 2003. In 2008, the Rolling Stones concert film, Shine a Light, directed by Martin Scorsese, was released as an IMAX DMR blowup version.

In the fall of 2002, IMAX and Universal Studios released a new IMAX-format version of the 1995 theatrical film Apollo 13. This release marked the first use of the IMAX proprietary "DMR" (Digital Remastering) process that allowed conventional films to be upconverted into IMAX format. Other theatrically released films would subsequently be rereleased at IMAX venues in versions created using the DMR process. Because of a technical limitation on the size of the film reel, several early DMR releases were edited to conform to a two-hour maximum length. Later releases did not have this limitation; current IMAX platters allow a run length of up

to 160 minutes. Some IMAX theaters have also shown conventional films (using conventional projection equipment) as a sideline to the native IMAX presentations.

Reviewers have generally praised the results of the DMR blowup process, which have superior visual and auditory impact to the same films projected in 35 mm.[citation needed] Many large format film industry professionals[who?] point out, however, that DMR blowups are not comparable to films created directly in the 70 mm 15 perf IMAX format. They note that the decline of Cinerama coincided roughly with the supersession of the original process with a simplified, reduced cost, technically inferior version, and view DMR with alarm. IMAX originally reserved the phrase "the IMAX experience" for true 70 mm productions, but now allows its use on DMR productions as well. However, IMAX DMR versions of commercial Hollywood films are generally popular with audiences, with many people choosing to pay more than standard admission to see the IMAX version.

Since 2002 many other Hollywood films have been remastered for IMAX. Warner Brothers has especially embraced the format with the two Matrix sequels, and since 2004 has been releasing its Harry Potter film franchise in IMAX to strong financial success. Also in 2004 the company released the animated movie The Polar Express to IMAX in 3D. Express became the most successful movie ever to be released in IMAX theaters, making at least a quarter of the film total worldwide gross of $302 million from less than 100 IMAX screens; because of its success, it has been re-released each holiday season since. In 2005 WB also released Batman Begins simultaneously in conventional theaters and IMAX, helping the film it reach $200M at the domestic box office. In summer 2006 WB released the highly anticipated Superman Returns remastered for IMAX and partially digitally transformed into 3D (director Bryan Singer chose the only four action scenes in the film to show in 3D). Spider-Man 3 broke the IMAX gross record in 2007 by a huge margin.

The July 2008 Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight featured six sequences (a total of 30 minutes) shot using IMAX technology, which the movie's press notes describe as the "first time ever that a major feature film has been even partially shot using IMAX cameras".[16] The film broke box office records for IMAX, taking in about $6.3 million from 94 theaters in the U.S. and Canada over the opening weekend. The record for an IMAX opening weekend (as of May 2009) was set by Star Trek: The IMAX Experience, which took in $8.3 million.[4].

Technical specifications

IMAX (15/70)

spherical lenses 70 mm film, 15 perforations per frame horizontal pulldown, from right to left (viewed from base side)

24 frames per second camera aperture: 70.41 mm (2.772″) by 52.63 mm (2.072″) projection aperture: at least 20.3 mm (0.80″) less than camera aperture on the vertical

axis and at least 0.016″ less on the horizontal axis aspect ratio: 1.44:1

IMAX Dome/OMNIMAXSame as IMAX except:

special fisheye lenses lens optically centered 9.4 mm (0.37″) above film horizontal center line projected elliptically on a dome screen, 20 degrees below and 110 degrees above

perfectly centered viewers

IMAX venues

Main article: List of IMAX venuesIMAX venues

Cinesphere, the world's first permanent IMAX theatre, at Ontario Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

L'Hemisferic (Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències) Valencia, Spain

The black structure seen in this photo is the Luxor IMAX Theatre, situated in the Luxor Hotel

LG IMAX theatre at Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia

Prasads IMAX Theatre at Hyderabad, India

IMAX theatre at the Melbourne Museum complex, Australia

BFI London IMAX by nightSM Mall of Asia IMAX Theatre in Manila, Philippines

IMAX BIG cinemas (formerly Adlabs) in Wadala, Mumbai

IMAX Theatre La Géode in Pantin, France

Mall of Sofia, Sofia Tower and the first IMAX cinema in Southeastern Europe, are located in Sofia, the largest city and the capital of Bulgaria.

References

1. ̂ "Visitor info". IMAX. http://www.imax.com.au/visitor_info/. Retrieved 2009-10-07.2. ̂ The Birth of IMAX3. ̂ http://www.imax.com/vancouver/4. ̂ National Post Story "'Red Flags' at IMAX", Monday, April 09, 20075. ̂ http://www.elcan.com/About_ELCAN/ELCAN_History/6. ̂ LF Examiner: Is IMAX the next "New Coke"?7. ̂ Local theaters to get new Imax screens - Baltimore Business Journal:8. ̂ IMAX focuses on DLP chips9. ^ a b [1]10. ̂ http://broadcastengineering.com/hdtv/amc_theatres_sony_projectors/11. ̂ http://fullres.blogspot.com/2008/06/imax-digital.html IT Broadcast and Digital Cinema

blog12. ̂ IMAX, Hoyts team up in Australia - Variety13. ̂ Is Digital IMAX Scamming Moviegoers?14. ̂ [2]15. ̂ [3]16. ̂ Warner Bros. Pictures press notes, The Dark Knight

Motion Picture Film Formats Film gauges8   mm  · 9.5   mm  · 16   mm  · 35   mm  · 70   mm Film formats35 mm: CinemaScope (1953)  · VistaVision (1954)  · Modern anamorphic (1957)  · Super 35 (1982)

70 mm: Todd-AO (1953)  · IMAX (1970)

35 mm x 3 strips: Cinerama (1952)  · Kinopanorama (1958)  · Cinemiracle (1958)Video aspect ratio standards4:3  · 16:9Video framing issuesWidescreen  · Anamorphic widescreen  · Letterbox  · Fullscreen or Pan and scan  · Open matte

Todd-AO

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Todd-AO is an extremely high definition widescreen film format developed in the mid 1950s. It was co-developed by Mike Todd, a Broadway producer, with American Optical Company in Buffalo, New York. It was memorably characterized by its creator as "Cinerama outa one hole". Unlike Cinerama, the process required a single camera and lens. Four lens options (in focal lengths of 35 mm to 56 mm, 63 mm, 65 mm, or 70 mm) covered a 128, 64, 48 or 37 degree field of view. Films were shot on 65 mm negative and the images printed onto 70   mm print stock (5mm larger to accommodate sound tracks) for projection. The aspect ratio of this format was 2.20:1.

While the 70 mm film width had been used before, most notably in the Fox Grandeur process in 1929-1930, earlier processes are not compatible with Todd-AO due to differences in frame dimensions, perforations and type of soundtrack. Todd-AO actually combined the idea of 65 mm photography with frames 5 sprocket holes tall (also a process with a history extending back to the silent era) with 70 mm wide prints and the magnetic sound that first appeared with CinemaScope, although improved with 6 channels and much better fidelity. The 70 mm print adds 2.5 mm extra down each edge to accommodate some of the soundtracks. Thus the print actually carried 65 mm perforations and the 65 mm negative was contact printed directly to the 70 mm print stock, as the sprocket holes aligned.

Figure 1. Todd-AO: 65 mm negative and 70 mm positive

As the production and exhibition markets became saturated with Todd-AO System hardware, the focus of the company began to narrow down to the audio post-production side of the business, and Todd-AO became an independent sound mixing facility for commercial motion picture films and television after acquiring Glen Glenn Sound in 1986.

Contents

1 Overview o 1.1 Curved screen vs. flat o 1.2 Todd-AO and roadshows o 1.3 Todd-AO attempts 35 mm widescreen o 1.4 Films produced in 70 mm Todd-AO

2 See also 3 References 4 External links

Overview

65 mm photography and 70 mm printing became a standard adopted by others. Super Panavision 70 (essentially the Panavision company's version of Todd-AO) and Ultra Panavision 70 (the same mechanically but with a slight 1.25:1 anamorphic squeeze to accommodate extremely wide aspect ratio images) are both 65/70 processes. Other processes creating 70 mm prints conform to the Todd-AO print format.

The Soviet film industry also copied Todd-AO with their own Sovscope 70 process, identical except that both the camera and print stock were 70 mm wide.

The original version of the Todd-AO process used a frame rate of 30 per second, slightly faster than the 24 frames per second that was (and is) the standard. The difference does not seem great, but the sensitivity of the human eye to flickering declines steeply with frame rate and the small adjustment gave the film noticeably less flicker, and made it steadier and smoother than standard processes.

Only the first two Todd-AO films, Oklahoma! and Around the World in Eighty Days, employed 30 frame/s photography. Because of the need for a conventional 24 frame/s version the former was shot simultaneously in 35 mm CinemaScope. The latter was shot in a simultaneous 2nd Todd-AO version at 24 frame/s. All subsequent Todd-AO films have been 24 frame/s. About 16 feature films were shot in Todd-AO.

Todd-AO was developed and tested in Buffalo, New York at the Regent Theatre. (The Regent was originally constructed by theater pioneer Mitchell Mark and is still standing and in use as a church.) Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II went there to see Todd-AO test footage which led them to approve its use for Oklahoma!

The Todd-AO Company (which has since evolved into a sound mixing and audio post-production firm owned by Ascent Media) also offered a 35 mm anamorphic process technically similar to 35 mm Panavision or CinemaScope. This may cause some confusion if a Todd-AO credit (not necessarily the more specific Todd-AO 35 credit) appears in some widescreen films made in the 1970s and 1980s. It becomes even more confusing as 70 mm prints were made for films which, unlike earlier pictures made in the process, were shown in multiplexes, like Dune and Logan's Run.

During the late 1970s through the early 1990s 65 mm photography such as that used in processes like Todd-AO or Super Panavision became rare. However, some major films had 70 mm prints made by blowup from 35 mm negatives mostly for the benefit of 6-track sound. These prints would typically play only in a few theatres in a few large cities while everyone else viewed the film in 35 mm. The advent of multichannel digital sound in the 1990s obviated the need for these very expensive prints. "Blow-up" 70 mm prints also followed the Todd-AO layout, although in the case of films made with a 1.85 : 1 aspect ratio, it was retained in the 70 mm version, with the sides of the 70 mm frame left black.

Curved screen vs. flat

While Todd-AO was intended to be "Cinerama out of one hole" the extreme wide angle photography and projection onto a very deeply curved screen (which is what that would imply)

saw little use. Most Todd-AO theatre installations had only moderately curved screens and the extreme wide angle camera lenses were used only on a few shots here and there. Todd-AO films made after 1958 used a conventional flat widescreen, and resembled ordinary films except for their greater clarity and 6-track stereo sound. A variation on Todd-AO called Dimension 150 did, however, make use of Cinerama-like deeply curved screens. Only two films were made in Dimension 150 - The Bible: In the Beginning, directed by John Huston, and Patton, starring George C. Scott. In some venues, however, Todd-AO and Dimension 150 films received their first run in Cinerama theatres in order that they be shown on a deeply curved screen -- such as the first Atlanta, Georgia showings of The Sound of Music. [1]

Todd-AO and roadshows

Todd-AO films were closely associated with what was called roadshow exhibition. At the time, before multiplex theatres became common, most films opened at a large single screen theatre in the downtown area of each large city before eventually moving on to neighborhood theatres. With the roadshow concept, a film would play, often in 70 mm at a movie palace downtown theatre exclusively, sometimes for a year or more. Often a "hard ticket" policy was in effect, with tickets sold for specific numbered seats, and limited showings per day. Most Todd-AO films through the late 1960s, including Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines and The Sound of Music, were initially shown on a roadshow basis.

In some US cities, individual theaters were converted for use in the 1950s as dedicated Todd-AO "Cinestage" showplaces. These theaters showed exclusive roadshow engagements of Todd-AO and other 70mm films on large, deeply curved screens. They included the Rivoli Theatre in New York City,[2] the Cinestage Theatre in Chicago,[3]and Hunt's Cinestage Theatre in Columbus, Ohio.[4]

The roadshow era ended in the early 1970s.

Todd-AO attempts 35 mm widescreen

In the 1970s, under the leadership of Dr. Richard Vetter, Todd-AO made an attempt to compete with Panavision in the 35 mm motion picture camera rental market. They built a series of anamorphic lenses in the 2.35:1 scope format. They owned a handful of camera bodies, Mitchell and Arriflex that they would rent out with the lens package. By the 1980s the venture was not growing and was abandoned. Eventually all of the Todd-AO cameras and lenses, both 35 mm and 65mm (70mm), were sold to Cinema Products in Los Angeles. Cinema Products is now out of business.

Films produced in 70 mm Todd-AO

The following films were produced in the 70 mm Todd-AO format. (This list does not include films photographed in Todd-AO 35 (see above)).

Oklahoma! (1955) - 30 frame/s (also photographed in Cinemascope) Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) - 30 frame/s The Miracle of Todd-AO (1956) - 30 frame/s; short subject South Pacific (1958) The March of Todd-AO (1958) - short subject Porgy and Bess (1959) Can-Can (1960) The Alamo (1960) Cleopatra (1963) Man in the 5th Dimension (1964) - NYC World's Fair short subject The Sound of Music (1965) Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) The Bible: In the Beginning (1966) - Dimension 150 variant Doctor Dolittle (1967) Star! (1968) Hello, Dolly! (1969) Krakatoa, East of Java (1969) - presented in 70 mm Cinerama Airport (1970) Patton (1970) - Dimension 150 variant The Last Valley (1971) Baraka (1992)

References

1. ̂ Cinema Treasures | Atlanta Theatre2. ̂ "Rivoli Theatre". Cinema Treasures. http://cinematreasures.org/theater/555/. Retrieved

2009-06-02.3. ̂ "Cinestage Theatre". Cinema Treasures. http://cinematreasures.org/theater/1202/.

Retrieved 2009-06-02.4. ̂ "Hunt's Cinestage Theatre". Cinema Treasures.

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/6901/. Retrieved 2009-06-02.