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Cinerama on the Big Screen at the Dome (1 Viewer)

Strohmaier

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David Strohmaier
This just in from Arclight Hollywood:

In celebration of both Seven Wonders of the World and Search for Paradise and their Flicker Alley release on Blu ray this November 18th, the Cinerama Dome will have a special advance screening of each restored film on the big curved screen. I understand that special advance DVD/Blu ray combos of each film will be on sale in the lobby as well as recently released CD Cinerama soundtracks. Then on that Sunday 2001 A Space Odyssey will also screen.

Pass the word around!

Seven Wonders of the World
Saturday November 1 at 11:00 AM
Trailer:
-----------
Search For Paradise (re set your clocks we go off daylight savings)
Sunday November 2 at 11:00 AMTrailer:

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2001 A Space Odyssey
Sunday November 2 at 3:00 AM
Shows after Search for Paradise (sep ticket)

Tickets should go on sale this weekend
www.arclightcinemas.com

The Blu Rays for Search and & 7 Wonders hits the streets on Nov. 18th
www.flickeralley.com
 

OliverK

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David, could you post some specifics about the digital files that will be shown (BR, 2k, 4k..) and the projectors that will be used to show them?
I hope that the screenings will be a success!
 

Strohmaier

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I turn over Pro res HQ 2K anamorphic files on DCP
the Dome up rezes it to 4K just like they do in Bradford.
Were amazed how it all looks.
We have done this for TCM Fest in the past.
 

Strohmaier

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When I saw 2001 in 2012 at the 60 Anniversary of Cinerama I was kinda shocked at how good the 2K looked, I ended up staying for the entire show and I was planning to just to check out. The master was from the 65mm.
 

DP 70

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Strohmaier said:
When I saw 2001 in 2012 at the 60 Anniversary of Cinerama I was kinda shocked at how good the 2K looked, I ended up staying for the entire show and I was planning to just to check out. The master was from the 65mm.
The 2K DCP in the UK is even in a DCI 1.85 box and of course you have to select 2.39 to get the biggestimage, so if a projectionist/manager does not know the film and does not read the paperwork and checks the Elements in the server menu will screen this in 1.85!David, Do you know if the USA version is in a DCI 1.85.1 box or is it in a DCI 2.39.1 box.Maybe that's why the UK DCP looks like...
 

Strohmaier

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Don't know yet what warners is delivering
but the arclight guys know that it fills the Dome screen.
 

AdrianTurner

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I can see why people might want to buy the Blu-ray releases of the Cinerama travelogs. But I can't see why people would want to see them on the screen in a cinema. The whole point of the early Cinerama films was the process - three strips of film plus the joins on that huge curved screen: it was a visceral experience. The restorations eliminate this and have created a rather weird, ersatz look, lacking in any filmic atmosphere. Even the joins have gone!

Look at it this way - most movies you see for three principal reasons: story, stars, director. These Cinerama travelogs lack a story, they lack stars, they lack a director. They are all about process. And that's missing from these new 'restorations.'
 

Strohmaier

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Because they work just fine on the big curved screen that’s why!

Although not for you, thats understood.

I can't tell you how many people disagree with you including major critics. We have shown it at the Dome and at Bradford as well as several theaters in the US, and next spring in 4 cities Europe. Most seen to get it, but to each his own.

On The Big Screen:
http://www.davidstrohmaier.com/TEST/Smilebox%20BrafordiPad%20and%20iPhone%204.m4v
 

rsmithjr

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AdrianTurner said:
I can see why people might want to buy the Blu-ray releases of the Cinerama travelogs. But I can't see why people would want to see them on the screen in a cinema. The whole point of the early Cinerama films was the process - three strips of film plus the joins on that huge curved screen: it was a visceral experience. The restorations eliminate this and have created a rather weird, ersatz look, lacking in any filmic atmosphere. Even the joins have gone!

Look at it this way - most movies you see for three principal reasons: story, stars, director. These Cinerama travelogs lack a story, they lack stars, they lack a director. They are all about process. And that's missing from these new 'restorations.'
That did not correspond to my own observations.

At the 2012 Cinerama 60th anniversary festival, a number of 3-strip films were shown in DCP on the Dome using the recent restorations.
1. They certainly sounded excellent.
2. The color was very good (which extant prints of many of the films would not have had, e.g., Windjammer).
3. The picture was surprisingly good. Cinerama Holiday, which is beautifully photographed, looked great in DCP. I was very grateful to see Windjammer again, and thrilled to see Holiday in Spain for the first time ever.

Of course, 3-strip projection still wins. But given the realities, the DCP is the nearest you are going to get to the original experience. Certainly better than watching the Blu-ray on my 10foot screen at home, which is about the largest screen I can shoe-horn into my house (though I may try for 12 feet with a 4K projector).

If I were running the railroad, and had tons of money, I would have done restorations at the best possible level, resulting in 3-strip prints, and the ability to make new ones in the future. Yup, I would do it. I would also have at least one theatre that presented Cinerama without compromise (the Dome is highly compromised in its 3-strip presentations).

But I don't run the railroad, nor do the restorers (though they did better than anyone would have guessed they would do).

I am trying right now to arrange to go to LA for this festival. I hope everyone who cares about Cinerama is able to go. Don't avoid this because it isn't perfect.
 

Strohmaier

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One of the original Cinerama film editors, who worked at the Oyster Bay tennis court facility and the LA Forum Cinerama studios, (Norman Karlin) saw all the original dailies, and did most all of the print checks before shipping out to theaters. He was used to seeing these films on a Cinerama screen and knows these films inside and out, he says he gets the same thrill even at the Dome's 126 degree screen. But I will admit that the Cinerama effect works a bit better at Bradford UK simply because its a 145 degree screen.
 

Brian Kidd

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Oh, how I wish I could be there. I had the thrill of seeing How the West Was Won in Cinerama during the brief revival in Dayton in the 90's. Even though the screen was smaller than would have been in the original showings, it was still quite the experience. I'll never forget it.
 

Josh Steinberg

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This might be a silly question, but here goes... I was visiting L.A. in September and I went and saw "Ghostbusters" at the Dome - it was the movie playing there that week, and I just wanted to see a movie, any movie, in that venue. My question is this - when they show these Cinerama movies there, do they use the same screen that I saw Ghostbusters on, or is there a wider/larger screen that's used specifically for Cinerama presentations?

I found myself a little underwhelmed seeing a regular movie on the dome, at least, as it was presented - the screen size wasn't nearly as large or immersive as I had imagined, and the distortion in the image from the curved screen was a little distracting at times. I don't mean to disparage the theater itself, the people that worked there were very nice and I had a good afternoon. I'm just wondering if the experience is maybe a little diminished when they're showing regular Hollywood movies instead of films made for that type of screen.

(I'm unfortunately not going to be able to make it either way, but I would have loved to have seen 2001 on a Cinerama screen, especially if it had been a 70mm print.)
 

Josh Steinberg

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Strohmaier said:
A lager part of the screen is used for Cinerama shows. It goes a few yards wider and also taller.
That sounds awesome and probably what was missing for the regular movie presentation. Congratulations on the screening, I hope it's a great success - I'm definitely jealous of everyone who gets to go!
 

hanshotfirst1138

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Neil S. Bulk said:
They say 2001 is a DCP. I'd go if it was in 70mm.
As would I, but I think that by the end of the year, the chance to see anything on film is totally done :(, if it isn't already :(. I'd certainly pay a premium to see that in 70mm, along with handful of other. Not that it'll ever come to my neck of the woods. Apparently the BFI prepped a new DCP, so I assume it's making the rounds. Though as obsessive as Kubrick was, I'm sure he'd have been all over digital. But that though makes me cringe ;).
 

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