 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||
 |
|
|||||||||||||
previous chapter: ...And then there was sound. |
|
Cinerama was the first real widescreen format: it had 3 seperate strips of film to create its
very wide view (146°).
As for the sound, early tests with 6 optical tracks on a
fourth 35mm film didn't provide the necessary results.
So, when the system was presented to the public the sound
system consisted of a magnetic recording on a seperate
fullcoat film, that ran at the same speed as the 3 film
strips. It featured 7 tracks, that fed 8 speaker
channels: 5 behind the screen and 3 in the auditorium (2
at the sides and 1 in the rear). Track 6 and 7 could be
switched manually between stereo surround (and no rear
channel) and mono surround plus rear surround.
The three film system was very expensive to install,
required a large staff to operate (3 men for the
projectors and 1 for the soundtrack) and the need for
additional projection boxes resulted in a loss of seating
capacity. These caused the operational costs to be circa
half of the gross box-office turnover.
It debuted in 1952 with "This Is Cinerama", which was nothing more than a
showcase. M-G-M's "How The West Was Won" (1962) was the first feature film
presented in Cinerama; it
became the studio's third highest grossing movie. Also in
1962, there was "The Wonderfull World Of The
Brothers Grimm". The last production to be shot in 3-strip Cinerama
was the 1963 showcase "The Best Of Cinerama".
top
CinemaScope : Developed
by Fox as a competitor to Cinerama, CinemaScope
used only 1 filmstrip for the picture. To achieve a
widescreen view the picture was squeezed on standard 35mm
film to half its width using an anamorphic lens. During
projection the picture is expanded back to its normal
aspect using a similar lens.
Fox also realized that a multichannel, stereophonic
soundtrack was necessary. Research done by Bell Telephone
Laboratories into stereo optical sound, Disney's Fantasound process and Cinerama's magnetic
system formed the basis of the CinemaScope
sound system. At first the 4 tracks - left, center, right
and surround - were located on a seperate magnetically
coated film, but the company foresaw that exhibitors
would be extremely reluctant to install a costly and
complex system with double films and therefore they
switched to a magnetically
striped print.The aspect
ratio had to be reduced and also the sprockets were made
smaller to accomodate the 4 magnetic tracks. The screen
channels were located on both sides outside the sprockets
and on the left between the sprockets and the picture
area. The surround
track was located on
the right between the picture and the sprockets and was
half the width of the others. The sound on this track was
controlled by a pilot tone to disable it when it wasn't
used because the narrow track was rather hissy.
At first Fox released only stereophonic prints but
exhibitors were reluctant to install the necessary
equipment (magnetic heads, amplifiers, multiple speakers
and wiring). So Fox made prints in 
optical mono,
single track magnetic and original 4 track magnetic. Releasing
films in 3 different formats proofed to be too expensive
and Fox chose a combined magnetical/optical print where
the mono track was a half width. M-G-M used for its CinemaScope
releases one optical track with the Perspecta
Stereo sound system.
CinemaScope premiered in 1953
with "The Robe". Later
Panavision adopted the anamorphic process and was the magnetical/optical soundtrack
replaced by an optical Dolby
Stereo one. (see the Rise of the Dolby
Empire)
top
VistaVision : Although the negative was a normal 35mm film that ran horizontally and has a picture
area twice the size of a normal (vertical) one, very few
release were done in horizontal running format. Most
releases were done in vertical running 35mm reduction
print.
The studio that promoted the VistaVision,
Paramount, wanted stereophonic sound but exhibitors were
very reluctant to install new equipment. Also, magnetically striped prints were rather expensive so
they chose the cheaper Perspecta Stereo sound system.
It debuted in 1954 with "White Christmas" and in 1955 there was "Strategic Air Command" but it was never really succesfull
(because exhibitors needed to install a second pair of
projectors to run the horizontal film stock of the Large
Area version). VistaVision was
ressurrected in 1975 when Industrial Light + Magic used
it for visual effects work on "Star Wars" and it is still in use today for
that purpose.
top
Todd-AO : Mike
Todd, who had worked on Cinerama, realised
the flaws (cost and convenience) in the 3-strip system
and together with the American Optical Company he
developed a single camera system that used 65 mm
filmstock. Release prints were 70mm wide: the soundtrack
was located on the extra 5mm. Initially it ran at 30fps (Cinerama did 26fps)
to provide a more flicker free image but later features
were shot at 24fps which made it easier to make 35mm CinemaScope reduction
prints.
As with Cinerama a
multichannel stereophonic sound system seemed necessary.
At first it consisted of a 6-track and 1 control track
magnetic soundtrack located on a seperate 35mm film. It
ran at 90' per minute, considerately lower than the
140.25' of the projector which caused problems with
synchronizing the sound 
and the
picture. There was also the fear that exhibitors would
reject double systems. So they developed a system where
the 6 tracks were located on the 
70mm print
using magnetic
stripes. The 6 tracks fed 5
speakers behind the screen and there was one track for
the surrounds. There was also the possibility to apply Perspecta
Stereo to the surround
channel to create a 3-channel directionality for certain
scenes.
It premiered in 1955 with "Oklahoma!" and the next year "Around
The World In 80 Days" was released. For
general release 35mm anamorphic CinemaScope-compatible
reduction prints were used with a magoptical soundtrack
(4-track magnetic and a
half-width optical mono track)
or a full-width optical mono
soundtrack.
Todd-AO's magnetic 6-track
sound system was the standard for all 70mm releases until
1977 when Dolby released their 6-track system. (see the Rise of the Dolby
Empire)
top
Technirama was
developed by the Technicolor Corp. They modified the VistaVision-system:
They reduced the aspect ratio to make room for a
6-channel soundsystem and added a 1.5x anamorphic
squeeze.
The first Technirama production
was "Monte Carlo
Story", produced in Europe
in 1957 and it was one of the few films to be presented
in 8 perf horizontal system. Most releases, though, were
vertical 35mm anamorphic CinemaScope-compatible
reduction prints with a magoptical soundtrack (4-track
magnetic and a half-width optical mono track) or a
full-width optical mono soundtrack.
In 1958 Disney
decided they too wanted a 70mm format for roadshow
presentations. So together with Panavision Inc. they
developed Super Technirama 70.
The frame of the horizontally running Technirama
negative was stretched vertically thus taking the space
initially intended for the magnetic stripes. Using optics
made by Panavision, the picture was printed on 70mm film
and a 6-channel magnetic soundtrack
was applied. Super Technirama 70
was compatible with Todd-AO.
The first movie produced in Super Technirama
70 was "Solomon
and Sheba", released in 1959.
top
Perspecta
Stereo was really a
pseudo-stereo sound system. On a (optical) monophonic
soundtrack control signals were encoded. These signals,
consisting of sub-audible tones of 30, 35 and 40Hz, were
picked up by an integrator unit that turned up the gain
on right, left or center speaker channels, creating
rather simple directional effects. The sound was limited
to frequencies above 63Hz to avoid the control tones
being heard.
Perfecta Stereo was easier and
quicker, thus cheaper, to mix than a true stereo system
like CinemaScope although
installing the integrator and other necessary equipment
cost nearly as much as a real stereo setup. The
soundtrack was also completely compatible with standard
monophonic reproduction equipment, if exhibitors didn't
want to install the system.
top
Sensurround, developed
by MCA for the release of "Earthquake" in 1974,
underwent several modifications with every release. The
general idea, however, stayed the same: low-frequency
noises and rumbles, played at high-volumes through
specially designed speakers, support the normal
soundtrack of a movie.
In the original setup, used for "Earthquake", a digital
pseudo-random noise generator delivered low-frequency
noises and rumbles that fit the waveform of the
earthquake in Sylmar in 1972. These rumbles were played
at 110dB to 120dB and ranged from 16Hz to 120Hz. The low
end of the frequency range was limited to 16Hz because
lower frequencies would damage buildings by structural
resonance. (However, some theaters were still damaged.)
Two control tones, one of 25Hz and one of 35Hz, which
were recorded on the print steered the noise generator.
For the 1974 setup the mixing of the standard audio
program into the Sensurround-speakers
was triggered by 1 tone. The other one made the noise
generator produce the rumbles. Variation in volume of the
control tones changed the level of signals sent to the Sensurround-speakers.
There was a 60dB volume increase in the main speakers
when both control tones were present at the same time.
Several different versions of the prints were available:
mono optical, 4-channel magoptical and, in Europe, 70mm
6-track. With mono optical the control tones were mixed
into the main program. The magnetic tracks of 4-channel
magoptical provide the main stereo and the optical track
contained only the control tones. With the 70mm 6-track
versions the control tones were recorded on the Center
Left and Center Right tracks. As the Sensurround-system
provided the surround-like effects the surround speakers
of magnetic installations were disconnected.
In 1976 for the release of "Midway" a extensively changed system was presented: Sensurround
Mod II. The biggest change was that the
low-frequency sounds were recorded on the print instead
of produced by the external noise generator. The control
tones sytem was also modified: 1 controlled the Sensurround speakers in the front of the theater, the other the ones
in the back. A type of noise reduction and compression
called DBX was applied on the soundtrack, on top of which
the rumbles came. The low-frequency sounds were not
compressed with DBX so when the soundtrack was played
through the control box the rumbles would be give a
double expansion, as they weren't 2:1 compressed by DBX.
The optical track wasn't made compatible with the 'Academy' standard which
increased the dynamic range to 80dB and resulted in a
frequency response of 16Hz to 16kHz. Because of DBX the Sensurround
Mod II prints weren't compatible with
standard playback equipment.
"Rollercoaster" (1977) was
also released in Sensurround Mod II
but changes were made during mixing: the Sensurround speakers were also used for music and real low-frequency
sounds, recorded on rollercoasters, were used instead of
synthesized ones.
"Battlestar
Galactica" used Sensurround
Mod III and "Zoot
Suit" was shown in Sensurround+Plus,
which was merely the use of DBX noise reduction on the
4-track mag prints for extremely high fidelity, without
any rumble. It was also supposed to use LightSurround, an
in-auditorium synced light cueing system, but no
installations were done.
top
