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Cinerama Dome: projection

6360 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 | map |

The Cinerama pages: Cinerama Dome history | exterior views | interior views | projection | Hollywood ArcLight | the other Cinerama house: Warner Hollywood
 
 
"How The West Was Won" on the Dome's screen in a three-strip Cinerama presentation at the 2012 TCM Festival. The photo appeared with a post about that year's event on a now-vanished blog from Daws Brothers Studios.
 
70mm "Cinerama" at the Dome: The first film at the Dome when it opened in 1963 was also the first film branded as Cinerama but not in their original 3 projector process. "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" was photographed in Ultra Panavision, a 70mm process which took the 2.21 aspect ratio of TODD-AO and added a squeeze during filming and a 1.25 expansion anamorphic lens during projection to end up with a 2.76 to 1 aspect ratio image.

See the excellent discussion of 70mm Cinerama on Martin Hart's site Widescreen Museum. He notes that the Ultra Panavision films, when shown in Cinerama houses, didn't use an anamorphic but rather lenses ground specifically for the curvature of the screen. The resultant aspect ratio was evidently less than the full 2.76 to 1. Perhaps 2.55 measured around the curve while, from the back of the house, looking more like 2 to 1.

For projection on Cinerama screens some films utilized a "rectified" print that was produced with no squeeze in the middle and more and more compression closer to the sides of the image to yield a normal looking image on the deeply curved screen.

Other 70mm "Cinerama" films were shot in "Super Panavision," a non-anamorphic process like TODD-AO only with lenses by Panavision. Like TODD-AO, the aspect ratio was 2.21 to 1. Many of these films didn't get special prints, even for Cinerama Theatres.



Three Norelco 35/70mm AAII projectors and Ventarc lamps getting readied for the Cinerama's opening. Thanks to long-time L.A. projectionist Paul Rayton for locating this item that originally appeared in Boxoffice. It can also be seen on the Cinerama Dome page of Roland Lataille's website InCinerama.com.



Inspecting the theatre's original Ampex 6/4/1 sound system. The photos are from the Boxoffice issue of February 10, 1964. See the full article for more details, reproduced at the bottom of the page. It's about the role that "sound experts" should play in new theatre construction.

 See the history page for a list of 70mm presentations that were advertised as being "in Cinerama."
 
 

A lens for 70mm Cinerama projection. That aluminum collar it's in is for a Norelco AAII. Thanks to Kevin Charbeneau for sharing the photo from his collection. It was included in a post of 61 Cinerama Dome items on the Facebook page Lost Angeles
 
 
Later film equipment: The original Norelco projectors were replaced with Century JJ 35/70 machines and a platter system around 1988. There's now a single Kinoton FP75E 35/70mm machine. For 70mm, both DTS sound timecode synched with the film and 6 channel mag are options. There's Dolby Digital and Dolby analog sound processing for 35mm. "The Master" in 2013 and "Interstellar" in 2014 got 70mm runs. "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood" ran in 70mm in 2019.  
 
See the top of Michael Coate's "Cinerama Dome - Playdates Chronology - 1963 - Present" for a fine timeline of the different presentation formats the Dome has used over the years. 
 


Looking in along the Kinoton machine. The theatre was running at the time with a 4000 watt xenon lamp for 35mm and a 7500 watt lamp for 70mm. Photo: Bill Counter - 2017



The Kinoton FP 75-E. Photo: Bill Counter - 2017

 
Digital booth equipment: Except for special presentations, it's been digital projection at the Dome for years. Around 2014 it was two Christie CP 4230 4K projectors and two GDC digital cinema servers. They were using the XPAND process with active glasses for 3D films.
 
They got an upgrade for the December 2015 "Star Wars" release with an installation of the dual head Christie 6P laser projector and the Dolby 3D process. This both upped the light level as well as providing more comfortable 3D glasses than the heavier battery powered active glasses used earlier.

Hollywood Reporter had a story about the new equipment. They quote Joe Miraglia, the ArcLight director of design and construction, as saying the gear cost several hundred thousand dollars. He noted screen brightness was about 8 footlamberts for 3D with a 65' wide scope format picture and 14 footlamberts for 2D. It's unknown how long this equipment stayed in the theatre. One 2017 presentation viewed was not exceptional in terms of brightness. 
 


Looking alongside the Christie laser projector. Photo: Bill Counter - 2017
 

The screen and speakers: The current screen size is 86' x 32' encompassing 126 degrees of arc. It's not the original Cinerama louver style but with the size and curvature of the 1963 original. The first (c.1953) Cinerama screens typically had 146 degrees of arc and (unlike the Dome's) did not have a consistent curvature -- they had a sharper radius in the center and got flatter out to the sides.

The original louvered screen at the Dome was removed and replaced with a flat sheet sometime around 1973. It's a white screen, not silver. For the December 2015 "Star Wars" run, their scope format picture was 65' wide.

The L.A. Times ran a 2002 article "Big Screen Furor-Rama..." when the screen was scheduled to be replaced (again) in 2002 after a remodel. The Times also has a few comments about the article. Purists wanted a louvered screen again. Pacific wanted (and ended up putting in) a big screen but as a single sheet -- claiming their massive new sound system would cause the strips to vibrate excessively.


 
A view of an original style louvered Cinerama screen -- designed to prevent light on the sides of the screen from washing out the picture on the other side. It's from Greg Kimble's great article "This is Cinerama" on the widescreen site In70mm.com.
 

One of the 1" wide strips that made up a Cinerama screen. Thanks to John Schmuhl for sharing his photo in a post on the Friends of 70mm Facebook page.



A typical early Cinerama sound installation using 5 Altec A-2 Voice of the Theatre speaker systems with double 90 degree HF horns for the stage channels. The photo is in Lee Sound Design's Altec photo gallery. It also appears in a 1953 SMPTE paper on speakers and amps for stereo theatre sound that can be viewed on the American Widescreen Museum site. 

The Cinerama Dome originally had Voice of the Theatre speakers. That's all been replaced with newer JBL equipment with the screen speakers mounted in a THX-style infinite baffle. There are 44 surround speakers, also by JBL. Sound absorbent material was added in each of the ceiling's hexagons during renovations.
 

The screen removed for the upgrade to a JBL 4675 speaker system. The photo from John Sittig's collection appears in the Cinerama Photo Gallery on the site in 70mm. Also see John's fine 2018 article "Pacific's Cinerama Dome...Where Movie-going is an Event," also on In70mm.com.   

A flat screen going in in 1996 for "Evita." The photo from John Sittig's collection appears in the Cinerama Photo Gallery on the site in 70mm, where there are also several additional photos of the installation.


3-Strip at the Dome: In addition to the conventional 35/70 equipment, there's the gear for 3-strip Cinerama presentations using 3 Century/Cinerama projectors fed by platters and the separate full coat 35mm mag dubber for the 7 channel stereophonic sound. 
 
Originally Selsyn motors were used keep the 4 units in synch. And when they drifted out, there were knobs to turn by the tech sitting at the control panel in the auditorium to retard or advance the machine in trouble. For the Dome's installation a more modern servo system was designed by Paul D. Smith. 

The 3-strip installation only dates from 2002. The original wide, wraparound booth layout was designed for that equipment but by the time of the theatre's opening Cinerama had gone to a 70mm format. The Dome has hosted revival screenings of "How The West Was Won," "This is Cinerama" and other titles. On In70mm.com see the article about the initial three strip presentations at the Dome: "Cinerama Dome 2002."
 


A left frame (projected from the "Able" booth) from a "This Is Cinerama" scene shot in Venice. It's from Greg Kimble's "This is Cinerama" article on the site In70mm. Note the 6 perforations per frame pull-down.  You can click on these for enlarged views.



The center frame from the shot, projected from the "Baker" booth.



The right frame from the "This Is Cinerama" shot, projected from the "Charlie" booth.



The "Charlie" Cinerama projector at the house left end of the Dome's large curved booth booth threaded up for a December 2002 screening of "How The West Was Won." The photo comes from an In70mm article about the event by Rick Mitchell.



Another look at the house left end of the booth. Photo: Bill Counter - 2017



A closer look at one of the Century projectors used for three-strip Cinerama presentations.The photo is from an article on the December 2002 screening of "How the West Was Won" on the site In70mm.com.



A 2002 view of the center of the booth with a Kinoton 35/70mm projector beyond the platter and the center Cinerama projector behind that. The photo is on the Film-Tech.com page on the theatre which you can find by going to pictures and scrolling down to the Cinerama Dome listing under "singles, twins, trios, quads."



The center Cinerama projector. It's a photo from Film-Tech.


 
A closer look at the Century head. Straight gate, water cooled. Photo: Bill Counter - 2017



The 35mm full coat mag sound reproducer for three strip Cinerama presentations. It's a 7500' reel. For this installation platters are used for the 3 projectors. Originally the 3 film sections were on huge reels as well -- about  34" in diameter and holding almost 12,000 ft. of film. The picture is 6 perforations per frame, running at 135 feet per minute. The sound runs at the same speed.



The "Able" projector at the house right end of the booth. Photo: Bill Counter - 2017 
 
Visit the Film-Tech site for many more booth photos by Mark Ogden and John Sittig. Head to pictures and scroll down to the Cinerama Dome listing. There are also photos of many other theatres to browse as well as equipment manuals and more.
 
   
 
On the site Ominous-Valve.com pay a visit to Hugh's article "Cinerama II: The Revival" for his informative review of a 2012 three-strip screening of "How the West Was Won" at the Dome as well as a discussion of the technical aspects of the Cinerama process itself. Bonus feature: aspect ratio chart. Also see the site's Altec page for a discussion of the original sound system at the Dome. 
 
 
The Cinerama Process at 60: The Dome had a a 3 strip festival in September 2012 to celebrate Cinerama's 60th Anniversary. It featured both new and vintage three strip Cinerama footage as well as 70mm presentations. See the In70mm.com article for many photos. Also see the photos of the event on the same site from Anders Olsson.



A three-strip Cinerama camera back in action in 2012 -- for the first time in over 50 years. On YouTube there are several shorts by Michael Cahill about film historian Dave Strohmaier shooting new 3 strip Cinerama footage in Los Angeles for his film "In The Picture." | "Cinerama 2012" Part 1 | Part 2



A three strip Cinerama camera displayed at the Dome during the September 2012 "Cinerama at 60" festival. The photo on Photos of Los Angeles is by Mark Tipton. 


 
The lens end of the Cinerama camera. It's a 2012 photo by Mark Tipton. 



A closeup view by Mark Tipton of the three very tiny Cinerama lenses. Thanks, Mark! See the trailer on YouTube for "The Last Days of Cinerama," a documentary about the 2012 shooting of three-strip Cinerama footage in Los Angeles. And from What Happens Next Productions, the full 24 minute short: "The Last Days of Cinerama."
 
 

The crew of the Cinerama short "In The Picture" gathered in front on April 23, 2012 following the 3-strip showing of "How the West Was Won" for the TCM Festival. Thanks to theatre historian Kurt Wahlner for providing the photo.  
 
Standing, left to right: Cinerama Camera Restoration/Technician Ken Stone; Co-Director of Photography John Hora, A.S.C.; Camera Operator Lance Fisher, S.O.C.; Co-Director of Photography Douglas H. Knapp; Cinerama Camera Number 3; Camera Film Loader David Tondeur; Gaffer Joe di Gennaro; Sound Recordist Lincoln Morrison; Co-Producer Tom H. March. Kneeling front left to right: Production Assistant Mike Cahill; Producer/Director/Writer/Editor David Strohmaier; Camera Assistant Kurt Wahlner; Producer Anthony Saenz.


From the February 10, 1964 issue of Boxoffice:

 
More 70mm Information: See the Egyptian Theatre page here on the Los Angeles Theatres site for lots of data about TODD-AO, the 70mm process that kicked off the big screen roadshow era in 1955. The Egyptian was the first theatre in the area equipped for the process. For a rundown on 70mm engagements at Los Angeles theatres, go to Michael Coate's terrific site FromScriptToDVD.com. Head for the main 70mm page.

More Cinerama Process Information:
For more information on the history of the Cinerama projection process see the Cinerama section on the film and theatre technology resources page. Check out the main Warner Hollywood page where there's lots of Cinerama information. Prior to the opening of the Dome, the Warner was the Cinerama theatre for southern California. 

Michael Coate's From Script To DVD site has a great This Is Cinerama in L.A. page with a history of three-strip and 70mm Cinerama engagements in Los Angeles. See Roland Lataille's InCinerama.com web site for lots more data and Cinerama memorabilia. And for lots of fun check out the site about the documentary "Cinerama Adventure" -- the site also has information about the 2012 Cinerama production "In The Picture."

The site In70mm.com has lots of Cinerama information. See their Cinerama index page and the article on Cinerama pictures on digital. For the latest Cinerama filming in Los Angeles there's the article "Cinerama 2012." 

And don't miss the six page Cinerama section on Martin Hart's amazing site Widescreen Museum.  The name "Cinerama" and the distinctive zig-zag logo are trademarks of Cinerama Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Theatres. 

The Cinerama pages: Cinerama Dome history | exterior views | interior views | back to top - projection | Hollywood ArcLight | the other Cinerama house: Warner Hollywood

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