| Reference Type |
web
|
| Title |
in70mm.com: The 70mm Newsletter |
| Chapter/Web article title |
The Lost World of 70mm Theatres |
| Author(s) | Ian Hanson |
| State |
Unknown |
| Country |
Unknown |
| Publication Date |
20-07-2005 |
| Citation Date |
|
| Site URL |
http://www.in70mm.com/news/2005/70mm_in/australia.htm |
| Comments |
"The Lost World of 70mm Theatres" (which was uploaded to "in70mm.com" on July 20, 2005) originally appeared in "CinemaRecord Issue #47" (The Magazine of the "Cinema and Theatre Historical Society [Victoria]"). |
| Synopsis |
Ian Hanson's "The Lost World of 70mm Theatres" chronicles the disappearance of 70mm film presentations from mainstream cinema in Australia (noting that the only remaining cinemas in Australia capable of displaying 70mm film are the Astor Theatre at St. Kilda in Melbourne, the Orpheum at Cremorne in Sydney and the Edge Cinema in Katoomba.) Hanson contends that the "demise of this process" (70mm) is due to two particular factors; "the high costs of prints" (according to Hanson as much as $50,000 per print ["ten times the cost of a 35mm print"]) and "technological changes in the motion picture industry" [digital sound]. Towards this end, Ian Hanson examines the process and technological specifications inherent to 70mm film (often comparing 70mm [Todd-AO 70mm] with Cinemascope (2:55:1), conventional 35mm film and Cinerama projection ["three projectors screening 35mm film from three booths"]). In addition, Hanson examines the 70mm [Todd-AO] form's history and development within an Australian context, noting the format's dominance in Australia during the 1960s and 1970s (with "the general manager of [the] National Theatre Supply [the late Ray Smith]" stating "that his company had completed 80 installations of 70mm"). Equally however, Ian Hanson explores the sudden demise of 70mm; noting that despite the fact that "development of cinema complexes in the 1970s went hand-inhand with the roll out of 70mm"; the majority of 70mm installations (such as Cinema 1 at the Hoyts Cinema Centre in Bourke Street) were removed during the 1980s, and no 70mm feature films were "ever made in Australia" ("all were processed in the United States or Great Britain" according to Hanson) [with the exception of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome which "was blown up to 70mm and shown" at the Capitol Melbourne]. |
tags:
add tag Please Wait...
|
|
|
| |
