Cinemiracle
Cinemiracle is a widescreen process with an aspect ratio of 3: 1 that was developed in the early 1950s . Three 35 mm film cameras or three electrically coupled film projectors are required for recording and projection . The Cinemiracle system was invented by Russell H. McCullough for the National Theaters Amusement Company .
In contrast to the comparable Cinerama method, the partial images of the two external cameras are not recorded directly (facing forwards), but via side mirrors (left camera: right partial image, etc.). The projection - onto a 120 ° curved screen - is then proceeded analogously with three film projectors.
For the recording, three Mitchell cameras for 35 mm film were used, which were combined in a firmly mounted camera block. The undistorted recording results in a better image quality than with the anamorphic method . The cameras were able to record an angle of 146 degrees horizontally and 55 degrees vertically. A specially developed film by Dubray-Howell Eastman , which was exposed at 26 film frames per second, was used as the film material .
The best-known of the films produced with this technology is the documentary film " Windjammer " (Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich) from 1958. For the German premiere on May 22, 1959 in the Grugahalle (Essen), a screen was temporarily included 32 m wide and 17 m high, it was the largest screen in the world at the time. The film was shown in the Grugahalle in 1959 and then in 1962 and 1965 and was seen by a total of around 650,000 viewers.
Since only a few cinemas were able to carry out the complex projection with three projectors, the film "Windjammer" was later copied onto simple anamorphic 35 mm film. The separation of the left and right film image was clearly visible as light lines. In rare television broadcasts, only the middle picture was broadcast. Then 60 percent of the film was not visible.
The method was used because of the better handiness and simplicity of anamorphic single-camera systems such as Cinemascope or other wide-screen systems such as Todd-AO and others. a. repressed. (See also film format (cinematography) )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Image projection method ( Memento of the original from March 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Image of the cameras ( Memento of the original from March 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Michael Köster: 50 years Grugahalle , Klartext-Verlag 2008, ISBN 978-3-8375-0049-3 , p. 49
Web links
Detailed information on this film format can be found at the American Widescreen Museum .