VistaVision

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Logo, 1954

VistaVision was an inexpensive film production format introduced in 1954 for making 35mm wide screen films.

history

In the early to mid-1950s, American cinema experimented a lot with new technology in order to counteract the decline in viewers caused by the new medium of television. As with VistaVision, not only was there work on wide-screen processes, but the first 3D processes were also experimented with. However, new technology was a problem for many cinema operators, as they normally required investment costs that should not be underestimated. Unlike some others, Paramount's VistaVision process was license-free . Therefore, and because of the use of standard 35mm film, it was very inexpensive, but rarely used by other studios .

The procedure was used by Paramount in many films up to around 1963 - including all Hitchcock films of that time, such as Vertigo (1958). Films shot in VistaVision can usually be recognized by a large VistaVision logo or the corresponding lettering displayed in the opening credits.

Further VistaVision films from Paramount (selection):

VistaVision films from other studios (selection):

Since its last use in the Marlon Brando film The Obsessive ( One Eyed Jacks , 1961), the process has practically disappeared from the US market, as better film material with finer grain was available in the meantime and therefore recording with twice the amount of tape (yes always used 2 frames for one picture) was more complex. However, the converted VistaVision cameras were sold internationally, resulting in a number of films from Italy to Japan from the 1960s to the 1980s .

Because of the quality of the uncompressed (in contrast to Cinemascope ) image surface, the special effects company ILM used a VistaVision camera modified by cameraman John Dykstra in 1975 for the science fiction film Star Wars , which he then called Dykstraflex and for which he won an Oscar in 1978 got. For the next 20 years, the technique was used more and more for special effects. Although the use of computers now dominates the special effects genre, the VistaVision process was still used for some effects in the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull .

functionality

VistaVison specifications - gray area: the film image actually used

In this process, 35 mm film is used which, however, does not run vertically, as usual, but horizontally through the film camera . A single image on the negative is exposed over a length of 8 instead of 4 perforation holes , which results in an aspect ratio of around 1.5: 1. Compared to normal 35 mm cinema film, the image area on the negative is more than twice as large, which means a significant increase in quality for the film copies as well. Paramount first used the process in 1954 in the Bing Crosby film White Christmas .

For playback in the cinemas, the film for the copies is optically reduced to vertical 35 mm normal film, the image is not removed in full, the individual image on the copy is masked above and below. This means that the copy can be played back with normal cinema projectors. Special, expensive equipment for playback is not required, which distinguishes this technology from many other widescreen methods of the 1950s, which were also not widely used as a result. Special, often rebuilt cameras are only used for recording . By appropriately setting the projector, the films can be shown in an aspect ratio of 1.66: 1 (the minimum width results from the masking) as well as in 1.85: 1 and 2: 1.

Films made in VistaVision contain only a single soundtrack in order to be compatible with existing cinemas, which many other widescreen technologies developed at the time were not. The sound is in mono, but could be equipped with Perspecta technology, which simulates a stereo or 3-channel playback that is compatible with cinemas without a suitable playback option. This helped bring this technology to cinemas without great expense.

See also

Web links

Commons : VistaVision  - collection of images, videos and audio files