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Statement on 65/70mm
A Statement made from the Widescreen Weekend, Bradford UK, in 2005
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in70mm.com
The 70mm Newsletter
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Written
by: Johan C. M.
Wolthuis, International 70mm Publishers, The Netherlands |
Date:
30.09.2007 |
Pictureville cinema with international widescreen delegates. Image by Thomas Hauerslev
* 250 delegates from all over Europe and America, were
celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the TODD-AO 70mm
process at the
Widescreen
Festival at the National Museum of Photography, Film and
Television In Bradford, United Kingdom.
* Why did 250 people travel thousands of miles to Bradford
to the 11th Annual Widescreen Weekend in March 2005 ? Why
was the auditorium packed with an excited, happy audience
when the films they were to watch, were not the latest
blockbusters ? What was so special there ? The answer is
Widescreen 70mm Formats and Cinerama ! They wouldn’t have
travelled thousands of miles to see these films on standard
35mm. They wanted to see something special !
* They saw a lot of famous Todd-AO 70mm films, (mostly
beautiful new prints) like ”Oklahoma!”, ”Hello
Dolly”, ”The Sound of Music”, ”Those
Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines”, ”Star!”,
“The Agony and the Ecstasy” and ”Baraka”.
All these motion pictures were filmed with 65mm cameras, as
were the epics ”Lawrence of Arabia”, ”2001, A
Space Odyssey”, ”Ben-Hur”, ”Cleopatra”,
“Spartacus”, “Ryan’s Daughter”, “It’s a Mad,
Mad, Mad, Mad World”, etc.
* The abandoning of the 70mm Formats in the film and cinema
industry is surely a great loss ! Digital projection
advances slowly forward, but original high quality 70mm
films, projected on a large curved screen still surpass the
best digital projection and will continue to do so for the
conceivable future !
* The majority of delegates, gathered at the Widescreen
Festival, would like to make a strong appeal to directors,
producers and other decision makers in the film and cinema
industry, to put new life into original 70mm filming and
presentation. Large cinemas should present something people
cannot see at their home cinema: something which is superior
to flat screen digital projection: high quality 70mm films,
projected on a large curved screen, wall-to-wall ! And 70mm
films on the big screen are difficult to copy by means of a
video camera, etc. therefore an excellent weapon against
piracy ! Many Directors of Photography would like the
opportunity to work with 65mm cameras and would love to see
original 70mm presentation return. There is a demand for
high quality.
Cinemas need a new attraction and that is NOT digital
projection !
* Messrs. Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron,
Robert Zemeckis, Oliver Stone and others, should use once in
their life the 65mm cameras for an epic 70mm motion picture
production. And Mr. Ron Howard, experienced 70mm producer:
your second chance, try the 65mm cameras another time: now
for the filming of “The Da Vinci Code”!
Bradford, United Kingdom, 14 March 2005
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More
in 70mm reading:
65/70mm Workshop
"Digital & 65mm" - New book from International 70mm Publishers
Widescreen Weekend, Bradford, England
Johan Wolthuis Says Goodbye
Internet link: |
The Editors welcome Feedback
on this Statement, and any comments will be published in our
Feedback section
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