The First 70MM IMAX Cinema in England |
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| Written and photographed by: Thomas Hauerslev | Date: 05.05.2015 |
 National
Museum of Photography, Film & Television. The most successful museum outside
London in 1990. Home to England's first 70MM IMAX cinema.I went up to Bradford to see National Museum of Photography, Film & Television on a 1-day return trip by train during a visit to London. I had read about this new museum in Screen International some years before and it came highly recommended. I was especially interested to see the IMAX cinema. |
More in 70mm reading: Goodbye 70mm IMAX Projector The Basics of The Rolling Loop IMAX Projector Imax Sound System The Passing of Bill Shaw - IMAX Pioneer Visiting 70MM Cinemas of London's West End, September 1990 Widescreen Weekend, Bradford, England "Interstellar" Goes IMAX 70MM and 5/70 MM Willem Bouwmeester Internet link: |
 The
giant IMAX projector loaded with 70MM film. 15 perf wide, and the largest
film format ever used.I met the chief projectionist Dick Vaughan, who is still there to this day (2015). He welcomed me and showed me around the IMAX cinema. One of the first IMAX cinemas - if not THE first of its kind - I had ever seen. Little did I know I would be invited back in 1996 and 15-16 more times to be part of the Widescreen Weekend. |
|
 15
years later this machine was retired and replaced by a pair of the new IMAX
machines with a small rotor. The new set up would be able to show IMAX 70MM
3D.The old machine was put on display in the museum by special permission from IMAX Corp in Canada. |
|
 The
IMAX cinema with many red seats and perfect viewing conditions on the
largest screen in England.54' x 62', or 16,5m tall and 18,9 meters wide, and curved. |
|
 The
largest screen in England. |
|
 IMAX
70MM film during projection. Note the big projection port, and the small
Kodak Carousel slide projector to the left. |
|
 Downstairs
with the Cinemeccanica Victoria 8 70MM/35mm projector and a great number of
Kodak Carousel projectors to the right.Note the Cinemeccanica non-rewind system in the foreground. Before opening of the Pictureville cinema, all 5-perf 70mm screenings at the NMPFT took place at the IMAX cinema. |
|
 The
great glass facade from 1990. I have seen most of "my" IMAX films at the
IMAX in Bradford. However, I have seen even more IMAX films, in my
home town of Copenhagen, but they have all been in the unique IMAX Dome
format. In 1990, I saw my very first glimpse of Cinerama at the NMPFT. A large exhibition explaining all film formats had one small screen showing a short clip from "This is Cinerama". A tiny 16mm installation (I seem to remember) showed a clip of the Roller Coaster ride, and I remember standing very close to the screen and getting the goose bumps up and down my spine when I saw the "join lines".....WOW! that was interesting......and a few years later at the nearby yet-to-be-opened Pictureville Cinema you could see and hear the immortal words by Lowell Thomas. "Ladies and Gentlemen. THIS IS CINERAMA". |
|
 The
tickets from my first Bradford visit 20. September 1990. "Grand Canyon" at
12:00 o'clock, and "To the Limit" at 13:00 o'clock. Both excellent IMAX
films from the days of 65mm photography at its peak.Note the price. GBP 2,50 pr film at any seat in the cinema. |
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