Kinopanorama
Encyclopedia
Kinopanorama is a three-lens, three-film widescreen
film format
. Although Kinopanorama was initially known as Panorama in the Soviet Union
the name was later revised to include its current name prior to the premier screenings in Moscow in 1958. In some countries, including Cuba, Greece, Norway and Sweden, it was usually marketed as Soviet Cinerama. In 1958, during which time Great is my Country
and The Enchanted Mirror, were exhibited at the Mayfair Theatre in New York City
, it was briefly advertised as Cinepanorama. Kinopanorama is for the most part identical in operation to that of Fred Waller's American-designed Cinerama
format.
ASC; and, lastly, Paul Stanley Smith and George Wilber Moffitt, of the Smith-Dietrich Corporation), the co-inventors of Cinemiracle
, a rival three-lens, three-film widescreen format. The Soviets accessed these patents without difficulty, as each was a matter of public record, available for sighting by prospective inventors and patent attorneys. The Soviets, on the other hand, did not publish or register their Kinopanorama camera with foreign patent offices.
There are various, albeit minor, technical differences in the film perforations
between Kinopanorama, which at the time of its invention was milled to accept the Kodak Standard (KS 1866) 'positive perforation' 4740 short-pitch camera negative stock, and those of the Cinerama
and Cinemiracle
cameras. Cinerama and Cinemiracle employ Bell and Howell (BH 1866) 'negative perforation' 4740 short-pitch and Dubray-Howell long-pitch 'negative perforation', respectively, for their modified Mitchell cameras. It is believed that the prototype Cinerama camera number one, on display in the foyer of the National Media Museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK, was originally milled for Dubray-Howell negative perforations, although this has never been confirmed.
The first Kinopanorama film, Vast is my Native Land, which in North America was titled Great is my Country
, was premiered on 28 February 1958, at the Mir Kino Theatre
in Moscow
. The event was profiled in the New York Times. The Enchanted Mirror, the second Kinopanorama film, received a special prize at the Brussels World's Fair known as Expo '58
. Eight Kinopanorama travelogues were produced in the original three-lens format (plus an additional seven in single-negative Kinopanorama 70) until 1966. Opasniye Povoroty
, the first dramatic film (released internationally in 1962) was produced with an improved Kinopanorama camera, known as the PSO-1960. This redesigned camera, of which six were manufactured, allowed for the use of interchangeable lens kits of focal lengths from 27 mm to 100 mm, inclusive.
A test film, known as Chastity, Truth and Kinopanorama -- the title of which Mr Lasher noted at his pre-screening introduction at the March 1997 Bradford Widescreen Festival at the National Media Museum is a deliberate pun on the title of Steven Soderbergh's Sex, Lies and Videotape -- was shot in Moscow before the camera and crew were flown to Sydney in November 1993. A short documentary film titled Bounty (1995), which was filmed in December 1993, was also screened in March 1995 at the Bradford Widescreen Festival .
In 1999 Fifth Continent and Vision 146 SARL produced a two-reel restoration of Opasniye Povoroty
from the original Sovcolor camera negatives. The restoration was premiered in Dayton, Ohio, USA, at the New Neon Movies. It was screened at the Pacific Theatres Cinerama Dome
in Hollywood in October 2004, and most recently at the Bradford Widescreen Festival on Sunday, 19 March 2008. Further restoration of the remaining reels was cancelled by both companies due to high costs.
In 2006 Fifth Continent converted the PSO-1960 camera to accept camera negative stock milled for the BH 4740 'negative perforation'. This is because film stock is no longer milled for KS 'positive perforation'. In 2007 a crystal-sync motor replaced the original 24-volt DC variable speed motor as well as the 240-volt 3-phase 50-hertz synch motor. In 2011 the camera will receive a new shutter, which will be manufactured by The Aranda Group. The conversion of film magazine number 2 to accept film stock wound either 'emulsion in' or 'emulsion out' is also planned.
, which opened in Moscow
on 28 February 1958, was followed by others in Leningrad
and Kiev
. A Kinopanorama cinema later opened in Paris
, France
. These cinemas employed equipment designed and manufactured in the Soviet Union
. Presently, the National Media Museum, ArcLight's Cinerama Dome
and the Seattle Cinerama
in Seattle, Washington, are equipped to exhibit 3-film Kinopanorama. The Kinopanorama Widescreen Preservation Society, Incorporated, was established in New South Wales
, Australia
in January 2010. Presently, the society has applied for state and government funding, which is expected to cover operating costs, including the purchase of custom re-built equipment, so that a future volunteer-operated Kinopanorama cinema in the vicinity of Broken Hill may exhibit 3-panel films (including Kinopanorama, Cinemiracle
and Cinerama
) in the future.
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
film format
Film format
A film format is a technical definition of a set of standard characteristics regarding image capture on photographic film, for either stills or movies. It can also apply to projected film, either slides or movies. The primary characteristic of a film format is its size and shape.In the case of...
. Although Kinopanorama was initially known as Panorama in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
the name was later revised to include its current name prior to the premier screenings in Moscow in 1958. In some countries, including Cuba, Greece, Norway and Sweden, it was usually marketed as Soviet Cinerama. In 1958, during which time Great is my Country
Great is my Country
Vast is my Native Land , also known as Great is my Country, was the first film shot in the Soviet wide-screen film format known as Kinopanorama. The film was directed by Roman Karmen, known for various documentary films produced in the Soviet Union.The Sovcolor film, which is 90-minutes in length,...
and The Enchanted Mirror, were exhibited at the Mayfair Theatre in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, it was briefly advertised as Cinepanorama. Kinopanorama is for the most part identical in operation to that of Fred Waller's American-designed Cinerama
Cinerama
Cinerama is the trademarked name for a widescreen process which works by simultaneously projecting images from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge, deeply-curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. It is also the trademarked name for the corporation which was formed to market it...
format.
Overview
Kinopanorama was developed between 1956 and 1957 by research technicians at the USSR Cinema and Photo Research Institute (also known as NIKFI). The chief designer of the prototype camera was Evsei Mikhailovich Goldovskii (1903–1971), the eminent Soviet inventor and scientist. The mechanical design of the first camera, which was designated as model SKP-1, evolved from the comprehensive research into other patents, each of which cited the invention of devices for the filming—and projection—of 'mosaic images' (moving and still), lodged with the United States Patent Office (dating from 1948 onwards) by, among others, Fred Waller and Richard C Babish of the Vitarama Corporation; Winton HochWinton Hoch
Winton C. Hoch, A.S.C. in Santa Monica was originally a lab technician who contributed to the development of Technicolor before becoming a cinematographer in 1936. His understanding of the colour process quickly led to him being hailed as one of Hollywood's premier colour cinematographers...
ASC; and, lastly, Paul Stanley Smith and George Wilber Moffitt, of the Smith-Dietrich Corporation), the co-inventors of Cinemiracle
Cinemiracle
Cinemiracle was a widescreen cinema format competing with Cinerama developed in the 1950s. It was ultimately unsuccessful, with only a single film produced and released in the format. Like Cinerama it used 3 cameras to capture a 2.59:1 image. Cinemiracle used two mirrors to give the left and right...
, a rival three-lens, three-film widescreen format. The Soviets accessed these patents without difficulty, as each was a matter of public record, available for sighting by prospective inventors and patent attorneys. The Soviets, on the other hand, did not publish or register their Kinopanorama camera with foreign patent offices.
There are various, albeit minor, technical differences in the film perforations
Film perforations
Film perforations, also known as perfs, are the holes placed in the film stock during manufacturing and used for transporting and steadying the film. Films may have different types of perforations depending on film gauge, film format, and the intended usage...
between Kinopanorama, which at the time of its invention was milled to accept the Kodak Standard (KS 1866) 'positive perforation' 4740 short-pitch camera negative stock, and those of the Cinerama
Cinerama
Cinerama is the trademarked name for a widescreen process which works by simultaneously projecting images from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge, deeply-curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. It is also the trademarked name for the corporation which was formed to market it...
and Cinemiracle
Cinemiracle
Cinemiracle was a widescreen cinema format competing with Cinerama developed in the 1950s. It was ultimately unsuccessful, with only a single film produced and released in the format. Like Cinerama it used 3 cameras to capture a 2.59:1 image. Cinemiracle used two mirrors to give the left and right...
cameras. Cinerama and Cinemiracle employ Bell and Howell (BH 1866) 'negative perforation' 4740 short-pitch and Dubray-Howell long-pitch 'negative perforation', respectively, for their modified Mitchell cameras. It is believed that the prototype Cinerama camera number one, on display in the foyer of the National Media Museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK, was originally milled for Dubray-Howell negative perforations, although this has never been confirmed.
The first Kinopanorama film, Vast is my Native Land, which in North America was titled Great is my Country
Great is my Country
Vast is my Native Land , also known as Great is my Country, was the first film shot in the Soviet wide-screen film format known as Kinopanorama. The film was directed by Roman Karmen, known for various documentary films produced in the Soviet Union.The Sovcolor film, which is 90-minutes in length,...
, was premiered on 28 February 1958, at the Mir Kino Theatre
Mir Kino Theatre
The Mir Kino Theatre is located in Moscow, Russia. It was built in 1958 for the screening of films shot in the Soviet three-film Kinopanorama wide screen format. Vast is my Native Land, also known as Great is my Country, the first Kinopanorama film, premiered there on February 28, 1958...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. The event was profiled in the New York Times. The Enchanted Mirror, the second Kinopanorama film, received a special prize at the Brussels World's Fair known as Expo '58
Expo '58
Expo 58, also known as the Brussels World’s Fair, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling or Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles, was held from 17 April to 19 October 1958...
. Eight Kinopanorama travelogues were produced in the original three-lens format (plus an additional seven in single-negative Kinopanorama 70) until 1966. Opasniye Povoroty
Opasniye Povoroty
Opasniye Povoroty, also known as Dangerous Turns [English], was the first dramatic film shot in the Soviet-designed Kinopanorama format. The screenplay concerns the love of two rival motorcycle drivers for one of two twin-sisters. The film was shot in Estonia in 1960-61, and released...
, the first dramatic film (released internationally in 1962) was produced with an improved Kinopanorama camera, known as the PSO-1960. This redesigned camera, of which six were manufactured, allowed for the use of interchangeable lens kits of focal lengths from 27 mm to 100 mm, inclusive.
Relaunch
The Kinopanorama three-lens process was re-launched in 1993 by Fifth Continent Movie Classics in Australia. John Steven Lasher, the former record label executive, secured the purchase of PSO-1960 camera number six, which was restored by NIKFI technicians to working order.A test film, known as Chastity, Truth and Kinopanorama -- the title of which Mr Lasher noted at his pre-screening introduction at the March 1997 Bradford Widescreen Festival at the National Media Museum is a deliberate pun on the title of Steven Soderbergh's Sex, Lies and Videotape -- was shot in Moscow before the camera and crew were flown to Sydney in November 1993. A short documentary film titled Bounty (1995), which was filmed in December 1993, was also screened in March 1995 at the Bradford Widescreen Festival .
In 1999 Fifth Continent and Vision 146 SARL produced a two-reel restoration of Opasniye Povoroty
Opasniye Povoroty
Opasniye Povoroty, also known as Dangerous Turns [English], was the first dramatic film shot in the Soviet-designed Kinopanorama format. The screenplay concerns the love of two rival motorcycle drivers for one of two twin-sisters. The film was shot in Estonia in 1960-61, and released...
from the original Sovcolor camera negatives. The restoration was premiered in Dayton, Ohio, USA, at the New Neon Movies. It was screened at the Pacific Theatres Cinerama Dome
Cinerama Dome
Pacific Theatres' Cinerama Dome is a movie theater located at 6360 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Designed to present widescreen, 70mm Cinerama films, it opened November 7, 1963. Today it continues as a leading first run theater.- History :...
in Hollywood in October 2004, and most recently at the Bradford Widescreen Festival on Sunday, 19 March 2008. Further restoration of the remaining reels was cancelled by both companies due to high costs.
In 2006 Fifth Continent converted the PSO-1960 camera to accept camera negative stock milled for the BH 4740 'negative perforation'. This is because film stock is no longer milled for KS 'positive perforation'. In 2007 a crystal-sync motor replaced the original 24-volt DC variable speed motor as well as the 240-volt 3-phase 50-hertz synch motor. In 2011 the camera will receive a new shutter, which will be manufactured by The Aranda Group. The conversion of film magazine number 2 to accept film stock wound either 'emulsion in' or 'emulsion out' is also planned.
Kinopanorama Cinemas
Seven cinemas designed (or renovated) for the exhibition of 3-film (and later 70mm) Kinopanorama were built in the former USSR from 1958 onwards. The Mir Kino TheatreMir Kino Theatre
The Mir Kino Theatre is located in Moscow, Russia. It was built in 1958 for the screening of films shot in the Soviet three-film Kinopanorama wide screen format. Vast is my Native Land, also known as Great is my Country, the first Kinopanorama film, premiered there on February 28, 1958...
, which opened in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
on 28 February 1958, was followed by others in Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
and Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. A Kinopanorama cinema later opened in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. These cinemas employed equipment designed and manufactured in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Presently, the National Media Museum, ArcLight's Cinerama Dome
Cinerama Dome
Pacific Theatres' Cinerama Dome is a movie theater located at 6360 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Designed to present widescreen, 70mm Cinerama films, it opened November 7, 1963. Today it continues as a leading first run theater.- History :...
and the Seattle Cinerama
Seattle Cinerama
The Seattle Cinerama Theatre is a landmark movie theater located in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington in the United States of America...
in Seattle, Washington, are equipped to exhibit 3-film Kinopanorama. The Kinopanorama Widescreen Preservation Society, Incorporated, was established in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in January 2010. Presently, the society has applied for state and government funding, which is expected to cover operating costs, including the purchase of custom re-built equipment, so that a future volunteer-operated Kinopanorama cinema in the vicinity of Broken Hill may exhibit 3-panel films (including Kinopanorama, Cinemiracle
Cinemiracle
Cinemiracle was a widescreen cinema format competing with Cinerama developed in the 1950s. It was ultimately unsuccessful, with only a single film produced and released in the format. Like Cinerama it used 3 cameras to capture a 2.59:1 image. Cinemiracle used two mirrors to give the left and right...
and Cinerama
Cinerama
Cinerama is the trademarked name for a widescreen process which works by simultaneously projecting images from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge, deeply-curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. It is also the trademarked name for the corporation which was formed to market it...
) in the future.