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VistaVision

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Logotype of the VistaVision format.
A VistaVision 35 mm film frame (the dotted area shows a 1.85:1 aspect ratio crop).

VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format that was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954.

Paramount did not use anamorphic processes such as CinemaScope but refined the quality of its flat widescreen system by orienting the 35 mm negative horizontally in the camera gate and shooting onto a larger area, which yielded a finer-grained projection print.

As finer-grained film stocks appeared on the market, VistaVision became obsolete. Paramount dropped the format after only seven years, although for another 40 years the format was used by some European and Japanese producers for feature films and by American films such as the first three Star Wars films for high-resolution special-effects sequences.

In many ways, VistaVision was a testing ground for cinematography ideas that evolved into 70 mm IMAX and OMNIMAX film formats in the 1970s. Both IMAX and OMNIMAX are oriented sideways, as is VistaVision.

History

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As a response to an industry recession caused largely by the popularity of television, the Hollywood studios turned to large-format films in order to regain audience attendance. In 1952, the anamorphic format Cinerama debuted in September 1952, and consisted of three strips of 35 mm film projected side-by-side onto a giant, curved screen, augmented by seven channels of stereophonic sound. In 1953, Twentieth Century-Fox announced the introduction of a simpler version of Cinerama using anamorphic lenses instead of multiple film strips, a widescreen process later known as CinemaScope.[1]

By January 1953, Paramount Pictures decided to convert Sangaree (1953) into a 3D production, which had originally been filmed "flat" for the prior two weeks.[2] When the film was screened for Paramount president Barney Balaban, he talked in length with Spyros Skouras, president of Twentieth Century-Fox, in which he stated he had preferred the CinemaScope process.[3] By the next month, Paramount Pictures devised its own system to augment its 3-D process, known as Paravision. This process utilized a screen size that yielded an aspect ratio of five units wide by three units high for an aspect ratio.[4][5] The first film released by Paramount to use the Paravision process was Red Garters (1954).[6]

This "flat" widescreen process was adopted by other studios, and by the end of 1953, more than half of the theaters in the U.S. had installed wide screens. However, because a smaller portion of the image was used and magnification was increased, excessive grain and soft images plagued early widescreen presentations. Some studios sought to compensate for these effects by shooting color films with a full aperture gate (rather than the academy aperture) and then reducing the image in Technicolor's optical printer. This process is a predecessor of today's Super 35 format, which also uses a 1.85:1 ratio but one-third more frame area than does a standard 1.85:1 matted into a 4:3 ratio.

The idea behind VistaVision originated with John R. Bishop, the head of Paramount's camera department. He had been impressed with the Cinerama process, although he took exception to the blow-up process. He told Popular Magazine: "the negative is the bad boy. We simply can't store enough detail in its small size. Sit close to the screen, and your eyes tire. Too fuzzy, too grainy."[7] He became interested in projecting the widescreen image in sharp detail. He installed a Leica lens in a Mitchell Camera after remembering an abandoned two-frame color system developed by the William P. Stein Company that exposed both negatives to form a single projection image. Bishop turned the camera on its side and shot a film test which proved successful.[7] In shooting in the VistaVision process, the film was run horizontally rather than vertically, and instead of exposing two simultaneous four-perforation frames, the entire eight perforations were used for one image.[8] The negative frame area was approximated to be 1.472 x 0.997 inches.[9][10]

During its technical development, Paramount's camera technicians dubbed this process the "Lazy 8" system, by which the term "lazy" stood for the horizontal film path, and "8" for the eight-sprocket image width.[9] Paramount trade-named the process "VistaVision" early in 1954, and the first production to utilize the camera process was White Christmas (1954).[11] The process afforded a wider aspect ratio of 1.5:1 versus the conventional 1.37:1 Academy ratio, and a much larger image area. In order to satisfy theaters with various screen sizes, VistaVision films were shot so that they could be shown in one of three recommended aspect ratios: 1.66:1, 1.85:1 and 2.00:1.[8]

In its lead-up to White Christmas, Paramount Pictures' publicity department stressed the CinemaScope process was "uncomfortably wide", in which their "VistaVision" process would emphasize that "height is as important as width."[12] By then, several theaters had been equipped with horizontal screen projectors for VistaVision's eight-sprocket image frame. For theater exhibitors that were not equipped, an alternate 35 mm film print was used with a compatible sound system known as the "Perspecta Stereo", encoded in the optical track.[12] The VistaVision fanfare, heard in most of the films produced in this ratio, was composed by Nathan Van Cleave.[13]

White Christmas held its world premiere at the Warner Beverly Hills Theatre on October 27, 1954. The Los Angeles Times detailed the VistaVision process was "a simple innovation, but not easy to grasp" by which they noted the "enlargement and compression process gives the picture a depth of focus which enhances its clarity."[14] Prior to its release, Paramount chief engineer Loren L. Ryder believed that VistaVision would become the forerunner of widescreen projection for the following reasons:

  • VistaVision could be shown at widescreen aspect ratios between 1.66 and 2.00:1.
  • VistaVision could be (and most often was) further printed down to standard vertical 35 mm reels, keeping its 1.66:1 widescreen aspect ratio, which meant that exhibitors did not need to purchase additional projection equipment, as was often required for CinemaScope.
  • VistaVision did not force the elimination of seats in any theater (as did Cinerama, and CinemaScope at first).
  • VistaVision allowed patrons to see more and therefore gain more enjoyment from a film.[15]

Following the film's release, Paramount reiterated its policy to have their standard film prints "available to play in any theatre anywhere in the world with no requirement that the exhibitor alter [their] equipment in order to play a VistaVision picture."[16] Subsequent Paramount films including Strategic Air Command (1955), To Catch a Thief (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), The Ten Commandments (1956), Funny Face (1957), and Vertigo (1958) were filmed in the eight-perforation VistaVision format in which they were filmed.[12] Though it was not prevalent as CinemaScope, rival studios adopted the VistaVision process, including MGM's High Society (1956), Warner Bros.' The Searchers (1956), and United Artists' The Vikings (1958).[12]

By the late 1950s, VistaVision became obsolete with the industry preference for Panavision and more refinements in Eastmancolor film stock. Paramount produced their last Vistavision film, One-Eyed Jacks in 1961. By the 1960s, they adopted Technirama as its primary widescreen projection system.[17]

Since the last American VistaVision film, One-Eyed Jacks in 1961, the format would not be used as a primary imaging system for a feature film until 2024. However, VistaVision's high resolution made it attractive for some special-effects work within some later feature films.

Special-effects usage

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In 1975, a small group of artists and technicians (including Richard Edlund, who was to receive two Academy Awards for his work) revived the long-dormant format to create the special effects shots for George Lucas's space epic Star Wars. A retooled VistaVision camera dubbed the Dykstraflex (named for special effects master John Dykstra) was used by the group (later called Industrial Light & Magic) in complex process shots. For more than two decades after this, VistaVision was often used as an originating and intermediate format for shooting special effects because a larger negative area compensates against the increased grain created when shots are optically composited. By the early 21st century, computer-generated imagery, advanced film scanning, digital intermediate methods and film stocks with higher resolutions optimized for special effects work had together rendered VistaVision mostly obsolete even for special effects work. Nevertheless, in 2008, ILM was still using the format in some production steps, such as for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and a VistaVision camera was used in the semi-trailer flip scene in The Dark Knight because there were not enough IMAX cameras to cover all of the angles needed for the shot. In 2010, certain key sequences of the film Inception were shot in VistaVision, and in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, shots that needed to be optically enlarged were shot in VistaVision.

Technical specifications

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VistaVision (8/35)
  • Spherical lenses, usually adapted and remounted Leica full-frame Rangefinder camera lenses;[citation needed] SOM Berthiot made a special zoom just for VistaVision applications, but it saw very little use.
  • Eight perforations per frame.
  • Horizontal pulldown from right to left (viewed from emulsion side).
  • Slightly less depth of field than that of vertical pulldown 35 mm.
  • Camera aperture of 1.485 inches (37.72 mm) by 0.981 inches (24.92 mm).

Films shot in VistaVision

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Main article: List of VistaVision films

1954's White Christmas was the first Paramount film to utilize the VistaVision method, but perhaps the most well-known film to be filmed completely in VistaVision format is Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 film Vertigo. One-Eyed Jacks in 1961 was the last Paramount film to be shot in the format, and My Six Loves in 1963 was the final American film filmed in the VistaVision process. The 1992 Disney release Newsies had at least one sequence filmed using a VistaVision camera, the one with the Brooklyn Bridge across the background. However the 21st century saw a revival of the format, with the release of The Brutalist in 2024 and Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming film in 2025.

Legacy

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The camera numbered VistaVision #1 that was used on Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments and several Alfred Hitchcock films was offered at auction on September 30, 2015 by Profiles in History with an estimated value of US$30,000 to $50,000, with a winning bid of US$65,000.[18] Also offered at the same auction was VistaVision High Speed #1 (VVHS1), which was used to film the parting of the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments and special effects for Star Wars (winning bid: US$60,000.)[19]

The RED Monstro sensor is a modern incarnation of the VistaVision sensor. Cameras that utilize the sensor include the Red Ranger Monstro, DSMC2 Monstro[20] and Panavision Millennium DXL2.[citation needed]

See also

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Notes

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  • Hart, Martin (1996). "The Development of VistaVision: Paramount Marches to a Different Drummer". Retrieved December 28, 2004.

References

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  1. ^ "CinemaScope--What It Is, How It Works". American Cinematographer. March 1953. pp. 112–113 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ "Paramount Starts 3-Dimension Movie". The New York Times. January 27, 1953. p. 22.
  3. ^ "No Letup in 3-D". Variety. p. 18 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ "Clarify 3-D Systems". Variety. February 25, 1953. p. 7 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ "Par. Rides Bandwagon with 3-Dimension". The Film Weekly. Sydney, Australia. February 12, 1953. p. 5. ISSN 0015-1467.
  6. ^ "Studios Push Films in Stereoscopics". The New York Times. January 30, 1953. p. 24.
  7. ^ a b Boone, Andrew R. (July 1954). "Hollywood Now Shoots". Popular Magazine. pp. 61–64. ISSN 0161-7370 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ a b "The VistaVision Wing". Widescreen Museum. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Bishop, John R.; Ryder, Loren L. (December 1953). "Paramount's 'Lazy-8' Double-Frame Camera". American Cinematographer. Vol. 34, no. 12. pp. 588–589 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ^ Raimondo-Souto, H. Mario (2014). Motion Picture Photography: A History, 1891–1960. McFarland & Company. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-786-48407-2.
  11. ^ Gavin, Arthur E. (April 1954). "Tomorrow's Wide-Screen Camera..." American Cinematographer. Vol. 35, no. 4. pp. 174–175 – via Internet Archive.
  12. ^ a b c d Lev, Peter (1994). History of the American Cinema, Volume 7: 1950–1959. University of California Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN 978-0-520-24966-0.
  13. ^ "The VistaVision Wing". Widescreen Museum. Archived from the original on January 15, 2025. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  14. ^ "VistaVision Debut Nears". Los Angeles Times. October 16, 1954. Part I, p. 13. Retrieved January 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Independent Film Journal, 33:25, March 20, 1954.
  16. ^ Ryder, Loren R.; Bishop, John R. (November 1954). "VistaVision Moves Forward". American Cinematographer. pp. 552–553 – via Internet Archive.
  17. ^ Hart, Martin (1996). "The Development of VistaVision: Paramount Marches to a Different Drummer". Widescreen Museum. Archived from the original on January 18, 2025. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
  18. ^ Hollywood Auction 74. California: Profiles in History. 2015. p. 419. Lot 1217. Historic Ten Commandments VistaVision #1 (VV1) motion picture camera. . . . VistaVision #1 (VV1) was the very first Mitchell VistaVision camera ever built, having started its service project, Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 epic The Ten Commandments and ten additional years of very difficult production as Hollywood moved out of the safety of sound stages into the rugged extremes of spectacular distant location productions. According to very limited surviving camera reports VV1 was one of six cameras on Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. Included with the camera are: VV1 blimp in case (hand-built by studio craftsmen), lens shade kit for blimp with case, VV1 motor with case, a removable through-the-lens viewfinder system, VistaVision Mitchell geared head, Cooke Panchro lens and bellows, (2) vintage camera cases, (2) 1000-ft. magazine sets, lens shade kit with accessories, external viewfinder and Fearless camera dolly. Comes with a letter of provenance by Roy H. Wagner, ASC, who states, "The camera worked its way through every picture that Paramount ever did in VistaVision, and went on to do substantial visual effects work on films in the 1960s and 70s. . . . In the last 35 years I've never seen a VistaVision camera this complete." From the collection of Debbie Reynolds. EST US$30,000–$50,000 (winning bid US$65,000). (Auction took place September 30, 2015. Catalog 83MB PDF and Prices Realized List PDF available at ProfilesinHistory.com Archived 2015-09-06 at the Wayback Machine.)
  19. ^ Hollywood Auction 74. California: Profiles in History. 2015. p. 505. Lot 1542. Mitchell VistaVision High Speed #1 (VVHS1) used on Star Wars. Quite possibly the most influential and important motion picture camera in history, VistaVision High Speed #1's first project started with one of Hollywood's grandest illusions: the parting of the Red Sea in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956) (only two Mitchell VistaVision High Speed cameras were ever made). When 20th Century Fox was faced with the visual effects challenges of Star Wars, the experts concurred that the VistaVision process was the best system available. Having not been properly maintained for over ten years, Paramount sent a large shipment of cameras for the visual effects team to sort through, of which VVHS1 played a very important part. George Lucas tasked Richard Edlund and his future-ILM effects wizards to use VVHS1 to photograph a great number of high-speed miniature effects shots, including the explosion of the Death Star, according to their own camera reports. Measures 31 in. long × 17 in. tall × 18 in. wide. Accompanied with original Mitchell geared head, original case (and spare VVHS2 case), lens shade kit with case, (2) 2,000-ft. magazines sets, external viewfinder with case, high speed motor in original case, backup high speed motor with original case, VistaVision studio power unit with original case and an additional original case with accessories. This camera started the VistaVision renaissance for using its unique capabilities for special effects that continued for two decades. . . . Comes with a letter of provenance from Roy H. Wagner, ASC. US$60,000–$80,000 (winning bid US$60,000). (Auction took place September 30, 2015. Catalog 83MB PDF and Prices Realized List PDF available at ProfilesinHistory.com Archived 2015-09-06 at the Wayback Machine.)
  20. ^ Dent, Steve (October 9, 2017). "Red's new flagship camera is the $80,000 Monstro 8K VV".

Bibliography

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  • "The Story of VistaVision" by Keith Wilson, Cinema Retro, Vol. 11, Issue 31, 2015 (on US newsstands Feb 2015), pages 40–41. Large format magazine article with nine photos, including technical.
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