1- Why Cinema Scope
During 1950 all film industries faced up to a risk, because the television network was taking a lot of audiences all over the world to gave up theatrical film. Due to this problem the head of film industries had to find new strategy to make the audiences interested on theatrical film by trying to make a wide screen film and special color which television cannot make.
2- From Cinerama to Cinema Scope
September 13, 1952 the Broadway Theater was the world premiere, which screened a wide screen film called “ This is Cinerama”. This technique used three cameras at the same time to capture an image side by side. During the projection they had to project on three different projectors at the same time.
Cinerama and the early 3D films, both launched in 1952, succeeded at the box-office in defying this trend, which in turn persuaded Spyros Skouras, the head of Twentieth Century-Fox, that technical innovation could help to meet the challenge. Skouras tasked Earl Sponable, head of Fox's research department, with devising a new, impressive, projection system, but something that, unlike Cinerama, could be retrofitted to existing theatres at a relatively modest cost – and then Herbert Brag, Sponable's assistant, remembered Chrétien's "Hypergonar" lens.
The optical company Bausch & Lomb was asked to produce a prototype "anamorphoser" (later shortened to "anamorphic") lens. Meanwhile, Sponable tracked down Professor Chrétien, whose patent for the process had expired, so Fox purchased his existing Hypergonars from him and these lenses were flown back to Fox's studios in Hollywood. Test footage shot with these lenses was screened for Skouras, who gave the go-ahead for development of a widescreen process based on Chrétien's invention, which was to be known as "Cinemascope".
3- What is Cinema Scope
CINEMASCOPE is a technique using anamorphic lens in front of camera and projector to provide a panoramic wide-view of images for cinema.
Anamorphoscope Lens (Hypergonar lenses) was invented by Professor Henri Chrétien during 1920. It was this process that would later form the basis for Cinemascope. Chrétien's process was based on lenses that employed an optical trick which produced an image twice as wide as those that were being produced with conventional lenses; this was done using an optical system called Hypergonar, which was the process of compressing (at shoot time) and dilating (at projection time) the image laterally. He attempted to interest the motion picture industry in his invention, but at that time the industry was not sufficiently impressed.
4- HOW CINEMASCOPE WORKS
Anamorphoscope wide-view lens is put in front of camera lens. This lens can compresses image within the full aperture of 35mm films. In projection, another anamorphoscope placed before the projector lens expands compressed image to full scale. At the first time with Chrétien’s system he did not add the sound so the ratio of image was expanded two times with academy aspect ratio 1.33:1 to 2:66:1. The main problem was to sync sound and image. To add sound magnetic track on film, they reduced to 2.55:1. But magnetic track was too fragile and they replaced it by optical sound track and needed to reduce the ratio to 2.39:1.
A UNIQUE LENS, which restores to its proper proportions an image previously distorted, makes possible the compression onto 35mm film of wide-angle panoramic scenes, and is the basis of the new Cinema Scope system of widescreen motion pictures developed in Hollywood by 20th Century-Fox studios.
When the film is projected through a companion lens the distorted image assumes its former normal dimension, just as a trick mirror in a carnival fun house would straighten out its distorted reflections if placed before a mirror having compensating distortions.
Cinemascope is not stereoscopic movies-not the same as the 3-D films also causing a flurry in Hollywood. Cinemascope films do not require the use of viewing spectacles, do not require special dual motion picture cameras and dual projectors. But the result on the screen, which does present an illusion of three-dimension pictures, is said by many to be superior to 3-D films.
Like the Cinerama process Cinemascope pictures are panoramic and have stereophonic sound. The wide screen used for Cinemascope is a solid screen having great reflectance, and is curved slightly but not to the extent of the Cinerama screen.
5- The First screening of Cinema Scope
Cinemascope is commonly used for cinema with aspect ratio 2.39:1 much more easier than Cinerama which used three cameras and three projectors at the same time to showing panoramic scene onto the cinema screen side by side.
On February 23, 1952 20th Century FOX started screening the first motion picture in cinemascope call “ The Robe” and planned to make two other films, “ How to marry the Millionaire” and “ Beneath the 12-Mile Reef”. Each film was shot with an anamorphic angle.
FOX president announced with much fanfare that they would be abandoning the old aspect ratio the organ square-shaped movies were made in and they would produce all their films in cinemascope.
In January 18, 1953 20th century FOX screened the second film in cinemascope “ How to Marry the Millionaire” with incredible sound with only left and right channels but also included behind sound that made audiences feel that they were in the middle of action.
20th Century Fox advertised his own film in cinemascope by comparing to the old standard aspect ratio. It became very popular with the first wide screen, which used only one camera and one projector, much more easily than Cinerama which audiences had seen before, but they had to adapt the curve of the screen to the focus curve.
6- Cinema Scope Competitor
During the progress of cinemascope there were many competitors from many companies who tried to make their own system to compete with 20th century Fox such as Aga Scope, Arriscope, etc.
In 1954, Panavision founder Robert Gottschalk owned a camera store in Westwood Village, where his customers included many professional photographers and cinematographer. Among his acquaintances there was an optical engineer, cinemascope cylindrical-type projection lenses. Ironically, Gottschalk and wallin’s lens was base on an even earlier Chrétien’s development.
The advantages of the Prismatic system of anamorphic attachment lenses were that they were far similar and less expensive to manufacture, and if the prisms were mounted so that they could be swiveled together, the anamorphic squeeze ratio could be modified. It could easily be set to be 2:1, 1.50:1 and even 1:1 and would remain even and optically true all across the screen. Another advantage was that theaters could build a large reel containing shorts, newsreels and other non-anamorphic films, and an anamorphic film all on the same reel, and could project correct imagery for one or the other at the turn of a small knob - all without stopping the projector. Furthermore, Gottschalk didn't care whether the theater installed four-track stereo sound or not.
Within a short time, Gottschalk and a small staff that included Frank Vogelsang, Tak Miyagishima, George Kraemer and Jack Barber produced and delivered some 35,000 prism-type projection lens attachments, until the market became saturated.
In 1959 the first film with Panavision lenses “ BEN HUR” won the Academy Award for cinematography. According to this success, Panavision developed a system of non-anamorphic lenses for 65mm camera. They were used in such picture as “Exodus”, “West Side Story”, “ Lawrence of Arabi” and “ My fair Lady”
7-Techniscope
Concerning to the history of cinemascope, which had many competitors who tried to make different wide screen motion pictures in differences techniques such as Vistavision which uses the technic of camera to shot film in horizontal way and Techniscope which uses 2 perforations on 35mm film stock, but these systems need to have projector and camera modified. Also we have to notice that the surface of negative emulsion is devided by two. It means it is very good for producers because they can save a lot of money, but not very good for directors of photography.
8- Compare Film stock Ratio and Digital Sensor Ratio
Nowadays almost all filmmakers and film manufactures have changed their mind to the new technology to produce their film by using digital camera. In digital Camera we can make cinemascope format aspect ratio by using only a part of the sensor or using anamorphic lenses on digital camera.
for example we can see on the Arriflex webside the difference of sensor mode and target of aspect ratio:
Concerning the picture above, if we use target aspect ratio 2.39 Scope 2x we need to use anamorphic lenses and images will be compressed onto 4:3 sensor mode and expanded to the real scope ratio during screening. If we use 2.39 flat it means that we use normal lenses and the picture will be capture on in the cyan lines.
Conclusion: I was very happy with this discovery because it was the first time for me to use cinemascope format and I understand how cinemascope works and all the history of cinemascope.
All the links used to find all information
The CinemaScope Story : https://youtu.be/Bve8wGAPhIg
Universalis : Cinemascope
Guide de survie Cinéma 091129 2.pdf
2014_ALEXA_Sample_Footage_Technical_Information.pdf
https://www.arri.com/DE/camera/alexa/tools/arri_lens_illumination_guide/
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