I am hoping the people that are reading these posts find this relic from John Hora’s collection as interesting and amazing as I do. Shown here is an original 3-panel slate from the epic western adventure “How the West Was Won” (1962) shot in Cinerama. For those unfamiliar with it, Cinerama was a widescreen format […]
Production Slate from “How the West Was Won” Read More »
From the collection of Jim Danforth comes another breathtaking piece of equipment, one of the very few surviving ARKO Background Projectors designed and built by Harry Cunningham for Willis O’Brien to create the visual effects for “Mighty Joe Young” (1949). Jim’s early career earned him the reputation of being an extraordinary stop motion animator, sculptor,
ARKO Background Projector Read More »
I have had Parvo #34 in my inventory for some time and have admired the camera, tripod, and pan tilt head since I got it. It was finally time to remove the ancient grease, dirt, and grime, and get everything in working order again. I started with the pan tilt head because, at first glance,
Debrie Parvo Tripod and Pan Tilt Head Read More »
Many thanks to Bruce Heller for the following explanation of how the DTB filters were used in the Technicolor dye transfer printing process: This blue filter is a sample of a rough ground Corning Glass DTB (Dark Theater Blue) filter. The example shown here has not been polished. These filters were used in the optical
Technicolor Filter Update Read More »
As I was going through Jim Danforth’s equipment (he saved some very amazing things), I came across a pair of Technicolor prisms and a mysterious blue disc. One prism is from a 3-strip Technicolor camera, and the other prism looks suspiciously like the ones from the early 2-strip Technicolor cameras. There was also what, at
Technicolor Prism and Filter Read More »
New arrivals! After many twists and turns with Fedex, we finally took delivery of equipment from the collection of Gunnar Blanke, a filmmaker from the Denver, CO area. Lots of neat stuff in this collection, including a Mitchell NC that was purchased by Lookout Mountain in 1959, two Mitchell GCs, an Akeley Gyro Head, a
An Estate Purchase Out of Colorado Read More »
Discussion on last week’s post made me think that this machine would be interesting to share. Back in the 80’s I built several single frame rear process projectors like the one pictured here. These projectors were used mainly to create composites of live action photography and matte paintings. Matte painting composites are an art form
Cinema Engineering Rear Process Projector Read More »
In 1920, Bell & Howell introduced the Cinemotor, a revolutionary electric motor drive for their model 2709 motion picture camera. Research suggests that Bell & Howell was the first to introduce an electric camera motor that incorporated a centrifugal governor and a rheostat in order to achieve constant speeds at variable frame rates. For its
Bell & Howell Cinemotor Read More »
In the days of yore, back when I was shooting movies with Mitchell and Bell & Howell cameras, we often struggled with getting leather belts spliced together so they ran quietly and smoothly. Several of the assistant cameramen I worked with had a bag full of pieces that they would use to splice belts together.
Leather Camera Belt Splicing Block Read More »
We had so many interesting comments on last week’s trip down memory lane, I thought I would show another interesting solution to a problem we ran into while shooting space ships. Budget always being a problem, I had to devise a way to get close enough to the miniatures to give the illusion of the
Mitchell Underslung Magazine Adapter Read More »
