Around 1983 I built this single frame rear process projector for my friend and colleague David Stipes. This lovely piece of machinery was used to project background plates into matte paintings and tabletop miniatures. We used it on such projects as “Ice Pirates”, “Real Genius”, “V”, “Trancers”, an episode of “The Twilight Zone”, and many […]
1983 has come back for a visit! Read More »
I wanted to share one more truly amazing item from John Hora’s collection before the end of the year. John was involved in a project in 2012, along with fellow cinematographer Douglas Knapp and director David Strohmaier, filming a three-panel Cinerama travelog about Los Angeles in the original Cinerama style. Additionally John was part of
There are 2 things I thought would be interesting to share this week. Back in the mid-1980’s, I was buying equipment from a fellow who lived in Sacramento, and one of the things that was included in the pile of stuff was a set of the shop blueprints and handwritten notes from the Twentieth Century-Fox
Fox Cine Simplex Video Read More »
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 »
While hard at work on the new website, we have been assembling brief histories of camera manufacturers whose equipment we own. There are several major players in the movie equipment world whose histories are difficult to research. Among those, I was shocked to find that there was no information about Fries Engineering, a major innovator
An Interview with Doug Fries Read More »
Recently I had a chance, through my dear friend Ted Rae, to represent 2 cameras that were part of Jim Danforth’s studio. For those who may not know of Jim and his work, Jim is a modern day renaissance man. He is an accomplished matte painter, fine art artist, illustrator, model maker, sculptor, puppet maker,
Camera from the Collection of Jim Danforth Read More »
As an update to BNCR #224’s restoration, here is where it currently stands: I was able to get the camera itself back into working order and reinstalled in the blimp. Since nothing here gets thrown away, I pulled parts from old stock and pieced together a front lens housing and matte box. The lens housing
An Update About BNCR sn. 224 Read More »
The Fox Film Corporation made just 4 feature films in the Grandeur process. Raoul Walsh’s “The Big Trail” was the final film, and the only one to use the Grandeur format to its full potential. Arthur Edeson’s masterful cinematography took full advantage of the 70mm film format to fill the frame with grand vistas and
Raoul Walsh’s “The Big Trail” Read More »
The motion picture industry was in a period of transition in the late 1920s. Sound films were set to remake the previously silent industry, changing everything about how movies were made and exhibited. As the popularity of movies rose, bigger theaters were built to accommodate the ever increasing audiences. The Roxy Theater in New York,
Mitchell FC 70mm Grandeur camera, sn. 8 Read More »
As the sound era became a reality, William Fox recognized the need for better quality images in his movies. His Fox Case Corp. team, led by engineer Earl Sponable, developed the 70mm Grandeur photographic process to solve this problem. The Mitchell Camera Corporation was contracted to build a 70mm version of their successful Mitchell Standard,
Mitchell FC Fox Grandeur Camera sn. 8 Read More »
