Rivoli Theatre

I know some of you projectionists explained this once but I still don’t “get” how digital projection works. How is the image “shown”? There’s no film, right? I’m sorry but could someone either explain (simply…) or tell me about a website that could?

Also, about two years ago I read about another even more radical film medium wherein the movie would actually be “beamed” via satellite to theaters. If a movie proved to be a big enough draw (HA! Like with todays crap…) another theater in a multiplex could be instantly turned over to that film. The issue was how to prevent hackers from getting a hold of the signal and transmitting it to another area (theater, PC, etc.) Anyone aware of this?

Vito, I imagine the projectionists at the Ziegfeld WORRY! It is new technology, and during the pre-opening screenings of “Star Wars” a representative of Texas Instruments which had their prototype projector in before the opening, and a Dolby representative were also on hand for each screening. (If there were one more tech they might have been able to have a card game going!) As you know — you’re only as good as your last show and “stuff” happens. It always amazes me that for a premiere at the Zieg or the Music Hall, everyone would have a tech representative on hand, but when the picture opens and the audience had to pay, there would often be no tech assistance available. With the elimination of projectionists there are fewer and fewer people around exhibition who continue to care about the presentation (see “Uptown Theatre Washington D.C. on this site for the latest example). There was always the tension of being in the "Showplace of the Nation” at Radio City, and even though digital presentation may be boring, I’ll bet the guys at the Zieg are feeling a bit of tension these days too. Things can go from boredom to chaos in an instant.

Another NYC theater that has 70MM capability is the Paris. A 70MM print of “Howard’s End” was shown at the Paris for nearly a year in the early 1990s. Kenneth Branagh’s film of “Hamlet” was also presented in 70MM at the Paris.

Thanks REandres for that info. I forgot about the water cooled gates
Peter, you misunderstood, I never wrote all projectors are compatable. I am refering to 35/70 projectors, which is what all 70mm theatres have. There is nothing to do but convert the idle rollers, change the aperture plate and lens and your done. As for platters, most of them have feed plates (brains) that simply change out for either 35 or 70 and duel purpose guide rollers so again, little has to be done. As for the masking, we usually have three presetts, Flat, Scope and 70 for both the side and top masking settings. I have had several sneak preview showings of a 70mm print
playing with a 35mm feature and two of us did the conversion during
intermission, (about 20 minutes). In the case of DTS readers, nothing has to be done with them because they are always there, usually mounted above the mag penthouse, and simply bypassed when not in use. I suppose if you wanted to play a 70mm DTS print followed by a 35mm DTS print you would have much more work but that would be unusual.

Days of Heaven was astounding in 70mm, CConnolly. Even more amazing in that it was a blow-up from 35mm.

Vito, Peter’s right. Simplex advertised their 35/70 mm machine as being able to be changed in a matter of minutes, and I always joked, “Yes — about 60 minutes per projector!” In the Hall’s case the change was made more difficult by the water cooling tubes to the film traps, but we still usually changed the machines over after the show. They also had to be retilted for the different formats, which meant having a stage crew on to bring the picture sheet in and set the masking limits. (The screen masking at the Hall can be changed from the booth by the old Magnascope system, but it only allows two presets.) The only time we changed over during a day was when we did the Warner Bros. Film Festival a few years ago. We had to change over to do “The Exorcist” after a previous 35mm film that afternoon, and then change back to 35mm after “My Fair Lady” was shown the next afternoon. On another note: the Ziegfeld can still run 70mm with its Century JJ, and can do either mag or DTS 70mm sound. Other venues in the city which can do 70mm include the Walter Reade at Lincoln Center (which did Tati’s “Playtime” in 70mm a few weeks ago), the Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. The Dolby Screening Rooms in all of their locations can also do 70mm. MGM has removed their 70mm projectors from their screening room as has Fox. I was in the Ziegfeld two weeks ago for a tech check of the Digital “Star Wars”, and must say, while digital is still in its relative infancy, it was looking very much as I remember the first 70mm “Star Wars” looking at the Astor Plaza, so perhaps Malick’s new picture will be released that way. I ran his “Days of Heaven” in 70mm in the MGM Screening Room and was blown away by it, so it will be interesting to see how he chooses to release “The New World”.

It is nice to know that theatres are still capable of 70mm projection with the equipment in the booth. However, what theatre still has – other than the Ziegfeld, which I have never been in, have the screen size to utilize the 70mm presentation? 35MM or 70MM to me makes no difference if the screen in the theatre is the size of a TV screen in relation to the size of the theatre compared to your living room.I would imagine you could count on your two hands – and maybe a few toes – the number of theatres remaining that would have the size screen to utilize 70mm. (Not counting Imax Theatres.)

Some of the threads regarding 70mm have me wondering if everyone understands that all theatres have projectors and film transport systems (platers) that are 35/70mm compatable. At one time the Rivoli and one or two others had Todd-AO projectors which were designed for 70mm, however now in any theatre you go to, the booth has projector(s) that can run either 35mm or 70mm. We do not have straight 70mm projectors sitting in the booth collecting dust. It is a simple conversion from 35mm to 70mm that takes only a few minutes to perform and can easly be done even during intermission, there may be some minor Xenon bulb re-alignment as well. The film transport systems (platters) are also 35/70 compatable and can be converted just as easily. The sound format is chosen by the simple push of a
button and you are good to go.

Correction: It was not “Aliens of the Deep” but “Robots” that had the 35mm backup prints

No, Bill. Both can share the same space as long as the booth is big enough. They have to keep the film projectors on hand, since the digital shows do have a high number of failures.

If I recall, the Sony Lincoln Square also as 70mm capability in the main auditorium.

Pete: I’m guessing “The New World” will be at the Ziegfeld in 70mm. I can’t think of any 70mm theaters left in New Jersey, and there used to be so many back in the good old days.

No.

One of the reasons a lot more films are being presented in scope is that they are shooting them in Super35, which allows a scope theatrical print and a nearly full-frame (without panning and scanning) video image to be extracted.

There is one upcoming film shot in 65mm (for 70mm presentation), Terence Malick’s The New World. I’ll be very curious to see who is able to show it in 70mm in the NY metro area.