TECH VISTAVISION
Everything is done digitally afterwards. As soon as it’s scanned, there is the clean up, colour work and stabilisation. “There’s a lot of flicker in this division,” says Barker. “You can see it in Wuthering Heights . It’s just something inherent to the cameras sometimes. We try to look for a vintage print and, if we can, a Technicolor IB print, to have a good colour reference that can give us an idea of what it looked like when it was originally projected. A few of the first films were also released with a Perspecta audio track, so we’ll restore that as well.” VistaVision was Paramount’s answer to CinemaScope, and White Christmas (1954) marked the studio’s first release shot in the format. The engineers at Paramount didn’t like how grainy the widescreen image was in CinemaScope. “They also didn’t like how anamorphic lenses were stretching people,” Barker explains. “They were interested in quality and having a widescreen process but making it better. The only way to do that was to shoot with a larger negative; 65 and 55mm were too cost prohibitive, so they opted for regular 35mm film. It was based on old patents, and they found a 25-year-old camera that would work shooting horizontally.” Alfred Hitchcock was impressed enough to use it for To Catch a Thief
NO FILM LEFT BEHIND One of the films Paramount’s restoration team (bottom left) has restored is the studio’s very first VistaVision feature from 1954, White Christmas (right)
© PARAMOUNT PICTURES
(1955), The Trouble with Harry (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo (1958) and North by Northwest (1959), and has become one of the filmmakers most associated with it. The format didn’t last long, however. “Ultimately because of cost,” says Barker. “You see all these memos going back and forth about how much money they would have saved without VistaVision. For two years, Paramount was a total VistaVision studio. Everything they shot and released was in the format.” Another factor in its demise was technological competition with studios such as Panavision. “The intention was always to have a negative format. Panavision could do that cheaper and get similar results theatrically with the newer anamorphic lenses. They could also shoot with only half the amount of
film because a VistaVision system uses twice the amount.” THE FUTURE OF THE FORMAT Ryan puts the current VistaVision trend down to numerous different factors. “I think people are really enjoying shooting on celluloid again for a start. It is a larger format for 35mm that is still cheaper than 65mm or IMAX, and the jump in image quality is considerable.” For Trigger, VistaVision will probably remain a more specialist format, but its resurgence shows how DOPs are now rediscovering classic film technologies and applying them in modern ways. “It offers a distinctive visual quality while still fitting neatly into contemporary production pipelines,” he concludes. “What’s remarkable is that many of the VistaVision cameras in use today are several decades old, yet continue to perform beautifully. That’s largely thanks to the care of specialist technicians and film enthusiasts who have maintained them. These are very well-engineered mechanical systems and it’s a reminder that film technology was built to last.” Barker says To Catch a Thief (1955) is her favourite VistaVision film. “It shows the best of the format,” she argues. “I was lucky enough to be able to work on the restoration a few years ago. When you go through something frame by frame, you develop even more of an appreciation for it. It was shot by Robert Burks, ASC and it’s just gorgeous. It may be fluffy and a lot of people disregard it as not one of Hitchcock’s best, but I think it’s a lot of fun and Grace Kelly never looked better. “I’ve been obsessed with VistaVision for a long time,” says Barker. “I started writing a book about it because there are none that really highlight it. It’s exciting people are talking about it now.”
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