How did Cinerama Influence Film?

In the mid-1950s, Americans were largely staying home to watch their television sets. Rather than spending time in the movie theaters. They were impressed with the ability to catch a television show from home. And chose largely to stay in on a Friday night. Rather than to attend the theater. Hollywood wasn’t so thrilled, and thus sought a way to overcome the issue. Cinerama was a widescreen filmmaking concept that would promise to draw Americans out of their homes and back into theaters. But exactly how did Cinearama influence film and filmmaking in this era?

What is Cinerama?

Cinerama would change the filmmaking process. Resulting in a widescreen process. That would project images through simultaneous synchronization of three 35mm projectors into a single, huge curved screen that featured 146° of arc.

This projection process came about as a result of the newfound desire. For Hollywood to draw Americans out of their homes. And back into theaters after the rise of the television set would cause many to stay home. Rather than to attend the theater. 

Cinerama was a limited, IMAX-like projection that was popular for a little while. But wouldn’t continue largely because of the incredibly high cost that came with projecting three movies essentially at a time.

The Future of Film

While Cinerama would perform the desired action of drawing people back to theaters. It’s most notably recognized for the role and influence it had in the film’s future.

The Cinerama Dome, which still stands in Los Angeles, represents the prototype that was to be used for the Cinerama method of widescreen projection via three orchestrated 35mm projectors onto the large curved screen.

Movie buffs and aspiring filmmakers still visit the Dome just for a taste of what once was. Unfortunately, Cinerama didn’t take off the way it was expected to, largely due to price. And today the Cinerama Dome remains one of the few original Cinerama theaters known.

How Did Cinerama Influence Film?

Cinerama influenced the creation of about 30 films which were then produced in widescreen formats. But, most notably, this was the beginning of widescreen film projection.

Today, most films are actually created in formats that allow for widescreen viewing as a result of the original Cinerama films.

While the Cinerama process didn’t prove to be the next big thing, and the pricing was just too much to make it feasible at the time. The technology would continue to impact filmmaking for many years and decades into the future. 

In Summation

Cinerama is the behind peripheral vision which is widely used in theaters on wide screens today. If you’ve ever gone to a movie and thought, wow – you can really experience the movie when you watch it on a wide screen. You know the value of Cinerama.

The peripheral vision that Cinerama provided in theaters would eventually give rise to other forms of technology in the film industry.

Including CinemaScope, VistaVision, and ToddAO as well as Panavision. Even today, some films are filmed with a superior technique known as Cinemiracle. Which is a hybrid of Cinerama from the 1950s.