American Cinematographer - August 1995 - 24

TS-2(sb)
NEW FEATURES!

projector head automatically shifts posi¬
tion to the lead of the next film to be
shown. Allowing maximum program¬

ming flexibility, films can be shown in
virtually any order and with no rewind
time. Operation of the I.Q. system uti¬
lizes a single control button.
Iwerks, (81 8) 840-9605,
vwsla@aol.com.

Empire State
Building Ridefilm
Empire Productions, the sister
company of post house Chromavision,
completed in December the production of
Skyride, the first major motion simulation
ride in the Big Apple. Produced for Sky¬
line Multimedia Entertainment, the ride
is located in the Empire State Building.
Twin theaters, each seating forty on

I

5
I

)
Fits

E2F

in a

Frontbox

3 Position Brightness
30% LIGTHER THAN THE TS-1
Built In Generator

car

mandatory to take advantage of the en¬
hanced image quality gained by shooting
and projecting at 48fps. Yeatman and

aerial, ground and underwater views
at breakneck

DQI director Robert Carmichael tested

speed - feature a
kaleidoscope of shots of New York: the
Cyclone at Coney Island, South Seaport,

65mm, 35mm anamorphic, and Super 35
formats, blowing them up to a 70mm re¬

Central Park, FAO Schwartz, Wall
Street, sharks at the Aquarium and

per

seen

more. Skyride is one of the few motion
simulation rides to feature actors and a

story concept. James Doohan (Scotty on
Star Trek)and comedian Yakov Smirnoff
are hapless crewmates on a spaceship
amok in Manhattan.

Skyride also has
placed on the
backs of the audience seats to give the
viewers a glimpse into the bridge of the
spacecraft.
Researching the project, pro¬
run

screens

Repiaceable Piastic Face

ns*

Runs on "AA" Batteries

ds*

$1295

ducer David Lenik and director Walter
Schlomann traversed the country check¬

car

Upgradeable!

ing out every motion simulation ride that
exists. What they saw were various con¬

$400 w/TS-l & SB-2

figurations of animation, models and
stop motion, and live action, i.e., a cam¬
era strapped to a train going ninety miles
hour. Most rides lasted three or four
minutes and few featured live-action
characters or a storyline.
an

Director of

photography Jim

Dixon, known for his work

on

2001: A

Space Odyssey, Tron, and Doug
Trumbull's Luxor, created a number of
new camera rigs to film daredevil shots.
To shoot Wall Street, for example, he

went five stories up

Lenny Arm
and a Titan Crane. Dixon shot on Super
35 with an Arri and video assist, keeping

N. Hollywood, CA 91601
(818)766-3525, Fax (818)766-0269
22

Daytona Racing Film
Dream Quest Images is pro¬
ducing a film to be the centerpiece of a
new visitors center at Daytona International Raceway at Daytona Beach,
Florida. The film is an up-close, behind
the scenes look at the crown jewel of
NASCAR racing, the Daytona 500.
The format they chose for pro¬
jection is 70mm 5-perf at 48fps. DQI co¬
founder Hoyt Yeatman chose the higher

moving platforms, will be vying for the

ds*

5417 Cahuenga Blvd. #B

7366, FAX (212) 686-7310.

attention of the 2.8 million tourists who
visit the building every year.
Seven minutes of live action

incorporated LCD

Denecke, Inc.

Empire Productions, 49 West
(212) 686-

27th St., New York, NY 10001,

frame rate because it eliminates the ap¬
parent strobing and other artifacts of pro¬
jection at 24 or 30fps. Since the film is
about speed, Yeatman felt that it was

-

V

in mind the unusual square format of the
projection screen (18 feet by 18 feet).

August 1995

with

a

lease

print, before determining that Su¬
35 would give them the look they
wanted and the flexibility to shoot with
up to 21 cameras simultaneously.
Director of photography Ward
Russell used his considerable experi¬
ence in filming stock car racing during
Daytona's Speedweeks 95last February,
when his crews shot more than 205,000
feet of film at 48fps. On the day of the
Daytona 500, the crew numbered 95
people, including two video crews shoot¬
ing material for the pre-show program.
Follow-up shooting of close-ups and in¬
serts was done in late June, when the
racetrack was closed to the public.
DQI's producer for the project,
Mitch Mentor, spent several months in
Daytona Beach handling the massive lo¬
gistics forthe shoot, which included get¬
ting the FAA to suspend commercial air
traffic at the Daytona Beach airport long
enough to allow helicopter photography
of the crowds at the raceway, which is
located adjacent to the runway.
The film will

premiere at
multi-million dollar
motorsports attraction opening at
Daytona International Speedway next

Daytona USA,

a

summer.

Dream Quest Images: 2635
Park Center Drive, Simi Valley, CA 93065,

(805) 581-2671, FAX (805) 583-4673.
American Cinematographer - August 1995

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - August 1995
