The short answer is that Scanoscope was an odd form of CinemaScope,
which was the rival to Cinerama. [Nothing like "Scanasphere" shows up
on the Internet; Scanoscope appears to be the closest name for a film
format.]
Scanoscope is described by The American WideScreen Museum web site as
a "bizarre two perf photographic and print system that resulted in a
print that was run forward and then backward through the projector."
The format was "intended to be a way to produce economical prints in a
widescreen format. Shot in two-perf, each printed reel would contain
the image and sound from two alternate reels, i.e. reel 1 would
actually carry reel 1 and reel 3, reel 2 would carry reel 2 and reel
4. Standard changeovers were done and when the second projector was
turned on the film on the takeup reel of the first projector was
loaded onto the supply spindle and threaded up for another trip
through the machine at the next changeover."
In Cinerama, "the image is formed from three separate 35mm films and
sound is carried on a forth 35mm magnetic film with 7 soundtracks.
The individual frames were six perforations high instead of the usual
four and the frame rate was increased from 24 to 26 frames per second
to reduce the apparent flicker on the giant 146 degree screen.
Cinerama's three frames formed an image of approximately six times the
definition of the conventional 35mm film. That resolution, combined
with the sharp wide angle lenses with their extended depth of field
made for an unparalleled viewing experience."
For more discussion of Scanosphere, you can see two discussion threads
from the newsgroup rec.arts.movies.tech, which I cite below. For more
on Cinerama (or CinemaScope), the American WideScreen Museum or
rec.arts.movies.tech should be helpful.
- justaskscott-ga
Web pages consulted and quoted:
"CinemaScope Clones" [see footnotes]
American WideScreen Museum
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/cnemascopeclones.htm
"Scanoscope"
American WideScreen Museum
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/special/scanoscope.htm
"The Cinerama Wing"
American WideScreen Museum
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingcr1.htm
"Cinerama Matched Panels"
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/special/cinerama.htm
"Very odd wide screen format - Panoscope or Scanoscope" (thread on
<rec.arts.movies.tech>)
Google Groups
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=MPG.149475a22279c022989fb8%40netnews.worldnet.att.net&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dscanoscope%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26selm%3DMPG.149475a22279c022989fb8%2540netnews.worldnet.att.net%26rnum%3D1
"Very odd wide screen format" (thread on <rec.arts.movies.tech>)
Google Groups
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=39F7692B.AFA1606B%40sabucat.com&rnum=2&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dscanoscope%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D39F7692B.AFA1606B%2540sabucat.com%26rnum%3D2
Search terms used:
On Google -
[after lots of trial and error!] scanoscope
scanoscope cinemascope
scanoscope cinerama
On Google Groups -
scanoscope
[Also, I browsed on the American WideScreen Museum web site.] |
Request for Answer Clarification by
sourpuss-ga
on
27 Oct 2002 09:10 PST
I dont think this is the right answer. My error in not giving some
more info. Supposedly, the scanasphere was sold to the cinerama
company and possibly was sat on by them and never made public. It was
once shown to Disney. I did a lot of searches and came up empty on
this. A friend of a friend of a hollywood cinematographer said it was
featured in a Tampa Tribune and Times Sunday paper long ago, but this
is all I know. Thanks for the try, and if you want to post a
followup, that would be OK.
~sourp
|
Clarification of Answer by
justaskscott-ga
on
28 Oct 2002 07:24 PST
I was wondering why I didn't find any information on "scanapshere" or
something with a similar spelling, even on rec.arts.movies.tech. It
is possible that the Tampa Tribune and Times (and perhaps affiliated
papers) is the only source for this story, especially if Cinerama sat
on the idea -- and stories from the Tampa Tribune and Times are not
generally available on an Internet-wide search.
My Internet connection is slow at the moment, so I can't search two of
the sources I hope will have information: the Tampa Tribune and Times
archive ( http://archive.tampatrib.com ) and Daypop (
http://www.daypop.com ). I'll try some searches on those sites later
today or tomorrow, and see what I come up with.
|
Clarification of Answer by
justaskscott-ga
on
28 Oct 2002 07:27 PST
I just realized that you said the information was printed "long ago";
that rules out Daypop as a source. Let's hope the Tampa newspaper's
archives go back far enough to encompass the story you're looking for.
|
Clarification of Answer by
justaskscott-ga
on
29 Oct 2002 18:58 PST
I have not forgotten about your question. Unexpectedly, I still don't
have fast Web access. When I do (hopefully tomorrow?), I'll do my
follow-up research.
|
Clarification of Answer by
justaskscott-ga
on
31 Oct 2002 18:13 PST
My searches on the Tampa Tribune archives for words like "Scanasphere"
did not come up with anything. (There are several articles that
mention "Cinerama", but none sound like the one you're looking for.)
The archive only goes back to 1990, so it is possible that the article
was published before then. For a fee, you can ask the Tampa Tribune
to conduct research on earlier articles and photocopy the article if
they find it.
"Public research archives"
The Tampa Tribune
http://archive.tampatrib.com/research.htm
Two other possibilities come to mind. First, you could submit a
posting to rec.arts.movies.tech.
"Group: rec . arts . movies . tech"
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&group=rec.arts.movies.tech
Second, you could contact the American WideScreen Museum.
"Email"
American WideScreen Museum
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/email.htm
I wish I had more satisfying information. I suppose this is one of
those questions that is best for the specialists to answer, either at
the Tampa Tribune or in the widescreen film community.
|
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