Large Format Cinema Association Meeting Reveals A Diverse And Healthy Industry

The third annual meeting of the Large Format Cinema Association (LFCA) was a resounding success and an invigorating gathering for the industry. The May 19-21 event drew a total of 409 people, representing 11 countries - an increase of 20 percent from last yearís attendance total of 341. Next yearís meeting is set to take place again in Los Angeles, May 17-20, 2000.According to keynote Harrison A. ""Buzz"" Price of Harrison Price Company, the large format film business is the fastest growing segment of the theatrical motion picture industry, expanding at rates above 10 percent per year. Most of the new growth represents commercial theaters; Europe is a rapidly emerging branch. Price, a venerated recreation analyst with some 50 yearsí experience, described the large format theater business as ""a genuine growth industry"" with considerable potential in a variety of fields. ""The diversity of markets in this field is very healthy in terms of building a business,"" he said.Multiple installations in cities will increase, the market will continue to expand around the world and the expansion will be aided by lower-cost hardware and technical innovations, predicts Price. He sees a strong future in the adoption of large format by commercial cinema chains, a prominent recent trend.""In the attraction/entertainment business,"" said Price, ""large format theatreís annual growth rate, indicated by number of facilities, is number one - way ahead of gaming, number two."" He projected annual growth of 20 percent worldwide and 28 percent in North America for 1999, up from 13 percent and 16 percent respectively in 1998.The changing face of the industry was reflected in the program and the attendance. Participants included both commercial and institutional theatre developers and operators, experienced large format filmmakers and mainstream filmmakers new to the medium, digital effects houses, post-production companies, motion simulation companies, 3D specialists, suppliers of projection systems, cameras and hardware, sound designers, theatre technicians and projectionists, investors and financial analysts and the media. The Large Format Film Festival showcased works in 8/70 and 15/70. The latter were shown in the California Science Center IMAX Theatre. The Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre at the Academy of Television Arts and Science was converted to a temporary 8/70 venue, utilizing a projection system from MegaSystems and a silver screen from Harkness Hall. The lineup of new titles included live-action documentaries ""Island Of The Sharks,"" ""Mysteries Of Egypt,"" ""Wolves And Wildfire: Feel The Heat;"" sports films ""Extreme"" and ""Olympic Glory;"" shorts ""MORE"" (stop-motion animation) and ""La Patrouille de France."" Also shown were the CGI-rich 3D feature ""Encounter In The Third Dimension"" (E3D) and the time-lapse classic ""Chronos.""The 8/70 screening of E3D was an industry first. E3D is the very first 3D film to be released in both 15/70 and 8/70. ""We think this will inspire other distributors to crossprint their 3D films,"" said LFCA President Christopher Reyna.Diversity was also reflected in the sponsor mix, which included producers, distributors, post-production companies, hardware and software suppliers, CGI and special effects houses, a/v installers and consultants, sound designers and sound technology providers. Sessions And Growing PainsPanels and sessions addressed production, preservation, sound design, business, operations and programming, bringing the various sectors of the industry into dialogue. ""Operational Philosophies of Institutional & Commercial Theatres,"" moderated by Chris Palmer, President/CEO of National Wildlife Productions, pondered whether large format cinema will split into two separate markets. Panelist Ed Capelle, President of Destination Cinema Inc., while reiterating institutionsí need to reconcile entertainment content with nonprofit mission and to differentiate their theatres from commercial entities, found the two markets have much in common. """"ëEverestí is clear evidence that a large format film can lease successfully to both markets,"" said Capelle. He doubted that a pure entertainment feature would be financially viable in large format, but observed that ""both commercial and institutional theatres seek exciting, immersive, spectacular, epic, story driven, take-me-where-I-have-never-been purposeful films featuring extraordinary people and compelling images.""As the industry grows and changes, so do its technical needs. Having a larger number of theatres makes it impractical to strike show prints from the original negative. An internegative and interpositive become crucial elements. This topic was covered in ""Large Format Preservation & Duplication Procedures,"" moderated by Rick Gordon, Senior Partner of RPG Productions Inc. ""Sound Design In Large Format"" was moderated by Ammiel Najar, Producer with Graphic Films.The ever-present question of creating dramatic films for an increasing commercial large format market was touched on during Technical Session No. 1, in which Christopher Reyna showed how letterboxing can be used to transform the nearly-square large format frame to a horizontal widescreen aspect ratio that better supports narrative storytelling and is reminiscent of classic Hollywood widescreen. Illustrating his point with recent and vintage film clips, Reyna encouraged filmmakers to consider the technique for sequences or entire films. The kinship between large format and Hollywood filmmaking was reinforced by the screening of David Leanís 1963 widescreen epic, ""Lawrence Of Arabia,"" at the LFCA closing gala.Tributes To Archambault And NovrosLFCA paid tribute to Noel Archambault and Lester Novros, two pioneers of the industry. Noel Archambault was honored posthumously with the first annual Kodak Vision Award for Large Format Cinematography. An expert in 15/70 3D processes, he worked on nearly every large format 3D film ever released, including ""Transitions"" (1986); ""Imagine"" (1993); ""Into The Deep"" (1994) and ""T-Rex: Back To The Cretaceous"" (1998). He died in June 1998 at the age of 37, in an aircraft crash while shooting aerial scenes for ""Galapagos: The Enchanted Voyage."" His father, Richard, accepted the award.A Noel Archambault Scholarship Fund in Film has been created at Simon Fraser University. Memorial donations may be sent to the attention of Linda Ashton, Office of University Development, 2118 Strand Hall, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC, V5A 1S6, Canada.Born in 1909, Lester Novros has been a prolific writer, director and producer and a pioneer of space films and the use of special effects. As a Disney animator, he contributed to ""Fantasia"" and ""Snow White."" He went on to found Graphic Films Corp., to join the faculty of the University of Southern California School of Cinematography and to exert an enduring influence on many notable filmmakers and the shape of the industry. He was an early advocate of dome cinema and received an Academy Award nomination for the film Universe. LFCA presented him with the Abel Gance Award for Lifetime Achievement. Novros was unable to attend due to illness, and his son, Paul, accepted the award.In Novrosí honor, tribute producer Ammiel Najar and Michael Bober have set up the Lester Novros Endowed Fund for Student Support, which will be used to assist graduate students in film graphics at the University of Southern California. Contributions may be sent to The Lester Novros Scholarship Fund, School of Cinema-Television, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California90089-2211.Founded in 1996, the mission of the Large Format Cinema Association (LFCA) is to promote global public awareness of large-screen entertainment formats, to provide a forum for sharing information and to foster the growth of the industry. The next LFCA Conference and Film Festival will be held May 17-20, 2000. Information on joining the organization can be obtained at the LFCA Web site, http://lfca.org or by telephoning the LFCA administrative office in Stockton, California at 209 477 2726.