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VistaVision is a higher resolution,widescreen variant of the35mm motion picture film format that was created and designed by engineers atParamount Pictures in 1954.
Paramount did not useanamorphic processes such asCinemaScope but refined the quality of its flat widescreen system by orienting the 35 mm negative horizontally in the camera gate and shooting onto a larger area, which yielded a finer-grained projection print.
As finer-grained film stocks appeared on the market, VistaVision became obsolete. Paramount dropped the format after only seven years, although for another 40 years the format was used by some European and Japanese producers for feature films and byAmerican films such as the first threeStar Wars films forhigh-resolutionvisual effects sequences. The format made a comeback in feature films in the 2020s after its use onThe Brutalist in 2024.
In many ways, VistaVision was a testing ground for cinematography ideas that evolved into70 mmIMAX andOMNIMAX film formats in the 1970s. Both IMAX and OMNIMAX are oriented sideways, as is VistaVision.
As a response to an industry recession caused largely by the popularity oftelevision, the Hollywood studios turned to large-format films in order to regain audience attendance. In 1952, the widescreen formatCinerama debuted in September, and consisted of three strips of 35 mm film projected side-by-side onto a giant,curved screen, augmented by seven channels ofstereophonic sound. In 1953,Twentieth Century-Fox announced the introduction of a simpler version of Cinerama usinganamorphic lenses instead of multiple film strips, a widescreen process later known asCinemaScope.[1]
By January 1953, Paramount Pictures decided to convertSangaree (1953) into a 3-D production, which had originally been filmed "flat" for the prior two weeks.[2] When the film was screened for Paramount presidentBarney Balaban, he had a lengthy conversation withSpyros Skouras, president of Twentieth Century-Fox, in which Balaban stated he had preferred the CinemaScope process.[3] By the next month, Paramount Pictures devised its own system to augment its3-D process, known as Paravision. This process utilized a screen size that yielded anaspect ratio of five units wide by three units high.[4][5] The first film released by Paramount to use the Paravision process wasRed Garters (1954).[6]
This "flat" widescreen process was adopted by other studios, and by the end of 1953, more than half of the theaters in the U.S. had installed widescreens. However, because a smaller portion of the image was used and magnification was increased, excessive grain and soft images plagued early widescreen presentations. Some studios sought to compensate for these effects by shooting color films with a full aperture gate (rather than the Academy aperture) and then reducing the image inTechnicolor's optical printer. This process is a predecessor of today'sSuper 35 format, which also uses a 1.85:1 ratio but one-third more frame area than does a standard 1.85:1 matted into a4:3 ratio.
The idea behind VistaVision originated with John R. Bishop, the head of Paramount's camera department. He had been impressed with the Cinerama process, although he took exception to the blow-up process. He toldPopular Science Magazine: "The negative is the bad boy. We simply can't store enough detail in its small size. Sit close to the screen, and your eyes tire. Too fuzzy, too grainy."[7] He became interested in projecting the widescreen image in sharp detail. He installed a Leica lens in aMitchell Camera after remembering an abandoned two-frame color system developed by the William P. Stein Company that exposed both negatives to form a single projection image. Bishop turned the camera on its side and shot a film test which proved successful.[7] In shooting in the VistaVision process, the film was run horizontally rather than vertically, and instead of exposing two simultaneous four-perforation frames, the entire eight perforations were used for one image.[8] The negative frame area was approximated to be 1.472 x 0.997 inches.[9][10]
During its technical development, Paramount's camera technicians dubbed this process the "Lazy 8" system, by which the term "lazy" stood for the horizontal film path, and "8" for the eight-sprocket image width.[9] Paramount trade-named the process "VistaVision" early in 1954, and the first production to utilize the camera process wasWhite Christmas (1954).[11] The process afforded a wideraspect ratio of 1.5:1 versus the conventional 1.37:1 Academy ratio, and a much larger image area. In order to satisfy theaters with various screen sizes, VistaVision films were shot so that they could be shown in one of three recommendedaspect ratios: 1.66:1, 1.85:1, and 2.00:1.[8]
In its lead-up toWhite Christmas, Paramount Pictures' publicity department stressed the CinemaScope process was "uncomfortably wide", in which their "VistaVision" process would emphasize that "height is as important as width."[12] By then, several theaters had been equipped with horizontal screen projectors for VistaVision's eight-sprocket image frame. For theater exhibitors that were not equipped, an alternate 35 mm film print was used with a compatible sound system known as the "Perspecta Stereo", encoded in the optical track.[12] The VistaVision fanfare, heard in most of the films produced in this ratio, was composed byNathan Van Cleave.[13]
White Christmas held its West Coast premiere at the Warner Beverly Hills Theatre on October 27, 1954. TheLos Angeles Times detailed the VistaVision process was "a simple innovation, but not easy to grasp" by which they noted the "enlargement and compression process gives the picture a depth of focus which enhances its clarity."[14] Before its release, in March 1954, Paramount chief engineerLoren L. Ryder believed that VistaVision would become the forerunner of widescreen projection for the following reasons:
Following the film's release, Paramount reiterated its policy to have their standard film prints "available to play in any theatre anywhere in the world with no requirement that the exhibitor alter [their] equipment in order to play a VistaVision picture."[16] Subsequent Paramount films includingStrategic Air Command (1955),To Catch a Thief (1955),The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956),The Ten Commandments (1956),Funny Face (1957), andVertigo (1958) were filmed in VistaVision.[12] Though it was not as prevalent as CinemaScope, rival studios adopted the VistaVision process, including MGM'sHigh Society (1956), Warner Bros.'The Searchers (1956), andUnited Artists'The Vikings (1958).[12]
By the late 1950s, VistaVision became obsolete with the industry preference forPanavision and more refinements inEastmancolor film stock. Paramount produced their final Vistavision film,One-Eyed Jacks in 1961. By the 1960s, they adoptedTechnirama as its primary widescreen projection system.[17]
Since the release ofOne-Eyed Jacks which began shooting in 1958 but was not released until 1961, the format would not be used as a primary imaging system for a feature film until 2024. However, VistaVision's high resolution made it attractive for some visual effects work within some later feature films.
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In 1975, a small group of artists and technicians (includingRichard Edlund, who was to win two Academy Awards for his work) revived the long-dormant format to create the visual effects shots forGeorge Lucas' space epicStar Wars. A retooled VistaVision camera dubbed theDykstraflex (named for visual effects masterJohn Dykstra) was used by the group (later calledIndustrial Light & Magic (ILM)) in complex process shots. For more than two decades after this, VistaVision was often used as an originating and intermediate format for shootingvisual effects because a larger negative area compensates against the increased grain created when shots are optically composited. By the early 21st century,computer-generated imagery, advanced film scanning,digital intermediate methods andfilm stocks with higher resolutions optimized for visual effects work had together rendered VistaVision mostly obsolete even for visual effects work. Nevertheless, in 2008, ILM was still using the format in some production steps, such as forIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and a VistaVision camera was used in the semi-trailer flip scene inThe Dark Knight because there were not enough IMAX cameras to cover all of the angles needed for the shot. In 2010, certain key sequences of the filmInception were shot in VistaVision, and in the filmScott Pilgrim vs. the World, shots that needed to be optically enlarged were shot in VistaVision.
1954'sWhite Christmas was the first Paramount film to utilize the VistaVision method, but perhaps the most well-known film to be filmed completely in VistaVision format is Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 filmVertigo. The use of VistaVision faded by the beginning of the 1960s, withOne-Eyed Jacks in 1961 being the final American film of the 20th Century to be shot entirely using the VistaVision process.
By the 21st century, however, the format saw a revival withThe Brutalist in 2024.[18] That same year, it was reported thatPaul Thomas Anderson filmed his 2025 filmOne Battle After Another in VistaVision,[19] as well asYorgos Lanthimos'sBugonia (2025),Alejandro González Iñárritu'suntitled 2026 film starringTom Cruise,[20]M. Night Shyamalan'sRemain (2026),[21] andGreta Gerwig'sNarnia: The Magician's Nephew (2026).[22] Additionally, the entire third season ofEuphoria (2026) was shot in the format.[23]
The camera numbered VistaVision #1 that was used onCecil B. DeMille'sThe Ten Commandments and severalAlfred Hitchcock films was offered at auction on September 30, 2015 byProfiles in History with an estimated value of US$30,000 to $50,000, with a winning bid of US$65,000.[24] Also offered at the same auction was VistaVision High Speed #1 (VVHS1), which was used to film the parting of theRed Sea inThe Ten Commandments andspecial effects forStar Wars (winning bid: US$60,000.)[25]
InLupin the 3rd: The Mystery of Mamo, VistaVision process was used and modified known as "Anime Vision", which allowed for a brighter and sharper picture for projection in theaters compared to a TV production.[26]
TheRED Monstro & V-Raptor 8K VV cameras are modern incarnations of the VistaVision film format. Cameras that utilize the Monstro sensor include the Red Ranger Monstro, DSMC2 Monstro[27] and thePanavision Millennium DXL & DXL2.[citation needed] Cameras that utilize the V-Raptor 8K VV camera include the Red V-Raptor and the Red V-Raptor XL.
There was a renewed interest in VistaVision starting in 2024. The filmsThe Brutalist andOne Battle After Another both employed the format to critical acclaim.
Lot 1217. Historic Ten Commandments VistaVision #1 (VV1) motion picture camera. . . . VistaVision #1 (VV1) was the first Mitchell VistaVision camera ever built, having started its service project, Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 epicThe Ten Commandments and ten additional years of very difficult production as Hollywood moved out of the safety of sound stages into the rugged extremes of spectacular distant location productions. According to very limited surviving camera reports VV1 was one of six cameras on Alfred Hitchcock'sVertigo. Included with the camera are: VV1 blimp in case (hand-built by studio craftsmen), lens shade kit for blimp with case, VV1 motor with case, a removable through-the-lens viewfinder system, VistaVision Mitchell geared head, Cooke Panchro lens and bellows, (2) vintage camera cases, (2) 1000-ft. magazine sets, lens shade kit with accessories, external viewfinder and Fearless camera dolly. Comes with a letter of provenance by Roy H. Wagner, ASC, who states, "The camera worked its way through every picture that Paramount ever did in VistaVision, and went on to do substantial visual effects work on films in the 1960s and 70s. . . . In the last 35 years I've never seen a VistaVision camera this complete." From the collection of Debbie Reynolds. EST US$30,000–$50,000 (winning bid US$65,000).(Auction took place September 30, 2015. Catalog 83MB PDF and Prices Realized List PDF available atProfilesinHistory.comArchived 2015-09-06 at theWayback Machine.)
Lot 1542. Mitchell VistaVision High Speed #1 (VVHS1) used onStar Wars. Quite possibly the most influential and important motion picture camera in history, VistaVision High Speed #1's first project opened with one of Hollywood's grandest illusions: the parting of the Red Sea in Cecil B. DeMille'sThe Ten Commandments (1956) (only two Mitchell VistaVision High Speed cameras were ever made). When 20th Century Fox was faced with the visual effects challenges ofStar Wars, the experts concurred that the VistaVision process was the best system available. Having not been properly maintained for over ten years, Paramount sent a large shipment of cameras for the visual effects team to sort through, of which VVHS1 played a very important part. George Lucas tasked Richard Edlund and his future ILM effects wizards to use VVHS1 to photograph a great number of high-speed miniature effects shots, including the explosion of the Death Star, according to their own camera reports. Measures 31 in. long × 17 in. tall × 18 in. wide. Accompanied with original Mitchell geared head, original case (and spare VVHS2 case), lens shade kit with case, (2) 2,000-ft. magazine sets, external viewfinder with case, high-speed motor in original case, backup high-speed motor with original case, VistaVision studio power unit with original case and an additional original case with accessories. This camera initiated the VistaVision renaissance for using its unique capabilities for visual effects that continued for two decades. Comes with a letter of provenance from Roy H. Wagner, ASC. US$60,000–$80,000 (winning bid US$60,000).(Auction took place September 30, 2015. Catalog 83MB PDF and Prices Realized List PDF available atProfilesinHistory.comArchived 2015-09-06 at theWayback Machine.)