Panavision Incorporated
Type	Private
Founded	1953
Headquarters	Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Key people	Robert Gottschalk, founder Robert Beitcher, CEO Ronald Perelman, chief shareholder
Industry	Movie camera rental Motion picture equipment
Products	Panaflex cameras Genesis HD camera Lee Lighting Grip equipment Lee Filters
Revenue	▲$233. The term privately held company refers to ownership of a business company in two different ways first referring to ownership by non-governmental organizations and second Woodland Hills is a district in the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Robert Gottschalk ( 12 March 1918 - 3 June 1982) was a camera technician and founder of Panavision. Ronald Owen Perelman (born January 1 1943 is an American billionaire Investor who made his fortune buying beleaguered corporations and re-selling them later for enormous For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" This article is about motion picture film cameras See Video camera for cameras which record images electronically In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need The Genesis is Panavision 's high-end Digital Movie camera, which uses a Proprietary, full frame 35mm -width 1 In the US and Canada, grips are lighting and rigging technicians in the Film and Video industries In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services 3 million USD (2005)
Employees	1,211 (as of December 31, 2005)
Website	www.panavision.com

Panavision is a motion picture equipment company specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. Events 406 – Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages Generally a company is a form of Business organization. The precise definition varies A camera is a device used to capture images either as still Photographs or as sequences of moving images ( Movies or Videos. A photographic lens (also known as objective lens or photographic objective) is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with Woodland Hills is a district in the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses during the widescreen boom in the 1950s, Panavision expanded its product lines to meet the demands of modern filmmakers. Robert Gottschalk ( 12 March 1918 - 3 June 1982) was a camera technician and founder of Panavision. Anamorphic format is a term that can be used either for the Cinematography technique of capturing a Widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film, or other A widescreen image is a film computer or television image with a wider and shorter aspect ratio than the standard Academy frame developed during the Classical The company introduced its first products in 1954; originally a provider of CinemaScope accessories, the company's line of anamorphic widescreen lenses soon became the industry leader. CinemaScope was a Widescreen movie format used from 1953 to 1967 In 1972, Panavision helped revolutionize filmmaking with the lightweight Panaflex 35 mm movie camera. 35 mm film is the basic Film gauge most commonly used for both still Photography and Motion pictures, and remains relatively unchanged since its This article is about motion picture film cameras See Video camera for cameras which record images electronically The company has introduced other groundbreaking cameras such as the Millennium XL (1999) and the digital video Genesis (2004).

Panavision operates exclusively as a rental facility—the company owns its entire inventory, unlike most of its competitors. This allows investment in research and development, and the integration of high-quality manufacturing, without worrying about the end retail value. Maintaining its entire inventory also allows Panavision to regularly update all of its equipment, rather than just the newest models.

Early history

Robert Gottschalk founded Panavision in late 1953, in partnership with Richard Moore, Meredith Nicholson, Harry Eller, Walter Wallin, and William Mann;^[1] the company was formally incorporated in 1954. Robert Gottschalk ( 12 March 1918 - 3 June 1982) was a camera technician and founder of Panavision. Meredith Merle “Nick” Nicholson ( 11 March 1913 – 18 August 2005) was an American Cinematographer. Panavision was established principally for the manufacture of anamorphic projection lenses to meet the growing demands of theaters showing CinemaScope films. Anamorphic format is a term that can be used either for the Cinematography technique of capturing a Widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film, or other CinemaScope was a Widescreen movie format used from 1953 to 1967 ^[2] At the time of Panavision's formation, Gottschalk owned a camera shop in Westwood Village, California, where many of his customers were cinematographers. ^[3] A few years earlier, he and Moore—who worked with him in the camera shop—were experimenting with underwater photography; Gottschalk became interested in the technology of anamorphic lenses, which allowed him to get a wider field of view from his underwater camera housing. Underwater photography is the process of taking Photographs while under water ^[4] The technology was created during World War I to increase the field of view on tank periscopes; the periscope image was horizontally "squeezed" by the anamorphic lens. A periscope is an instrument for observation from a concealed position After it was unsqueezed by a complementary anamorphic optical element, the tank operator could see double the horizontal field of view without significant distortion. ^[3] Gottschalk and Moore bought some of these lenses from C. P. Goerz, a New York optics company, for use in their underwater photography. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous As widescreen filmmaking became popular, Gottschalk saw an opportunity to provide anamorphic lenses to the film industry—first for projectors, and then for cameras. A widescreen image is a film computer or television image with a wider and shorter aspect ratio than the standard Academy frame developed during the Classical Nicholson, a friend of Moore, started working as a cameraman on early tests of anamorphic photography. ^[5]

In the 1950s, the motion picture industry was threatened by the advent of television—TV kept moviegoers at home, bringing down box office revenues. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Film studios began searching for ways to lure audiences back to the theaters with attractions that television could not yet provide. These included a revival of color films, three-dimensional films, stereophonic sound, and widescreen movies. "Color film" redirects here For the motion picture equivalent see Color motion picture film. See also [[stereoscopy]] In film the term 3-D (or 3D) is used to describe any visual presentation system that attempts to maintain or recreate moving images Stereophonic sound, commonly called stereo, is the reproduction of Sound, using two or more independent audio channels through a Symmetrical Cinerama was one of the first widescreen movie processes of the era. Cinerama is the trademarked name for a Widescreen process which works by simultaneously projecting images from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge deeply-curved ^[6] In its initial conception, the cumbersome system required three cameras for shooting and three synchronized projectors to display a picture on one wide, curved screen. Along with the logistical and financial challenges of tripling equipment usage and cost, the process led to distracting vertical lines between the three projected images. ^[7] Looking for a high-impact method of widescreen filmmaking that was cheaper, simpler, and less visually distracting, 20th Century Fox acquired the rights to a process it branded CinemaScope: in this system, the film was shot with anamorphic lenses. CinemaScope was a Widescreen movie format used from 1953 to 1967 ^[8] The film was then exhibited with a complementary anamorphic lens on the projector that expanded the image, creating a projected aspect ratio (the ratio of the image's width to its height) twice that of the image area on the physical frame of film. The aspect ratio of an Image is its width divided by its height By the time the first CinemaScope movie—The Robe (1953)—was announced for production, Gottschalk, Moore and Nicholson had a demo reel of work with their anamorphic underwater system. The Robe is a 1953 Biblical Epic film that tells the story of a Roman tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus ^[5]

Gottschalk learned from one of his vendors that Bausch & Lomb, whom Fox had contracted to manufacture CinemaScope lenses, were having difficulty filling the lens orders for theatrical anamorphic projection. Bausch & Lomb is an American company based in Rochester New York, is one of the world's leading suppliers of Eye health products such as Contact ^[5] He teamed up with William Mann, who provided optical manufacturing capability, and Walter Wallin, an acquaintance of Mann's who had formally studied optics. With Wallin's input, the anamorphic lens design they settled on was prismatic rather than the cylindrical design of the Bausch & Lomb CinemaScope lens. In Optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat polished surfaces that refract Light. A cylinder is one of the most basic curvilinear geometric shapes the Surface formed by the points at a fixed distance from a given Straight line, the axis ^[5] This design meant the anamorphic lens extension factor—how much the image is horizontally unsqueezed—could be manually shifted, useful for projectionists switching between nonanamorphic ("flat" or "spherical") trailers and an anamorphic feature. In the Film industry, a feature film is a Film made for initial distribution in theaters and being the "main attraction" of the screening ^[5]

Entering the market

Panavision's first product—the Super Panatar^[9] projection lens—debuted in March 1954. Priced at $1,100, it captured the market. ^[10] The Super Panatar was a rectangular box that attached to the existing projection lens with a special bracket. ^[11] Its variable prismatic system allowed a range of film formats to be shown from the same projector with a simple adjustment of the lens. Panavision improved on the Super Panatar with the Ultra Panatar, a lighter cylindrical design that could be screwed directly to the front of the projection lens. ^[12] Panavision lenses gradually replaced CinemaScope as the leading anamorphic system for theatrical projection. ^[13]

In December 1954, the company created a specialized lens for film laboratories—the Micro Panatar. When fitted to an optical printer, the Micro Panatar could create "flat" (nonanamorphic) prints from anamorphic negatives. An optical printer is a device consisting of one or more film Projectors mechanically linked to a Movie camera. This allowed films to be distributed to theaters that did not have an anamorphic system installed. To accomplish this dual platform release strategy before the Micro Panatar, studios would sometimes shoot films with one anamorphic and one spherical camera, so that nonwidescreen theaters could still exhibit the film. The cost savings of eliminating the second camera and making flat prints in post-production with the Micro Panatar were enormous. See also Filmmaking Post-production occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, Videos audio recordings ^[2]

Another innovation of the era secured Panavision's leading position: the Auto Panatar camera lens for 35 mm anamorphic productions. ^[2] Early CinemaScope camera lenses were notoriously problematic in close-ups with an optical aberration that was commonly known as "the mumps": a widening of the face due to a loss of anamorphic power as a subject approaches the lens. In Film, Television, and Still photography a close-up tightly frames a person or an object ^[2] Because of the novelty of the new anamorphic process, early CinemaScope productions compensated for this aberration by avoiding tightly framed shots. As the anamorphic process became more popular, however, it became more of a problem. Panavision came up with a solution: adding a rotating lens element that moved in mechanical sync with the focus ring. In Geometrical optics, a focus, also called an image point, is the point where Light rays originating from a point on the object converge. This eliminated the distortion and allowed for natural close-up anamorphic photography. The Auto Panatar, released in 1958, was rapidly adopted industry-wide, eventually making CinemaScope lenses obsolete. This innovation earned Panavision the first of its 15 Academy Awards for technical achievement. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. ^[2]

Screenshot of The Big Fisherman (1959), the first film released using the Super Panavision 70 process. The Big Fisherman is a 1959 American film directed by Frank Borzage about the life of St Super Panavision 70 was the marketing brand name used to identify movies photographed with Panavision 70 mm spherical optics between 1959 and 1983 The image shows the 2. 20:1 aspect ratio in which the film was presented.

Since 1954, Panavision had been working on a new widescreen process commissioned by MGM. ^[14] The resulting system used a 65 mm film camera in conjunction with the APO Panatar lens, which was an integrated anamorphic lens (as opposed to a standard prime lens with an anamorphoser mounted on it). 70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge of superior quality to standard 35 mm motion picture film format. In film and photography a prime lens is either a Photographic lens whose Focal length is fixed as opposed to a Zoom lens, or it is the primary lens This created a 1. 25x anamorphic squeeze factor. ^[15] Movies using the process had an astounding potential aspect ratio of 2. 76:1 when exhibited with 70 mm anamorphic projection prints. 70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge of superior quality to standard 35 mm motion picture film format. Introduced as MGM Camera 65, the system was used on just a few films, the first of which was Raintree County (1956). Ultra Panavision 70, also known as MGM Camera 65, was the marketing brand used to identify 65/70 mm movies photographed with Panavision Anamorphic optics Raintree County is a novel by Ross Lockridge Jr. It tells the story of a small-town Midwestern teacher and poet named John Shawnessy who in his younger ^[14] However, the film was released only in 35 mm anamorphic prints because the circuit of 70 mm theaters was booked with Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), shot with the competing, nonanamorphic Todd-AO system. Todd-AO is an extremely high definition Widescreen Film format developed in the mid 1950s The first film to be presented in 70 mm anamorphic—Ben-Hur—was released by MGM in 1959. Ben-Hur (or Benhur is a 1959 Movie directed by William Wyler, and is the third film version of Lew Wallace 's novel Ben-Hur ^[14] Panavision also developed a nonanamorphic widescreen process called Super Panavision 70, which was essentially identical to Todd-AO. Super Panavision 70 was the marketing brand name used to identify movies photographed with Panavision 70 mm spherical optics between 1959 and 1983 Super Panavision made its screen debut in 1959 with The Big Fisherman, released by Disney's Buena Vista division. The Big Fisherman is a 1959 American film directed by Frank Borzage about the life of St Also see general Walt Disney Studios or Buena Vista. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is a motion picture and television feature

A move into cameras

By 1962, four of Panavision's founders had left the company to pursue private careers. ^[5] That year, MGM's Camera 65 production of Mutiny on the Bounty went so far over budget that the studio was forced to liquidate assets to cover its costs. Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1962 film starring Marlon Brando, based on the novel Mutiny on the "Bounty" by Charles As a result of this liquidation, Panavision acquired MGM's camera equipment division, as well as the rights to the Camera 65 system it had developed for MGM; the technology was renamed Ultra Panavision. Ultra Panavision 70, also known as MGM Camera 65, was the marketing brand used to identify 65/70 mm movies photographed with Panavision Anamorphic optics ^[5] Only six more features were made with the system: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Battle of the Bulge (1965), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), The Hallelujah Trail (1965), and Khartoum (1966). It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World is a 1963 American Comedy film directed by Stanley Kramer about the madcap pursuit of $350000 The Fall of the Roman Empire is a 1964 Epic film made by Samuel Bronston Productions and The Rank Organisation, and released by Paramount The Ardennes Offensive (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945 was a major German offensive launched towards the end of World War II through the forested Ardennes Mountains The Greatest Story Ever Told is a United Artists 1965 film about the life of Jesus, directed by George Stevens (with some scenes The Hallelujah Trail is a 1965 Western spoof directed by John Sturges and starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick, Brian Khartoum is a 1966 film written by Robert Ardrey and directed by Basil Dearden. ^[16] As 1. 25x anamorphosers for 70 mm projectors have become rare, most of the 70 mm prints of these films still in circulation are designed for projection with nonanamorphic, spherical lenses. The result is a 2. 20:1 aspect ratio, rather than the broader ratio originally intended.

Although Fox insisted on maintaining CinemaScope for a time, some actors disliked the system. For Fox's 1965 production Von Ryan's Express, Frank Sinatra reputedly demanded that Auto Panatar lenses be used. Von Ryan's Express is a 1965 World War II adventure film produced and directed by Mark Robson, and starring Frank Sinatra and Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (December 12 1915 &ndash May 14 1998 was an American singer and actor Such pressures led Fox to completely abandon CinemaScope for Auto Panatars that year; Von Ryan's Express was the studio's first picture with Panavision lenses. ^[17] To meet the extraordinary demand for Panavision projection lenses, Gottschalk had Bausch & Lomb CinemaScope lenses retrofitted into Panavision housings with a new astigmatic attachment, improving them greatly. This was revealed many years after Gottschalk's death; a lead designer from Bausch & Lomb, who had been involved with the original CinemaScope project, came to work as a designer for Panavision and—after opening some of the older lenses—figured out the secret. ^[3]

The Panavision logo incorporates three aspect ratios into its design—1. The aspect ratio of an Image is its width divided by its height 33 (TV, standard "Academy" ratio) on the inside, 1. The Academy ratio of 1371 is the standard aspect ratio of a frame of 35mm film when used with 4-perf pulldown, and was standardized by 85 (standard U. S. widescreen) in the middle, and 2. A widescreen image is a film computer or television image with a wider and shorter aspect ratio than the standard Academy frame developed during the Classical 35/2. 40 (modern 35mm anamorphic) on the outside. Anamorphic format is a term that can be used either for the Cinematography technique of capturing a Widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film, or other

In the mid-1960s, Gottschalk altered Panavision's business model. The company now maintained its full inventory, making its lenses and the cameras it had acquired from MGM available only by rental. ^[18] This meant that equipment could be maintained, modified, and regularly updated directly by the company. When Panavision eventually brought its own camera designs to market, it was relatively unconstrained by retrofitting and manufacturing costs, as it was not directly competing on sales price. This allowed Panavision to build cameras to new standards of durability. ^[19]

The new business model required additional upfront capital; to this end, the company was sold to Banner Productions in 1965, with Gottschalk remaining as president. ^[18] Panavision would soon begin branching out into markets beyond Hollywood, eventually including New York, Europe, Australia, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. ^[4] Kinney National Service bought out Banner in 1968 and took over Warner Brothers the following year, eventually renaming itself Warner Communications. Kinney National Services Inc was formed in 1966 when the Kinney Parking Company and the National Cleaning Company merged Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and Time Warner Inc ( is the world's largest media and entertainment conglomerate, headquartered in New York City. ^[18] Kinney/Warner's financial resources made possible a massive expansion in Panavision's inventory, as well as substantial leaps in research and development.

During this period, the company's R&D department focused on retrofitting the industry standard 35 mm camera, the Mitchell BNC. The effort to develop a lighter, quieter camera with a reflex viewfinder led to the introduction of the Panavision Silent Reflex (PSR) in 1967. A reflex finder is a Viewfinder system with a mirror placed behind a lens. ^[10] The camera could provide a shutter angle of up to 200 degrees. Motion picture cameras film is exposed as a pie-shaped mirror called a rotary disc shutter, rotates in front of the Film gate. Many refinements were made to the PSR during the first few years after its introduction, and it soon became one of the most popular studio cameras in the world. ^[4] Panavision also began manufacturing spherical lenses for 1. 85:1 photography, garnering a significant share of the market.

In 1968, Panavision released a handheld 65 mm camera. ^[5] By that time, however, the much cheaper process of blowing up 35 mm anamorphic films to 70 mm—introduced with The Cardinal (1964)—had made 65 mm production virtually obsolete. For the 1641 James Shirley play see The Cardinal (play The Cardinal is a 1963 Film which was produced ^[20] In 1970, the last two feature films shot entirely with Super Panavision were released: Song of Norway and Ryan's Daughter. Song of Norway is a musical written in 1944 by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Edvard Grieg and the book Ryan's Daughter is David Lean 's 1970 film which tells the story of an Irish girl who has an affair with a British soldier during World In the decades since, only a handful of films have been shot in 65 mm. ^[21]

Panaflex is born

Albert Mayer led the next major project: the creation of a lightweight reflex camera adaptable to either handheld or studio conditions. After four years of development, the Panaflex debuted in 1972. A revolutionary camera that operated quietly, the Panaflex eliminated the need for a cumbersome sound blimp, and could synchronize handheld work. The Panaflex also included a digital electronic tachometer and magazine motors for the take-up reel. A tachometer is an instrument that measures the rotation speed of a shaft or disk as in a motor or other machine A camera magazine is a light-tight chamber or pair of chambers designed to hold and move Motion picture Film stock before and after it has been exposed in the camera ^[22] Steven Spielberg's The Sugarland Express (1974) was the first motion picture filmed with the Panaflex. Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE (Hon (born December 18 1946 is an American Film director, Screenwriter and producer. "The Sugar Land Express" also was the nickname of the American football player Kenneth Hall. ^[23]

During the 1970s, the Panaflex line was updated and marketed in new incarnations: the Panaflex X, Panaflex Lightweight (for steadicam), the high-speed Panastar, Panaflex Gold, and Panaflex G2. A steadicam is a stabilizing mount for a Motion-picture camera, which mechanically isolates the operator's movement from the camera allowing a very smooth shot even when Panavision came out with a direct competitor to Tiffen's Steadicam stabilizer, the Panaglide harness. Tiffen Manufacturing Corporation is a company in Hauppauge, New York, U ^[18] The Panacam, a video camera, was also brought out, though the company largely left the video field to others. A video camera is a Camera used for electronic Motion picture acquisition initially developed by the Television industry but now common in other applications

Robert Gottschalk died in 1982 at the age of 64. After Gottschalk's death, Kinney National sold the company to a consortium headed by Ted Field, John Farrand, and Alan Hirschfield,^[18] and backed by Chicago newspaper and department store heir Frederick Field. Ted Field" was born Frederick W Field in Chicago Illinois This article is about the retailer Frederick Field See Frederick Field for the British Admiral and First Sea Lord See also Frederick Vanderbilt Field for the ^[24] With new ownership came sweeping changes to the company, which had stagnated. Optics testing was computerized and, in 1986, the new Platinum model camera was introduced. The next year—responding to a perceived demand for the resurrection of the 65 mm camera—development began on a new model. The company was sold to Lee International PLC for $100 million in 1987, but financing was overextended and ownership reverted to the investment firm Warburg Pincus two years later. Warburg Pincus is a Private equity firm with offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. ^[18]

In 1989, the company brought out Primo, a new line of lenses. Designed with a consistent color match between all the different focal-length instruments in the line, these were also the sharpest lenses yet manufactured by Panavision. The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly it converges (focuses or diverges (diffuses Light. Six years later, Oscars were awarded to the company and to three of its employees for their work on the Primo 3:1 zoom lens: Iain Neil for the optical design, Rick Gelbard for the mechanical design, and Eric Dubberke for the lens's engineering. A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements with the ability to vary its Focal length (and thus Angle of view) as opposed to a fixed focal According to the AMPAS citation, "The high contrast and absence of flare, along with its ability to provide close focusing and to maintain constant image size while changing focus, make the Primo 3:1 Zoom Lens truly unique. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ( AMPAS) is a professional honorary organization ostensibly dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of Motion "^[25] In 1991, the company released its new 65 mm technology, System 65,^[10] though Arri had beaten it to market by two years with the Arriflex 765. The Arri Group has been the largest world wide supplier of high quality Motion picture film equipment since 1917 The gauge was not widely readopted, and only two major Hollywood films were shot with the new 65 mm Panavision process: Far and Away (1992) and Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996), the last known feature film to be shot entirely on 65 mm. Far and Away is a 1992 adventure - drama - Romance film directed by Ron Howard from a script by Howard and Bob Dolman Kenneth Charles Branagh (born 10 December 1960) is an Emmy Award -winning Academy Award -nominated Northern Irish Actor Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare 's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh ^[21]

In 1992, Panavision launched a project to develop a camera that involved rethinking every aspect of the company's existing 35 mm system. Nolan Murdock and Albert Mayer Sr. headed up the design team. ^[22] The new Millennium camera, replacing the Platinum as the company's flagship, was introduced in 1997. The Millennium XL came to the market in 1999 and was led by Al Mayer, Jr. It soon established itself as Panavision’s new 35mm workhorse. The XL was the first product in Panavision history to win both an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award with in the first year of official release. The update to the XL, the XL2 was initially released in 2004. [26] . ^[26] The first feature films to use these latter two systems were, respectively, The Perfect Storm (2000) and Just Like Heaven (2005). The Perfect Storm is a 2000 Film adapted from the book of the same title by Sebastian Junger. Just Like Heaven is a Romantic comedy film released on September 16, 2005, in the U The XL series not only had a much smaller camera body—making it suitable for studio, handheld, and steadicam work—but also marked the first significant change to the film transport mechanism in the camera since the Panaflex: two smaller sprocket drums for feed and take-up (a design similar to the Moviecam and subsequent Arricam) instead of one large drum to do both. Moviecam is a motion picture equipment company specializing in Movie camera systems for 35 mm film. Arricam is a 35 mm Movie camera line manufactured by Arri. It is Arri's flagship sync-sound camera line replacing the Arriflex 535 line ^[27] As of 2006, Panavision has no further plans to develop additional film camera models. ^[28]

Recent restructuring and acquisitions

Ronald Perelman's solely owned MacAndrews and Forbes Holdings (Mafco) acquired a majority interest in Panavision in 1998, via a Mafco subsidiary. Ronald Owen Perelman (born January 1 1943 is an American billionaire Investor who made his fortune buying beleaguered corporations and re-selling them later for enormous After aborted attempts to create a film-style video camera in the 1970s and 1980s, Panavision joined the digital revolution in July 2000, establishing DHD Ventures in partnership with Sony. is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest Media conglomerates with The new company's objective was to raise the quality of high definition digital video to the standards of top-level Hollywood motion-picture production. High-definition (HD video generally refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition (SD video most commonly at display resolutions of 1280×720 ^[29] This cooperative venture was established largely at the instigation of George Lucas to serve his designs for the Star Wars prequels. George Walton Lucas Jr (born May 14, 1944) is an Academy Award -winning American Film director, producer, Screenwriter Star Wars is an epic Space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas during the 1970s and significantly expanded ^[30] The collaboration resulted in the Sony HDW-F900 CineAlta HDCAM high definition video camera. Sony 's CineAlta 24P HD ( high definition video) Cameras are a series of professional digital video cameras that offer many of the same features HDCAM, introduced in 1997, is an HD version of Digital Betacam, using an 8-bit DCT compressed 311 recording in 1080i -compatible Sony produced the electronics and a stand-alone version of the camera; Panavision supplied custom-designed high definition lenses, trademarked Primo Digital, and retrofitted the camera body to incorporate standard film camera accessories, facilitating the equipment's integration into existing crew equipment as a "digital cinema camera. "^[31] The new system was used in the making of Lucasfilm's Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), described as "the first digital major feature film. Lucasfilm Limited' is an American Film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in San Francisco California Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones is a 2002 Film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales "^[29]

The next step in the evolution of the digital cinema camera also involved collaboration between Sony and Panavision; this time, Panavision participated in all stages of development. The aim was to create a system that could use the entire range of the company's 35 mm spherical lenses. This led to the 2004 introduction of the Genesis HD—a full bandwidth (4:4:4) HD SDI camera with improved colorimetry- and sensitometry-related specs. Chroma subsampling is the practice of encoding images by implementing less resolution for chroma Information than for luma information Serial digital interface (SDI refers to a family of Video interfaces standardized by SMPTE. Colorimetry or Colourimetry can refer to the quantitative study of Color perception Sensitometry is the scientific study of light-sensitive materials especially Photographic film. Its Super 35 mm film–sized recording area made it focally compatible with regular 35 mm lenses, giving it a true 35 mm depth of field. Super 35 (originally known as Superscope 235) is a Motion picture Film format that uses exactly the same film stock as standard 35 mm film, but In Optics, particularly as it relates to Film and Photography, the depth of field (DOF is the portion of a scene that appears sharp in the image ^[32][33] The camera's electronics—including its CCD (charge-coupled device) image sensor—and HDCAM SR record deck were manufactured by Sony. A charge-coupled device ( CCD) is an analog Shift register, that enables the transportation of analog signals (electric charges through successive stages (capacitors An image sensor is a device that converts an optical image to an electric signal HDCAM, introduced in 1997, is an HD version of Digital Betacam, using an 8-bit DCT compressed 311 recording in 1080i -compatible VTR redirects here For other meanings see VTR (disambiguation. The chassis and mechanics were designed by a Panavision team led by Albert Mayer Jr. A chassis (plural "chassis" (ˈʃæːsiː ˈtʃæːsiː consists of a framework that supports an inanimate object analogous to an Animal 's , son of the Panaflex designer. ^[32] The Genesis was first used on Flyboys (2006);^[34] Scary Movie 4 (2006), shot afterward, went into general release first because of the extensive visual effects work needed to complete Flyboys. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Scary Movie 4 is the fourth film of the Scary Movie franchise and is directed by David Zucker, written by Jim Abrahams ^[35] Subsequent to the completion of major design work on the Genesis, Panavision bought out Sony's 49 percent share of DHD Ventures and fully consolidated it in September 2004. ^[36]

During the same period, Panavision began acquiring related motion picture companies, including eFilm (acquired 2001; sold to Deluxe in full by 2004),^[37] Technovision France (2004),^[38] the motion picture camera rental arm of Canadian rental house William F. EFilm is a Post-production house in Hollywood that specializes in the Digital Intermediate process and other digital motion picture technologies White International (2005),^[39] digital camera rental company Plus8Digital (2006),^[40] international lighting and equipment company AFM (2006),^[41] and UK camera companies One8Six (2006) and JDC (2007). ^[42] On July 28, 2006, Mafco announced it was acquiring the remaining Panavision stock and returning the company to private status. Events 1540 - Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of Treason. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. A $345 million credit line from Bear Stearns and Credit Suisse was secured to finance the company's debt as well as to facilitate "global acquisitions. The Bear Stearns Companies Inc, based in New York City, was one of the largest global Investment banks and securities trading and brokerage The Credit Suisse Group () is a Financial services company headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. "^[43] That same year, Mafco acquired Deluxe Entertainment Services Group. ^[44]

See also

• Panavision cameras
• List of motion picture film formats
• PV mount

Notes

External links

• Official Panavision site