encircling vistas of the Empire State put viewers right "in" the action

Circular Theaterama building in which Coleman-produced 360-degree film is shown. Examples of "pop" art are used around outside walls.

ONE OF THE MOST novel and successful films being shown at the Fair is A-Round New York, a 14-minute theaterama 360-degree production being presented in the New York State Pavilion.

Produced by Coleman Productions, Inc., the film treats viewers to a whirlwind tour of the state, highlighting significant scenic, industrial, cultural and entertainment centers. The feeling of presence experienced in the 360-degree film is extraordinary.

This process differs from earlier attempts at reproducing a total 360-degree field of view in several substantial areas. Most significant, it utilizes 35mm film, rather than the previous 16mm, which permits a projected image of sufficient dimensions to do justice to total all-encircling panorama.

Additionally, because the Mitchell Mark II cameras are equipped with identically-matched anamorphic lenses, only six cameras are required to complete the 360 degree horizontal coverage, rather than the 10 or 11 cameras required by other processes. This advantage is immediately obvious. The biggest obstacle to be overcome in multiple projection is edge-matching. By using only six units, the number of edges to be matched is reduced by nearly half.

In order to more adequately fulfill his conception of Theaterama, Harry L. Coleman, president of Coleman Productions, Inc., commissioned the Cinerama Camera Corporation, of Hollywood, to design and construct a multiple camera system to certain of his own specifications.

The result of their combined efforts is the 60-pound camera set-up approximating the shape of a cylinder -- 48 inches high by 52 inches in diameter, including 1000-foot magazines.

The six Mark II's are mounted vertically on a pedestal, shooting up into a turret of six front-surface mirrors, arranged to present a 45 degree surface to each lens. Without this feature, the cameras would necessarily be mounted horizontally, shooting outward like spokes of a wheel.

In the latter arrangement, the edges of the angle of view originating at the nodal point of each individual lens could not possibly correspond. Thus, at close range, a subject passing from the field of view of one camera to that of another would be lost from sight during that interval.

By establishing an effective nodal point for all cameras (hypothetically dead center of the system) and reflecting the field accepted at this common point into each individual lens, there is no loss of field at any distance from the lens, from minimum to infinity. This is the value and necessity of the optically-correct, perfectly-aligned turret of mirrors.