Glossary

Glossary of terms used throughout the Index, including some of the photographic and audio processes which have been used over the decades to enhance the cinematic experience:

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• 3-D = Three-dimensional (stereoscopic) film.

• 70mm Cinerama = Single-strip version of the Cinerama (qv) format, in which large gauge films (spherical/anamorphic 70mm or Technirama) are converted into 'rectified' 5-perf 70mm prints designed for projection on the huge, curved Cinerama screen.

• Arri 765 = 5-perf 65mm spherical film. 5-perf 70mm release prints. Aspect ratio: 2.20:1.

• Auro 11.1 = Digital sound format which uses 'layers' of sound (surround, height and ceiling) to create an illusion of three-dimensional sonic realism. Such films will play back in standard 5.1 in cinemas not equipped for Auro rendering.

• Barco Escape = Digital widescreen format which utilises three scope (2.39:1) screens curved around the front and sides of the cinema auditorium to create an immersive image with a 7.17:1 aspect ratio.

• BBFC = British Board of Film Classification. Known, more appropriately, as the British Board of Film Censors until 1983.

• BFI = British Film Institute.

• bw = Black and white.

• CFGS [see: China Film Giant Screen]

• China Film Giant Screen = Large Format (digital), with two overlapping 2K-resolution images projected onto a giant screen, similar to IMAX-D (qv). In fact, so similar, IMAX sued the company behind CFGS - and won! 11.1-channel audio.

• CinemaScope 55 = 8-perf 55mm anamorphic film. 6-perf release prints. Aspect ratio: 2.55:1.

• Cinemiracle = Three 6-perf 35mm (spherical) frames projected side by side to create a single seamless image. Aspect ratio: 2.51:1.

• Cinerama = Three 6-perf 35mm (spherical) frames projected side by side to create a single seamless image. Aspect ratio: 2.59:1. See also: 70mm Cinerama.

• col = Colour.

• (cut) = Where this appears after the BBFC certificate, it indicates that a film has been cut by the Board at some stage, either on film or video. The cuts may have since been restored and the uncensored version 'approved' for UK distribution but, amongst other things, this blog exists to provide an overview of just how much the BBFC has intervened on 'our' behalf over the decades, almost always for the flimsiest of reasons. You can check the current cut/uncut status of individual titles at the online BBFC database.

• DEFA 70 = 5-perf 65mm spherical film. 5-perf 70mm release prints. Aspect ratio: 2.20:1.

• Dimension 150 = 5-perf 65mm spherical film. 5-perf 70mm release prints. Aspect ratio: 2.20:1.

• Dolby Atmos = Object-based audio enhancement which employs multiple speakers (up to 64 in total at the time of writing) around and above the audience in suitably-equipped cinemas. This augments a 7.1 or 5.1 soundtrack by allowing each specific audio element to exist within - or travel across - a wider range of additional speakers, thereby creating an illusion of three-dimensional sonic realism. Such films will play back in standard 7.1 or 5.1 in cinemas not equipped for Atmos rendering.

• Dolby Stereo = 4-channel stereo sound. 70mm release prints contain either 4.2- or 5.1-channel audio.

• Dolby Stereo SR = 4-channel stereo sound, with Spectral Recording enhanced dynamic range. 70mm release prints contain either 4.2- or 5.1-channel audio.

• DTS:X = Object-based audio enhancement which employs multiple speakers around and above the audience in suitably-equipped cinemas. This allows each specific audio element to exist within - or travel across - a wider range of speakers, thereby creating an illusion of three-dimensional sonic realism. Such films will play back in standard 7.1 or 5.1 in cinemas not equipped for DTS:X rendering.

• Duo-Vision = 4-perf 35mm anamorphic film. Two 1.37:1-shaped images (showing different angles of the same scene) configured side by side on the wide 2.35:1 frame (2.39:1 projection).

• Eagle Stereo = 4.2-channel stereo sound. This is simply Ultra-Stereo (qv) with two extra channels of deep bass encoding, used on 70mm prints of Cobra (1986).

• Fantasound = 3-channel stereo sound.

• Feelarama = Extreme low-frequency sound effect, similar to Sensurround (qv).

• fps = Frames per second.

• Grandeur = 4-perf 70mm spherical film. Aspect ratio: 2.13:1.

• Hi-Fi Stereo 70 = 3-D format in which the separate left-right images are placed adjacent to one another in the space normally occupied by a single 5-perf 65mm frame and subjected to an anamorphic squeeze, yielding a 2.20:1 aspect ratio. Release prints configured in 5-perf 70mm. Also known as Stereovision 70, Triarama and Super Cinema 3-D.

• Hypergonar = 4-perf 35mm anamorphic film. Aspect ratio: 2.66:1.

• Illusion-O = Sometimes credited as a 3-D process, but the format involves nothing more than glasses with coloured filters, through which patrons of the 1960 film 13 Ghosts could choose whether or not to view ghostly on-screen figures.

• IMAX = 15-perf 65mm spherical film. 15-perf 70mm release prints. Aspect ratio: 1.44:1 (though it can accommodate a variety of ratios within its massive frame).

• IMAX 3-D = Stereoscopic format involving the creation and projection of separate left-right images on two strips of 15-perf 65mm (spherical) film. 15-perf 70mm release prints. Primary aspect ratio: 1.44:1.

• IMAX 6-track = 6-channel audio, plus sub-bass, used in IMAX (qv) and IMAX-D (qv) presentations.

• IMAX 12-track = 12-channel audio, plus sub-bass, with 2 additional side channels and 4 more in the ceiling. Used in IMAX-L (qv) presentations.

• IMAX-D = IMAX-Digital. Two overlapping 2K-resolution images projected onto an IMAX screen. 2-D and 3-D versions available. Aspect ratio: 1.90:1 (though it can accommodate a variety of ratios within the frame). 6-track audio.

• IMAX-D/L = Film released in both IMAX-D (digital, qv) and IMAX-L (laser, qv) formats.

• IMAX-D 3-D = Two overlapping 2K-resolution images - one for left eye, one for right eye - projected onto an IMAX screen.

• IMAX-L = IMAX-Laser. Two overlapping 4K-resolution images projected via laser onto an IMAX screen. 2-D and 3-D versions available. Aspect ratio: 1.44:1 (though it can accommodate a variety of ratios within the frame). 12-track audio.

• Infrasound = 4-channel stereo sound.

• Kinopanorama = Three 6-perf 35mm (spherical) frames projected side by side to create a single seamless image. Aspect ratio: 2.59:1.

• Kinopanorama 70 = 5-perf 70mm spherical film. Aspect ratio: 2.55:1.

• (LF) = Large Format. This refers to any film shot in a gauge larger than 5-perf 70mm, intended for screening in IMAX venues or similar.

• Magnifilm = 5-perf 65mm spherical film. Aspect ratio: 2.05:1.

• MegaSound = Deep bass audio enhancement.

• MFB = Monthly Film Bulletin (magazine).

• MGM Camera 65 = 5-perf 65mm anamorphic film. 5-perf 70mm release prints. Aspect ratio: 2.76:1. Few - if any - films shot in this format were ever screened at the full 2.76:1 ratio for practical reasons, and studio MGM (which had developed the process) declared the optimal aspect ratio to be 2.55:1. However, most films shot in this format are now reproduced on home video at the full 2.76:1 ratio, so both screen shapes are technically 'correct'. Subsequently renamed Ultra Panavision 70 (qv).

• (OL) = Online. Film produced for distribution over the Internet.

• Panavision Super 70 = 5-perf 65mm spherical film. 5-perf 70mm release prints. Aspect ratio: 2.20:1. Also known as Panavision System 70.

• Polyvision = Three 4-perf 35mm spherical images projected side by side to create a single seamless image. Aspect ratio: 4.00:1.

• (pre-VRA) = A film released directly to home video without a BBFC certificate, before the introduction of the Video Recordings Act 1984.

• QSound = Audio enhancement which pans various effects across the soundstage, creating the illusion of three-dimensional sound.

• Quadraphonic Sound = 4-channel stereo sound.

• Quintaphonic Sound = 5-channel stereo sound.

• S&S = Sight & Sound (magazine).

• scope = Film with a projected aspect ratio of 2.35:1 (prior to 1971) or 2.39:1 (1971 onwards). A small number of scope movies were shot and projected at 2.00:1 or 2.55:1 and this is noted in parentheses - ie. 'scope (2.55:1)' - where relevant.

• ScreenX = Immersive format in which three screens traverse the entire length of the front and sides of the cinema auditorium, creating a single 270-degree image.

• Sensurround = Extreme low-frequency sound effect.

• Sound 360 = 4-channel stereo sound format employed on the film Damnation Alley (1977), which basically relocated the front-left and -right speakers to the sides of the auditorium and cranked up the volume, making for an aggressive surround experience.

• Sovscope 70 = 5-perf 70mm spherical film. Aspect ratio: 2.20:1.

• StereoSonic Sound = 4-channel stereo sound.

• Stereovision 70 = 3-D format in which the separate left-right images are placed adjacent to one another in the space normally occupied by a single 5-perf 65mm frame and subjected to an anamorphic squeeze, yielding a 2.20:1 aspect ratio. Release prints configured in 5-perf 70mm. Also known as Hi-Fi Stereo 70, Triarama and Super Cinema 3-D. Not to be confused with the later StereoVision 70 format, which yielded a 1.37:1 projectable image.

• Super Panavision 70 = 5-perf 65mm spherical film. 5-perf 70mm release prints. Aspect ratio: 2.20:1. Some of the earliest films shot in this format are credited on-screen as 'Panavision 70'.

• Superpanorama 70 = 5-perf 65mm spherical film. 5-perf 70mm release prints. Aspect ratio: 2.20:1. Sometimes listed as MCS Superpanorama 70 or MCS-70.

• Super Technirama 70 = Not a 65mm origination format, despite appearances to the contrary! Such films were shot in 'standard' Technirama (8-perf 35mm anamorphic), rendering a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. A 2.21:1 portion of the image (2.20:1 from the late 1970's onward) was subsequently extracted and 'unsqueezed' before being printed in 5-perf 70mm spherical. The results were billed as 'Super Technirama 70', though some early titles credit nothing more than 'Technirama 70' on-screen.

• Technirama = 8-perf 35mm anamorphic film. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1.

• Todd-AO = 5-perf 65mm spherical film. 5-perf 70mm release prints. Aspect ratio: 2.20:1.

• Todd-70 = 5-perf 65mm spherical film. 5-perf 70mm release prints. Aspect ratio: 2.20:1.

• Triarama = 3-D format in which the separate left-right images are placed adjacent to one another in the space normally occupied by a single 5-perf 65mm frame and subjected to an anamorphic squeeze, yielding a 2.20:1 aspect ratio. Release prints configured in 5-perf 70mm. Also known as Hi-Fi Stereo 70, Stereovision 70 and Super Cinema 3-D. Not to be confused with another format known as Triarama, devised in the early 1950's, in which two 1-perf 16mm spherical images were projected side by side to create a single seamless image (that format isn't listed here, since no feature-length items were ever shot in this process).

• (TV) = TV movie.

• Ultra Panavision 70 = 5-perf 65mm anamorphic film. 5-perf 70mm release prints. Aspect ratio: 2.76:1. Few - if any - films shot in this format were ever screened at the full 2.76:1 ratio for practical reasons, and studio MGM (which had developed the process) declared the optimal aspect ratio to be 2.55:1. However, most films shot in this format are now reproduced on home video at the full 2.76:1 ratio, so both screen shapes are technically 'correct'. Originally known as MGM Camera 65 (qv).

• Ultra-Stereo = 4-channel stereo sound. See also: Eagle Stereo (qv).

• V: = This symbol preceding the name of a film's distributor (ie. 'V: Guild') means the film was released directly to home video in the UK, though it may have been screened theatrically in other territories.

• (V) = Film produced exclusively for distribution on home video.

• Vistasonic = 4-channel stereo sound.

• VistaVision = 8-perf 35mm spherical film. The primary aspect ratio was 1.85:1, though films shot in VistaVision could be projected in any ratio between 1.66:1 and 2.00:1.

• Vitascope = 5-perf 65mm spherical film. Aspect ratio: 2.05:1.

• VRA = Video Recordings Act 1984.

• WarnerPhonic Sound = 4-channel stereo sound.