Totalvision
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The Totalvision Company (French: La Société Totalvision) was a French corporation that specialized in the design and manufacturing of lenses, cameras, and projection systems primarily focused on anamorphic optics. It was founded in June 1954. Totalvision was created and managed by Georges Bonnerot and Elie Libman students of Professor Henri Chrétien. Circa 1956, the company experienced significant expansion to foreign markets. Totalvision cameras equipment and lenses were sold in East Germany (DDR), Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, China, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Romania, and Bulgaria.[1]
Totalvision was a strong competitor to Cinemascope format in Europe, providing cheaper licensing fees to European markets at the time, while presenting cinematographers with the same or better quality equipment. The system had a wide range of anamorphic lenses, from 32mm to 150mm, with hardly any distortion and made CinemaScope almost obsolete in Europe.[2][3][4]
France
- Renowned cinematographers such as: Claude Renoir, Louis Page, Lucien Joulin, Michel Kelber, Henri Alekan used Totalvision equipment for their work. All cameras were equipped with specifically designed couplings allowing a single primary and anamorphic focusing.[5]
- Totalvision created an affordable 16mm anamorphic projection lens under the brand of Ruralscope which was marketed and sold to movie theaters in rural France.[6]
Italy
Polish-born director of photography/cinematographer Henryk Chroscicki bought rights to manufacture Totalvison's equipment in Italy and effectively became a rental house and a distributor for Italian filmmakers. More than 200 major films including Dolce Vita and 300 documentaries have been shot with Totalvision equipment under the brand name of Totalscope.[7] Based on his ownership of rights for Totalvision equipment Henryk Chroscicki developed the anamorphic lens system Technovision which made its first appearance in 1974.[8]
Films Made with Totalvision
Name | Year | Director | Country |
---|---|---|---|
Move and I'll Shoot (Italian: Come te movi, te fulmino!) | 1958 | Mario Mattoli | Italy |
Lui, lei e il nonno | 1959 | Anton Giulio Majano | Italy |
First Spaceship on Venus (German: Der schweigende Stern) | 1960 | Kurt Maetzig | Germany |
Mother Courage and Her Children (German: Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder) | 1961 | Peter Palitzsch | Germany |
Die Liebe und der Co-Pilot | 1961 | Richard Groschopp | Germany |
A Monkey in Winter (French: Un singe en hiver) [9] | 1962 | Henri Verneuil | France |
Die schwarze Galeere | 1962 | Martin Hellberg | Germany |
The Flying Dutchman (German: Der fliegende Holländer) | 1964 | Joachim Herz | Germany |
Mir nach, Canaillen | 1964 | Ralf Kirsten | Germany |
Preludio 11 | 1964 | Kurt Maetzig | East Germany |
Schwarzer Samt | 1964 | Heinz Thiel | East Germany |
Karla | 1965 | Herrmann Zschoche | East Germany |
Gunman's Hands (Italian: Ocaso de un pistolero) | 1965 | Rafael Romero Marchent | Italy |
La longue marche [10] | 1966 | Alexandre Astruc | France |
The Sons of Great Bear (German: Die Söhne der großen Bärin) | 1966 | Josef Mach | Germany |
Frozen Flashes (German: Die gefrorenen Blitze) | 1967 | János Veiczi | East Germany |
Frau Venus und ihr Teufel | 1967 | Ralf Kirsten | Germany |
Gallery of Horror | 1967 | David L. Hewitt | USA |
Encrucijada para una monja | 1967 | Julio Buchs | Spain |
Mord am Montag | 1968 | Hans Kratzert | Germany |
Heißer Sommer | 1968 | Joachim Hasler | East Germany |
Mit mir nicht, Madam! | 1969 | Roland Oehme | Germany |
Lesbo | 1969 | Edoardo Mulargia | Italy |
Verdacht auf einen Toten | 1969 | Rainer Bär | East Germany |
Im Himmel ist doch Jahrmarkt | 1969 | Rolf Losansky | Germany |
Tödlicher Irrtum | 1970 | Konrad Petzold | Germany |
Netzwerk | 1970 | Ralf Kirsten | Germany |
Tecumseh | 1972 | Hans Kratzert | Germany |
See also
- Arriscope
- Anamorphosis
- Aspect ratio
- Cine 160
- Letterbox
- List of film formats
- Pan and scan
- 21:9 aspect ratio
Citations
- ^ "Anamorphic shooting lens" (in French).
- ^ "INTERNET ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS (Film Formats Page 3)".
- ^ Olivier Rousseau (2014). "Les procédés anamorphiques français concurrents du CinemaScope" (in French).
- ^ Olivier Rousseau. Histoire technique des formats larges en France (1953-1969) : stratégies nationales face à l'innovation américaine du CinémaScope (in French).
- ^ "Anamorphic shooting lens" (in French).
- ^ "Anamorphic shooting lens" (in French).
- ^ "INTERNET ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS (Film Formats Page 3)".
- ^ "IMDB Henryk Chroscicki - Trivia".
- ^ "IMDB - A Monkey in Winter - Director: Henri Verneuil". 1962.
- ^ "IMDB - La longue marche - Director: Alexandre Astruc". 1966.