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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kdmitry (talk | contribs) at 00:22, 27 August 2022 (Removing "notability|1=Companies|date=August 2022" tag. Added context, categories, and more references should demonstrate the notable value of this entry. Totalvision was a European counterpart and competitor to Cinemascope in North America from the 1960s-the 1970s. The film format war is the rough equivalent of the VHS vs Betamax format war of the late 1970s into 1980s. It is significant to preserve references to that era and events for all who are interested in the cinematography's history). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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

Citations

  1. ^ "Anamorphic shooting lens" (in French).
  2. ^ "INTERNET ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS (Film Formats Page 3)".
  3. ^ Olivier Rousseau (2014). Les procédés anamorphiques français concurrents du CinemaScope (1953-1971) (in French).
  4. ^ Olivier Rousseau. Histoire technique des formats larges en France (1953-1969) : stratégies nationales face à l'innovation américaine du CinémaScope (in French).
  5. ^ "Anamorphic shooting lens" (in French).
  6. ^ "Anamorphic shooting lens" (in French).
  7. ^ "INTERNET ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS (Film Formats Page 3)".
  8. ^ "IMDB Henryk Chroscicki - Trivia".
  9. ^ "IMDB - A Monkey in Winter - Director: Henri Verneuil". 1962.
  10. ^ "IMDB - La longue marche - Director: Alexandre Astruc". 1966.
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