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Hal
Lifson's 1966!
 Hal
Lifson's 1966!, a personal view of the coolest year in
pop culture history, is a must read If your were a child in
the 1960's. This book also introduces today's audiences to
the fun side of the 1960s and, especially for those of us
who were there, brings back many memories of growing up. Although
not in 3-D or about 3-D, the book's cover art uses a View-Master®
reel design to depict 14 pop icon images from 1966.
Hal Lifson's 1966! is a nostalgic look at the creative
toys, food, fashions, TV, movies, music that Lifson experienced
while growing up in southern California. Lifson's childhood
mirrors that of many children that grew up during this time
when nearly every kid played basketball with the neighbors,
kept a transistor radio under their pillow at night or pretended
to be Batman.
In fact, Adam West, who portrayed the Caped Crusader, wrote
it best in the foward to the book, "You'll enjoy reading
Hal Lifson's perspective on one of the most engrossing and
fun years of the twentieth century. Filled with rare photos
and unique anecdotes, this book promises to take you on a
terrific trip to Hal's favorite place."
Photos of Hal's personal collection of 1966 memorabilia fills
the book. Editor's note: I was amazed at how many items featured
in this book are also in my own personal collection. My guess
is that Hal probably has much more in his collection than
featured in the book, though.
Pull out those favorite old View-Master® reels at the
same time you read this book and you'll be amazed at how many
of the most popular View-Master® TV titles are tied to
1966.
- The Munsters
- The Addams Family
- Star Trek
- The Green Hornet
- The Monkees
- Batman
- Lost in Space
- The Time Tunnel
- Family Affair
- Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
- Flipper
- Daktari
- The Beverly Hillbillies
- Mission: Impossible
- The Lucy Show
- Dark Shadows
Hal Lifson is the former manager/publicist to some of the
1960s biggest icons like Adam West, Julie Newmar, Raquel Welch
and Nancy Sinatra. Hal is currently radio oldies KRTH's "Retro
Man" on Friday mornings where listeners call in to try
to stump him with 60's trivia.
Hal Lifson's 1966! also has a companion CD (sold separately)
with View-Master® reel artwork on the cover. ISBN # 1-56625-182-6.
The 219-page softcover book, published by Bonus Books, is
priced at $24.95. Find out more at www.hallifson.com.
Batman
vs. Catwoman: Catfight Show and 3-D Ride at Six Flags, New
Jersey
 Six
Flags Great Adventure and Wild Safari, America's largest regional
theme park in Jackson, N.J., introduce a spectacular new action-adventure
show, Batman vs. Catwoman: Catfight, a new 3-D simulator ride
and major park enhancements to mark its 30th anniversary.
The only show of its kind, based on the DC Comics superhero
Batman, Batman vs. Catwoman: Catfight features the Dynamic
Duo, Batman and Robin, as they battle to save Gotham City
from the evil clutches of Catwoman and The Joker in this all-new,
high-voltage adventure.
Six Flags Great Adventure also launches a new 3-D simulator
ride. Debuting April 3, this new ride will deliver a nonsensical,
fast-paced adventure for all ages.
Honoring the parks' past 30 years and looking ahead to a
vibrant future, Six Flags Great Adventure and Wild Safari
undergo a multi-year refurbishment program beginning in 2004.
The theme park nearly doubles in size its private catering
facility, and enhances all existing catering pavilions. Other
theme park renovations include improvements to all 15 restroom
locations, new landscaping, theming and a state-of-the-art
sound system upgrade.
Last season's major new addition, Superman - Ultimate Flight,
premieres a new gift store at the ride's exit. The park is
also adding new high-tech games and attractions, shows and
concerts.
At the Safari, guests can explore the newly designed Monkey
Jungle and see two new, giant anteaters in the South American
section. The Safari debuts a new educational program for schools,
Safari Journeys in Learning, that features outreach, private
bus tours and hands-on exhibits.
Six Flags Great Adventure and Wild Safari open April 3, 2004.
3-D
Thursdays at The Film Forum in New York March 4 through April
8, 2004
Harold Lloyd's 3-D Nudes Extra Added Attraction on April
8 at 7:20 Show
 The
Film Forum, a non-profit cinema since 1970, is presenting
brand new 35mm restorations of several classic Columbia feature
and short 3-D films in the double-system 3-D format. The "3-D
Thursdays" run from March 4 through April 5, 2004, at
209 West Houston Street in New York City.
The film schedule includes 3-D showings of Drums of Tahiti,
Fort Ti, Gun Fury, Jesse James vs. the Daltons, The Mad Magician,
Miss Sadie Thompson, The Nebraskan, Man in the Dark, Pardon
My Backfire, Spooks and The Stranger Wore a Gun.
As an extra added attraction to the final 3-D program on
April 8, the Film Forum presents a selection of movie legend
Harold Lloyd's stunning 3-D photos from the 1950s. An avid
amateur shutterbug, Lloyd was a leading pioneer in 3-D photography
and one-time president of the Los Angeles Stereoscopic Society.
From the 1940s to the 1960s, he took almost 100,000 3-D photographs,
including Hollywood stars like Roy Rogers, Jayne Mansfield
and Marilyn Monroe, as well as hundreds of young women, most
of them nude. A new collection of these photos by Lloyd, Hollywood
Nudes in 3-D, will be published in October by Black Dog
& Leventhal.
Greg Dinkins, director of the New York Stereoscopic Society,
will present a selection of Lloyd's 3-D slides, both nudes
and stars, during the intermission of the 7:20 screening of
Miss Sadie Thompson on Thursday, April 8.
The Harold Lloyd Trust and Suzanne Lloyd, grand-daughter
of Harold Lloyd, are making these slides available. Harold
Lloyd™ is a trademark and service mark of The Harold
Lloyd Trust.
National
Stereoscopic Association National Convention to be held July
7 - 12, 2004, in Portland, Oregon
 The
Cascade Stereoscopic Club is thrilled to be hosting the 2004
National Stereoscopic Association National Convention in Portland,
Oregon. Portland is a beautiful city, set in the pristine
northwest. With so much natural beauty around, it is no wonder
that CSC members are so excited about 3-D photography!
"The convention in 2004 is designed to allow more time
to enjoy old friends, new acquaintances and the activities
in a more relaxed atmosphere," said Diane Rulien, chair
of the 2004 NSA Convention. "Our goal is for you to have
fun and go away with great memories, new friends and a lot
of film to develop and mount."
Planners are hoping that the scheduling will allow participants
to see and do as much as they want without missing a thing.
With this in mind, the official activities will begin on Wednesday,
July 7, when the stereo theatre will open and workshops will
begin. CSC is planning a social event on Tuesday evening for
those who arrive early. Of course there will be room-hopping
beginning Wednesday evening.
For more information, visit the CSC Web site has a special
NSA 2004
Convention page where you can sign up for the convention
online. The Web site has information about the hotel, Portland,
registration and other forms, convention schedule, contacts,
online forums, trade fair, auction, stereo theatre, workshop
proposal, 3-D competition, advertising, tour information,
exhibitions and displays, product competition and more.
Wonderfalls
TV Series Features View-Master®-Like Scene Transitions
 Wonderfalls
is a new Fox Broadcasting Company show airing Thursday night.
Wonderfalls production is highly original and creative.
Each scene is edited so it appears to be emitted from a View-Master®.
The Fox Broadcasting Company Wonderfalls Web site even
has animated
View-Master®-like reel graphics.
Wonderfalls is the story of a woman who, with the
help of an outside supernatural force, performs acts of kindness
and helps strangers to improve their lives. Does this new
show from Fox sound like Touched By an Angel? How about
Joan of Arcadia? The difference between Jaye Tyler,
Wonderfalls leading lady (Caroline Dhavernas) and angels
with an affinity for physical contact or modern day martyrs
is that Tyler doesn't want anything to do with the metaphysical
or supernatural.
Tyler is an overeducated, underqualified woman stuck in a
menial job as a cashier for a tourist shop at Niagara Falls.
Not that she minds. In the pilot episode she remarks that
her parents work hard and are still dissatisfied with their
lives. Tyler figures she can be dissatisfied with her life
by hardly working at all.
 Her
life changes when a wax lion suddenly advises her not to give
a customer her change back. Shocked, Tyler attempts to ignore
the lion and gives the customer her $5. Minutes later, the
customer's purse is stolen. Tyler discovers that she can hear
voices. Whether the voices are from God, Satan or who knows
where, they all come from objects and knickknacks that are
shaped like animals.
The monkey statue in her psychiatrist's office tells Tyler
it loves her. A trio of synthetic representatives from the
animal kingdom serenades Tyler with a throaty rendition of
99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. Tyler discovers that
if she does not follow the commands of her hallucinations,
they will not stop talking, chatting and/or singing.
The problem is the animals do not simply tell her to help
people. They use her as a vessel to set things in motion that
will eventually lead to happy endings.
In the pilot, what starts off as an attempt to return the
stolen purse to the customer ends with her setting up the
neighborhood UPS man with a nurse. The reason the UPS man
was in the hospital? Tyler had set up a date between the delivery
man and her own lesbian sister. Due to a mishap involving
an allergy to peanuts, the delivery man is put in the hospital
where he meets the new love of his life - his nurse. Meanwhile,
Tyler's sister finds love of her own in the UPS man's ex-wife.
Twisting plots that begin in one spot and end in a way few
people would predict help drive the nature of the show. Each
episode is a puzzle with audience members attempting to piece
together the larger picture.
What saves the show from becoming preachy is the biting sense
of humor in the script. Clever dialogue and bizarre situation
pieces are reminiscent of early Tim Burton films. Each show
hosts a cache of bizarre actors.
Tyler's family attempts to help their wayward member, but
they are ultimately clueless.
The acting is all highly watchable. Dhavernas' performance
as Tyler is a joy to watch. Imagine an adult version of MTV's
Daria and you will have Tyler, swimming through life
on the back of a giant life preserver constructed of sarcasm
and cynicism.
Wonderfalls is a clever show with great potential.
Expect future shows to continue in the fashion as Tyler, righting
wrongs, protesting all the way. Hopefully, the larger mystery
of the voices that torment Tyler will slowly be revealed as
the series progresses. As long as the writing stays as top
notch as it currently is and the actors and funky editing
style continue to evolve and grow, Wonderfalls may
easily become Fox's best new show.
Consumer Electronics
Show 2004 holds 3-D seminar
On Friday, Jan. 9, attendees of the 2004 Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas had the opportunity to go to a one hour
seminar about emerging new 3-D display technologies. Going
Deep: 3-D Displays featured a discussion about the 3-D technologies
that will soon radically alter the way we watch the burgeoning
multimedia universe.
One of them is a retinal-scanning display from startup Microvision
Inc., which paints extremely high-resolution images directly
onto your retina as you look through an optical assembly akin
to a digital-camera viewfinder. Meanwhile, Sharp is perfecting
a 3-D display technology that does not require the user to
wear anaglyphic glasses. Sharp's technology could start popping
up in the next year in everything from cell phones and PDAs
to computer monitors.
Finally, a revolutionary new technology from LightSpace Technology
Inc. creates actual "solid" images in a portable-television-sized
cube, allowing viewers to see all sides and angles of an image,
as though it were simply encased in a glass box. The surfaces
of the images can be solid, textured, translucent, or "wire-frame.
The panel includes moderator Harry Goldstein, Senior Editor
of IEEE Spectrum, Alan Sullivan, President and CEO, LightSpace
Technologies, Inc., Ian Matthew, 3-D Business Development
Manager, Sharp Systems of America , and Stephen Willey, President,
Microvision.
Playtone and IMAX®
3-D Space Film Lifts Off Into Production
Tom Hanks Presents Magnificent Desolation,
an IMAX® 3-D Film Celebrating Man Walking On The Moon
For Release In 2005
 IMAX®
Corporation in association with Tom Hanks' and Gary Goetzman's
Playtone announced that the newest IMAX® 3-D space film,
Magnificent Desolation, will be sponsored by the renowned
aerospace company, Lockheed Martin. The highly anticipated
film, which will be shot in giant 15/70 format using IMAX®
3-D cameras, will allow moviegoers to experience walking on
the moon alongside the extraordinary voyagers who have stepped
upon its surface.
Tom Hanks commented, "We went to the Moon. Everyone knows
that. We, by proxy in the form of the Apollo astronauts, flew
up into the sky, sailed to the Moon and landed on Luna Firma.
What we know too little of is what we did while we were there.
Magnificent Desolation takes the audience to the surface of
the Moon, to the Ocean of Storms, the Fra Mauro Highlands
and the Taurus Littrow Valley, as well as Sea of Tranquility
as only IMAX can. Exploring the Moon was humankind's most
incredible roadtrip. Our film will bring along anyone who
wants to take that giant leap for themselves."
"We believe Magnificent Desolation holds the potential
to be extremely successful given the exciting subject matter
and Tom Hanks' passion and creative vision. The film will
be designed by Playtone and IMAX® to play at both commercial
and institutional IMAX® theatres for many years,"
said IMAX® Co-CEOs and Co-Chairmen Richard L. Gelfond
and Bradley J. Wechsler. "We are thrilled to partner
once again with Lockheed Martin, which together with NASA
and IMAX® have created one of the highest grossing large
format film franchises, featuring space films that have cumulatively
grossed more than $350 million."
"For nearly 20 years, Lockheed Martin has teamed with
IMAX® and NASA to produce films with the goal of educating
and inspiring young and old about the wonders of math, science
and technology through the prism of space," said Dennis
Boxx, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Lockheed
Martin Corporation. "And through our newly formed partnership
with IMAX®, NASA and now the creative team headed by Tom
Hanks, a new generation will be enticed by the excitement
and drama the astronauts of the Apollo program brought into
our homes as they dared to dream of space and set foot on
the lunar surface."
"NASA is proud to collaborate with Playtone, as well
as continue our successful relationships with IMAX® and
Lockheed Martin," said Glenn Mahone, Assistant Administrator
for Public Affairs at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Tom
Hanks' enthusiasm for exploration is clearly evident in his
previous productions that chronicle NASA's remarkable history,
and we believe Magnificent Desolation is a wonderful opportunity
to capture the interest and curiosity of the next generation
of explorers."
Magnificent Desolation, to be produced by Hanks and Goetzman
of Playtone and by IMAX®, will detail the life-changing
experience of the 12 men who walked on the moon by showcasing
what these men saw, heard, felt, thought and did while on
the lunar surface. The 45-minute IMAX® 3-D feature documentary
will be directed by Mark Cowen, Emmy Award nominee for the
documentary film We Stand Alone Together: The Men Of Easy
Company (a.k.a. Band of Brothers), and supervised by Greg
Foster, President of Filmed Entertainment, IMAX® Corporation.
Cowen is also producing, along with Mark Herzog. Magnificent
Desolation will break new ground with never before seen photographs,
CGI renditions of the lunar landscape and previously unreleased
NASA footage. The film's content will be based on "The
Lunar Surface Journals," a massive archival database
compiled over the last decade by Dr. Eric Jones, which chronicles
the moon walks as recounted by the astronauts. The film will
be brought to life in both IMAX® and IMAX® 3-D on
screens up to eight stories tall with 12,000 watts of pure
digital surround sound for exclusive release to IMAX®
theatres in 2005.
Magnificent Desolation is a continuation of IMAX's space
film legacy and its unique production partnership with Lockheed
Martin and NASA. IMAX® space films have been seen by more
than 85 million people and played in more than 15 languages
worldwide. The most recent collaboration between Lockheed
Martin, NASA and IMAX® was the extremely successful release
of Space Station, an IMAX® 3-D film released in April
2002, which has grossed nearly $70 million in box office and
continues to play in theatres worldwide.
Eastman Kodak Announces
Plans to Introduce a new 3-D Display without needing to wear
Special Glasses
 Kodak's
Stereoscopic Imaging Display, currently in prototype, could
be used in technologies ranging from video games to molecular
and chemical modeling. The company is looking for technology
partners and early-stage customers. It aims to license the
product for integration into third-party products and systems.
This is the first initiative from the company's new Ventures
Group. Kodak, long a mainstay of the traditional film photography
industry, is trying to reshape itself as a provider of digital
imaging technology.
To get its 3-D effect, the display makes use of a wide field
of view and virtual images from two high-resolution liquid
crystal display screens, Kodak said. The desktop device has
a field of view that measures 45 degrees by 36 degrees and
a 1,280-by-1,024-pixel resolution.
"Unlike other 3-D imaging systems, which rely on a barrier
screen placed over an existing monitor, the Kodak display
is an entirely new concept," said Lawrence Henderson,
vice president of Kodak Ventures Group.
Last year, several high-technology companies, including Sony
and Sanyo, unveiled a consortium to create technical and safety
standards for 3-D displays, desktops, laptops and cell phones.
Sharp at the time was already selling a cell phone with a
3-D screen in Japan and showing off a notebook that could
play a 3-D version of the video game "Quake."
The aptly named 3-D Consortium was founded by a group of
five Japanese manufacturers that have started to develop technology
for screens where two-dimensional images stand out like holograms.
The consortium had been discussed in the past but until now
had not been formally fleshed out.
"We're definitely looking at larger form factors,"
said Greg Nakagawa, senior vice president of Sharp Systems
of America. "This year might be a good time" for
larger devices.
The consortium will look at a variety of issues. One of the
first subcommittees will examine establishing methods for
tweaking software applications so that they can take advantage
of 3-D screens. Hardware input-output specifications will
be the subject of another subcommittee.
Health and safety will also be a concern, Nakagawa added.
Three-dimensional monitors consist of two TFT panels separated
by a parallax barrier. Each eye receives a slightly different
image, which creates the illusion of depth.
While objects in the background do not pose problems, viewing
objects in the foreground can cause the eyes to shift back
and forth rapidly. "As you get closer and closer, there
is more eye strain," Nakagawa said. Other companies participating
in the consortium include Microsoft, Kodak and Olympus.
Curve Doubles Viewing
Angle of 3-D Displays
Although three-dimensional screens have been around in different
forms for decades, they generally have downsides. Some types
require glasses, and those that don't usually cannot be viewed
from much more than a 15-degree angle or are fairly dim.
Researchers from Seoul National University in Korea have
showed that using curved lenses doubles the viewing angle
of three-dimensional integral imaging systems without sacrificing
brightness.
The technique could eventually be used for three-dimensional
billboards and three-dimensional television, according to
the researchers.
Integrated imaging systems project sections of images through
an array of lenses. The sections are combined, or integrated,
at a point in front of the display to produce a 3-D image.
These displays have a limited viewing angle because the image
sections must be wider the farther they are from the center
of the display, and can be only so wide before they overlap.
The researchers' prototype uses a lens array that is curved
rather than flat. This increase is the viewing angle because
the lenses are angle around the viewer, which helps keep the
image sections proportional.
There is some work to be done before the method is ready
for prime time, however, according to the researchers. In
order to present an image free of gaps between image sections,
the screen must be slightly curved as well. Technologies like
plastic electronics and electronic paper are poised to deliver
flexible screens.
The technique could be used in applications like three-dimensional
advertising displays within two to four years. Three-dimensional
television systems are at least a decade away, according to
the researchers. The work appeared in the Feb. 9, 2004 issue
of Optics Express.
View-Master®
3-D Pictures Used at Point-of-Purchase (1953)
This classic View-Master® story from the
1950s is courtesy of www.paintbynumberz.com
 (Toys
and Novelties Magazine - September 1953) --- The B. F.
Besman Company, western distributors of Craftmaster and Masterpiece
oil painting sets, has introduced a unique View-Master display
which shows in full color, third dimension, the complete selling
story on "Painting By the Numbers." The point-of-purchase
display is electronic and enables customers to see how simple
and enjoyable it is to paint a beautiful picture in oils the
first time they try. The unit is light, compact and simple
to operate. With a flick of the finger, the prospective customer
pulls down a lever and can immediatley change from one scene
to another. The dramatic realism of 3-dimensions and full-color
Kodachrome film puts the viewer right smack into the scene
being viewed. The Besman Company is offering the presentation
to their retailers and jobbers, and dealers are invited to
write for complete information.
The display's introduction at the Do It Yourself Show in
Los Angeles recently, proved to be an overwhelming success.
It was estimated that as many as 80 per cent of the people
visiting the Craftmaster exhibit went up to the display and
gave themselves a preview of America's most fascinating hobby.
"Now that the three-dimensional rage is sweeping the
country with films from all of the major Hollywood movie studios,
more and more commercial concerns are taking advantage of
the medium of 3-D pictures and are having us make up stereo
kits showing their products, services, installations, and
manufacturing operations," according to Sidney Brawer,
president of Tri-Ads Company, Hollywood, producers of the
View-Master pictures and displays.
"3-D seems to put a certain quality of "merchandising
magic" into any sales presentation, which makes it very
popular with distributors, dealers, and their sales organizations,"
says Mr. Brawer.
Waldsmith
3-D Auction to be held May 1, 2004 
 A
3-D Auction being held as part of the 3-D Stereoscopic Weekend
is starting at 7 a.m. on May 1, 2004 at the Holiday Inn Fairlawn/Akron,
Ohio. John Waldsmith, the collector's auctioneer, will hold
an auction of stereoscopic photographica, stereoviews, stereo
cameras, Tru-Vue, View-Master® and stereo cameras and
equipment. A preview of the auction starts at 6 a.m.
Some of the highlights of the auction include scarce Gold
Center Foil View-Master® reels, Civil War stereo view
cards and more. The auction will accept telephone bids until
April 30 and e-mail bids until 6 a.m. eastern time on May
1.
A full color catalog is available for $4 by mail or $2 at
the auction site.
3-D
Review Online Magazine Wins Godzilla Planet Award
 The
staff of 3-D Review Online Magazine is proud to announce
they were recently notified that the Web site is the first
recipient of the Godzilla Planet Award. 3-D Review Online
Magazine won the award for its October
2003 Halloween Issue. The issue featured several stories
about 3-D related Godzilla movie projects. "The 3-D information
and photos featured in 3-D Review Online Magazine were
fascinating," according to Godzilla Planet Web master
Jason Hanson. The staff and management of 3-D Review Online
Magazine appreciate this honor.
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