Prime Time Replay:
Bayley Silleck
on his IMAX film, Cosmic Voyage
MsgId: *emedia(12)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:00:50 EST 1996
From: Paulette At: 152.163.233.9
Good evening--and welcome to another session of E-Media. Tonight's Bayley_Silleck is director/producer Bayley Silleck, whose IMAX film, "Cosmic Voyage," explores the beginnings of the universe from the stars to men who interpreted their history. We also have Jeffrey Marvin, who co-produced the film with Silleck. Bayley, are you here?
MsgId: *emedia(18)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:03:40 EST 1996
From: Bayley_Silleck At: 152.163.233.17
yes, I'm here
MsgId: *emedia(19)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:04:39 EST 1996
From: Paulette At: 152.163.233.17
You have a very interesting past, Bayley. How did you go from being a communications officer in the US Navy to working with films? How did you get involved with Francis Thompson?
MsgId: *emedia(20)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:07:02 EST 1996
From: Bayley_Silleck At: 152.163.233.9
A job in Rome Italy with a local newspaper. That job in turn led to a job in the film business. When I came back from Europe I did many different kinds of educational documentaries in standard format, and then was told about an opportunity with Francis for a director writer for a new IMAX project in 1980.
MsgId: *emedia(22)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:07:41 EST 1996
From: Paulette At: 152.163.233.33
Would you mind explaining who Francis Thompson is as well?
MsgId: *emedia(24)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:11:23 EST 1996
From: Bayley_Silleck At: 152.163.233.17
Francis Thompson is an Oscar wining filmaker who also was one of the pioneers in the development of what became IMAX. He was famous for multiple screen presentations at various world fairs such as the triple screen film "To Be Alive."
MsgId: *emedia(25)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:13:07 EST 1996
From: Paulette At: 152.163.233.17
Although I've heard of IMAX films, I'm not really clear on what they are, as opposed to 3-D films or documentaries. For example, "Wings of Courage" and "Across the Sea of Time" are two IMAX films I'm familiar with, but what is the whole IMAX film process?
MsgId: *emedia(26)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:16:18 EST 1996
From: Bayley_Silleck At: 152.163.233.33
Those films you refer to are made in a new system called IMAX 3-D. Standard IMAX was invented about 25 years ago. It uses seventy millimeter film traveling laterally through the camera and through the projector as opposed to the vertical path of all standard movie projectors. Each frame of the film is ten times larger than a hollywood frame.
MsgId: *emedia(27)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:18:49 EST 1996
From: Paulette At: 152.163.233.33
Now about your latest project, "Cosmic Voyage." It's described as bringing "the audience face-to-face with the mysteries of the universe." How long did it take you to put this together?
MsgId: *emedia(29)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:20:54 EST 1996
From: Bayley_Silleck At: 152.163.233.17
It took nearly four years to raise the 6.5 million dollar budget and two years to produce the film. It had it's premiere in Washington on Aug 8th, the 150th Anniversary of the Smithsonian.
MsgId: *emedia(30)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:26:20 EST 1996
From: Paulette At: 152.163.233.9
Which was well-received! Whose idea was it for "Cosmic Voyage?" How did you manage to involve Pixar Animation Studios ("Toy Story"'s creators). And who were some of the people you consulted with in order to make the visualization of the universe's birth accurate?
MsgId: *emedia(31)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:30:50 EST 1996
From: Bayley_Silleck At: 152.163.233.33
The idea was first conceived by my partner Jeffrey Marvin, and it was based on a Dutch school book published in 1957 called Cosmic View. This book originated the idea of the Cosmic zoom from the very smallest things in the universe to the largest. In other words from atoms to galaxy clusters. Pixar became involved through our connection with Dr. Donna Cox at the Univ of Illinois's Super Computer Center. Later we involved Santa Barbara Studios and various universities in the creation of the astronomical imagery by computer.
MsgId: *emedia(34)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:35:42 EST 1996
From: Paulette At: 152.163.233.33
How is "Cosmic Voyage" different from other IMAX films you've done? What are some processes used with this film that you'd never used before?
MsgId: *emedia(35)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:40:54 EST 1996
From: guest At: 152.163.233.9
Cosmic Voyage breaks new ground in the IMAX medium in several ways... First of all it includes over 15 minutes of computer generated imagery computed at up to 4000 by 6000 lines of resolution. Secondly certain other special effect techniques were used, some for the first time, for example the first blue screen composite ever done as well as a number of digital composite scenes, which involves scanning 70 millimeter film into a computer manipulating the image and then dumping the digital files back to 65 millimeter film for screening.
MsgId: *emedia(36)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:42:39 EST 1996
From: Paulette At: 152.163.233.33
And this manipulation of the film resulted in the much clearer images which you mentioned--for computer-generated imagery sharper than that in "Toy Story?"
MsgId: *emedia(37)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:46:29 EST 1996
From: guest At: 152.163.233.17
Yes, because Toy Story was produced on 35 millimeter film as opposed to 70 millimeter IMAX, it requires less resolution. I believe that resolution of Toy Story was approximatesly 1500 lines of resolution as opposed to 4000 lines for IMAX.
MsgId: *emedia(38)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:46:59 EST 1996
From: Paulette At: 152.163.233.17
Had you and Jeffrey always had an interest in astronomy? Or did a casual curiosity about the field develop more as you worked on "Cosmic Voyage?"
MsgId: *emedia(39)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:51:58 EST 1996
From: guest At: 152.163.233.17
When Jeff and I first worked on the project we simply had the intention of conveying a sense of the great range of scales in the universe and we were intrigued by the challenge of showing audiences where we human beings fit in the grand scheme of nature. We learned a great deal about astronomy in the course of doing this fim becasue we worked with some of the greatest scientific minds in the country including such people as Allan Guth of MIT, Irwin Shapiro of Harvard-Smithsonian, Frank Summers of Princeton, Lars Hernquist and Joel Primack of the Univ of California
MsgId: *emedia(40)
Date: Mon Nov 4 21:55:55 EST 1996
From: Paulette At: 152.163.233.33
How did depicting an exploding universe go about? How many hours did you spend on parts like this, and a comet's movement through space, in "Cosmic Voyage?"
MsgId: *emedia(41)
Date: Mon Nov 4 22:00:28 EST 1996
From: guest At: 152.163.233.9
One good example of the amount of work it takes to create computer animation in the IMAX medium is the sequence which depicts two spiral galaxies colliding to form a single galaxy. This sequence lasts one and a half minutes and is based on actual scientific data it required more than 950 hours of time on a cray C-90 super computer to create. Part of the challenge was to calculate the precise positions and dynamics of the stars and fields of gas of each galaxy as they passed through one another.
MsgId: *emedia(50)
Date: Mon Nov 4 22:17:51 EST 1996
From: Bayley_Silleck At: 168.100.204.58
I'm having trouble with the server. That's this brave new world, for you. Before I go, I want to mention that the movie is playing at the Museum of Natural History in New York. For other sites, check with the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in DC. Bye --hope to be back again.
MsgId: *emedia(53)
Date: Mon Nov 4 22:24:19 EST 1996
From: Paulette At: 152.163.233.9
That does it for tonight, folks--a half-hour shorter :-( For more information about "Cosmic Voyage" and about space exploration--both cinematically and scientifically--check out the sites Silleck and Marvin mention. Next week's guest is Chris Claremont, creator of the "X-Men" comic-book characters, and the collaborator with George Lucas on the book sequel to "Willow."
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