Antecedents of technology are technological items themselves that came directly before the current technology. For the IMAX, multiple different types of technology can apply, including film, cameras, sound systems, and theatre screens. This page goes through some and how they relate to the IMAX artifact.
Standard 35 mm Film
Standard 35 mm film is the most widely used motion picture film format. It consists of a strip of flexible plastic with that is 35 mm in width, perforated along the edges to allow it to pass steadily through cameras and projectors. Each frame on the film captures a single still image, and when projected at a standard rate of 24 frames/s, these frames create the illusion of smooth motion. The format became the industry standard in the early 20th century.[1]
IMAX film expands the format to achieve higher resolution, larger image size, making it more high quality and clearer. While 35 mm film uses a frame size roughly 22 × 16 mm, IMAX uses 70 mm film which has a much larger frame, oriented horizontally, that captures more detail.[2] Because the IMAX film is essentially an upgrade of the standard, it is an antecedent to the IMAX film.
The First Film Camera: The Kinetograph
The Kinetograph was one of the first practical motion picture cameras, developed in the late 19th century by Thomas Edison in or around 1890. It was a pioneering device that used film strips to capture a rapid sequence of images, creating the illusion of motion when played back.[3] After “filming,” a person would use a Kinetoscope, which allowed a single person to watch the recorded images through a peephole.[4] It is considered the first camera.
The Kinetograph is an Antecdent to the IMAX film camera because it is an antecedent to every film camera that has ever been created. The Kinetograph established the basic ideas and concepts around frame-based motion pictures, and without this technology, future cameras and film would not be possible.
Standard 2D Theatre Screen
A standard 2D theatre screen is the typical cinema setup for showing films in two dimensions, where the image has height and width but no depth. These screens are usually flat and vary in size depending on the theatre, however the aspect ratios are usually 1.85:1 or 2.39:1, which is thinner and shorter than IMAX. The image is projected at a resolution suitable for the screen size, and the sound is delivered through multi-channel surround systems, such as 5.1 or 7.1 audio, through the same speakers throughout the theatre for a uniform sound throughout.[5]
Standard 2D screens serve as an antecedent to IMAX screens because it builds on the same setup, it just enhanced it. IMAX uses larger screens with higher pixel/resolution as well as makes the screen curved and tilted for a better visual experience. IMAX screens also have speakers installed within the screen in order to have more dynamic audio during the movie, which makes the sounds more realistic.[6]
The Fox Grandeur
The Fox Grandeur was an early 70 mm widescreen film format developed by Fox Film Corporation in 1929. It was one of the first attempts to create a high-resolution, large-format film system that offered greater image detail and a wider aspect ratio than standard 35 mm film. The film ran horizontally through the camera and projector, allowing for a much larger frame area much like IMAX today.[7]
The Fox Grandeur is an antecedent to IMAX because it did what IMAX is doing now, just earlier. The reason it is an antecedent and not an alternative is because it stopped in 1930 due to expenses and disinterest. It was the first film/company to try and accomplish to higher resolution 70mm film and thus showed that it was possible to accomplish.
Footnotes
[1] John Belton, “The Origins of 35mm Film as a Standard,” Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers 99, no. 8 (August 1990): 652–61, https://doi.org/10.5594/J02613.
[2] Bridgett, Rob. 2023. “IMAX.” In Working with Sound, 1st ed., vol. 1, 123–26. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003354352-38.
[3] Altman, Rick. Silent Film Sound. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004, 33
[4] Ibid., 36
[5] Gabrielle Sheridan. Inside IMAX: What Makes It ‘The World’s Most Innovative Movie-Going Experience.’ London: Anthem Press, 2021. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/umw/detail.action?pq-origsite=primo&docID=6735093, 75-80.
[6] Ibid., 93-95.
[7] Grant Lobban. “Preserving Wide Film History.” Journal of the BKSTS 67, no. 4 (April 1985).