Voyage to the Outer Planets was an early multimedia experiment, first presented in 1973, combining Omnimax film, 70 mm film and planetarium special effects. The special effects and stills on standard and zoom equipped slide projectors were provided by the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater, and their Spitz Space Transit Simulator (STS). The large format footage was provided by Graphic Films. The presentation was mostly multimedia, with short clips of the planets and spacecraft.
The production was to portray a crewed mission to the outer planets in the year 2348, a year in which the planets would be in a favorable alignment permitting such a three-year journey of exploration.
It transpired that the Space Theater was still under construction, with equipment months from installation, and there was no way of viewing finished or full format test footage before the theater opened. Beyond that, it was infeasible to film in directly the Imax format which would be used for projection. The crew were therefore obliged to film in smaller format (65 mm eight-perf) for later optical blowup and projection to a screen image magnification 600 times the size of the camera negative.
Credits
| Executive Producer | Preston Fleet |
| Director of Planetarium Media | Michael Sullivan |
| Producers | Lester Novros and George Casey |
| Written and directed by | Colin Cantwell |
| Planetarium Production | Joseph Herrington, George Marchyshyn, John P. Mulligan, Greg Paris |
| Music | Paul Novros |
| Artwork | Don Moore |
| Camera | James Connor |
| Special Effects Camera | John Dykstra |
| Models | Colin Cantwell |
| Optical printing | Film Effects |
| Narration | Gene McGarr |
| Surround Mix | Glen Glenn Sound |
References
- Greg Bear (2017). "The Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater: the Early Years, and Before". Retrieved 2021-06-19.
- George Casey, president of Graphic Films, American Cinematographer, August 1973.
- Mary Anderson, console operator at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center