Sunday, July 13, 2008

Where in Los Angeles - the answer!

Thank you for your comments! The person who came closest to guessing the identity of the picture is Kathyr, who schooled me on how not to name files you want to keep secret! (Duh, how stupid am I??? henceforth all mystery photos will be named "mysteryphoto1, 2, 3, etc.") Kathy blogs at Everybody Knows about her life in of Southern California - or, as she calls it "Faux Town", which is a very funny yet apt pseudonym! Go check her out!

The fabulous prize she wins?

Winners receive an exclusive Doves Today photograph. They will be offered 5 thumbnails to choose from, and will then be emailed the photo of their choice, in high resolution for their unlimited use!!

Our mystery picture is of the ceiling of the landmark Cinerama Theatre, on Sunset Boulevard at Vine Street, in Hollywood. I am sitting in my seat and looking up at the ceiling above me.

Recently we spent an afternoon at the movies, beneath this golden honeycombed dome. With its huge screen, this is a great place to see a blockbuster movie.

Interestingly, although a namesake of the innovative wide-screen process called Cinerama, which premiered in 1952, the theatre was not originally equipped to show movies filmed in the original three-projector format. Instead, this theatre opened in 1963 with the second generation wide-screen system called Panavision, which used only one projector. It wasn't until 2002, after being renovated by ArcLight Cinemas that the Cinerama was equipped with the three-projector system. It is one of only three theatres in the world that can show films created with the original Cinerama process - the other two are located in 1) Seattle, Washington, and 2) Bradford, England.

The structure, based on R. Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome, was designed by noted architect Welton Becket, who also designed the nearby Capitol Records building. Threatened by "twinning" or destruction in the late 1990s, it was saved by preservationists and continues to show movies in its original state, with only minor updates.

The dome lends itself to fun ways to promote films - A larger than life Spiderman climbed on top of it for that film, and for Shrek it was painted green with two funny ears attached, like the monster's bald head.

* winners get a high resolution image of an original flower photo of their choice, suitable for printing and framing, and unlimited re-use.

1 comment:

Cheryl said...

Seriously, I thought it was the Cinerama Dome (my first hunch)... but I Googled a picture and it didn't look right.

Should have followed my instincts. :)