Ground broken at Cultural Center for IMAX theater
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With typical island color and enthusiasm, the Polynesian Cultural Center broke ground Nov. 11 for a new IMAX theater to house a giant 96-by-65-foot movie screen. A single frame of the 70-millimeter IMAX film is almost 10 times larger than films normally used in feature movies.
The project will be the first of its kind in Hawaii.The IMAX - or "image maximization" - theater creates the effect of the viewer being in the picture, by using a concave screen and tiered rows of chairs. The film is projected horizontally through customized equipment and has a sound track that plays through multiple speakers.
When completed next year, the 600-seat theater will present the film "Polynesian Odyssey," a lyrical portrayal of Polynesian journeying and settling of the islands. Filmed in Hawaii and the South Pacific, the production was directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Kieth Merrill, a Church member. He assisted Ralph G. Rodgers Jr., a former president and general manager of the PCC, in the script writing. Original music for "Polynesian Odyssey" was written by another Church member, Merrill Jensen, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
The film premiered last month in Paris at a European conference of IMAX theater owners, museum directors and filmmakers. Other IMAX films will be made available for educational groups after the theater opens.
