History
Cinesphere was opened in 1971 as one of the world's most advanced theatres. It was built to "create a space capable of housing the existing and the future scope of film", Cinesphere stands as the first permanent IMAX® film theatre in the world.
Housed in a triodetic-domed structure, Cinesphere was designed to accommodate all conventional film formats and also many of the experimental films produced for Expo '67 in Montreal and Expo '70 in Osaka. Several of these films could previously be shown only in theatres designed specially for each film.
Expo '67 and Expo '70 introduced large screen and multiple-image films to a vast audience. Multiple images heightened the impact of the film, emphasizing and amplifying the story, with the large screen giving the feeling of actually being "in" the picture. By involving the audience more deeply in the story, the large screen introduced new dimensions for both film maker and audience.
Cinesphere also introduced other innovations, including:
- single large screen: 80 feet wide by 60 feet high
- armchair seating for an audience of 752 people
- the outer seats of many rows have the capability of swiveling
so that each member of the audience has an equally good perspective - the steep rake is designed to ensure an unobstructed view of the screen
