The train, the canoe and the moving bodies may sound like documentary subjects. At Expo 86 in Vancouver however the train, the canoe and the moving bodies became part of a film experiment. Transitions was a 20-minute National Film Board of Canada production, directed by Colin Low and Tony Ianzelo, about transportation. Importantly it was the first time audiences were experiencing a combination of stereoscopic photography and the giant IMAX screen.
Why Expo 86 Needed a Film About Transportation
The Expo 86 was a Centre of Science and Industry that was located in Vancouver for 2 May to 13 October 1986, with more than 20 million people visiting. One of the most important connections for the theme of Expo 86 “Transportation and Communications” was with the centenary of the arrival of the passenger train on the West Coast of Canada and the centenary of Vancouver. Canadian National, the sponsor of the Canada Pavilion asked the NFB to make a film about transportation in Canada.
That commission created a moment in Canadian Cinema. Than making a standard historical film about railways and vehicles the NFB and IMAX Corporation used the project to develop stereoscopic large-format filmmaking. The result connected the subject of change, with a technology that was itself changing how audiences could experience movement on screen.
What Transitions Actually Shows
The NFB describes Transitions as a 3D IMAX film about transportation made for Expo 86. Its purpose was broader than cataloguing Canadian machines. The production presented the development of transport through movement, from older forms of travel towards newer systems of transport and communication.
This approach suited IMAX 3D. Vehicles, people and objects could move across real depth instead of appearing only against a flat screen. Transportation therefore became both the film’s subject and a practical way to demonstrate what stereoscopic large-format images could do.
How the Production Team Made IMAX Work in 3D
The engineering challenge was enormous. Two large IMAX cameras was simply too far apart to create two views for the left and right eyes of a stereoscopic image. The team designed a mirror system for the lenses so that they could be spaced appropriately. Both cameras had to be on, functioning in exact temporal synchrony as well.
For moving shots, engineers developed a gyro-stabilised double-camera rig. This equipment was captured in an 8-minute behind-the-scenes film made by the NFB called Making Transitions that demonstrates the technology in use during location production.
Why Transitions Was a Milestone in Full-Colour IMAX 3D
IMDb identifies Transitions as the first full-colour IMAX 3D film. The NFB also describes it as the first IMAX 3D production. Those claims need to be stated carefully: it wasn’t the first 3D motion picture, but it marked the first time IMAX and stereoscopic cinema were brought together in this form.
The screening required more than special cameras. A dedicated theatre at the Canada Pavilion used twin projectors that had to remain synchronised. The presentation also relied on several technical features:
- twin IMAX projectors working in sync;
- an IMAX six-track sound mix;
- a 1.44:1 aspect ratio;
- a purpose-built screening space at the Canada Pavilion.
Together, these elements made Transitions more than a standard 3D film. It was a complete large-format viewing system designed around stereoscopic projection.
How Computer Animation Became Part of the Transport Story
Transitions also pushed beyond live-action photography. The NFB states that the production included the first use of stereoscopic computer animation, created through its Computer Animation Centre. Animator Daniel Langlois is credited on the film.
The decision was appropriate for the shift in the film from land transport to communication technology. The computer-generated images were not just used for visual effect. They assisted the filmmakers in depicting systems and ideas that would not be easily captured in a photograph, and experimented with the use of synthetic images when displayed stereoscopically on an IMAX screen.
How 3D Changed the Way Transportation Was Filmed
Distance was a part of the visual design in large-format stereoscopy. Motion that moves toward the camera, away from the camera and across a long shot might be interpreted differently than typical flat projection. That created a valuable topic to try the format out.
However, each phase was accompanied by consequences. The two cameras had to remain aligned, the apparatus had to be stabilised during its movement and the two projectors had to be synchronised during the show. That is, 3D had an impact far beyond just the image. It influenced the design of the cameras, shooting, projection and even the theatre in which the film was shown.
Summary
Transitions began with a straightforward Expo 86 commission: make a film about transportation in Canada. The NFB and IMAX Corporation turned that brief into a technical experiment. Colin Low, Tony Ianzelo, cinematographer and stereoscopy specialist Ernest McNabb, animator Daniel Langlois and a wider production team combined dual-camera photography, stabilised equipment, synchronised projection and stereoscopic computer animation.
Its lasting importance is specific. Transitions demonstrated full colour IMAX and stereoscopic film production working together in a specially-built cinema and transformed a documentary about movement into an experiment in how movement could be observed.