Polyvision

Polyvision was the name given by the French film critic Émile Vuillermoz to a specialized widescreen film format devised exclusively for the filming and projection of Abel Gance's 1927 film Napoleon.

For the manufacturer, see PolyVision (company).

Polyvision involved the simultaneous projection of three reels of silent film arrayed in a horizontal row, making for a total aspect ratio of 4:1 (1.33×3). Polyvision's extremely wide aspect ratio was the widest aspect ratio yet seen, even though it is technically just three images side by side. In 1955, the Walt Disney Company developed Circle-Vision 360° for use in Disneyland theme parks which used nine 4:3 35 mm projectors to show an image that completely surrounds the viewer.

This configuration is considered to be a similar precursor to Cinerama, which would debut a quarter of a century later; however, it is unlikely that Polyvision was a direct inspiration for later widescreen techniques, as the triptych sequence of Napoleon was cut from the film by its distributors after only a few screenings and was not seen again until Kevin Brownlow compiled his restorations from the 1970s onwards.

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