United States Pavilion Film: “Man Belongs To The Earth”
(Original caption) An image of Chief Dan George fills the huge (90 x 65) IMAX screen in the theatre.
From “Film at Expo ‘74” in American Cinematographer (October 1974):
The most stunning cinematic presentation takes place inside the United States Pavilion, the largest and most imposing structure at EXPO. [...] Sitting in steep tiers before a 90 by 65 foot screen, visitors view the spectacular documentary, “MAN BELONGS TO THE EARTH”, produced by Paramount Pictures in the world’s largest film format, IMAX. Because of the unique design of the theater and the huge size of the screen, the degree of audience involvement in the action reaches a maximum degree - so much so, in fact, that attendants keep on hand brooms, absorbent material and other supplies needed to cope with occasional viewers who develop “air sickness” from viewing aerial footage of a wild ride through the gorge of the Grand Canyon.
From “Man Belongs To The Earth,” American Cinematographer (October 1974):
Under a soaring white canopy: wisdom from an Indian chief about the human condition, and a stunning film in the world’s largest format
THE STRUCTURE
Dedicated to the theme “Man and Nature, One and Indivisible,” the United States Pavilion uses graceful, flowing forms to harmonize with the surrounding terrain. A soft shell canopy rises as the visual extension of two earth-covered structures facing each other across an open-air courtyard. The complex thus appears to grow naturally out of the ground. The open roof design and wide, sweeping archways allow fresh air and sunshine inside the Pavilion, where natural vegetation further enhances the outdoor-indoor atmosphere.
The translucent vinyl fabric sheltering the exhibit is large enough to cover nearly two football fields. It is hung from a 4.6-mile network of cable suspended from a tilted 145-foot mast and a steel ring measuring 52 feet in diameter and 6 feet in height. Total weight of the mast, ring, and cable system is about 160 tons.
(Original caption) Projectionist tends the unique IMAX projector in the United States Pavilion. The theme film is being projected from the top pair of reels, while another print is being simultaneously rewound on the lower pair.
Beneath the canopy, exhibits are presented in three distinct but thematically related areas: an 877-seat theatre, an exhibit garden, and a striking concrete and glass structure designed to remain permanently after the Fair closes.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM AREA shows that each of us has a vital stake in the environmental issues facing us today. A spectacular film produced by Paramount Pictures and the IMAX Multiscreen Corporation dramatizes the scope and complexity of these problems.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSUMER AREA brings the same issues down to the individual level in a pleasant open-air courtyard. Oversized exhibits illustrate, and in some cases caricature, how the average American affects six aspects of the environment: water, energy, air pollution, wood products, solid waste, and pesticides. Related graphics and panels delve more deeply into the issues and suggest alternatives for the future.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION CENTER AREA presents a progress report on environmental legislation enacted by federal, state, and local governments. Visitors, now realizing that both individual initiative and government innovation are needed to overcome the problems facing us, are encouraged to become actively involved in finding solutions.
THE FILM
Entitled “MAN BELONGS TO THE EARTH’”, the film contrasts scenes of this land’s overwhelming beauty with examples of the pollution we create and live with, to show the direction we have been taking and dramatize the need to correct our abuses of nature.
The title of the film is drawn from a speech made by Chief Seattle of the Suquamish Tribe when the Federal Government offered to purchase his tribal lands in 1854. The words were chosen because they epitomize the attitude of our country’s first environmentalists, the American Indians, and suggest that we should return to this way of thinking.
Chief Dan George, of “LITTLE BIG MAN” fame, provides further insight into his people’s attitude toward nature during the course of this spectacular motion picture. “Everything that lives on Mother Earth is precious,” he says. “The way Mother Earth was given to us, that’s the way it should be.”
The scope of environmental problems is powerfully conveyed on the enormous curved screen. Ninety feet by 65 feet high, or approximately the height of a 6-story building, it occupies most of the audience’s field of view. The IMAX ultra-hi-fidelity picture is made possible through a new system using a large-format camera and projector.
(Original caption) Audiences sit enthralled in the 877-seat theatre, as the powerful film surrounds and involves them.
IMAX, developed by the Multiscreen Corporation of Galt, Ontario, Canada, is the world’s largest projection system. It is made possible by an Australian invention known as the Rolling Loop, which transports 70mm film in a horizontal configuration. The film moves in a series of waves so that each frame is laid against the lens individually, resulting in a steadier, sharper image than ever before experienced on an ultra-large screen.
The process is best described as a super-large, super-steady hi-fidelity motion picture system which fills most of the viewer’s field of vision, while completely surrounding the audience with sound from a six-track stereophonic sound system.
In keeping with EXPO ‘74’s environmental theme, “MAN BELONGS TO THE EARTH” deals with “our national environment today - in our cities, the desert, the ocean and the mountains,” according to Robert C. Peters, its executive producer.
“It talks about the problems, and about some solutions,” he adds.
“I recognized the American Pavilion’s movie screen, advertised as being six stories high, as a natural attempt to outdo the mere three- or four-story screen the Canadians had at Expo ‘67 in Montreal - an attempt that will be countered, I suppose, by the Canadians arriving in Okinawa for Expo ‘75 with a screen the size of Hamilton, Ontario.” - Calvin Trillin, “Thoughts of a Fair-Trotter.” The New Yorker, August 5, 1974.
For it, a Paramount film crew traveled throughout the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska. Scenes sometimes show the dread waste and destruction posing today’s serious threat to the environment, other times reflect the natural wonders that cry out for continued preservation.
The film takes viewers on a wild raft ride down the rapids of the Colorado River, and puts them right next to a roaring inferno while men fight to extinguish an oil well figure in Caspar, Wyoming.
There’s beauty, and there’s also the devastation wrought by smog, by pollution and by man.
As James Whitmore narrates at one point, “We’re the problem - but if we put our minds to it, we can be the solution. We’ve just got to decide the kind of world we really want.”
“MAN BELONGS TO THE EARTH” was directed and photographed by Graeme Ferguson, produced by Roman Kroitor and Ferguson.
