THE ATOM SMASHER [aka: The roller-coaster sequence] – The world’s fastest steepest, most exciting ride – on the famed roller-coaster at Rockaway’s Playland [Rockaway Beach, New York] – is the sensation that introduces Cinerama.

The Academy’s Science and Technology Council is proud to announce the first in a series of programs dedicated to the science and technology of filmmaking. This first presentation will showcase some of the outstanding innovations that changed the art form and the industry that propels it forward. In six segments, “Movie Magic – 180 Years of Cinema Technology” will explore pre-cinema, the silent era, color and sound, widescreen formats and multi-channel sound, zoom, telephoto and wide angle devices and the digital age. The program will be punctuated with rare footage and imagery that illustrate the milestones, and a special exhibit of important rarities ranging from the Praxinoscope to the Steadicam will be on display.

The program’s hosts will include Oscar-winning visual effects master Richard Edlund, ASC; motion picture technologist and multiple Academy Science and Technology Award recipient Jonathan Erland; Rob Hummel, Senior Vice President of Production Technologies at Warner Bros. and visual effects supervisor Jamie Price.