''North of Superior'' is a 1971 Canadian

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

film directed by Graeme Ferguson. It is a travelogue of the area of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, north of

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

. It was commissioned for the then-new

Ontario Place Ontario Place is an entertainment venue, event venue, and park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The venue is located on three artificial landscaped islands just off-shore in Lake Ontario, south of Exhibition Place, and southwest of Downtown Toronto. ...

and was one of the first IMAX films made. Designed to show off the large size screen and detail of IMAX images, the film continues to be shown in IMAX festivals, and has been exhibited internationally. It used extensive flying scenes that provide an in-flight effect that would become widely imitated in future IMAX films.

Plot

The film depicts scenes of life in the "North of Superior" area, including fighting forest fires and the work of reforestation afterwards. It also shows the varied geography of the region with numerous aerial shots. The film is 18 minutes long, the length of time a single IMAX reel could hold at the time. The film used aerial shots while flying over Lake Superior and

Ouimet Canyon Ouimet Canyon is a large gorge in the municipality of Dorion, Thunder Bay District in northwestern Ontario, Canada, about northeast of the city of Thunder Bay. The gorge is deep, wide and long, protected as part of Ouimet Canyon Provincial P ...

. The film begins with an aerial shot of flying over water, displayed on a small sub-section of the screen. After a few seconds, the image expands to the full six-storey height of the IMAX screen. The aerial shot, along with the large IMAX screen, induced the "Kinesthetic effect" which meant that viewers would experience the flying sensation due to eye perception over-ruling the inner ear balance. Viewers were warned to close their eyes if they experienced any discomfort.

Production

The film was commissioned for the new

Cinesphere Cinesphere is the world's first permanent IMAX movie theatre, located on the grounds of Ontario Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed in 1971, it is the largest IMAX theatre in Ontario. The theatre has both IMAX 70mm and IMAX with Laser ...

, the new and first IMAX theatre that opened at

in 1971. The film, the first official

film, cost CDN$270,000 to produce. It was produced and directed by the founders of IMAX Corporation, then known as Multiscreen Corporation: Roman Kroitor, Graeme Ferguson, Robert Kerr, and Bill Shaw. As it was one of the first IMAX films, production equipment was invented for the production. One of the cameras used was held together by

duct tape Duct tape (also called duck tape, from the cotton duck cloth it was originally made of) is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhesi ...

. Mounting equipment for the helicopters used in the film had to be custom-made. In its initial run during the Ontario Place season of 1971, over 1.1 million people viewed the film. The film repeatedly returned to Cinesphere and was one of the last films shown (on the original IMAX projector) at Cinesphere in December 2011, after which Cinesphere and Ontario Place closed for a future redevelopment. As part of the Infuture art festival held at Ontario Place in September 2016, the film was shown again at the Cinesphere. It is considered the most widely seen Canadian IMAX film. As part of the Toronto International Film Festival, a pristine 70mm IMAX print of the film was presented yet again at Cinesphere on a newly installed screen. Graeme Ferguson was present for the screening, as was the film's editor, Toni Trow.

Music

Singer/songwriter Bill Houston composed the original song ''Ojibway Country'' for the film. The score is credited to

Zal Yanovsky Zalman Yanovsky (December 19, 1944 – December 13, 2002) was a Canadian folk-rock musician. Born in Toronto, he was the son of political cartoonist Avrom Yanovsky and teacher Nechama Yanovsky (née Gemeril), who died in 1958. He played lead gui ...

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

native

Paul Shaffer Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and multi-instrumentalist who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both '' Late ...

, later a well known performer, appears briefly in one scene playing an organ at an outdoor wedding.

References

External links

* *{{Official website, https://www.imax.com/movies/north-superior 1971 films Canadian short documentary films English-language Canadian films Films shot in Ontario IMAX short films 1971 short films IMAX documentary films 1970s English-language films 1970s Canadian films