It’s the end for film at CineDome as Orlando Science Center updates

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Film is almost finished at the Dr. Phillips CineDome at Orlando Science Center. The museum is moving into the digital age, and the final reel-to-reel viewings are scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

The renovated eight-story space will be outfitted with a new domed screen, audio system, seats and an 8k full-dome digital projection system with up to 10 projectors.

Since the Loch Haven Park museum opened in 1997, visitors have been able to watch giant reels of film loaded into the Iwerks projector in a glass-enclosed, climate-controlled room on the ground floor. The projector then glides upward 18 feet to pop out in a central location among the theater seats to start the show.
“It’s something that was cutting edge in 1997, and now it’s a museum piece,” said Jeff Stanford, vice president of marketing.

Technology has advanced and the science center is one of the last giant-screen theaters in the U.S. to be using film. That has resulted in limitations as to what can be seen in the CineDome.

Amy Quesinberry, director of theaters at Orlando Science Center, talks about the end of an era at CineDome, which is hosting its last movies on film this Tuesday. The is upgrading the 8-story-tall theater from its 28-year-old, iWorks film system to an all-digital venue. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

“We’re tied in right now to whatever’s been created on film. That is this format,” said Amy Quesinberry, director of theaters. The film show is in the 15/70 format, indicating 70 mm film stock, twice as big as standard film. The 15 indicates the number of performations found on each frame, and the result is taller, more immersive images.

“There is no new creation of content unless you are going to pay about $120,000, and there’s really no museum out there that has just $120,000 on their own,” Quesinberry said.

The final films shown in the CineDome will be “Living Sea,” which was the first feature shown there 28 years ago, and “Everest,” a 1998 documentary, narrated by actor Liam Neeson, that took in $128 million at the box office.

The theater and projector have had good runs, although maintenance has become more challenging, Quesinberry said.

“It’s been pretty reliable,” she said. “We’ve had igniters that have to be repaired. The actual lamp has to be replaced every 1,200 hours. It’s about $6,000 just for a lamp.”

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The new Griffyn Christie laser projector is “one of the top line projectors that you can get right now,” she said.

Quesinberry said she started as a volunteer in the John Young Planetarium, which was next door in the building now named the Lowndes Shakespeare Center. Later, she was part of the team that launched the CineDome and remembers her first showing of “Living Sea,” which has songs by Sting and narration by Meryl Streep.

“Then there’s these crazy jellyfish,” Quesinberry said. “Next thing I know, I’m watching this lady, like, dive into the water. … And she’s like, ‘Yeah, this is all for science. Nobody should be going where I’m going.’ …And she can’t stay down there very long. And she’s diving into where these jellyfish are, you know, to learn about this?”

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Later, she took a job with a company that installs planetariums and theaters, which took her to sites in Greece, Switzerland, South Africa, Egypt, China and elsewhere. One job was adding a planetarium to the 13th deck of the Queen Elizabeth 2.

She returned to the science center in 2012, and with the renovation will see planetarium shows and laser-light shows return to the museum. The shows, a hallmark of Orlando life back in the day, have been out of the lineup for about 10 years. The laser projectors and the new surface of the dome will help the space achieve “pure blacks” for viewings.

“I don’t think it’s just a movie theater,” Quesinberry said. “It’s actually a learning environment.”

Guests leave the 300-seat Dr. Phillips CineDome after a full house for a showing of 'The Living Sea.' The 162.5-degree screen provides an immersive environment. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

The science center has targeted next spring for the reopening. Dr. Phillips Charities is making a $1 million dollar donation to the museum’s Unlock Science campaign for the renovation. The theater will be known as the Dome by Dr. Phillips Charities.

The daily CineDome film schedule through Tuesday will be “Dolphins” at 11 a.m., “The Living Sea” at 12:15 p.m. and “Everest” at 2:45 p.m. The films are included with regular admission to the science center.

For tickets or more information, go to OSC.org.

Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. BlueSky: @themeparksdb. Threads account: @dbevil. X account: @themeparks. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.

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