Sampo (film)
''Sampo'' () is a 1959 Cinema of the Soviet Union, Soviet–Cinema of Finland, Finnish fantasy film based loosely on the events depicted in the Finnish national epic ''Kalevala''. In the United States, it was released in an edited version, ''The Day the Earth Froze'', by American International Pictures as a double feature with ''Conquered City''. This version was later featured in a 1993 episode of ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''. Plot The people of Kalevala are a peaceful hard working people, they have everything they need and want, bar the mystical Sampo, a magical mill which will make grain, salt and gold and give prosperity to whoever possesses it. The only person in Kalevala able to make a Sampo is the smith Ilmarinen, however he cannot make it until his sister Annikki has fallen in love. Annikki eventually falls in love with the young hard working Lemminkäinen. All is not perfect, however. There is a dark dismal land called Pohjola ruled over by a wicked witch called Louh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Aleksandr Ptushko
Aleksandr Lukich Ptushko (, – 6 March 1973) was a Soviet animation and fantasy film director, and a People's Artist of the USSR (1969). Ptushko is frequently (and somewhat misleadingly) referred to as "the Soviet Walt Disney," because of his prominent early role in animation in the Soviet Union, though a more accurate comparison would be to Willis H. O'Brien or Ray Harryhausen. Some critics, such as Tim Lucas and Alan Upchurch, have also compared Ptushko to Italian filmmaker Mario Bava, who made fantasy and horror films with similarities to Ptushko's work and made similarly innovative use of color cinematography and special effects. He began his film career as a director and animator of stop motion short films, and became a director of feature-length films combining live action, stop motion, creative special effects, and Russian mythology. Along the way he would be responsible for a number of firsts in Russian film history (including the first feature-length animated film, and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Sampo
In Finnish mythology, the ''Sampo'' () is a magical device or object described in many different ways, constructed by the blacksmith and inventor Ilmarinen and which brings riches and good fortune to its holder, akin to the horn of plenty (cornucopia) of Greek mythology. When the Sampo is stolen, Ilmarinen's homeland falls upon hard times. He sends an expedition to retrieve it, but in the ensuing battle it is smashed and lost at sea. In the Kalevala The Sampo is a pivotal element of the plot of the epic poem ''Kalevala'', compiled in 1835 (and expanded in 1849) by Elias Lönnrot based on Finnish and Karelian oral tradition. In the expanded second version of the poem, the Sampo is forged by Ilmarinen, a legendary blacksmith, to fulfill a task set by the witch queen of Pohjola, Louhi, in return for her daughter's hand. : ''"Ilmarinen, worthy brother,'' : ''Thou the only skilful blacksmith,'' : ''Go and see her wondrous beauty,'' : ''See her gold and silver garments,'' : ''S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Surround Sound
Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener ( surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to surround sound, theater sound systems commonly had three ''screen channels'' of sound that played from three loudspeakers (left, center, and right) located in front of the audience. Surround sound adds one or more channels from loudspeakers to the side or behind the listener that are able to create the sensation of sound coming from any horizontal direction (at ground level) around the listener. The technique enhances the perception of sound spatialization by exploiting sound localization: a listener's ability to identify the location or origin of a detected sound in direction and distance. This is achieved by using multiple discrete audio channels routed to an array of loudspeakers. Surround sound typically has a listener location ( sweet ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Agfacolor
Agfa-Farbenplatte of Bad Kreuznach, Germany, 1933. An Agfacolor slide of a café in Oslo, Norway, 1937. An Agfacolor slide of Paris, France, 1937. An Agfacolor slide of Stockholm, Sweden, 1938. An Agfacolor slide, Hungary, 1938. An Agfacolor slide, Zakopane, Poland, 1938. An Agfacolor slide, Sweden, 1938. An Agfacolor slide of New York City, 1938. An Agfacolor slide, Warsaw, Poland, 1939. Budapest, Hungary, 1939. An Agfacolor slide from Germany, early 1940s. While the colors themselves have held up well, visible damage includes dust and Newton's rings. Swedish battleship HM Pansarskepp Gustaf V (An Agfacolor slide dated until 1957). Agfacolor was a series of color film products made by Agfa of Germany. The first Agfacolor, introduced in 1932, was a film-based version of their Agfa-Farbenplatte (Agfa color plate), a "screen plate" product similar to the French Autochrome. In late 1936, Agfa introduced Agfacolor Neu (New Agfacolor), a pioneering color film o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Aspect Ratio (image)
The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of its width to its height. It is expressed as two numbers separated by a colon, in the format width:height. Common aspect ratios are 1.85:1 and 2.39:1 in cinematography, 4:3 and 16:9 in television, and 3:2 in still photography and 1:1: Used for square images, often seen on social media platforms like Instagram, 21:9: An ultrawide aspect ratio popular for gaming and desktop monitors. Some common examples The common film aspect ratios used in cinemas are 1.85:1 and 2.39:1.The 2.39:1 ratio is commonly labeled 2.40:1, e.g., in the American Society of Cinematographers' ''American Cinematographer Manual'' (Many widescreen films before the 1970 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, SMPTE revision used 2.35:1). Two common videography, videographic aspect ratios are 4:3 (1.:1), the universal video format of the 20th century, and 16:9 (1.:1), universal for high-definition television and European digital television. Other cinematic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Anamorphic
Anamorphic format is a cinematography technique that captures widescreen images using recording media with narrower native Aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios. Originally developed for 35 mm movie film, 35 mm film to create widescreen presentations without sacrificing image area, the technique has since been adapted to various film gauges, digital cinematography, digital sensors, and video formats. Rather than cropping or Matte (filmmaking)#Mattes and widescreen filming, matting the image and discarding visual information, anamorphic capture employs cylindrical lenses to horizontally compress or "squeeze" the image during recording. A complementary lens is then used during projection to expand the image back to its intended widescreen proportions. By utilizing the full height of the film frame or sensor, this method retains more image resolution than cropped non-anamorphic widescreen formats. Anamorphic lenses have more complex optics than standard spherical lenses, which ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Marvin Miller (actor)
Marvin Elliott Miller (born Marvin Mueller; July 18, 1913 – February 8, 1985) was an American actor. Possessing a deep baritone voice, he began his career in radio in St. Louis, Missouri before becoming a Hollywood actor. He is remembered for voicing Robby the Robot in the science fiction film ''Forbidden Planet'' (1956), a role he reprised in the lesser-known '' The Invisible Boy'' (1957). Miller's next most notable role is that of Michael Anthony, the loyal assistant of Paul Frees's generous millionaire John Beresford Tipton Jr., on the TV series '' The Millionaire'' (1955–1960). Career Radio and recordings Born in St. Louis, Miller graduated from Washington University before commencing his career in radio. When a singer named Marvin Miller debuted on another St. Louis radio station, he began using his middle initial to distinguish himself from the newcomer. For the Mutual Broadcasting System, he narrated a daily 15-minute radio show titled ''The Story Behind the Sto ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Georgi Millyar
Georgy Frantsevich Millyar, sometimes spelled Milliar (; 7 November 1903 in Moscow – 4 June 1993 in Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian actor, best known for playing evil spirits in Soviet fairy tale films, including the witch Baba Yaga in films such as '' Vasilisa the Beautiful'', ''Jack Frost'', '' Fire, Water, and Brass Pipes'' and '' The Golden Horns''. Biography Georgy Millyar was born into a wealthy family of Franz de Milieu, a French bridge builder working in Russia, and Elizaveta Zhuravlyova, a daughter of an Irkutsk goldminer. Millyar's father died when he was almost three. Before the outbreak of World War I, he and his widowed mother had moved from Moscow to Gelendzhik. After the October Revolution, Millyar's family was left without relatives and means of living, their apartment in Moscow and a house in Gelendzhik were soon nationalized by the Bolsheviks. Millyar's mother was prudent enough to remove the "de" particle from her and her son's last name to conceal their Fren ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Ada Vojtsik
Ada Ignatievna Voytsik (; 1 August 19052 September 1982) was a Soviet actress and recipient of the title of RSFSR Honored Artist (1935). Biography Ada Ignatievna Voytsik was born on 1 August 1905 in Moscow. In 1923 Ada graduated from secondary school and entered the acting department of the State College of Cinematography (today known as VGIK), where she graduated in 1927. She started acting in cinema in the year 1925. In 1934 Ada Voytsik joined the staff of the Mosfilm film studio. She married director Ivan Pyryev and they had a son, Erik Pyryev (1931-1970), who also subsequently became a director. In 1941 together with the studio she was evacuated to Alma-Ata. On her return to Moscow in 1943, Ada became an actress at the National Film Actors' Theatre, where she worked until her retirement in 1961. In the last years of her life, Ada Voytsik did not appear in films. Ada Voytsik lived through the death of her son and husband. She died in Moscow on 2 September 1982 at t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Kantele
A kantele () or kannel () is a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the southeast Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with the Estonian kannel, the Latvian kokles, the Lithuanian kanklės, and the Russian gusli. Construction Small kantele Modern instruments with 15 or fewer strings are generally more closely modeled on traditional shapes, and form a category of instrument known as small kantele, in contrast to the concert kantele. The oldest forms of kantele have five or six horsehair strings and a wooden body carved from one piece; more modern instruments have metal strings and a body made from several pieces. The traditional kantele has neither bridge nor nut, the strings run directly from the tuning pegs to a metal bar (''varras'') set into wooden brackets (''ponsi''). Though not acoustically efficient, this construction is part of the distinctive sound of the instrument. The most typical and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Väinämöinen
() is a deity, demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic ''Kalevala'' by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical singing voice. Name The name Väinämöinen has often been explained as coming from the Finnish word ''väinä'' ("stream pool") or ''väineä'' ("slow"). Janne Saarikivi brought forth a hypothesis of the name's possible connection of early Germanic forms of Odin's name: ''*wātenos'' could've been loaned into Proto-Karelian language, Proto-Karelian as ''*vätnä'' or ''*väinä'', and ''Auðunn'' could be compared to ''Äinemöinen''. In Finnish mythology The first extant mention of Väinämöinen in literature is in a list of Tavastia (historical province), Tavastian gods by Mikael Agricola in 1551, where it says: ''"Aeinemöinen wirdhet tacoi."'' () He and other writers described Väinämöinen as the god of chants, songs and poetry; in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Louhi
Louhi (; alternate names include Loviatar (), Loveatar, Lovetar, Lovehetar, Louhetar and Louhiatar) is the ruler of Pohjola in Finnish mythology.Frog; Siikala; Stepanova (2012:179). She is regarded as a goddess of death and disease. She is also the mother of wolves. Her original role was likely as the ruler of the underworld. In ''Kalevala'', Elias Lönnrot split Louhi into two different characters, Louhi and Loviatar, describing Louhi as a wicked queen of Pohjola and Loviatar as a blind daughter of Tuoni. In Runo 45 of the ''Kalevala'', Loviatar is impregnated by a great wind and gives birth to nine sons, the Nine diseases. Name The many variations of her name are connected to the word ''lovi'' (notch, crack). In Finnish, the term ''langeta loveen'' (to fall into ''lovi'') means "to fall into a trance". According to Christfried Ganander, falling into ''lovi'' means a state of ecstasy and a journey to the underworld, which he compared with Sámi shamanism.Siikala (2012:29029 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |