Editing To Fly! (section)

=== Background ===
[[File:Report_"US_NMNH_Evaluation_and_Recommendations_-_Museum_Planning,_1970.".jpg|alt=A sketch of a building with a screen showing footage of fauna|thumb|Illustration of a proposed [[IMAX]]-decorated [[Rotunda (architecture)|rotunda]] at the [[National Museum of Natural History]]; this was canceled for an IMAX theater at the [[National Air and Space Museum]].]]

The [[Smithsonian Institution]] made efforts starting in 1911 to modernize its museums with multimedia content, though this only accelerated since the 1960s. The idea of a giant-screen theater at the [[National Air and Space Museum]] (NASM) was mooted in 1970 in a 153-page report by the [[National Museum of Natural History]]'s (NMNH) curator team, which argued the museum needed a "contemporary medium of communications" that will resonate intellectually and psychologically. It suggested an experiential film that would showcase the American landscape and the country's introduction to technology, ending with predictions of the country's future.<ref name=":16" />{{Rp|198, 204, 219}} Among these giant-screen film formats was [[IMAX]], characterized by its tall screen which fills the audiences' [[peripheral vision]], triggering immersive [[telepresence]] which creates the illusion of being present within the film's setting.<ref name=":42">{{Cite book |last=Seel |first=Peter B. |title=Digital Technology and the Future of Broadcasting: Global Perspectives |date=July 16, 2015 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1138891227 |editor-last=Pavlik |editor-first=John V. |editor-link=John V. Pavlik |page=6 |chapter=Telepresence and Immersion with Ultra-High-Definition Digital Displays: Background and Future Directions for Research}}</ref> The NMNH proposed a panoramic, curved IMAX screen that envelops its [[Rotunda (architecture)|rotunda]], but this was discarded.<ref name=":16" />{{Rp|222}}

In 1972, the deputy director of the Smithsonian, [[Melvin B. Zisfein]], wrote a memo praising IMAX over other giant-screen formats like [[Cinerama]] and [[Circle-Vision 360°]], and suggested making an IMAX film for the NASM. Several [[film treatment]]s were written, the first titled "The Beautiful Mysteries of Flight", though all were rejected.{{Efn|Other treatments include "Flying For Fun" (rejected as only catering to enthusiasts), "The Evolution of Flight" (rejected for excessive animation), "To the Stars and Beyond" (rejected for its monotony), and "Speed".<ref name=":16" />{{Rp|324}}}}<ref name=":16" />{{Rp|224–225}} A year later, IMAX's co-founder [[Graeme Ferguson (filmmaker)|Graeme Ferguson]] expressed interest in an IMAX film for the [[US Bicentennial]], also considering the possibility of it being [[feature-length]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Graeme Ferguson|last1=Gregory|first1=Shelby M.|last2=Wilson|first2=Phyllis|magazine=[[Cinema Canada]]|date=August 1973|issue=9|page=37|url=https://cinemacanada.athabascau.ca/index.php/cinema/article/download/211/284|url-status=live|via=[[Athabasca University]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812143145/https://cinemacanada.athabascau.ca/index.php/cinema/article/download/211/284|archive-date=August 12, 2020}}</ref> In 1974, after hearing about plans for a new building of the NASM at the [[National Mall]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] as part of the Bicentennial, he proposed this to the museum director [[Michael Collins (astronaut)|Michael Collins]]. While Ferguson believed this would enhance the museum, Collins had not seen an IMAX film and initially rejected the proposal. However, at [[Expo '74]], an IMAX representative convinced him to go to the IMAX theater and see Ferguson's film ''[[Man Belongs to the Earth]]''; he became convinced that an IMAX theater would provide a sense of realism to visitors and accepted the idea.<ref name=":38">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/spacefarersimage0000unse |title=Spacefarers: Images of Astronauts and Cosmonauts in the Heroic Era of Spaceflight |date=November 6, 2013 |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] Scholarly Press|editor-last=Neufeld |editor-first=Michael J. |editor-link=Michael J. Neufeld |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |pages=152–153 |chapter=Origins of the IMAX Space Films |isbn=9781935623199 |access-date=December 9, 2021 |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>