The best explanation on Aspect Ratios I’ve likely seen
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On a much more camera geek/techincal note, I saw this video today on Aspect Ratio and thought it would be a great thing to share with this blog’s readers. I’ve you’ve ever been stumped when asked by a DP whether or not you wanted to shoot in 1.33, 1.37, 2.59, 1.85, 2.35 or 4:3, 16:9, 3 perf or 4 perf… well this will allow you to PRETEND you truly understand what’s being discussed from now on 😉
John Hess or FilmmakerIQ demistifies these formats and just as interestingly how they came to be!
I learned about this through film books, but I can tell you this is a heck of a lot better way to demystify these numbers that have quite a significance in how you shoot a film… As silly as it sounds, the aspect ratio of a film can have a tremendous psychological imprint on any film…
The timing of this is perfect for me, as I’m about to go see Laurence of Arabia on a 70mm print at the Egyptian theater in LA!
The Changing Shape of Cinema: The History of Aspect Ratio from FilmmakerIQ.com on Vimeo.
And for those of you not lucky enough to get a chance to go to the Stanley Kubrick exchibit at LACMA (easily one of my favorite museum exhibitions ever on who is likely my favorite director) – here’s another great resource I found on FIlmmakerIQ – a virtual VIDEO TOUR! With parts 2 and 3 below the page break…
Tags: Camera Tech, Film
What I want is for someone to explain the deal with 1:2.35, 1:2.39 and 1:2.40…
My favorite is the 2.35 ratio. It seems to give a nice widescreen feel to movies.
An excellent explanation indeed, but did anyone notice that the North by Northwest clip was shown in the wrong aspect ratio? It’s in 16:9, i.e. 1.77, rather than Vistavision’s 1.85…
I saw a 35mm print of “Lawrence” last year for the 50th anniversary. It was one of the best theater experiences I’ve ever had. I’d been waiting to see it on a big screen for six years from the first time I read Ebert’s Great Movie review of it.
Hope the large format print was amazing
Vincent Laforet Reply:
July 9th, 2013 at 3:26 pm
Astounding!