Aspect Ratios

1.33:1

(Commonly called as 4:3) This ratio is known as the Academy Standard. It's also the shape of traditional (non-widescreen) TVs. Movies that are filmed in this ratio will fill the screen of a traditional TV, and leave blank spaces on the left and right sides of a widescreen TV. Though once the golden standard of film, few theatrical movies since the mid-1950s have been produced in this ratio.

In recent memory, the commercial film The Blair Witch Project used this aspect ratio.

1.85:1

This aspect ratio has been growing in popularity among filmmakers in recent years. Movies produced in this proportion will leave moderately sized black bars at the top and bottom of a traditional TV screen, and will fill the entire area of a widescreen TV (even though the aspect ratio of a widescreen TV is actually 1.78:1, these films still fit the entire screen due to a television's over scan).

Expect a great majority of films to use this aspect ratio as widescreen TVs become more common among home viewers.

Some examples of movies in this aspect ratio are Office Space, The Ladykillers, and Van Helsing.

2.35:1 (2.4:1)

Commonly known as cinema scope or scope, this ratio is the most common widescreen aspect ratio for the majority of blockbuster hits and epic films since the middle of the twentieth century. Movies produced in this aspect ratio will leave gigantic black bars on the top and bottom of a traditional TV screen, and will leave small black bars on the top and bottom of a widescreen TV. The big film directors, such as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, prefer this ratio.

Some examples of movies in this aspect ratio are Star Wars, The Matrix, and Lord of the Rings.

Other Ratios & The "Full Screen" Editions

There are many other aspect ratios a director could choose from to make a movie. However, they are not used as frequently in commercial films. An example would be the 1.66:1 ratio, which is often used in cartoons, such as Disney's Aladdin, Hercules, and Home On the Range.

Many DVD movies are sometimes available for purchase in more than one ratio. One is usually the ratio it was produced in, and the other is a cropped 4:3 version called "full screen". Traditional TV owners are inclined to purchase the "full screen" editions of DVDs to avoid seeing black bars at the top and bottom of their television screen. Keep in mind that the "full screen" editions do not contain the entire image of the original film, and that an upgrade to a widescreen TV in the future will make many of those "full screen" editions seem a little disappointing.

Cinematographer or director of Photography

Cinematographer or director of Photography:

If the screenwriter is the author of what happens and the director is the author of how the scenes go together, then the director of photography is the author of how individual shots look: how much light or dark there is, how much of the screen will be filled and how much will be empty, and the like. The director and cinematographer work hand in hand to create what you see onscreen and the way it affects you.

Cinematography tells you where to look and what to think about what you see there. In the beginning, filmmakers would simply point the camera at people and start filming, because the very idea that something had been filmed was enough. Toward the end of the silent era, cinematography was raised to a high art that many of the DoP's inteviewed think will never be surpassed, because the introduction of sound took away from the main visual element of the film. The second great awakening of photographic art was, according to these geniuses, the post-World War II film noir cycle, where the brilliant composition of light and shadows became a character almost as important as the ones doing the talking. They almost unanimously believe that the coming of color detracted yet again from the art, and point to several sequences from films like Night of the Hunter to show the beauty of black and white photography that cannot be recreated in color.