³¼WIDESCREEN¼³

³¼LETTERBOX FORMAT¼¹


¹
The   average   35mm  cinema  movie  is
designed  to  be  projected  in what is
called  1.85:1  aspect  rati, commeonly
called Widescreen.  This means that for
every  one  inch  of screen height, you
get 1.85 inches of width - the standard
rectangular cinema screen shape .  Some
movies,  however,  are  designed  to be
projected  in  the  in the more extreme
2.35:1  ratio.  There are two different
ways of achieving this "wider" picture,
often called Panavision or Cinamescope.
First   the   cameraman  can  shoot  on
standard 35mm stock using an snamorphic
lens.   This squeezes the widened image
on the film, and when it's played back,
a  second lens corrects the distortion.
If   you've   ecer   seen  a  movie  on
televison  whose  opening  credits look
horizontally   squeezed,   that's   the
effect of unrectified anamorphic image.
Alternatively,  the cameraman can use a
standard  lens,  and  shoot  super 35mm
filmstock (super is high resolution, so
that  it  is  good  enough  to  blow up
bigger   than   standard).    When  the
cameraman looks through the viewfinder,
he   sees  a  standard  image,  with  a
thinner "letterbox" marked out withihin
the  frame.   This  is  obviousley more
"top  and  bottom"  picture captured on
the negative itself.
When the film is projected, the top and
bottom  of  the  frame  are marked off,
re-creating  the  wider  2.35:1  ratio.
Even films designed to be projected iin
the  standard  1.85:1 ratio are shot on
35mm  filmstock  wich captures a taller
image than the director requires.  Once
again,   the   picture  is  masked  for
projection.
To   transfer   a   film  designed  for
projectionon   a   rectangular   cinema
screen  (wether 1.85:1 or 2.35:1) on to
the   squarer   form   presented  by  a
television screen (approximately 1.33:1
-  close  enough  to  35mm fils stock's
1.66:1)  one  of three things has to be
happen.   The  most  obvious is to show
the  image  with black bands at top and
bottom    ;    this    is    shown   as
"LETTERBOXING".     Infortunaley,   the
public has traditionally, had a problem
with  "letterboxing" because it appears
that  one  third  of  the  TV screen is
being   unused.    A  more  traditional
answer,  therefor,  has been to lop the
sides off the frame, making the picture
squarer.   Obviously,  the  picture now
fills  the  whole TV screen, but at the
loss   of   about   one  third  of  the
director's  original  image,  and  with
"panning   and  scanning"  -  selective
cropping  of  the image - adding to the
changes.
The third alternative, whick has become
increasingly common in recent years, is
to  "unmask" the print and reveal areas
at  the  top  and  bottom  of the frame
whick  were  now actually 'meant' to be
ssen  in the cinema.  The effect is not
unlike  unpicking  the  top of a famous
painting  from  its  wooden  frame  and
discovering  that  the  painter  did  a
little bit more than everyone expected.
The   painting,   however,   now  looks
different  from  how  the artisk wanted
you  to  see  it.  That's why you often
see  boom-mikes intruding at the top of
the frame when mid-70s movies are shown
on   TC   because  the  film  has  been
artificially  laid  bare  by  unmasking
areas whick were intended to be hidden.
Altough  film-makers now shoot films in
the   knowledge   that   they  will  be
unmasked   for   TV,   this  remains  a
distortion of their ideal.
Since  audiences have become so used to
seeing  unmasked movies on TV, however,
they  sometimes  get  a shock when they
see  a  film in its original theatrical
rartio.   .This  is  what has happen to
(for  example)  'Back  to  the  future'
Widescreen  letterbox  videos,  all  of
whick  are  duped  from US master tapes
overseen  by the films' director Robert
Zemeckis   and   the   producer  Steven
Spielberg,  accurately  reproducing the
original 1.85:1 screen ratio.
According  to  Tim  Lucas, editor of US
publication  'Video Watchdog', 'Back to
the  future'  is a special case because
although  the  body  of the film can be
unmasked, the special effects sequences
were,  for  technical  reasons actually
shot   on  the  1.85:1  format,  so  no
additional    "vertical    information"
exists on the negative.
³Those widescreen formats in full...¹
1.33:1  -  The  TV  version:  otherwise
known as Academy or Pan and Scan.
1.66:1 - Standard 33mm filmstock ratio,
unmasked for shooting or projection.
1.85:1  -  The  most  common theatrical
format, otherwise known as Widescreen.
2.35:1  -  The  most  extreme letterbox
format,  otherwise knowk as Cinemascope
or Panavision.  
Sources:     Empire
             Premiere
             Plus some other film stuff

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