Why was widescreen ever created in the first place?

[Gregg]

The main subjects of most movies and TV are humans. Humans are vertical most of the time and this is why photographers shoot most pics vertical so they can get the entire person in the shot without having tons of wasted space on the sides of the shot.

So why was widescreen for film ever created?

[robot909]

Our vision is more wide than tall, that probably had a lot to di with it, or to let more people into the movie theater, if it was vertical, you can't have that many seats. There was probably one camera format that started it all...

[PunkMetalDrummer17]

Right, even standing a couple feet back from somebody you don't see the whole person, you only see them from waiste up or so, and you see things off to the sides of the person. We can see almost 180 degrees, probably more like 165 to 175, while our vertical vision would be less. You know, we can't see up and down at the sametime, but we get that 165 - 175 degrees horiztionally.

[MiniMan]

Because widescreen just rocks :cheesy:

[Prairieboy]

In the movie theatres it was a way to compete with TV. When the studio owners were worried about loosing moola, they tried some things to woo the viewership. TO say they were different, and more value. That is why we have the much better aspect ratio!

[David Jimerson]

If you look at movies before TV caught on, you'll see that they're mostly 4:3.

[SilverWolf]

If you look at movies before TV caught on, you'll see that they're mostly 4:3.

In the movie theatres it was a way to compete with TV. When the studio owners were worried about loosing moola, they tried some things to woo the viewership. TO say they were different, and more value. That is why we have the much better aspect ratio!

I've been reading "Shot By Shot" by Steven Katz and I just got to that section. We have some smart people here

[Prairieboy]

smart no, just happened to pay attention that day way back in film school. Must of left the pup early the night before for some reason. Cinema studies the morning after pub night was very, very tough.

[cinemakinoeye]

Check out the Widescreen Museum Introduction to the history of wide screen cinema, which states,"... the real reason for the birth of a multitude of widescreen and large format systems was the 1952 opening of a movie made in a process that had its roots in a World War II aerial gunnery trainer. This Is Cinerama shook the industry to the core. The public and reviewers loved it. Its giant screen filled with three oversized 35mm images and an incredible new sound system called Stereophonic were a marvel to behold, and the studios immediately rushed to find something that could do what Cinerama did."Source: http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/intro.htm

[Greggl]

smart no, just happened to pay attention that day way back in film school. Must of left the pup early the night before for some reason. Cinema studies the morning after pub night was very, very tough.

Hehe.. my first year in school included the program's monster, 6 credit class, History
of Narrative Film. The class was fantastic but man was it tough.

[SilverWolf]

I guess film school does teach ya something

[Rick Meyer]

Hehe.. my first year in school included the program's monster, 6 credit class, History
of Narrative Film. The class was fantastic but man was it tough.

I had one of those as well. And you are right...monster....many papers...and a lot of reading...

But a great GREAT lecturer....made every topic relevant and interesting.

[spidey]

well you see in panorama with your eyes.

close one and you got standard tv, both of them open widescreen.

[Matthew B. Moore]

Um...I think widescreen is cool because...um...you know...cause it, like, looks good.

[Terry_Lasater]

I've been reading "Shot By Shot" by Steven Katz and I just got to that section. We have some smart people here


Heh heh... if we know a piece of info that you know... that makes us smart? :)

[SilverWolf]

Heh heh... if we know a piece of info that you know... that makes us smart? :)

No , me knowing a piece of info that you know makes me smart

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

movies were orig 4:3 http://www.pictureshowman.com/articles_technology_ratio.cfm
TV emulated movies and came out 4:3
as someone mentioned movies then became widescreen to offer something bigger and better in competition to TV
now TV is emulating movies again and going widescreen
wide screen is cool because it is more like our vision, as also mentioned, and ...

it's closer to the golden mean which lead to the golden rectangle / aspect ratio wherein "Artists as diverse as Leonardo da Vinci, Piet Mondrian and Salvador Dali .... [believed] ... they could create a feeling of order and balance."
http://www.beezlebugbit.com/school/mean/goldenmean.htm
http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/golden_rectangle.html

supposedly it lends itself to harmony ... to me ... the wider the aspect ratio the more dynamic it is ... composing something to live in the left or right third of a rectangle has more impact and is more interesting than framing something in center or even the left or right half of a square ... I think because the equal division implies symmetry, even though both sides are different, because its easy to see them as mirrored. In thirds the opposite mirror is less implied because of the greater distance to the other side. Also I think the eye is less likely to move back and forth, again because it has further to travel in a rectangle from left to right or vice versa.

[Terry_Lasater]

No , me knowing a piece of info that you know makes me smart

Good one. :thumbsup:

[Cheesesailor77]

no has mentioned the "golden ratio"

16x9 is a "pleasing" shape that is seen throughout history in art and architecture, I think there's even a book just about that.

EDIT: damn, jack did say it. nm

[Brandon Rice]

Yeah, what Jack said about the rectangle is true... I've heard that before...

Yeah, 16:9 is ALMOST the exact "perfect" pleasing shape for one to look at.

[Cheesesailor77]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio

[Ben Sliker]

movies always had "gimmicks" to differentiate themselves from other mediums. One of the earliest tries at widescreen was for the movie "Napoleon" in 1927 and they called it polyvision. They stacked three cameras to shoot it for widescreen, but then the director also went crazy and used different angles too. That means sometimes when you are watching it, there were 3 4:3 screens, each with a different angle of the action. The aspect ratio is like 4:1 or something ridiculous like that.

Coolest shot i remember from film class was three different angles of french soldiers marching, the left screen and right screens were tinted red and blue respectively, so you were literally looking at a french flag as you were watching!

[Gregg]

Widescreen might be better for dramitic programs but for event video it blows. I am hating it.

[donkathon]

I think we NEED widescreen. I say the wider, the better. When you have a wider picture, you can capture more. Try to film the heads of two people standing 2 feet apart in 4:3. You cant do it.

[Isaac_Brody]

In the movie theatres it was a way to compete with TV. When the studio owners were worried about loosing moola, they tried some things to woo the viewership. TO say they were different, and more value. That is why we have the much better aspect ratio!

I think this is similar to James Cameron's push for 3d is another way of dealing with DVD and giant HD TV's cutting into films theatrical grosses.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

I know you're right, and that seems goofy to me

Have the boffo cinescope widescreen stadium seating premiere and based on those reviews and word of mouth, sell more hidef laser discs or whatever they come out with to sell or rent to the hidef market.

It's a little different than when folks thought the corner video store would be the death of going out to the theatre because back then it was a no surround sound 4:3 crappt TV analog tape situation at home, and now there is widescreen surround sound etc. .... but not at my house, not for a while at least.

But as long as the studio is making $ off the theatrical release and the dvd rental / sales, even as hi def grows in the market it doesn't seem like much reason to panic ... there's more of a chance that hidef home theatre could kill movies now ... but it doesn't seem likely to me.

[BLUESPIDER]

This is why we have widescreen!

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/156/ws2hs.jpg


:)

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

I loved that movie.

[futureman]

Another reason for the aspect ratio of motion pictures becoming wider would be film quality and lens sharpness. With early tv and film the quality was so bad that fascial expressions could not be seen unless, the actors head occupied almost the entire frame, 4:3 allows a for a portrait with just enough background to give the hunt of location. As quality gets better, you can show more background while still containing a sharp subject.

[Hunter007]

Haha, that had to be the best reason (post #27) given throughout this whole thread.

-Kegan

[Gregg]

This is why we have widescreen!

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/156/ws2hs.jpg


:)



Welll that is one of the few times that framing a human is better in widescreen. Almost all other times it is not good.