2.39:1?

HBlack

HBlack

Underage Member
So, I've decided to try something. I stuck black bars onto my 16:9 footage. I personally love it. I think it gives it more of a "cinematic" feel. Has anyone else tried this? I've had to adjust several of the shots to get the framing right. Any advice on it? Is the practice of sticking in black bars looked down upon?
 
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Not really. It's just that you're sacrificing more than a quarter of your resolution, but if you've already compensated for it by framing then it makes no difference. I personally think it looks cinematic but the effective frame area is too small for me.
 
if you do this its a great way to hide any mistakes you didnt notice until post, like a mic barely in the shot. Being able to reframe in post is a great advantage but at a loss of resolution. If its going out to film then maybe thats something to think about, but if its just DVD, then I say go for it. To me the wide aspect ratios mimic more so the way we see things through our own eyes. Has anyone done any experiments as to what the aspect ratio of the "box" we see when looking straight ahead is?
 
It totally depends on the piece you are doing.

If it artistically and functionally makes sense to shoot cinema scope, then by all means do so. I went through a phase for about a year where everything I shoot was cinema scope "because it looked cool." While most of it did work out there were some things I was obviously forcing.

I am personally having a love affair with academy right now...
 
Been doing horror Bennis?

Also HBlack I think you're thinking of 2.35:1 or 2.40:1.
 
Ouch. Yes of course that would be it then. The fault of getting caught up with what people say on the forums and not doing my own research.

So what is 1.85:1 called (if anything)? From widescreen.org it appears to be called VistaVision but I am not sure this isn't a special term used for the process of arriving at 1.85:1.
 
Bennis,
Originally, 35mm film framed or hard matted to a 1:85 ratio was simply called "wide flat" (wider when projected than Academy, but not squeezed by an
anamorphic lens).
Hope this helps.
Ken
the Screen Skins guy
 
Bennis, klpo is right in his historic reference, but currently, 1:85:1 is called "American Widescreen" where it is actually shot at 1:78:1, but labeled as 1:85:1 for "16:9" usage.
 
InvisionProductions said:
Bennis, klpo is right in his historic reference, but currently, 1:85:1 is called "American Widescreen" where it is actually shot at 1:78:1, but labeled as 1:85:1 for "16:9" usage.
Click to expand...

I think it's the other way 'round. Shot (or matted) at 1.85:1, but typically transferred to video as 1.78:1 (or 1.7777777..., i.e., 16/9).
 
"Academy" is actually the term used opposed to "Super" when you shoot film. 1.85 (Academy), Super 1.85 (Super 35, hence its name). The main difference is the size of the image that ends up on film (plus the alignement of the camera, and of course the frame drawn on the ground glass.
 
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