LESSON 130
Aspect ratios through film history
From 1.33 to scope and back.
IN THIS LESSON
- The first frame
- The Academy ratio
- The widescreen answer
- Today
- Practice: reading a frame
The first frame
The basic cinema frame was set by William Dickson and Thomas Edison in 1892: an image four perforations high on 35 mm film, with an area between the holes of about 24.9 by 18.7 mm, giving a ratio of about 1.33 to 1, or 4:3. Silent films used that shape. When sound arrived, the soundtrack took space at the side of the frame, and for a few years, roughly 1926 to 1932, some films were shown in a nearly square shape sometimes called the Movietone ratio, used for example in Sunrise and M.
The Academy ratio
To restore a wider frame with a soundtrack, the industry settled on the Academy aperture of 22 by 16 mm, a ratio of 1.375 to 1, defined by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It was used for nearly all sound films until 1953. Early television adopted a similar 4:3 shape, which meant old films fitted the small screen well. That similarity soon became a problem for the studios, because television began to compete for the same audience.
The widescreen answer
Hollywood answered television with width. Cinerama, first shown in 1952, used three projectors on a deeply curved screen. CinemaScope, launched by 20th Century Fox in 1953 with anamorphic lenses, started at 2.55 to 1. VistaVision ran 35 mm film sideways for a larger negative. Todd-AO offered 2.20 to 1. The flat ratio of 1.85 to 1 appeared in May 1953 and became a standard in American cinemas, while some European countries used 1.66 to 1. Anamorphic projection was standardised at 2.35 to 1 in 1957 and adjusted to 2.39 to 1 in 1970.
Today
Cinemas today mostly show 1.85 to 1 and 2.39 to 1, the latter often rounded to 2.40. Television moved to 16:9, about 1.78 to 1, a compromise between 1.85 and the old 1.33, and IMAX uses a tall 1.43 to 1 on its largest screens. Phones brought square and vertical frames. Some film-makers deliberately return to older shapes for effect, as The Lighthouse did with a near-square frame. Streaming has also made it easier to release films in unusual shapes, because a television can show any ratio with bars.
Practice: reading a frame
This is working practice. When you watch a film, pause and measure the picture: divide the width by the height. Then ask why the director chose it. Narrow frames isolate people; wide frames place them in landscapes and groups. Try framing your own scene in two ratios and see which tells it better. Remember that the ratio affects the set, the lens and the lighting: a wide frame shows more of the location to dress and light, while a tall one shows more floor and ceiling. Decide the ratio early, and put guides in the monitor from the first day.
| Ratio | Name | Introduced |
|---|---|---|
| 1.33:1 | Silent 35 mm, 4:3 | 1892 frame standard |
| 1.375:1 | Academy | Sound era until 1953 |
| 2.55:1 | Early CinemaScope | 1953 |
| 1.85:1 | Flat widescreen | May 1953 |
| 2.39:1 | Anamorphic scope | SMPTE update of 1970 |
| 1.78:1 | 16:9 television | HDTV era |
Try it today
- 01Watch the openings of three films from different decades.
- 02Measure the ratio of each frame on your screen.
- 03Match each to the ratios in this lesson.
- 04Frame the same view at 1.33, 1.85 and 2.39 with guides.
- 05Decide which ratio suits a story you want to tell.