Hey! Today, we're going to talk about aspect ratios.
The ratio of width to height that describes the shape of your film.
Before you shoot a frame of your movie,
you need to decide what aspect ratio to use?
A guy I know, once asked legendary DP Janusz Kaminski
how he makes the choice?
He said: "It's simple.
Landscapes you use a wide aspect ratio.
Dinosaurs, you use the tall one."
"It`s the dinosaur."
But is it really that simple?
The decision you make about your aspect ratio
will impact the staging and framing of every single shot in your film.
So, to test Mr.Kaminsky`s theory,
we're going to take a deeper dive into aspect ratios.
First, a bit of history.
20,000 years ago,
the earliest known art was painted on the walls of the cave.
Art like this has no borders.
Soon, artists began to paint on objects
and eventually on flat things that they could hang on walls.
Initially art came in, all sorts of shapes.
But soon paintings would be dominated by rectangles.
Lots and lots of rectangles.
And you can see the patterns in classical paintings.
Portraits tend to be tall
and landscapes tend to be wide. Why?
The ratio of a paintings width to its height,
was usually determined by the content of the painting.
So Janusz Kaminski might be on to something.
If painters had painted dinosaurs,
they might have chosen taller canvases.
But movies do something that most paintings don't.
They tell stories through time.
And your choice of aspect ratio plays into how your story comes across.
Let's talk about 2.35 and 1.85.
These are the two most popular cinematic aspect ratios.
2.35 or 2.35:1
is an aspect ratio that was introduced in the 50s as cinemascope.
It's really wide,
and you've probably seen it in westerns, grand adventures and historical epics.
1.85 or 1.85:1
is a slightly narrower aspect ratio.
Also introduced in the 50s,
it's commonly seen in dramas and comedies,
but it's versatile and can appear in just about any genre.
"What is that such a miracle? I'm driving myself."
If you're faced with a choice
between the two
which do you choose?
"I don't know.
That's a good question."
Let's start with 1.85.
It gives us a slightly narrower, taller image than 2.35.
This helps with dinosaurs, sure,
but it can also serve us when we're framing up tall buildings
or imposing figures.
And look what happens with a close-up.
The head fills much of the frame,
so the shot feels intimate, focused on the character.
Without as much of the background competing for our attention.
With 2.35, on the other hand,
even close ups allow us to take in a grand sweeping landscape.
And those are the film's where cinemascope is most memorable.
Films with a landscape, the elements in the natural setting of the story
play a primary role in the narrative.
Spielberg who would often shoot 1.85 was asked about his choice
for 2.35 for his first theatrical film "The Sugarland Express."
He said he went to 2.35 because of the highways
the film is basically one extended vehicle pursuit,
so he chose an aspect ratio that would best show cars
in relation to each other on a long flat road.
"Jaws" was also shot in 2.35 Spielberg says
because the shark is long.
"Jurassic Park." Dinosaurs.
I wish the options were as simple as just 2.35 or 1.85.
New digital standards introduce another aspect ratio,
1.77:1 a.k.a. 16:9.
This is the standard aspect ratio for modern TV,
and it's the default for most online video.
And because we're not constrained
by the size of a piece of film
or by the particulars of a projection system,
it's much easier to create content
in just about any aspect ratio, we want these days.
If you want to make a movie in 5:1 you can,
it would look kind of like this.
I don't know why you do it, but you can.
So the options can be dizzying.
How do you pick?
"Why does everything have to be so complicated?"
Here are four considerations to help you come to a decision.
First, genre.
Study the playing field.
What do other films in your genre typically do?
Comedies are usually taller,
so you can get your comedic wide shots without feeling
like you're too far away from your characters.
Drama too. They're usually shot taller,
so close ups can be more intimate.
Adventures, sweeping epics and stories that feature dramatic landscapes
tend to be shot very wide.
So that even in a close up,
the terrain remains present on-screen.
Next. Consider the level of realism you're trying to achieve.
Do you want people to respond to your film
as fact or fantasy.
Of the popular aspect ratios,
the taller ones like 1.85,
match our optical field of view, more closely than cinemascope.
If you're telling a gritty crime drama,
you might want your image to approximate
what we see in the real world.
But if you're telling a fantasy,
it might help to present it with a wider image.
Something that differs from how we normally see the world.
If we notice there's something different about the frame,
we're more likely to accept the magic of the world within it.
Your next step is to consider the setting of your story.
In particular,
how do the setting and the characters relate?
In some stories, the setting is really important.
For those you should choose an aspect ratio that best captures it.
This doesn't always mean going for the widest aspect ratio possible.
If you've got a film where the tall buildings of a big city,
play heavily into the story.
You might want to consider a taller frame to capture the feeling.
The few years back, I directed a film
that's set pretty much entirely inside a small house.
It's an oppressive setting,
so I went all out and friend the film in 1.33,
like silent films and old TV.
I wanted the frame to box my characters in.
The way the house was boxing them in.
Finally, consider your characters.
How did they relate to each other?
If your characters relate horizontally,
like gunslingers at the end of a western,
you can use a wider aspect ratio to really great effect.
But if you're playing with the dynamic between tall and short characters
or characters who relate vertically,
taller aspect ratio might serve you better.
If you're getting really stuck
and can't choose between aspect ratios, you're in luck.
We live in interesting times
where filmmakers are experimenting with
changing aspect ratios within a film.
Christopher Nolan is perhaps most notorious for this.
Many of his big blockbusters include scenes in both 2.35 and 1.43:1
which is the aspect ratio of 65-millimeter IMAX film.
Unfortunately, the only way to get the full effect of Nolan's shift
between aspect ratios is to see the films in theaters.
And there are other experiments.
If you're like me,
you've probably been annoyed,
by videos on your desktop shot in portrait mode,
but a few years ago,
some filmmakers released the trailer for a film called "All the Stars are Dead."
Apparently, they had made a vertical film.
Other artists got inspired and a quiet film movement emerged.
Now,there's even a film festival for vertical films,
and thanks to modern social networks
brands are now using vertical aspect ratios to shoot their videos and ads.
But vertical films are far from mainstream.
There was a huge backlash against the aspect ratio
when "All the Stars are Dead" trailer first hit.
Some even called vertical filmmaking a design crime.
So if you're considering a vertical aspect ratio,
beware you might irritate some people.
"Vertical videos happen when you hold your camera the wrong way.
Your video will end up looking like crap."
So, with all of this choice,
it's even more important to remember
that it all comes down to story.
What story are you telling and what are the best dimensions
for the window through which you'll tell it.
Now that you've got some parameters
to help you choose an aspect ratio,
it's time to put your knowledge to use.
Whether you prepare your shot list with a spreadsheet,
pen and paper or with our shot listing software in StudioBinder.
Having a clear understanding of your aspect ratio,
and why you are using it,
will help you inform more intentional,
and ultimately more effective shots.
And when you're ready to expand your cinematic knowledge a little more.
Check out our other videos.
We've got great stuff on our channel
and new content coming all the time.
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Keep your cameras rolling and until next time.
Break a lens.