All About Aspect Ratio
Part 2 – How to make it fit?
Panning & Scanning a 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio Film
Widescreen vs. Full Frame 4:3
Let’s take a closer look by comparing widescreen and full frame presentation of Scope films (aspect ratio 2.35:1). Since this aspect ratio is the wider of the two common ratios in use today, it only stands to reason that you’ll be missing out on the most picture area when watching a full frame version. All of the examples shown on this page are actual screenshots take from DVD video. The widescreen version will always be on the left.
Above is an example of a shot taken from The Matarix Revolutions (2003). Neo (played by Keanu Reeves - center) is amidst a series of ammunition. Note directors striking composition and the imagery in the background on the widescreen version. But in the full frame version, we lose much of the visual impact and vastness of the background.
Above is an example of a shot taken from the recent No Country for Old Men (2007). In the widescreen version Tommy Lee Jones character is reviewing the scene of violence with his deputy in the background on a horse. But in the full screen version the background character is cropped out resulting in a less dramatic image of the sureal image.
Above is an example of a shot taken from Blade Runner (1982). Deckard (played by Harrison Ford - center) is about to fire his pistol in an intense closeup with a stunning background. Note director Ridley Scott’s striking composition and the imagery in the background on the widescreen version which draws your attention to the main character. But in the full frame version, we lose much of the visual impact of the background.
Above is an example of a shot taken from Dragonheart (1996). Draco the dragon who is voiced by Sean Connery sits in the middle of a vast landscape in the widescreen version. Once again in the full frame version, we lose much of the visual impact of the background.
Here’s another great example from A Few Good Men (1992). In this scene Kafee, (Tom Cruise - center) is presenting his case intensely against Colonel Jessep (Jack Nicholson - right). The widescreen image provides a fine example of how a film technique called “deep space” has been used to increase the dramatic tension in the scene. Notice that Kaffee (in the midground) is locked in a staring match with Jessep (foreground). Meanwhile, Ross (played by Kevin Bacon - background left) is objecting to Kaffee’s argument. But in the full frame version, we lose Jessep completely, along with much of the tension.
Panning and Scanning a 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio Film
Widescreen vs. Full Frame 4:3
Scope (2.35:1) films aren’t the only ones to suffer from full frame presentation. Here are some examples of films in Academy Flat (1.85:1) aspect ratio, in both widescreen and full frame versions. While the problem isn’t quite as severe here as it can be with wider aspect ratios, the result is just as bad in most cases. Once again, all images are actual DVD snapshots (widescreen is on the left).
Here’s an example from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). In this scene, Todd Sweeney (Johny Depp - center) is about to engage in some musical action with a fellow character. In the full screen version we loose much of the background characters that are framing this image.
How Do We Squeeze A Wide Image Onto A Narrow Television Screen without loosing the complete image?
Letterboxing
The other, much more preferable, method of making a wide image fit a narrow screen is to reduce the vertical height of the image so that it fits on the screen in its entirety. This method is called letterboxing, the two drawbacks is the necessary inclusion of black bars above and below the image and that resolution is used up with these black bars. The advantage is that we are seeing the film in the aspect ratio that the director intended, rather than in an arbitrarily pared down version. This is a large part of the reason why televisions are being made wider. For now, here is a comparison table demonstrating what wide images look like when they are reduced in height in order to fit narrower television screens.
Letterboxing a 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio Film onto a 4:3 Screen
Letterboxing a 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio Film onto a 16:9 Screen
In Closing… For This Part, Anyway
Now that you have been shown the difference between the wide image you see at the cinema and the narrow image shown on your TV set, with the resultant compromises to the original picture that this entails, we hope you’ll have some understanding of why those “annoying black bars” are so important to home theatre. Rather than missing out on picture because of the “black bars”, you are in fact gaining more picture.
In Part 2 of this series of articles on aspect ratio, we will examine another technigue to transfer widescreen to standard full screen.