Lesson Notes

In this video, we look at aspect ratios. You will learn what they are, the history behind them, and how to use them in your films to tell a story.

What is an Aspect Ratio?

An aspect ratio is the frame size that you shoot your film in. Have you ever noticed the black bars on the top and bottom of a video? Or in an older movie, have you seen the black bars on the sides? That is an aspect ratio. More precisely, an aspect ratio is the proportion of the height and width of the image you see on screen.

The History Behind Aspect Ratios

In today’s culture, most movies are either shot in 2.35.1 or 1.85.1.

However, back when movies were shot on film, that film had an aspect ratios of 4.3. It was essentially .95 inches by .735 inches, resulting in the 4.3 aspect ratio. Many of the older TVs look like boxes because they had an aspect ratio of 4.3, which is essentially a square.

Since the world of motion pictures was constantly evolving, they wanted movies to be even more engaging and immersive. So, in the 1950’s they decided that the best way to be more immersive was to make the screen wider. The first movie to come out in a different aspect ratio than before was the movie “Shane” made in 1953. The way they widened the image was not the correct way, but they basically cut off the top and bottom of the image. So it wasn’t true widescreen, but the audiences loved it because they could have much bigger movie theater screens without having to make them taller.

They did soon realize that this method wasn’t going to work because they were just cutting off the top and bottom. So, how could they get a wide image while still printing it onto a 4.3 image (they were still using film at this time)? The answer came with the invention of the Anamorphic Lens, which is still used today. An anamorphic lens basically distorts the width of the image so that it can be squeezed back to its original shape later. On a 4.3 film image, the lens would shoot everything much taller and skinnier, with a really distorted look. That way you could still capture really wide shots. Once shot, the image would be stretched back to its original size, resulting in a very wide image that would still fit on a 4.3 film stock. And that is how widescreen was born. The first film that ever used it was “The Robe” that came out in the 1950’s, and it was a huge hit.

After that, the technology grew and grew. They started to turn film sideways to capture more detail. They took it to the extreme with “Ben-Hur” which was shot in an incredibly wide 2.76:1. That is so wide, it’s not even used today, unless for a very specific reason.

Types of Aspect Ratios

• Original 4.3, which is a 1.33
• Academy Ratio – 1.37
• Cinerama – 2.59
• Cinemascope – 2.35
• Vistavision – 1.85
• Super Panavision – 2.20
• Ben-Hur’s MGM 65 – 2.76
• IMAX – 1.9:1 (which allows the frame to not only be super wide, but also super tall, resulting in an image that immerses you in the biggest screen you’ve ever seen)

What is 16:9?

In the end, we all hear 16:9 the most. That is the standard aspect ratio of all TVs and Computer Monitors. Why?

Back in the 80’s movies were coming out in Full Screen and Wide Screen, with a 1.33 or a 1.85 aspect ratio. But, if you watched it at home without the right TV, it wouldn’t look right. So they decided to create a format that sat somewhere in the middle so it would look good on both. A 16:9 would play 4:3 images with black bars on the sides, and it could play widescreen images with black bars on top and bottom. The funny thing is, that aspect ratio became the standard for everything.

Widescreen DVDs are in 16:9, HD 1080p is in a 16:9 format and even a 4K UHD is in a 16:9 format. That is now the standard for all film and digital media. So, whenever you pick up your camera, your cell phone, your video camera, it all shoots in a 16:9 format.

Now, many movies still use a Panavision format of 2.35.1, not only to capture more images on the side, but also to seem more cinematic because that’s what we are used to. That is why many filmmakers starting out will put black bars on the top and bottom of their films to make it look more cinematic, because it looks like they used anamorphic lenses. And to be honest, it works. It makes your short film automatically feel like you had a bigger budget.

So, I just took you on a history tour of aspect ratios. But why? Why is it important to know this? Because, as you have already learned, every single detail of filmmaking can be used as a tool to portray a message. Even aspect ratios.

Using Aspect Ratios to Portray a Message

As strange as it may sound, an aspect ratio can be used as a tool to convey a message to the audience. For example, it can be used to make people feel claustrophobic, or it can be used to make something look massive and overwhelming.

Examples of Directors Using Unusual Aspect Ratios:

“A Ghost Story” was shot at a 4.3 aspect ratio of 1:33.1 to make the main character feel trapped. They also rounded the edges to make it look like an old Polaroid. So it feels like you are living an old memory.

Quinten Taratino made a western called the “Hateful Eight”, and shot with old film cameras in a 2.75:1 aspect ratio, which is the same extreme widescreen ratio used in “Ben-Hur”. This was done purposefully, to give the film a very old look, like you really are out in the wild west.

With “Life of Pi”, in dream sequences some of the objects in the scene go on top of the aspect ratio to give us a “jumping out of the screen” kind of feel.

Examples of Changing Aspect Ratios During the Film:

There are some directors out there who purposefully change aspect ratios in the middle of the movie in order to portray a message to the audience.

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” jumps between three different storylines in three different times of history. Wes Anderson communicates this by having different aspect ratios for each time period.

There are some movies that have pretty obvious changes, like “Oz, the Great and Powerful”. It is filmed at a 4.3 aspect ratio at the beginning, until they reach the land of Oz, then is slowly widens and colorizes to show the awesomeness of Oz.

“Mommy”, a 2014 film, has the main character stretching the screen with his hands, changing the aspect ratio in the middle of the movie.

In “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” the aspect ratio changes when the character begins fighting.

Some directors are a little more subtle, and you may not have ever noticed the change.

For example, in “The Dark Knight Rises”, Christopher Nolan shoots most of the movie in 2.35:1 aspect ratio. But in the intense moments that are important, he switches to IMAX to give us a larger-than-life look. This is the most obvious when Batman and Bane have their first big fight. As the gate closes, the aspect ratio changes to IMAX, giving us the feeling that we are about to witness something massive.

“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” is shot in a 2:35 aspect ratio until Katniss is put into the arena for the first time. Then it switches to IMAX. But it’s not a sudden switch, the black bars slowly go away as she heads up the tunnel to the arena. This communicates to the audience a massive scale. We go from close and intimate, to grand, massive and overwhelming.

An even more subtle example is in the film “It Comes at Night”. The film is shot in 2:35:1 when everything is normal and good, but if our character has a nightmare, it is shot in 2.75:1. So we always know what when it’s a nightmare because of the aspect ratio. But, during the final act of the film when it comes to it’s terrible end, the aspect ratio slowly shrinks from 2.75:1 to a staggering 3.1. It’s so subtle you probably don’t notice it, but you can definitely feel it. This shows the audience that his reality has now become his nightmare.

So as you can see, aspect ratios are very important to understand because they are very important for your story.

Aspect Ratios Gone Wrong

With that being said, there are some directors out there who have no idea how to use aspect ratios and don’t understand the power it has, leaving the audience confused.

One of my least favorite directors out there is Michael Bay. In his new “Transformers: The Last Knight” he had three different cameras shooting the same scene at all times, each with different aspect ratios. Then, he would switch between the cameras without hesitation.

The result is a jarring change of aspect ratios that makes absolutely no sense and does nothing but confuse the audience. Even in a scene that is just a conversation between two characters, it changes almost every shot. Michael Bay has never commented on why he did this, which leads me to believe he just didn’t care.

As you guys can see, aspect ratios are very important to understand. Not only just to know why they exist and what they mean, but also how you can take them and tell a different story to your audience.

Now, there are proper ways to use aspect ratios and improper ways to use them in your film. So in the next episode, we will be talking about how to properly use aspect ratios in your films.

Next Step Challenge

Pay close attention to aspect ratios in the movies you watch. When an aspect ratio changes, try to figure out why the director chose to change it and how that change aids the story. Also, watch movies shot in different aspect ratios to see what overall feel it gives the film.

Lastly, start to employ aspect ratios in your film by watching the upcoming episode.