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What is the 'Real' Aspect Ratio of 'On The Waterfront?' Plus, Restoring a Warped Hitchcock Classic

02.23.13 @ 5:05PM Tags : aspectratio, cinematography, criterioncollection, digitalintermediate, film, filmscanning, hitchcock, onthewaterfront, restoration, shooting

The aspect ratio is one of the fundamentals determining your compositions. Even though we live in a time where displaying any aspect ratio is incredibly easy, films are still being shown incorrectly in many mediums in an attempt to make them fill the entire screen (even if that’s not the intention of the filmmaker). Interestingly enough, cinema history has actually been plagued by these kinds of issues related to aspect ratio. A visual essay by Criterion Collection illustrates how the intended aspect ratio of On The Waterfront is still in question to this day, and we also get a demonstration of the impressive restoration to Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much from a heavily warped and damaged print. More »

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Pan and Scan redux

10.5.09 @ 3:15PM Tags : aspectratio, hdtv, soderbergh, widescreen

Steven Soderbergh called attention to this issue a few months back, but the DGA’s website was in a state of disrepair and his opinion piece couldn’t be properly linked. Also, I don’t have cable, so I didn’t pick up on the issue first hand — that is, until I moved out of my apartment September 1st and, by relying on the kindness of others and couch surfing, began watching movies on cable in wonderful high definition. There’s been just one problem: the movies are crapped. Sorry, I mean cropped. More »