Aspect ratios in the cinemas

Aspect ratios on release prints of films.		The sound film aspect ratios are from left to right: 1.20:1 – 1:37:1 – 1.85:1 (All are on 35mm film) (The illustrations are in a smaller scale compared with the rest of this page.) (Return to Widescreen.) Photos from „The Art Of Film Projection” (Editor: Paolo Cherchi Usai) George Eastman Museum, 2019 Illustrations ref.: Amazon
The illustrations below are relative to the actual height of the pictureframes. In reality the pictures were enlarged to fit the screen.
Type	Aspect ratio	Comments
Standard format	1.33:1 The frame is from the movie „The Black Pirate” (Technicolor2). Illustration ref.: Movies Silently.	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FehpP0GChNE.
In the latter part of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s the film industry experimented with larger screens and new film formats. Even though it was impressive to watch, it fell through. Some of the reasons were lack of standardization, the depression and the economic situation of the owners of the cinemas.
Magnascope (Paramount)	For the movie „Old Ironsides" an extra large screen was used. It was masked to normal format. Using a short focal length lens the picture in parts of the movie was enlarged. At the same time the masking was removed from the screen. Illustration ref.: The Movie Title Stills Collection. http://annyas.com/screenshots/updates/?s=Old+Ironsides	Magnascope was never in use in Stavanger.
Fanthom Screen (MGM)	Fanthom Screen was used in two parts of the movie „The Trail of '98”. A short focal lenght lens was used to enlarge the picture. At the same time the screen was moved closer to the audience. (Ref.: Ariel Rogers: On the Screen: Displaying the Moving Image, 1926–1942) The movietone-version on the left hand side is in the aspect ratio 1.20:1. The silent version on the right hand side is in the aspect ratio 1.33:1. Ref.: IMDb) Illustration 1.20:1 ratio ref.: Silentsaregolden.com. Illustration 1.33:1 ratio „The Trail of '98” ref.: Movies Silently	Fanthom Screen was never in use in Stavanger. Ref.: http://www.silentsaregolden.com/featurefolder10/trailof98scenes.html Ref.: http://moviessilently.com/2014/01/16/the-trail-of-98-1928-a-silent-film-review/#more-9486
Vitascope (Warner)	The movie „The Lash” was filmed in Vitascope which is a Warner Bros. Widescreen-format on 65mm film. The aspect ratio is 2.05:1. It was also filmed in 1.33:1. Ref.: IMDb (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021048/). Illustration ref.: Los Angeles Theatres (https://losangelestheatres.blogspot.com/2017/02/warner-hollywood-overview.html). The original er 65 mm wide and includes the perforations. The picture is 5 perf. high. Here the enlargement makes the picture unsharp.	Vitascope was never screened in Stavanger. This logo was in use by Warner Bros. 1937–1948. Ref.: The Movie Title Stills Collection. http://annyas.com/screenshots/warner-bros-logo/
Common for the movies in Magnascope (Paramount), Fanthom Screen (MGM), Vitascope (Warner) and Grandeur (Fox) were that they completely or partly were projected on a larger screen.
Grandeur (70mm) (Fox)	2.13:1 (Ref.: Donald Crafton: The Talkies: American Cinema's Transition to Sound, 1926-1931. University of California Press, 1997) Illustration ref.: The Movie Title Stills Collection.	Only two cinemas were equipped to screen Grandeur. Both were in the USA. Grandeur was never screened in Stavanger. The restored 70mm version of „The Big Trail” is on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8vJ4R8mkVY A slight cropping has been done at the top and bottom of the title card in the the Grandeur version compared to the 35mm version. Ref.: http://annyas.com/screenshots/updates/big-trail-1930-john-wayne/
Optical sound	1.20:1 The optical sound track reduced the width of the picture. Illustration ref.: dvdbeaver.com	The 1.20:1 optical sound version of „The Big Trail” (from 1930). Ref.: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_reviews57/the_big_trail_blu-ray.htm
Academy ratio	1.37:1. This aspect ratio became the new standard format accommodating for the optical sound track. Illustration ref.: Screengrabsaz	„Strangers On A Train” (from 1951). Ref.: https://screengrabsaz.wordpress.com/2014/03/18/strangers-on-a-train/
Wide screen in the 1950s and 1960s 20 years after the first attempts, the large formats returned. The problem was still lack of standardization. The reason for the introduction of wide screen, colour and stereo in the cinemas in the 1950s was the competition the film industry got in the USA from the television.
Cinerama Cinemiracle Kinopanorama	2.59:1 (Magnetic stereo soundtrack) The frame is from the movie „Windjammer". Here shown in Smilebox. Illustration ref.: Flicker Alley. (https://www.flickeralley.com/screenings/cinerama-dcp/) Follow the link and click on Images	Cinerama was presented in 1952. Cinerama, Cinemiracle and Kinopanorama (Kинопанорама) were compatible. Three pictures were shown side by side. Cinerama has a picture 6 perf. high and was shot on 35mm film. When the three pictures were projected, two vertical lines were visible where the pictures met. Academy ratio has a picture 4 perf. high. In order to present Cinerama you needed a 146° curved, louvered screen, three projectors, one machine to reproduce the sound (all four syncronized), and one backup projector for the breakdown film, a number of loudspeakers for seven channels of sound (five behind the screen and two in the auditorium). Ref.: The American WideScreen Museum. http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/cineramaspecs.htm To present the Cinerama-movies in non-cinerama cinemas required copies in 35mm CinemaScope (CS) and/or 70mm: This is Cinerama (70mm) (Ref.: IMDb) Windjammer (CS) (Ref.: Flicker Alley) How The West Was Won (CS) (Ref.: IMDb) The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (CS) (Ref.: IMDb) The restorings of the original Cinerama/Cinemiracle/Kinopanorama movies on Flicker Alley in Smilebox are to be applauded. I have them all on DVD/Blu-ray. More on Cinerama at the bottom of this page.
Widescreen	1.66:1 (1.85:1) Illustration ref.: The Movie Title Stills Collection who presents it in the Academy ratio. http://annyas.com/screenshots/updates/shane-1953-george-stevens/ Here the illustration is cropped to 1.66:1.	„Shane” (from 1953) was made in Academy ratio, but presented in 35mm Widescreen using open matte. (The picture was matted when projected. The technique is also called soft matte.) Widescreen may be presented without any special equipment. Any movie in Widescreen projected as a movie in Academy ratio, will have black borders top and bottom of the film frame (Letterbox) provided hard matte is used on the release print. (Ref.: Above.) Wider screen and a lens of shorter focal lenght solve the problem. Some cinemas could adjust both the height and the width of the screen.
CinemaScope	Illustration ref.: Syndicate Entertainment AB. Illustration ref.: Syndicate Entertainment AB. CinemaScope optical sound. CinemaScope mag-optical sound. „Ferry To Hong Kong”. 1959. Format: 2.35:1. Ref.: IMDb. „The Man Who Never Was”. 1956. Format: 2.55:1 Ref.: IMDb. http://www.syndicate.se/syndicate-pl-modifed-bauch-lomb-baltar-cinemascopes/	Mag-optical prints have a half width optical sound track and four magnetic sound tracks. In order to accommodate the sound tracks, the prints were made on film stock with the smaller CinemaScope perforations. These perforations were nicknamed „Fox-holes”. (Ref.: Daniel J. Sherlock: WIDE SCREEN MOVIES CORRECTIONS - Rev. 2.0 - Revised December, 2004. © Copyright 1994-2004 and Bausch & Lomb Baltar Cinemascopes) http://www.film-tech.com/warehouse/tips/WSMC20.pdf
CinemaScope	2.55:1 (2.35:1) (The picture is horisontally compressed. An anamorphic lens widens the picture.) Illustration ref.: The Movie Title Stills Collection. http://annyas.com/screenshots/updates/seven-brides-for-seven-brothers-1954/	„The Robe” (from 1953) was the first movie in CinemaScope. CinemaScope has a picture 4 perf. high and could have magnetic stereo soundtrack. CinemaScope is the name of 20th Century-Fox' anamorphic widescreen system.
Superscope	2.0:1 (The picture is horisontally compressed. An anamorphic lens widens the picture. It is not as wide as CinemaScope.) Illustration ref.: The Movie Title Stills Collection. http://annyas.com/screenshots/updates/vera-cruz-1954-robert-aldrich-gary-cooper-burt-lancaster-ernest-borgnine/	„Vera Cruz” (from 1954). Superscope and CinemaScope both have a picture 4 perf. high.
VistaVision	1.66:1 (1.85:1) (1.96:1) The illustration (in format 1.78:1) ref.: The Movie Title Stills Collection. http://annyas.com/screenshots/updates/white-christmas-1954-michael-curtiz-bing-crosby-danny-kaye/	„White Christmas” (from 1954) was the first movie in VistaVision. Illustration ref.: The Digital Bits https://thedigitalbits.com/images/columns/coate_history/thief/vistavision5.jpg VistaVision projected at the same width as CinemaScope, would give a picture which was higher than CinemaScope. (Ref.: www.in70mm.com/presents/1954_vistavision/process/index.htm) Technirama is an anamorphic version of VistaVision. (Ref.: www.in70mm.com)
70mm ToddAO	2.20:1 (Magnetic stero soundtrack) The frame is from the 70mm ToddAO-version of „Oklahoma!”. Illustration ref.: cinematography.com. https://cinematography.com/index.php?/topic/65410-oklahoma-1955/	„Oklahoma!” (from 1955). 70mm ToddAO has a picture 5 perf. high.
Super Panavision 70	2.20:1 (2.35:1) (Magnetic stereo soundtrack) Ref.: IMDb. The frame is from „Lawrence of Arabia”. Illustration ref.: The American WideScreen Museum. http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/loa/loa3a.htm	„Lawrence of Arabia” (from 1962). Super Panavision has a picture 5 perf. high.
MGM Camera 65 later known as Ultra Panavision 70	2.76:1 (Magnetic stereo soundtrack) (The picture is horisontally compressed. It must be shown with an anamorphic lens to avoid horisontal distortion.) The frame is from the movie „Ben Hur”. Illustration ref.: American Cinematographer. https://ascmag.com/articles/flashback-ben-hur-1959	„Ben Hur” (from 1959). MGM Camera 65 has a picture 5 perf. high.
IMAX	1.43:1 The frame is from the movie „Dunkirk”. Illustration ref.: Film blogging the reel world. https://www.slashfilm.com/dunkirk-70mm-locations/	IMAX uses a 70mm wide film running horizontally in the camera. Each frame is 15 perf. high and equals three frames of the earlier 70mm-format. IMAX is the big brother of VistaVision, (Ref.: www.in70mm.com)
In the 1960s the Academy format, Widescreen (1.66:1 and 1.85:1) and Cinemascope (2.35:1) became the standard aspect ratios in the cinemas. European widescreen = 1.66:1. US widescreen = 1.85:1. A 16:9 TV has an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The author is a certified cinema projectionist.
Cinerama: In 2012 three cinemas could still present Cinerama in its original form: Seattle Cinerama Theatre in the USA, Bradford Media Museum in the UK and Cinerama Dome in Hollywood (Ref.: Flicker Alley https://www.flickeralley.com/why-so-serious-how-cineramas-smilebox-came-to-be/). Thanks to Smilebox is it today possible to experience Cinerama on video. Smilebox gives an impression of a curved screen. You do however still need a large screen in order to get the real impression. The author experienced Cinerama with three projectors in Copenhagen in October 1963 („Cinerama Holiday”) and Cinerama with one projector (70mm Cinerama) in London in October 1966 („Battle of the Bulge” and „Khartoum”) (Ref.: My memories and my archive).
More information on the different aspect ratios and film gauges: Academic (https://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/142897), Adrian Goodwin: The Essential Reference Guide for Filmmakers (Kodak) (https://slideplayer.com/slide/12910355/), The American WideScreen Museum (http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/), Cinemateket (https://www.cinemateket.no/artikler/bildeformater), DVDLOG.de Film Format Guide (http://www.dvdlog.de/filmformate/filmformate-en.htm), First Year of Widescreen Production (http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/the-first-year-of-widescreen), Gone with the Wind (70mm) (https://classicfilmjournal.com/2020/03/24/revisiting-gone-with-the-wind/) and (http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/special/gwtw.htm) Lenny Lipton: The Cinema in Flux - The Evolution of Motion Picture Technology from the Magic Lantern to the Digital Era, Rick Mitchell: Projection and Wide Film - Early Wide Film Experiments (https://www.in70mm.co/news/2014/mitchell_book/chapter/index.htm), More than one hundred years of Film Sizes (https://wichm.home.xs4all.nl/filmsize.html), quadibloc (http://www.quadibloc.com/other/aspint.htm), Syndicate PL modified – Bausch & Lomb Baltar Cinemascopes (http://www.syndicate.se/syndicate-pl-modifed-bauch-lomb-baltar-cinemascopes/), Widescreen Documentation (http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/home/widescreen-documentation) and Widescreen.org (https://www.widescreen.org/index.shtml).
Cinemas vs streaming or video at home. Movies are much better at the cinemas than on your cellphone or your computer. Streaming is interesting, but watching the movies on the really big screen is something quite different. No matter how large your TV or screen is at home, the colloquial experience at the cinemas surpasses it. What matters most is how large the projected picture is. I have no financial interests in the movie industry. Personal experience way back in the 1950s and later told me that movies really are better on the big screen.
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