1 The Director of Photography – an overview

178 Practical Cinematography
TV
1.66
1.85
Figure 20.3 Viewfinder with
1.85:1, 1.66:1 and TV markings
Figure 20.4 1.66:1 hard mask with
1.85:1 composition
1.33:1 Academy Aperture
1.85:1 Widescreen Aperture
Figure 20.5 The 1.33:1 Academy
aperture
is simply the mathematical relationship between the height and the
width of the screen. It is always expressed with the height as 1.Therefore,
if we divide the height of an Academy screen into its width and express
the result in decimals we get 1.33, the width being 1.33 times the
height. To be correct, an aspect ratio should always be shown with the
1 present and a ratio sign between it and the decimal, so an Academy
frame becomes 1.33:1, which is said as ‘one point three three to one’.
The joy of using an aspect ratio is that it matters not whether one is
referring to a screen ratio or the aperture in the camera gate, the same
figures will apply – so if a projectionist receives a tin marked as 1.33:1
they will know exactly how to present the film and in what format it is
intended to be shown.
Widescreen
The majority of feature films are currently shot in what is casually
referred to as widescreen. This leads to some confusion as there are
two, very similar, widescreen formats in use. In the USA, it is common
to shoot widescreen in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, while in mainland
Europe 1.66:1 is more common. In Britain there is, most often, a typically
British compromise. This entails using a 1.66:1 hard mask, the actual
aperture cut into the camera gate, and marking up the viewfinder for
both 1.66:1, the outer frame, and 1.85:1, which will be shown as two
parallel lines just inside the top and bottom of the 1.66:1 markings. As
so many features are pre-sold to television this is good practice, as
slightly more emulsion area can be shown on television than could be
cut from the 1.85:1 ratio. This is done by taking the television transfer,
in 4 � 3 format, from the 1.66:1 master.A viewfinder showing all these
requirements would appear as in Figure 20.3.
This would translate to a camera negative layout as shown in Figure
20.4, where the outer rectangle is the 1.66:1 frame and the inner rectangle
is the 1.85:1 frame.The frame bar between the individual frames
has now grown even thicker. This wastage led to experiments with
three-perforation pull-down, as discussed in the following section.
The area of emulsion now used by a 1.85:1 widescreen negative compared
with the original full, or Silent, aperture is just 56 per cent of the
original, as shown in Figure 20.5. It says a lot for the developments in
emulsion technology that, despite using an image area of just a little
over half the original, we think of today’s screen images as being superb.
Three-perforation pull-down
Some years ago, several manufacturers introduced 35 mm cameras
either made for, or adaptable to, a three-perforation pull-down as
against the traditional four. This was because it had been noted that a
1.85:1 negative picture could be accommodated in the height of three
perforations if a hairline frame bar was accepted. The layout of the
three-perforation format is shown in Figure 20.6.The purpose of introducing
this was simply to reduce the cost of producing the master negative
by 25 per cent.
Despite this being a very sound idea, which the camera manufacturers
could easily go along with, editing equipment manufacturers were