2.

Storyboard and Aspect

a
bit of history
Ratio
IAB20403 Storyboard Design
Nor Hidayu Mohd Salimi

THIS FILM HAS BEEN MODIFIED

FROM ITS ORIGINAL VERSION.
IT HAS BEEN FORMATTED
TO FIT YOUR TV.

Aspect Ratio

Aspect Ratio
what is it?
Since there are many different aspect
ratios in use for film, the image has to
be modified to fit the television screen.
Original format the shape of the
screen, or size relationship between its
width and height.

ASPECT RATIO =
Ratio of the width to the
height of the picture

For example: 1.33:1 is an aspect ratio.

The first number, 1.33 represents the
width of the frame, whereas the second
number, 1, stands for the height.

Aspect Ratio
history
In the early days 1.33:1 (ratio for

When sound was incorporated into

motion pictures, the aspect ratio
was adjusted to 1.37:1 to make
room for an optical soundtrack on
the film frame

Image Area

Sound Strip

35mm film)

Aspect Ratio
history
Films produced in a 1.37:1 aspect
ratio include:
The Wizard of Oz
Gone with the Wind
Citizen Kane
Casablanca
The 1.37:1 aspect ratio remained
unchallenged until 1953

Aspect Ratio
history
1930s estimated 95 million people

1960s TV penetrated over 90

attended the theater

percent of homes dropped to 20

million of people attending the

Families (3-4 times a week), kids

movies

(every Saturday morning)

1970, Hollywood needed to
Mid 1950s, television was introduced

provide audiences with an

decreased to 45 million

entertainment experience they

could not get at home

TV adopted same 1.37:1 aspect ratio

of the film industry

Wider screen movies bigger

dimension than square shape of a
TV screen.

Aspect Ratio
history
Wider image fills more of our peripheral
vision and more intense & realistic
Studios began to compose their films in
various widescreen ratios including:
Cinerama
Cinemascope
Panavision

Cinerama
The movie industry was in a difficulty
after television adopted the same aspect
ratio
One of the ways to fought back
introduction of Cinerama
Cinerama is a widescreen process that,
originally, simultaneously projected
images from three synchronized 35 mm
projectors onto a huge, deeply curved
screen, subtending 146 of arc

Cinerama
Aspect ratio 2.60:1
Was introduced in New York in the 1952
show entitled This is Cinerama

Cinerama screen
(Courtesy of the American
WideScreen Museum)

Cinerama
The first
cinerama images
were of a roller
coaster ride
Viewers felt as
they were in the
first car as it
sped up, down,
and around the
tracks

Cinerama

There were seven movies released under the

Cinerama ultimately was abandoned because of

Cinerama including How the West Was Won,

the high cost of outfitting theaters with multiple

South Seas Adventure and Seven Wonders of the

cameras and projectors

World.

Cinemascope
Introduced by Twentieth Century Fox one
year after Cinerama
Requires outfitting cameras with an
anamorphic lens, which photographs the film
image and then compresses it
When the image is ready to be screened,
another anamorphic lens is used to
uncompress the footage

Cinemascope
When first introduces, aspect ratio
was 2.66:1 but reduce to 2.55:1.

Shooting without anamorphic

lens, in widescreen picture
format on 4-perf film; some of the
film surface area is wasted on
the upper/lower, black frame
lines.

Films produced in CinemaScope

include Disneys 20,000 Leagues
Under the Sea, Lady and the Tramp,
In Like Flint and Rope.
This process lasted until the late
1960s.

Shooting with an anamorphic

lens stretches the image
vertically to cover the entire film
frame, resulting in a higher
quality but distorted image. When
projecting the film, a reverse,
complementary lens (of the same
anamorphic power) shrinks the
image vertically to the original
proportions.

Cinemascope

Cinemascope screen
(Courtesy of the American
WideScreen Museum)

Panavision
Followed on the heels of CinemaScope
by creating anamorphic lenses in the
late 1960s
Reduced some of the issues that
CinemaScope was having with
compression
Ultimately led to it becoming the
standard choice within the industry
Aspect ratios are 2.35:1 and 1.85:1
which are the current film standard

Screenshot of The Big Fisherman (1959),

the first film released using the Super
Panavision 70 process. The image shows
the 2.20:1 aspect ratio in which the film
was presented.

Aspect Ratio
common
formats

Most films today are shot in either a

A standard tv screen has a 1.37:1 aspect ratio

1.85:1 or 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

but many TV being manufactures today have

wider aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (commonly

Films produced in 1.85:1 are personal

referred to as a 16:9 ratio)

films that include: comedians, dramas

and animated films.

A 16:9 screen contains more images content

and enhances the movie experience

2.35:1 epic or monumental film >

Gladiator, Lord of the Rings and

Since 16:9 or 1.78:1 aspect ratio is closer to

Braveheart.

the theatrical screen ratio of 1.85:1, when

cropped for wider screen, the 1.85:1 film does
not lose noticeable picture information

Aspect Ratio
various formats

Aspect Ratio
various formats

Aspect Ratio
modification
PAN & SCAN
Resized the widescreen movies to fit

Using pan & scan, a video technician will re-

within a 1.37:1 aspect ratio.

edit the shot either by cutting back and forth

between a conservation to follow the action,

Locates the center of interest of an

or by cropping the image according to the

image and fits it into the space available

center of interest.

for standard television.

A 1.85:1 aspect ratio will lose about 25
For example, two characters at either end

percent of the film image.

of a shot within a widescreen version, one

or both characters will be lost when it is

2.35:1 aspect ratio loses almost 45-50

displayed in a standard television.

percent

Aspect Ratio
modification

Aspect Ratio
modification
LETTERBOXING
For most directors, pan & scan was not a

Letterboxed images, however, do not fill the

viable alternative to showcasing their

entire screen.

films on television.
The picture is centered along the horizontal
Many banded together to ensure that

plan and shrunk to fit the shape of television

their compositions would not be

screen.

manipulated under pan & scan.

This results in empty space above and below
Instead, directors opted for letterboxing,
which maintains a films original aspect
ratio, preserving the image as it was
originally seen in a movie theater

the image

Aspect Ratio
modification
Neutral Space

Preserved Picture

Neutral Space

Aspect Ratio
modification

Storyboard
template

Storyboard
template

Storyboard
template

Storyboard
template

Thank
s!!
Any questions?

hold on!

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