the aspect ratio


IMDb lists the aspect ratio for this version of Faust as 1.37:1. That's also known as a 4:3 ratio, meaning width of theatre screen divided by the height of the screen.

That ratio was common up to about 1960s in the US. It's unusual for a modern film, which usually employs a wider screen in theatrical release. I watched this movie on a Kino Lorber DVD from Netflix. Instead of narrow black edges on either size of the TV screen expected with 4:3, this yielded almost a square image on the TV screen, with wide black borders on the sides of the image, which looked very unusual.

The cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel was his usual excellent effort that adds to the quality of films he works on. I assume the decision to film in 4:3 was a judgement by director and cinematographer, maybe to emphasize the era of the story as the long-ago past.

E pluribus unum

reply

JackBluegrass Tue Nov 1 2016 17:41:04

IMDb lists the aspect ratio for this version of Faust as 1.37:1. That's also known as a 4:3 ratio, meaning width of theatre screen divided by the height of the screen.

That ratio was common up to about 1960s in the US. It's unusual for a modern film, which usually employs a wider screen in theatrical release. I watched this movie on a Kino Lorber DVD from Netflix. Instead of narrow black edges on either size of the TV screen expected with 4:3, this yielded almost a square image on the TV screen, with wide black borders on the sides of the image, which looked very unusual.

The cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel was his usual excellent effort that adds to the quality of films he works on. I assume the decision to film in 4:3 was a judgement by director and cinematographer, maybe to emphasize the era of the story as the long-ago past.

E pluribus unum

Aha...Mephisto would reward you for that info.

reply

Maybe....

Has anyone seen this film in a theater? If so, does it have a squareish - or "old-style" - image size on the big screen?

E pluribus unum

reply