STANDARD
35 MILLIMETER
This
is the workhorse of the industry
for television series, TV
commercials and even theatrical
films. The film is 35 millimeters
wide and was Edison's projection
standard that theaters adopted
before the wide screen formats.
Most professional 35mm motion
picture cameras use some variant
of this format. An Academy
full frame is 4 perfs tall
but can be cropped to 1:1.85
(aspect ratio) wide screen
format. The need for expensive
Panavision or Cinemascope
anamorphic equipment is not
absolutely necessary if it's
not in your budget. Any standard
35mm image can be cropped
to a wide screen format in
the lab, or masked directly
at the film gate. Your shots
can be photographed with wide
screen framing in mind, framing
everything in the viewfinder
under the assumption that
the top and bottom edges are
to be cut off. The film you
shoot with the most inexpensive
35mm camera can be used to
make a feature film - if good
lenses are used and you dub
your dialogue in post (supposing
you had an old coffee grinder
for a camera). Since most
successful independent films
find their way to a video
release (if they're the lucky
few), it's probably a good
idea to shoot full-frame Academy
- that way, if your distributor
demands you lose the letterbox,
you can without cropping even
further into your image area
(rather than be left with
little more than Super-16
image area after more cropping
in the lab).
35mm
ANAMORPHIC
(PANAVISION, ARRISCOPE, CINEMASCOPE)
This
theatrical format is THE standard
for true wide-screen feature
films. The format is identical
to full frame, 4 perf 35mm
with one exception - the camera
is fitted with an anamorphic
lens that squeezes a wide
screen image into the same
image area as standard 35mm.
When exhibited in the theater,
the projector must be fitted
with an anamorphic projection
lens to un-squeeze the image
to fill the wide screen (or
else everything looks too
tall and too thin). In post,
there are extra considerations
created by anamorphic images
that will add to your complications.
Projected anamorphic images
have an aspect ratio of 1:2.35,
making it considerably wider
than 1:1.85. Generally, films
with epic, sweeping vistas
demand anamorphic photography.
35mm
SPHERICAL PANAVISION
(3 PERF IMAGE/4 PERF FRAME)
This
Theatrical format is a very
popular standard for most
theatrically released feature
films. The format is identical
to 35mm Academy with one exception
- the image remains about
the same width, but the image
is masked to just 3 perfs
in height (but the film still
advances 4 perfs per frame).
This full width, although
shorter image has a lot of
border between frames. The
need for special anamorphic
lenses is not necessary to
fake a wide screen look. A
narrow strip running the entire
length of the film is reserved
on the outboard edge of the
image area for the optical
sound track or digital audio
encoding/reference, just like
standard 35mm. If you're smart,
you will wait to crop your
film to 1:1.85 in the lab
for many important reasons.
35mm
VISTAVISION
This
format is almost identical
to a 35mm still photograph.
The film travels in a horizontal
direction - exactly the same
way as a 35mm still camera.
Ever see a 35mm still negative
from a One-hour Photo place?
That's what a Vistavision
negative looks like. The frames
are eight perfs wide. This
format is used almost exclusively
for special effects and animation
because the cameras are fitted
with excellent registration
pins and offers a great alternative
to 65mm. The image size is
more than twice as large as
a standard 35mm image that
makes for greater definition
and increases registration
tolerance by 200% and more
when composited with 35 anamorphic
or Panavision formats.
65mm
(70mm) MILLIMETER WIDESCREEN
At
premiere theaters with 70mm
projection equipment, 70mm
films are exhibited with noticeably
greater clarity and sharpness.
Director Ron Howard's beautiful
1991 film "Far and Away"
was photographed with unbelievable
70mm visual clarity. The original
photography was shot in 65mm.
The release prints are 70mm
because extra edge material
is added to provide the space
for the audio/digital sync
tracks. Since the aspect ratio
is nearly identical to 1:2.35
anamorphic, it's the best
qualified format for digital
imaging destined for an anamorphically
projected movie. There are
several format variations
in 70mm but let the major
studios and the IMAX guys
worry about this one, it's
too expensive for independent
filmmakers to even consider.
