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What is Scope ?


deepak srinivasan

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Hi Friends i have a doubt i have this doubt for long time and actually confused myself with this kindly clear my doubt

 

Questions

 

1. What is scope ? what is scope's aspect ratio ?

 

2. Is scope is an another term used to say 35mm film ?

 

3. What is the difference between a footage shot using spherical lens & a footage shot using anamorphic lens ?

 

4. Can only super 35 format film be shot using anamorphic lens or even 1.85:1 film also be shot with anamorphic lens ?

 

THESE QUESTIONS LOOK LIKE VERY SILLY QUESTIONS BUT STILL THESE ARE DOUBTS WHICH ARE IN MY MIND FOR LONG TIME AND AM VERY CONFUSED WITH THIS.SO PLS KINDLY CLEAR MY DOUBT

 

THANKS IN ADVANCE :)

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I suspect the term "scope" is a shortening of Cinemascope, the anamorphic system first used on "The Robe" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CinemaScope

 

The term has continued being used when a film has been shot using other systems like Panavision or any film that has an aspect ratio around of 2.39:1. You can find the term scope being used on digital cameras, which crop to this aspect ratio.

 

An anamorphic lens squeezes the image, where as a spherical lens leaves the image flat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamorphic_format

 

Super 35mm is normally shot using spherical lenses and then either optically or digitally squeezed to be projected through the anamorphic optics fitted to the projector. Anamorphic films traditionally use the standard 35mm motion picture frame, rather than the Super 35, which also uses the area used by the optical soundtrack.

 

There are anamorphic lenses for Super 35mm sensor digital cameras, which don't have such a large squeeze factor.

 

1.85 is shot with a spherical lens, there's no need to use an anamorphic, which do have disadvantages eg being heavier.

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It's probably clearer to look at it historically. In the beginning, there was silent 1.33:1, with frames an inch wide by 3/4" high. Next came sound, which took some of the side off the old silent frame, leaving a very squarish 1.18:1 aspect ratio. Nobody liked that, so the Academy standardized the frame used throughout the 1930's and 40's, 1.37:1, with room for the sound track, and fat frame lines. When TV became a factor after WWII, movie studios wanted to go bigger by making the screens wider. There were two successful paths: 1.85:1 flat, basically the Academy aperture, only with even fatter frame lines, and 2.39:1, which used the old 1.18:1 full height frame with a 2:1 anamorphic squeeze. Initially they tried 2.35:1, but found that the splices were showing, so they reduced the height just a little to hide them. That's scope.

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

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If you say "we are shooting scope" people would generally assume you are talking about full 4-perf anamorphic 35mm: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cinemascope_4_perf_35_mm_film.png

 

It has a projected aspect ratio of 2.39:1 but the image is squeezed 2x horizontally by the lens when it is recorded on the film. Several decades ago the standard frame size was just a little bit taller and yielded a projected image of 2.35:1 so you still hear a lot of people refer to it as that even though in most cases it would actually be 2.39:1. Some people also call it 2.40:1, but it's the same thing. Generally anytime you hear 2.35:1, 2.39:1, or 2.40:1 they all refer to the same thing that is actually 2.39:1.

 

Anamorphic lenses are bulky and can have some drawbacks as far as ease of use so Super35 was invented. It used a slightly wider area on the negative and had an aspect ratio close to 1.33:1. A center (or sometimes slightly offset) area matching the 2.39:1 ratio was cropped out of the 1.33:1 image and converted to an anamorphic image for projection. This allowed cinematographers to use spherical lenses while still getting the wider 2.39:1 image. It does however come at the cost of some added softness and graininess and longer depth of field compared to true scope.

 

In recent years 3-perf Super35 has become more popular because you can still crop 2.39:1 out of it's centre but it has less "wasted image area" than 4-perf Super35. 2-perf is becoming more popular for 2.39:1 now as well, but it has a slightly reduced image area compared to 3 and 4 perf.

 

And just to clarify, no variation of Super 35mm is ever used with anamorphic lenses and neither in anything yielding 1.85:1. It is only true 4-perf "scope" 2.39:1 that uses anamorphic lenses.

 

So generally if you hear "we are shooting scope" they are shooting 4-perf 2.39:1 with anamorphic lenses, although some people do use the term to refer to anything that ends up as a final image with an aspect ratio of 2.39:1.

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The aspect ratio of scope is 2.39:1 now, and has been for most of its existence. In the very early days, they tried a little higher aperture, 2.35:1, but the negative splices sometimes showed on the screen. Some people also have started calling it 2.40:1, but that's incorrect.

 

Scope uses anamorphic lenses, and has a sound track area. Super 35 uses spherical lenses, and has no track, so they can use the whole width for the picture.

 

 

 

-- J.S.

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