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Framing and composition questions


Timothy Fransky

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I've been thinking about 16x9 framing in super 8 lately. I'm almost prepared to have my camera modded, but I have a few questions.

 

Am I observing incorrectly that cinema is always trying to stretch wider?

 

I love a wide image, no doubt, but I find that the height of the frame doesn't increase much either.

 

Why is it that filmmakers want to go wider (i.e. Cinemascope, VistaVision), but not taller?

 

The sides of the frame never worry me really. Most of my favourite films are in the old Academy standard.

 

However, I do feel slightly hampered by the top of the frame when shooting. I know IMAX is quite tall, as it's shot and projected in portrait rather than landscape.

 

What are the odds of having both? Cinemascope wide and IMAX tall?

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The widescreen craze in the 1950s started with “This Is Cinerama” — Fred Waller, the inventor of Cinerama, realized that it was easier to make an existing theater screen much wider than both wider and taller to make it bigger because of architectural limitations. True IMAX theaters were designed and built with a tall screen in mind.

 

There were some experiments in the early 30s with enlarging the Academy image onto larger screens in theaters that could be converted but it wasn’t impressive to just make the 35mm frame bigger but not sharper.

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Why is it that filmmakers want to go wider (i.e. Cinemascope, VistaVision), but not taller?

 

Aside from the reasons of cinema construction, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that human vision naturally has a field of view that is much wider than it is tall.

 

 

I'd want to shoot taller as well as widee.

After a certain point, making the screen larger just means people sit further away.

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Aside from the reasons of cinema construction, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that human vision naturally has a field of view that is much wider than it is tall.

 

 

After a certain point, making the screen larger just means people sit further away.

Makes sense.

 

Wouldn't bother me where I sat, so long as I could see. Others probably feel differently.

 

One of the things I love about Buster Keaton films is the height of his landscape shots. I would think that with the right subject, you could draw an audience more fully into the film.

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The point of IMAX is to sit close enough that the image starts to fall into your peripheral vision (which requires the image have enough resolution) particularly above your head which is why IMAX documentaries have a lot of headroom. Same goes for Cinerama on the lateral direction, these are meant to be immersive viewing experiences where you dont perceive the frame edges so much.

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The point of IMAX is to sit close enough that the image starts to fall into your peripheral vision (which requires the image have enough resolution) particularly above your head which is why IMAX documentaries have a lot of headroom. Same goes for Cinerama on the lateral direction, these are meant to be immersive viewing experiences where you dont perceive the frame edges so much.

 

This is really what I'm describing, isn't it? My background is the theatre, in which the audience does indeed see in three dimensions. Sometimes a director will play with space to limit or expand the audiences' vision, but the only limits on space are really the building you're working in.

 

IMAX is a very useful tool, if expensive.

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I've been thinking about 16x9 framing in super 8 lately. I'm almost prepared to have my camera modded, but I have a few questions.

 

 

I would not touch a running Camera. Modding is nice, but especcially at 8mm difficult to "widen" the gate with a vile and the polish.

 

I personally have a Canon DS8 (double super8) and i put a Anamorphic Adapter onto the Lense (1.33). That gives me fairly a 16:9 AR.

Have a look at Maxims Adapters. I was sceptical first but he does a nice Job. I have one of his Adapters and it works just fine

 

http://www.vormax.org/anamorphic-lens-1-33x

 

PS: I consider to sell my Canon DS8 if i have a fair Offer.

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I would not touch a running Camera. Modding is nice, but especcially at 8mm difficult to "widen" the gate with a vile and the polish.

 

I personally have a Canon DS8 (double super8) and i put a Anamorphic Adapter onto the Lense (1.33). That gives me fairly a 16:9 AR.

Have a look at Maxims Adapters. I was sceptical first but he does a nice Job. I have one of his Adapters and it works just fine

 

http://www.vormax.org/anamorphic-lens-1-33x

 

PS: I consider to sell my Canon DS8 if i have a fair Offer.

 

That's good advice. I'll look into the anamorphic adapters you mention. I'm not certain they'll work on my Elmo, though. Something to consider all the same.

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PS: I consider to sell my Canon DS8 if i have a fair Offer.

 

 

I would not touch a running Camera. Modding is nice, but especcially at 8mm difficult to "widen" the gate with a vile and the polish.

 

I personally have a Canon DS8 (double super8) and i put a Anamorphic Adapter onto the Lense (1.33). That gives me fairly a 16:9 AR.

Have a look at Maxims Adapters. I was sceptical first but he does a nice Job. I have one of his Adapters and it works just fine

 

http://www.vormax.org/anamorphic-lens-1-33x

 

PS: I consider to sell my Canon DS8 if i have a fair Offer.

 

 

Camera is Elmo Super 106.

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I would not touch a running Camera. Modding is nice, but especcially at 8mm difficult to "widen" the gate with a vile and the polish.

 

I personally have a Canon DS8 (double super8) and i put a Anamorphic Adapter onto the Lense (1.33). That gives me fairly a 16:9 AR.

Have a look at Maxims Adapters. I was sceptical first but he does a nice Job. I have one of his Adapters and it works just fine

 

http://www.vormax.org/anamorphic-lens-1-33x

 

PS: I consider to sell my Canon DS8 if i have a fair Offer.

 

Also, with the lack of availability of DS8, it doesn't make sense for me. If I were to change formats, I'd just go full 16mm.

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