Bygone

Remember the old days when DVDs would deliver boxy, full-frame versions of films shot at standard Academy ratio of 1.37 to 1 (but which are routinely masked off at 1.85 to 1 when they’re shown in theatres)? Those are pretty much gone, and I kinda miss ‘em. I like height (i.e., lots of headroom) and I love boxiness. But the 16 x 9 fascists have pretty much killed that aesthetic. Old studio-era films (mid-1950s and older) are still mastered at 1.37, of course, but that’s the extent of it.

Some day boxy frames will be regarded with the same damp-eyed nostalgia that old-time record collectors feel for 45 and 78 rpms.

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28 thoughts on “Bygone”

  1. 1.85 (and variants) has been the theatrical widescreen non-scope standard since mid 1953 for Hollywood films. Other than a handful of films, nothing since then is designed for the “boxy” shape. Protected, yes, for tv showings (but always zoomed in), but correct.

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  3. It’s getting so that anybody these days can call themselves a fascist without really doing the hard work to earn the title. It’s a lot like a producer credit.

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  4. And how does 16×9 kill boxiness when it was boxy television that forced movies to go wide in the first place?

    Get some curtains for your widescreen TV.

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  5. Lord, the first dvd edition of The Thing (can’t speak to the other two) was non-anamorphic. It has since been reissued in anamorphic 2.35:1 and is also available on BluRay.

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  7. Midnight in Paris was a beautiful box — and it was going to be shown in anamorphic widescreen until we bitched to the ushers.

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  8. Njmoviefan is exactly the kind of 1.85 / 16 x9 fascist I’m speaking of. He can put on his Fred Astaire tap shoes and dance all over the room between now and midnight, but, as I’ve said so many times I’ve getting sick of hearing myself say it., ’50s and’ 60s film were ROUTINELY issued on laser discs in the ’90s with 1.66 aspect ratios. 1.85 is pretty damn awful with older films (except those shot in Vista Vision). It really does have to be 1.66 to 1.33 so up the fascist flagpole with that dictatorial brownshirt aspect-ratio proclamation of 1.85, 1.85, 1.85 and more 1.85 with older films. Stanley Kubrick hated 1.85 in general. He believed in breathing room and so do I for older (’50s and ’60s and even early ’70s) films. We’re trying to break free here….we’re trying to be Spartacus and free the slaves and bring back the boxier shapes for older films.

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  9. Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good emotional rant. Yes, many lasers, VHS, and DVDs of films from that era were released at 1.37 and 1.66 Those releases were incorrectly formatted for the most part Theatre audiences saw them widescreen and home viewers should too since that is their intended format. Do your homework and go view the studio records and trade magazines: mid-1953 was the studio changeover and by the end of 1954 most theatres were set up for 1.85 and scope only.

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  11. Midnight in Paris was a beautiful box — and it was going to be shown in anamorphic widescreen until we bitched to the ushers.

    where to begin with this

    1) Midnight in Paris was shot flat, not anamorphic (Allen’s only anamorphic films are Manhattan and Anything Else, and What’s Up Tiger Lily if you count that)

    2) I can only assume it “beautiful box” means the print showed a full 1.37:1 image, which is completely normal for non-anamorphic, non-Super 35 movies, which are usually (like 99% of the time) shot and printed in 1.37:1 but matted down to 1.85:1 during projection — the existence of a 1.37:1 image on the print indicates nothing about the intended aspect ratio

    I mean it would be pretty cool if Allen had actually framed Midnight in Paris for 1.37:1 and if there were any evidence to that effect, but I’m not holding my breath

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  12. Wasn’t Spartacus 2.20:1 though?…

    70mm prints were (standard 70mm is 2.2:1), the 35mm prints were 2.35:1 and that’s how the film was shot

    2.2:1 is the intended AR since it was made primarily for 70mm exhibition

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  13. thanks to our sponsors and now back to the exciting conclusion of Meek’s Cutoff …. is Meek’s Cutoff the first film to be shot and screened in 1.33 since Bob Roberts?

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  14. Bob the theater I went to today didn’t change out the previous movie in the autitorium which was Green Lantern — so wants I ran down to an available usher — the changed out the print and the anamorphic lens was still on once the bright blue SPC logo appears on screen.

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  15. Bob the theater I went to today didn’t change out the previous movie in the autitorium which was Green Lantern — so I ran down to an available usher — they changed out the print and the anamorphic lens was still on once the bright blue SPC logo appears on screen.

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  16. that explains the “anamorphic” part, but your post still seems to say that Midnight in Paris is supposed to be 1.37:1 and that’s the first I’ve heard of that

    @berg:

    thanks to our sponsors and now back to the exciting conclusion of Meek’s Cutoff …. is Meek’s Cutoff the first film to be shot and screened in 1.33 since Bob Roberts?

    no, there’s plenty of others — films by Van Sant (Elephant/Last Days/Paranoid Park), Pedro Costa (all his DV work), Rohmer (who preferred Academy ratio throughout his career), Godard, Guy Maddin, Seijun Suzuki (Pistol Opera), innumerable indie films made with standard 16mm or (pre-HD) video, etc.

    hell, one of the Dogme rules mandated Academy ratio

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  17. I never said it was supposed to be 1.37 — you infer that from my post — I said it was a beautiful box which 1.85 can certainly be depending on the venue you’re viewing it from.

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  18. @ Berg, comment 13: Andrea Arnold’s “Fish Tank” is also a 1.33 aspect ratio. That both “Tank” and “Meek’s Cutoff” were directed by women you may make of what you will.

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