7
The shape of the screen
Aspect ratio
The ratio of the longest side of a rectangle to the shortest side is called the aspect ratio of that rectangle. The aspect ratio of a film or television frame and the relationship of the subject to the edge of frame has a considerable impact on the composition of a shot. Historically, film progressed from the Academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (a 4:3 rectangle) to a mixture of CinemaScope and widescreen ratios. TV inherited the 4:3 screen size and then, with the advent of digital production and reception, some countries took the opportunity to convert to a TV wide-screen ratio of 1.78:1 (16:9).
Figure 7.1 ...
Get Picture Composition, 2nd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
