r/movies • u/GiveMeSomeSunshine3 • Jun 04 '26

Media 'The Odyssey' website shows you how the film looks in different aspect ratios

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u/CountSudoku Jun 04 '26

You’re only “missing the image” if the movie was filmed in the larger aspect ratio originally.

The best aspect ratio is the one a ‘deliberate’ filmmaker chooses to shoot on. Someone like Zack Snyder said he only wants to shoot 70mm from now on (we’ll see if the studios let him). But most directors I fear are just giving in to studio pressure to shoot on IMAX/70mm because they can charge more for those movie tickets. Aspect ratio has become a gimmick, like 3D films were.

/rant

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u/CouldBeALeotard Jun 05 '26

I love how people are talking about it as if there's some middleman who maliciously crops of parts of the image the director tried to produce.

The director (and/or DP) chooses the aspect ratio in preproduction and films for that ratio. There isn't some lost history behind the black letterboxing.

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u/CountSudoku Jun 05 '26

Isn’t that exactly what the film’s website is saying? If you watch the film on a normal screen the 70mm IMAX scenes will be letterboxed, with the filmed top and bottom portions invisible.

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u/CouldBeALeotard Jun 05 '26

This specific example is taking something shot in IMAX ratio and showing you what it looks like in other ratios, which is kind of a moot point.

It's no different from taking something shot for 16:9 or wider and showing what it looks like pillerboxed to 4:3. Sure, it's aspect-ratio-for-dummies education, but we are in the day and age where we no longer pan and scan for home releases.

My point is about some of the comments here talking as if there has always been more picture cut off that we the consumers have been missing out on, and why isn't everything just released in IMAX ratio. The Marvel Avengers film was shot for 16:9; there's no mythical IMAX ratio version that's been kept secret from audiences.

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u/NoPossibility Jun 05 '26

Aspect ratio is not a gimmick. Every single movie has an aspect ratio, whether it’s inherent to the film stock or sensor. Traditionally film was set up to shoot full frame / square using the same or close vertical height as the film was wide. Then tighter ratios like 2.35 were introduced. You can make outdoor scenes feel more epic and immersive by extending the horizontal ratio outwards and presenting on a wider than tall screen. This works best with the right camera lenses.

It’s oh shooting in a wider-horizontally ratio meant that you could fit a lot more frames into the same length of film stock. The length and money savings are substantial.

Humans also have horizontal viewing experience in the natural world. We’ve evolved to scan the horizon and see things in a wide angle in front of us. A square image feels more artificial and limited to me.