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Choosing The Right Aspect Ratio For Your Film

Explains how different aspect ratios, from boxy 4:3 to wide 2.39:1, carry different emotional and historical associations, and how to pick one deliberately using specific films as case studies.

In Depth Cine · 13 min · Intermediate · CIN · Cinematography · 2023

What you take away

Decide your aspect ratio at the script stage, based on the story's tone.

Watch it

Filed under

Shot anamorphic and wide

Oscar winners for cinematography

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
The Aviator (2004)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Road to Perdition (2002)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Books on cinematography

Kit for this lesson

Laowa Nanomorph 35mm T2.4 1.5x — Anamorphic small enough for a gimbal
Laowa Nanomorph 50mm T2.4 1.5x — The Nanomorph normal — still small enough to fly
SIRUI Venus 50mm T2.9 1.6x anamorphic — Full-frame anamorphic, the cheapest there is
SIRUI Venus 35mm T2.9 1.6x — The wide end of the cheapest full-frame anamorphic set
Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II — The wide end of the same set
Canon RF 50mm F1.2 L USM — The portrait-adjacent normal

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