Choosing Aspect Ratios

After watching it answer the following questions in an in-depth response for each question. 

1. What are the key differences between different aspect ratios?

2. How does aspect ratio impact the audience's film experience?

3. How do filmmakers utilize aspect ratios in their craft?

    The key differences between the different aspect ratios are the sizes and amount of image shown on the screen. There are two most commonly know ratios: the 4:3 academy standard and the 16:9 widescreen ratio. However, there are even more that have been used in cinema throughout history, including but not limited to the 1:1 polaroid, 2.39:1 anamorphic, and 2.75:1 ultra-panavision. These have been created over time with advancing and changing technology regarding filmmaking, such as new types of film sizes, new ways of shooting, etc.

    Aspect ratios can impact the audience's perception of different moments and elicit different emotions. For instance, you can use a 4:3 aspect ratio to make a scene feel older as the ratio has associations with older films and videos. Each and every aspect ratio has a different set of connotations which can influence the feelings that the audience has. For example, many filmmakers depict space in a wider ratio to make it feel larger. 

    Some ways that filmmakers utilize aspect ratios is to influence audience perceptions, show more or less of the image, and/or tell the story. As previously mentioned, each aspect ratio has different connotations which affect how the audience perceives a scene or moment, which can be used to amplify different emotions by the filmmaker. Filmmakers can also use the aspect ratio to differentiate concepts from one another, such as the past vs. the present, dream vs. reality, pov vs. omniscient view point, etc.