View Full Version : 2.35:1 aspect composition practice


Christian Nachtrieb
February 8th, 2008, 06:17 PM
http://www.vimeo.com/674848

Shot this Friday afternoon, just getting some practice composing shots in the 2.35:1 ratio.

24f, exposure was left at 1/24 by mistake. Very short, only 30 seconds. I will add more to this soon, but frankly I didn't feel like standing out in the cold for too long today. New York bites sometimes.

Takashi Doscher
February 8th, 2008, 11:58 PM
I think the composition looks great at that aspect ratio. The music also added a fantastic overtone of suspense to go along with the dreary weather and dead end sign.

As a new user of the A1, how did you achieve that extra wide aspect ratio. Are you using an adapter with a different lens?

Christian Nachtrieb
February 9th, 2008, 01:04 AM
It's not really extra wide, I just cropped it in Final Cut. You can apply a widescreen matte, and then all I did was change the Sequence settings to a custom aspect ratio and used the widescreen bars as a guideline.

After you do that it chops off the black bars and it's just video. This has to be the very last thing you do in editing though, otherwise you have to re-render a lot.

Charles Papert
February 9th, 2008, 03:09 AM
Landscapes really lend themselves to that aspect ratio. People can be a bit trickier, especially over-the-shoulder shots.

Will Mahoney
March 1st, 2008, 10:37 AM
I thought that it looked great. Keep up the good work.

Charles Papert
March 1st, 2008, 01:25 PM
About to start a 2.40 feature, studio has requested that we protect the 1.85 frame in case they change their mind about the release format. Luckily I don't have to compose for both (pretty much impossible from a headroom standpoint) but this means keeping booms and dolly track and flags etc. way clear of the 2.40 frame, tough on the sound guys.

incidentally, here is a trailer for a feature I shot a few years ago in 2.40 on the F900, same method as Christian described (cropped from the 1.78 frame).

http://theperfectsleep.com/

Rob Cook
March 2nd, 2008, 09:10 PM
It's not really extra wide, I just cropped it in Final Cut. You can apply a widescreen matte, and then all I did was change the Sequence settings to a custom aspect ratio and used the widescreen bars as a guideline.

After you do that it chops off the black bars and it's just video. This has to be the very last thing you do in editing though, otherwise you have to re-render a lot.


Christain,
I like your look....:) Nice! The A1 makes it easy!

I have FCS2 and would like to know what the "Sequence Setting" is to get just the video with out the black bars. Custom aspect ratio for that look is? I have tried but cant seem to find the right setting.
Thanks

Dmitry Futoryan
March 10th, 2008, 10:39 PM
About to start a 2.40 feature, studio has requested that we protect the 1.85 frame in case they change their mind about the release format. Luckily I don't have to compose for both (pretty much impossible from a headroom standpoint) but this means keeping booms and dolly track and flags etc. way clear of the 2.40 frame, tough on the sound guys.

incidentally, here is a trailer for a feature I shot a few years ago in 2.40 on the F900, same method as Christian described (cropped from the 1.78 frame).

http://theperfectsleep.com/

I loved the trailer for The Perfect Sleep. Not only was it shot superbly, the movie seemed very entertaining. I'd definitely watch it.