Aspect ratios
Why are there occasionally black bars at the top and bottom of the screen when watching a movie? Why do the curtains on either side of the screen sometimes move when watching a movie in a theatre?
The aspect ratio refers to the ratio between the width and height of the image you see on the screen. What, exactly, is their purpose?
Our colleague Nicolas Dulac answers this question!
Directed, filmed, and edited by Rémi Fréchette
Still from The General by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman, 1926.
Still from Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino, 1992.