The Golden Age of Hollywood: Crash Course Film History #11
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Date: 2022-04-04
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Comments and reviews: 10
Jeffrey
I know this is already three years old, but someone needs to point out that Mr. Benzine leaves out the most common film aspect ratio used for fifty years (pre-digital, while incorrectly asserting that most movies were made in the widescreen/anamorphic/2. 35: 1 aspect ratio. This is simply not true. That shape (and the lenses it requires) was reserved for spectacles and big action films (with slightly bigger budgets, while all the dramas and comedies (constituting the majority of studio releases) were being made in the most common aspect ratio of all, the one that's never mentioned here: 1. 85: 1. Early on Benzine refers to 16: 9, but not only is this a term that was never referred to before the late nineties/early 2000s, its equivalent is 1. 77: 1, which is not a film format at all. It is, however, close enough to 16: 9 that movies shot in 1. 85: 1 either lose a little bit of image on the right and left, gain a very thin letterbox top and bottom, or (say it ain't so) get slightly squeezed. But given the dominance of 1. 85: 1 material out there, it strikes me as bad form to never mention it.
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I know this is already three years old, but someone needs to point out that Mr. Benzine leaves out the most common film aspect ratio used for fifty years (pre-digital, while incorrectly asserting that most movies were made in the widescreen/anamorphic/2. 35: 1 aspect ratio. This is simply not true. That shape (and the lenses it requires) was reserved for spectacles and big action films (with slightly bigger budgets, while all the dramas and comedies (constituting the majority of studio releases) were being made in the most common aspect ratio of all, the one that's never mentioned here: 1. 85: 1. Early on Benzine refers to 16: 9, but not only is this a term that was never referred to before the late nineties/early 2000s, its equivalent is 1. 77: 1, which is not a film format at all. It is, however, close enough to 16: 9 that movies shot in 1. 85: 1 either lose a little bit of image on the right and left, gain a very thin letterbox top and bottom, or (say it ain't so) get slightly squeezed. But given the dominance of 1. 85: 1 material out there, it strikes me as bad form to never mention it.
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Zam
Actually, at least in North America, widescreen as a cinema standard generally refers to an aspect ratio of 1. 85: 1, which is slightly wider than the now-standard TV ratio of 16: 9 (1. 77: 1. Despite how common 16: 9 TV screens are, 1. 85: 1 is still the standard for cinema, which is why you can often see slight letterboxing when you play theatrically released widescreen movies on a 16: 9 TV. This is also why 4K and 2K are technically different formats from 1080p and UHD. The former are cinema formats (1. 85: 1, and the latter are TV formats (16: 9. It's still uncommon for films to be projected theatrically at 16: 9, although I'm sure that will change. Also confusing: of the two most common aspect ratios used today, widescreen is the less wide (the other is scope, 2. 35: 1.
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Actually, at least in North America, widescreen as a cinema standard generally refers to an aspect ratio of 1. 85: 1, which is slightly wider than the now-standard TV ratio of 16: 9 (1. 77: 1. Despite how common 16: 9 TV screens are, 1. 85: 1 is still the standard for cinema, which is why you can often see slight letterboxing when you play theatrically released widescreen movies on a 16: 9 TV. This is also why 4K and 2K are technically different formats from 1080p and UHD. The former are cinema formats (1. 85: 1, and the latter are TV formats (16: 9. It's still uncommon for films to be projected theatrically at 16: 9, although I'm sure that will change. Also confusing: of the two most common aspect ratios used today, widescreen is the less wide (the other is scope, 2. 35: 1.
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wotan237
This is a top notch explanation yet color films were still rare until the late 1950's. We had three breakthrough films around 1938-39 in color ( Gone w/ the Wind, Adventures of Robin Hood, Wizard of Oz. but black and white remained the norm until mid to late 50's. Low budget films were still being made in B&W up to about 1964. So it is risky to claim that the Golden Age had color films as a major component, since color was rare. I assume cost was the deciding factor?
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This is a top notch explanation yet color films were still rare until the late 1950's. We had three breakthrough films around 1938-39 in color ( Gone w/ the Wind, Adventures of Robin Hood, Wizard of Oz. but black and white remained the norm until mid to late 50's. Low budget films were still being made in B&W up to about 1964. So it is risky to claim that the Golden Age had color films as a major component, since color was rare. I assume cost was the deciding factor?
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Jan
Just a slight correction, Technicolor was actually replaced in the 50s with 1 roll color film, that uses 3 layers of color/light sensitive material on 1 role, not 3 separate ones. Which would mean that you can put it in the same camera as you use for black and white film, which was waaaay smaller than a Technicolor camera. And THAT technology was used until digital.
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Just a slight correction, Technicolor was actually replaced in the 50s with 1 roll color film, that uses 3 layers of color/light sensitive material on 1 role, not 3 separate ones. Which would mean that you can put it in the same camera as you use for black and white film, which was waaaay smaller than a Technicolor camera. And THAT technology was used until digital.
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rockin. robby
How come you show film strips as -horizontal- at 5: 55 and 7: 56? Wasn't it just VistaVision that ran the film stock horizontally through the camera? And shouldn't you say the -point- when you refer to 2. 55: 1 and 2. 35: 1 aspect ratios (at 8: 04 and 8: 20?
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How come you show film strips as -horizontal- at 5: 55 and 7: 56? Wasn't it just VistaVision that ran the film stock horizontally through the camera? And shouldn't you say the -point- when you refer to 2. 55: 1 and 2. 35: 1 aspect ratios (at 8: 04 and 8: 20?
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Jesus
I love this episode! It's beautiful how you give us a visual comparison of the cinema screens, something I had never thought of too deeply before!
I was just reading American Cinema / American Culture, and realized how much of some films are lost at TV.
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I love this episode! It's beautiful how you give us a visual comparison of the cinema screens, something I had never thought of too deeply before!
I was just reading American Cinema / American Culture, and realized how much of some films are lost at TV.
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moon
What happened to Columbia Picture Studios who produced such hits as: ' Born Yesterday', ' Picnic' and 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'. They also had mega star's: William Holden, Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford under contract?
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What happened to Columbia Picture Studios who produced such hits as: ' Born Yesterday', ' Picnic' and 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'. They also had mega star's: William Holden, Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford under contract?
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IM
I don't know about you guys but i'm feeling pretty lucky to be able to watch this on my personal smartphone seeing what these people have to deal with. Heil to the smartphone, the greatest invention of our century yet.
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I don't know about you guys but i'm feeling pretty lucky to be able to watch this on my personal smartphone seeing what these people have to deal with. Heil to the smartphone, the greatest invention of our century yet.
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Pelger
I think the 70s and 80s should be called -the golden age-, all the best movies came out in those decades. all the classics and big franchises. it's like movies peaked in the 70s and 80s.
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I think the 70s and 80s should be called -the golden age-, all the best movies came out in those decades. all the classics and big franchises. it's like movies peaked in the 70s and 80s.
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Mark
Pinocchio (1940) is my number one favorite full length animated Disney (1923-) film while Fantasia (1940) is my second favorite full length animated Disney (1923-) film.
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Pinocchio (1940) is my number one favorite full length animated Disney (1923-) film while Fantasia (1940) is my second favorite full length animated Disney (1923-) film.
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