Widescreen
Widescreen is a film-image format wider than the traditional Academy ratio. It expands the horizontal field available for composition and projection.
Aspect ratio: The proportional relationship between an image's width and height. Widescreen is defined by a frame wider than the Academy ratio.
Academy ratio: The standardized film frame ratio of approximately 1.37:1, widely used in American cinema from the 1930s. Widescreen formats were wider than this established theatrical standard.
Cinematography: The art and practice of creating moving images through camera placement, lighting, and image capture. Wider frames change choices about camera position, staging, and visual balance.
Fullscreen: A display or presentation that fills a screen, often by cropping or reframing a wider image. The label often describes narrower adaptations that do not preserve the complete widescreen frame.
Anamorphic format: A filmmaking and projection method that squeezes a wide image horizontally and restores it during projection. Anamorphic lenses fit a wide scene onto film and expand it for screening.
The Robe: A 1953 American biblical epic released in CinemaScope, among the first feature films made in the format. Its release helped introduce CinemaScope widescreen to mass audiences.
Mise-en-scène: The arrangement of actors, settings, lighting, and objects within a filmed scene. A wide frame can place characters and visual details across a broader field.
VistaVision: A motion-picture process that runs 35 mm film horizontally through the camera to capture a larger image area. It achieved high image quality without squeezing the image anamorphically.
Panavision: A company known for developing and supplying motion-picture camera and projection equipment, including anamorphic systems. Its lenses and systems became closely associated with widescreen production.
CinemaScope: A widescreen motion-picture process introduced by 20th Century Fox in 1953, using anamorphic lenses. It became the best-known early response to television's competition for audiences.