Those interested in "aspect ratio" might be intrigued to know that manipulating
this property of the screen image is one of the many elements of modern cinema
practice that reaches back to magic-lantern shows. In fact, it is one of the
leading reasons that Joseph Boggs Beale, America's foremost magic-lantern
artist, began his ML career.
In the 1880s, C. W. Briggs and Co., the leading wholesaler of illustrated
lantern slides, decided to create a magic-lantern repertoire of great American
and World literature. His original concept was to find suitable engravings,
and simply copy them. But the images were in all sorts of different "aspect
ratios." (The term wasn't used then, but the concept was certainly
understood.) The different aspect ratios made the slides jump around on the
screen when projected, destroying one aspect of continuity. To fix this
problem, Briggs hired artists (Beale included) to "match out" the engravings --
that is, to paint in the borders to make them all a standard aspect ratio.
The artists were extraordinarily skillful at this; sometimes it is almost
impossible to tell that a slide has been matched out. But the technique did
not not solve the more serious continuity issues raised by trying to create a
sequential screen story with images that were not originally made for that
purpose. Essential coherence, to say nothing of dramatic effect, was
sacrificed. As a result, Beale was hired to work full time on developing story
sets specifically for screen projection. He created a unique style for this
purpose, quite different from that which he had used in his previous career as
an illustrator with _Harper's, Leslie's_, etc. He kept at the ML project for
the next 25 years, creating about 125 screen stories and songs.
During the 1890's, when the cheaper 3-1/4 x 4" "Economy" slides began
replacing the old 3" round ones in wooden frames, aspect ratio came up again
because the slide makers were in the same position as today's movie producers
-- creating for several possible end-use shapes. Beale solved this problem by
creating "the circle within the square." All critical information was kept
"within the circle." When he created his storyboards for Briggs he actually
drew in the circles, so that Briggs could see what would be transferable from
one aspect ratio to another.
Terry Borton
The American Magic-Lantern Theater
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http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html
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