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June 2000, Week 2

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Subject:
From:
Jeremy Butler <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 14 Jun 2000 16:56:19 -0500
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I've noticed a few folks referring to "Academy Ratio" as being 1.66 to 1
when I'd always thought it was 1.33 to 1 (4 to 3).

Then I got to thinking about it and wasn't entirely sure if that was
correct and WHICH "Academy" was being referred to. Was it the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences?

So, I e-mailed a pal at AMPAS and he replied with . . .

>At 10:15 AM 06/13/2000 -0500, you wrote:
>>
>>Some folks have said it's 1.66:1, but I've always thought it was
>>1.33:1. Can you confirm or deny?
>
>Yes it is 1.33:1 and yes it is my Academy that it refers to. AMPAS didn't
>have anything to do with setting the standard (that was Edison), but, as
>Katz writes about the Academy, "... introduced the Academy mask in an
>effort to re-establish screen rectangularity at the then-standard aspect
>ratio of 1.33 : 1 (or 4 : 3). The area delineated by the mask is known as
>the Academy Aperture."


----
Jeremy Butler
[log in to unmask]
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/jbutler
Telecommunication & Film/University of Alabama/Tuscaloosa/AL

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