The term aspect ratio has several translations in Spanish but they all serve to include the same concept: it is the proportion between the width and height of an image. That is, the shape of an image or film will be determined by those ratios.
The traditional television screen is made in a 4:3 shape (technically it is also called 1:33:1), which at first sight may seem square but it is not. This first ratio was established in 1892 by William Dickson, an employee of Thomas Edison, and was used as the standard for 35mm film rolls. When sound was incorporated into films, the ratio had to be modified and 1:37:1 became the standard. Classic films such as Casablanca or Citizen Kane had this format.
Since this format was practically the same as the one used in television, it was decided to improve and modify it in order to differentiate the experience of going to the movies from the experience of watching a movie from our home couch. This is how the frames were adopted: Cinerama (2.59:1), VistaVision (1.85:1) and then IMAX (1.43:1) as they allowed to include more information in the same frame and give the viewer a better vision of what was happening in the story. The 4:3 ratio was no longer used after that.
But what is changing nowadays that some producers and directors are using this ratio again? It's because technical evolution today makes it possible to record the same content with the same camera and lens and replicate it in different formats. Younger directors who have grown up in a multi-screen culture know that the technological environment is not an impediment and therefore often use this older format as part of the story or point of view they want to tell. For example, The Grand Budapest Hotel is an example of a current film that has different aspect ratios and that uses this resource for the story leaps in time.
"A wide 16:9 frame allows you to see landscape in a far more dynamic way but 4:3 allows for more intimate portraiture" says Rian Brown-Orso, an independent film director.
So, as you can see, in the entertainment industry the past is never completely past as everything can be reused to help us tell a better story. We invite you to start watching the films with a more critical eye to discover the different frames.
Long live the cinema!