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Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers ( Volume: 14, Issue: 1, January 1930)
[ACTIVE]

Rectangle Proportions in Pictorial Composition

Metadata

Publisher
SMPTE
Doc Type
Journal Article
Article Type
research-article
Abstract
Since the birth of the motion picture some thirty years ago there have been discussions from time to time concerning the most satisfactory shape of the picture area. In the early stages of development several different shapes and sizes were proposed and tried experimentally. Using the ratio of width to height as a specification of the shape of the rectangle, we find among the very early productions values of this ratio varying all the way from 1.25 up to 2.0. Practice finally crystallized, however, and a rectangle having a width of four units and a height of three units (R = 1.33) was adopted as standard. This continued as almost universal practice until the advent of sound which, in the case of sound-on-film positives, necessitated the narrowing of the available picture area in order to provide space for the photographic sound record. If the height of the positive image is maintained at its old value, that is, four perforations less the necessary allowance for frame line, the resultant positive picture area has a ratio of approximately 1.15.
Publication Date
1930-01-01
DOI
10.5594/J14823
Link
https://doi.org/10.5594/J14823
Author(s)
Loyd A. Jones
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Loyd A. Jones; Rectangle Proportions in Pictorial Composition, Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers ( Volume: 14, Issue: 1, January 1930); SMPTE, 1930. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J14823
Snippet:
Loyd A. Jones; Rectangle Proportions in Pictorial Composition, Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers ( Volume: 14, Issue: 1, January 1930); SMPTE, 1930. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J14823

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Loyd A. Jones; Rectangle Proportions in Pictorial Composition, Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers ( Volume: 14, Issue: 1, January 1930); SMPTE, 1930. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J14823
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<span class="citation">Loyd A. Jones; <cite>Rectangle Proportions in Pictorial Composition</cite>, Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers ( Volume: 14, Issue: 1, January 1930); SMPTE, 1930. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/J14823" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/J14823</a></span>

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Preview:
Loyd A. Jones; Rectangle Proportions in Pictorial Composition, Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers ( Volume: 14, Issue: 1, January 1930); SMPTE, 1930
doi: 10.5594/J14823
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/J14823
Snippet:
<li>
Loyd A. Jones; <cite id="bib-10-5594-j14823">Rectangle Proportions in Pictorial Composition</cite>, Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers ( Volume: 14, Issue: 1, January 1930); SMPTE, 1930
<span class="doi">10.5594/J14823</span>
</li>