The most important part about CIH projection is that it preserves the intended "impact" of 2.35:1 movies. Generally, these are the big action flicks and others of more epic scope, where the filmmakers chose this apsect ratio in order to immerse you more fully in the movie by filling more of your peripheral vision with picture.
As "why not" says above, many of our modern shoebox theaters now use vertical masking to change from 1.85:1 to 2.35:1 aspect ratios, the same way a widescreen TV adds "black bars" above and below the picture. I think letting the movie theater architecture dictate artistic choice is a very bad idea. Instead, we should be asking for theaters to project films the way the creators intended, and seeking out and spending our money at theaters who do it right. Besides, even if we were to suddenly have a wholesale shift from 2.35:1 back to 1.85:1 for all future films, there is an existing library of hundreds or thousands of great films that I would like to see in the home with their intended impact intact.
I still dream of a CIH home theater. Maybe someday, if I'm lucky.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mr. E @ Aug 29th 2008 7:12PM
The most important part about CIH projection is that it preserves the intended "impact" of 2.35:1 movies. Generally, these are the big action flicks and others of more epic scope, where the filmmakers chose this apsect ratio in order to immerse you more fully in the movie by filling more of your peripheral vision with picture.
As "why not" says above, many of our modern shoebox theaters now use vertical masking to change from 1.85:1 to 2.35:1 aspect ratios, the same way a widescreen TV adds "black bars" above and below the picture. I think letting the movie theater architecture dictate artistic choice is a very bad idea. Instead, we should be asking for theaters to project films the way the creators intended, and seeking out and spending our money at theaters who do it right. Besides, even if we were to suddenly have a wholesale shift from 2.35:1 back to 1.85:1 for all future films, there is an existing library of hundreds or thousands of great films that I would like to see in the home with their intended impact intact.
I still dream of a CIH home theater. Maybe someday, if I'm lucky.