Grammar of the Shot, 2nd Edition

Aspect Ratio

The dimensions of a camera’s frame (the active recordable image area) or the width-to-height relationship of that frame is often expressed as a ratio of that width to that height. This ratio is called the aspect ratio and, depending on the format of the medium, may be written 4:3, 16:9, 1.85:1, and so on. The first example, 4:3 (said “four to three” and sometimes “four by three”), means that if the height is three units tall, then the width is equal to four of those same units. This is the aspect ratio for standard definition (SD) television in North America (NTSC and NTSC miniDV) and Europe (PAL, and DV-PAL). It can also be represented by the ratio of 1.33:1 (which is said “one-three-three to one”), where the number “1” represents ...