Film Technique and Expression : On the Wide Screen Processes

Abstract

The present answer of the theatrical film to the competition of television is the development of the wide screenprocesses. (Cinerama, Cinema-Scope, VistaVision and Todd A. O. etc.) They open new possibilities which have yet to be explored ; the screen used in projection is extremely large and curved, filling the entire viewing angle of the audience and so renders a remarkable illusion of depth. But, even if wide screen systems are universally accepted, the new techniques and expressions developed with them will not outmode screen techniques as we know it today-the use of opticals, frame-lines, chose-ups, cuts and movements. Preferably, it will simply mean that wide screen will be new additional crafts. Each craft will survive and develop the growth of its medium, and most principles will be used interchangeably.