Title: Letterboxed : the evolution of widescreen cinema /
Authors: Cossar, Harper.
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky,
Year: 2011
Subjects: Keaton, Buster,; Griffith, D. W.; Ray, Nicholas,; Sirk, Douglas.; Wide-screen processes (Cinematography) History.
Abstract: "Letterboxed: The Evolution of Widescreen Cinema explores the technological changes of the widescreen technique and how the format has inspired directors and also sparked debates among film critics. Examining early filmmakers such as Buster Keaton and D.W. Griffith and genre pioneers like Nicholas Ray and Douglas Sirk, Harper Cossar explains how directors use wider aspect ratios to enhance their creative visions. Letterboxed tracks the history of stylistic experimentation with the film frame and demonstrates how the expansion of the screen has uncovered myriad creative possibilities for directors."--Provided by Publisher.
Contents: Introduction: snakes and funerals -- D.W. Griffith, Buster Keaton, Abel Gance, and the precursors of widescreen aesthetics -- Big trail, the bat whispers, and the invention of widescreen style in 1930 -- Emerging stylistic norms in CinemaScope: genre and authorship in the films of Otto Preminger, Nicholas Ray, Frank Tashlin, and Douglas Sirk -- Experiments, 1968, and the fractured screen -- New media, digitextuality, and widescreen -- Conclusion.