I don’t use Facebook to follow my cousin who had a great barbecue yesterday. I follow groups where people are fun or inspiring.
In a group about movies today I found a great question :
“Widescreen Black & White Movies?”
For a cinema lover it means something, because black & white movies are NOT widescreen. Silent movies and anything before 1940s are black and white and Cinemascope began in the 1950s.
Let’s make is simple : old movies are in 1.33 format, 4/3, the shape of old TVs.
We could study… recent films shot in 4/3, like on this page : https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/10-great-modern-films-shot-43-academy-ratio – like :
But I chose the other option for my article, Widescreen Movies (the modern format) shot in black & white.
This means something. The format is modern but the director chose “no color”. It’s often absolutely gorgeous – I don’t really know why.
What did we find?
Hud, Manhattan, Lola, Jules & Jim, La Dolce Vita, The Innocents, The Hidden Fortress, Andrei Rublev, L’Avventura…
You can Google it to find pages like : http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/20-black-and-white-films-with-the-most-beautiful-widescreen-composition/
Well, it’s a funny interesting way to explore cinema with your lover.
The structure/pattern here is cool :
Where else do we find this mix : something new (widescreen) with something old (black & white)? What does it bring?
Thanks for reading!
a french toolbox 