Articles

The term "cinematic" is used to refer to a lot of things, from emotional content to story scope to musical styles. In terms of visual media, people often use the terms cinematic and "widescreen" to refer to media that is presented in a format that is wider than what one is used to.

And for some reason, when it's used outside of television and film on a computer or on the internet, many people love it.

Aspect Ratios in Television and Film

Of course, the most common visual media format for most media consumers is the television, which has a 4:3 aspect ratio...that is, it is always 4 units of width by ever 3 units of height (also written as 1.33:1), regardless of what the actual dimensions of the screen are. The vast majority of computer displays sold also have a 1.33 aspect ratio.

For reference, most films vary in aspect ratio from 1.85:1 (known as the Academy aspect) to 2.35:1 (typical for Super 35mm film stock). Some crazy cinematographers have gone as wide as 3:1, using multiple cameras and other interesting techniques.

Cinematic Experiences On the Computer

Because cinematic technically refers to film, and because widescreen is likewise a very specific term (referring to film, DVDs, and video hardware alike), I tend to call wider-than-usual digital media wide aspect media. I've seen this principle applied to Web sites, multimedia, games, and desktop video alike.

For some reason, many computer users seem to have a positive emotional reaction to wide-aspect media, using words like epic and cinematic to describe the media's look and feel. I've been in many meetings where client stakeholders and internal team members alike have been sold on a given visual design primarily because the main content area had a "cinematic" feeling, simply because it was designed with a wide aspect ratio. I've found that aspect ratios from 1.78:1 (known more commonly as 16:9) to 2.35:1 to have been received in this way. I've found that sometimes wide-aspect media has been a key selling point in dealing with media-savvy clients such as advertising, marketing, and branding professionals.

It is probably obvious that this is not going to be a universal reaction from all users. It's been my experience, however, that almost anyone with an interest in film will pick up on this...and this suggests that designing wide-aspect media is appropriate for certain audiences.

It may be that this technique is simply uncommon enough to make a user or viewer feel that they are in for a different kind of experience. It may also be that seeing an uncommon aspect ratio causes the viewer to recall a film-viewing experience: being put in a physical place to do nothing else besides watch what is presented, reinforcing a greater level of attentiveness on the part of the viewer.

Adventures in the Wide, Wide World

Does wide-aspect media demand more attention simply due to its aspect ratio? That's a debatable generalization. As always, it's ultimately the context of the medium, message, and audience that will suggest the right approach. However, it's certainly been my experience that, to certain audiences, dry material can be made more appealing, and exciting media can make a clear reference to a film experience, by going wide.