Avengers movie aspect ratio?

[magyar1964]

I just saw the Avengers ( 2d version ) movie yesterday - EXCELLENT!!!!

Here is my question, what I was looking at on the screen looked to be a 16x9 or 1.85:1 aspect ratio instead of a more normal 2.39:1 movie ratio - also there was image showing on the wall above and below the screen making the whole picture more like a 4x3 - an old tv screen. Anyone else notice this extra image above and below the screen? I wonder when it's released on dvd if a full screen version will be more complete then a widescreen?

[Brazoo]

It sounds like the projectionist just messed up. The film probably wasn't framed correctly.

[Brazoo]

Yeah - according to IMDb it was suppose to be projected at 1.85:1, so in this specific case the way that's done requires a mask over the projector, because the 35mm film frame is actually 1.375:1, so taller. The projectionist screwed up and didn't mask the film correctly (for whatever reason).

Here's a link to the technical specs on IMDb: The Avengers (2012) - Technical specifications

I was curious why it would be filmed 1.85 though. I haven't seen it yet, but I thought you were right, all the recent superhero movies I can think of were all 2.39 like you said.

I found this explanation on Wikipedia:

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey stated that he composed the frame with an 1.85:1 aspect ratio to cope with the varying heights of the main characters, explaining that "shooting 1.85:1 is kind of unusual for an epic film like this, but we needed the height in the screen to be able to frame in all the characters like Hulk, Captain America and Black Widow, who is much smaller. We had to give them all precedence and width within the frame.

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