Stretched Out - A Brief History of Anamorphic Lenses

 

    Since the dawn of cinema, creatives have been developing new and unique ways to create fascinating images, from adding color to mind-blowing special effects, along with many other experiments that came and went along the way. One such experiment was born out of desperation to get audiences back into the theaters when at-home distractions were becoming too convenient and commonplace. No, it wasn't mobile phones, computers, or the internet, but it still involved a little box with a screen and a light inside. 

    This is a brief history of Anamorphic Lenses and their place in modern-day cinema. 

    Between the 1920s and 1940s, movies were shot on celluloid film with a fixed aspect ratio (image area space) of 4:3, a square-shaped image that was the standard for most (if not all) photographic equipment. Even so, filmmakers can frame their images with their choice of aspect ratios by adding a matte to the edited image. A practice that is still used today regardless of the capture format. 

    However, in the 1950s, a small invention started invading people's homes providing free fantastic images beamed directly into their living rooms. A fancy box with a glass face and a giant light bulb inside that could deliver visual otherworldly entertainment without losing the comforts of home. It was called...The Television!

    Suddenly, spending money to go to the movies seemed unnecessary. Since the box in the living room provided the exact same image space as the theater screen and didn't charge the consumer for the entertainment (at least not at the time), not to mention the quality of storytelling was more or less on par with that you'd find at the movies, going to the theaters didn't feel as remarkable as it once did. 

    Movie studios were terrified of television. They realized they had to step up their game to remain relevant in the new world of convenient at-home entertainment. But how could they compete against free entertainment on a little screen? 

    The solution, make the screen BIGGER!

    

    So, exactly how do they increase the screen size when celluloid film can only capture a square-shaped image? By manipulating the image with special lenses! French astronomer and inventor Henri Chrétien is the guy who developed the first anamorphic lens in 1927. However, it wasn't given much attention until Twenth Century Fox bought the rights to the design in the 1950s, dubbing it their new "CinemaScope" process. The concept is to capture an image with a specially designed lens to squeeze more content into the more petite frame. This image is then corrected with another unique lens attached to the projector, resulting in an image that is wider in scope while retaining naturalistic proportions (mostly). 

    Anamorphic lenses popularized the wider & rectangular 2:35 aspect ratio used in most movies today. Even if a movie doesn't use anamorphic lenses, some filmmakers frame their images with this ratio in mind. 

    Today, anamorphic lenses are still available as an option for cinematographers. Although no "practical" need exists for them today, they produce beautiful aesthetics many filmmakers admire and appreciate, such as unique bokeh effects, softer edges around the frame, and unusual lens flairs. 

    These aesthetics may have originated from anamorphic lenses, but they are not exclusive to them. These days, many of the visual qualities attributed to anamorphic lenses can be easily replicated by other means. Digital effects in most editing software, lens filters, and special lens adapters can easily replicate anamorphic beauty on any budget. 

    There you have it. One of the many bits of fun proof that what is old can be new again. While I haven't dabbled much in anamorphic lenses (preferring to stick with traditional spherical glass), you may soon see something of mine in this unique format. We will see as the year goes on. 

Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.