American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 16

I've owned a Target Multi Format Framing Chart from cinematographer Richard
A. Stringer, CSC for about 15 years, and
have used it on many projects - but you
don't have to have a formal chart, as long
as you have something that indicates
your viewfinder/monitor markings and
how you're composing your images. You

can make and print your own
framing chart with software like
Photoshop, or with other applications you can find online. A standard 81⁄2"x11" piece of paper can
be small and difficult to clearly
delineate all of the markings, so
I've found it's better to use something closer to 11"x17" at the
smallest. Alternately, some rental
houses can provide framing charts
to match common format choices.
You can also create a
digital framing chart that is
perfectly pixel-accurate that can
be shared with the postproduction team.
The Arri Alexa, for example, can export an
XML file that will give you exact framing
dimensions of the frame lines set in the
viewfinder. Using these numbers, you
can generate a graphic, in Photoshop or a
similar application, which has the fullframe pixel size and the precise framing

Of the numerous composition variations, often a production will adopt a
"common topline" or "common center" composition. In the common topline, the
top of the frame is exactly the same for every variation and the bottom composition
changed. In this case, if your master format is 1.5:1 and you have to deliver a 2.39:1
as well as a 1.78:1, all of the versions employ the same top of frame, but the bottom
crops to each aspect ratio needed. The argument for this choice is that headroom
protection is more important than seeing more (or less) of people's body/legs. For a
common center composition, the center is maintained in each version and the top
and bottom are cropped according to each variation required. There are also cases
where the sides will be cropped.

December 2019

Top photo courtesy of Joachim Zell.

p EFilm's vice president of
technology and ASC associate
member Joachim "JZ" Zell.
u The arrangement of this
Target Multi Format Framing
Chart is an aggressive example
of common-topline
composition, shooting a 1.5:1
full-frame sensor with multiple
aspect-ratio crops. In this
scenario, the deliverables are
2.39:1 (A arrows), 1.78 (or 16:9,
for TV, B arrows), and 1:1 and
4:6 (for social media, C and D
arrows). The latter three are
each extracted from the
"master" 2.39:1 frame.

lines within that. This way, every department in post can have a perfectly pixelaccurate version of the framing chart to
work from. It's also handy for visual
effects that are entirely digitally generated.
Additionally, the framing chart can
be a great tool for making sure there's
nothing wrong in the post pipeline - that
no mistakes are happening in the image
processing, and that the final representation reflects the composition choices made
on set.
And in regard to archival purposes,
Zell notes, "What happens when a project
is remastered 10 years later, or even 50
years after the fact? How do we really
know the intentions of the filmmakers, in
order to get the right framing? A framing
chart is the only way we know for sure."
In addition, Zell adds, "Today, most
high-end cameras deliver the viewfinders'
framelines as metadata included in the
camera raw files, but for VFX-heavy
shows, camera raw data often gets
converted into DPX, or more and more
often into EXR files - and during this fileformat conversion, frameline metadata
can get lost, bringing us back to the argument for shooting a framing chart."
So to protect the integrity of the
artistic vision for today and tomorrow, the
➔
framing chart is your best friend.

ASC 100th Anniversary

American Cinematographer - December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 2019