In the following page we would like to offer the possibility to go for a cinematic aspect ratio for Bookish. We believe it would be a very interesting creative improvement for the show, its art direction, its general feel and look, and the immersiveness of the characters in the beautifully crafted sets. Please take a moment to read why we believe this would be a wonderful addition for the show.

Disclaimer: please note all visual material below is not graded.

The aspect ratio basically means the format, the size, the frame wherein a certain show or film is presented. It’s literally the form factor of the image. For example the two images above are in a cinematic equation, which means the image is 2.39 times wider than it is high. So, in this case it means the aspect ratio is 2.39:1 or 2.39 wide, and 1 high as that is how they are in relation to each other. Enough with the math. In with the creative.

The cinematic equation is 2.39 by 1, whereas for example traditional television used to be in a 1.77 by 1 equation (also known as 16:9). Remarkably less wide than in cinema. Now the reasons for that were mainly technical and I would divert too much going there, but the simple fact is that the cinematic equation matches much more with how our peripheral vision works, meaning, we also see much wider with our own eyes, than what we see in height. Which makes sense, our eyes are not on top of one another but next to each other, and on top of that the shape of our pupils is elongated in width, not in height. In fact our peripheral vision is closer to 3 by 1. Regardless, in cinema we are thus approaching and resembling much more our human vision, which means we also visually immerse more into what we see. That is a lot of the secret sauce of what we call cinematic; being that very immersive experience from that enhanced wider field of view, that matches much closer to how we experience life itself.

Bookish has up till now been shot in a less wide equation, being 2 by 1 or 2 parts wide by 1 part high. So the difference would be that we go a little bit wider, being 14.5% wider than what we used to have, but the improvements are vast. Please see the three options below, which are presented as follows:

Open Gate: which is 2.25:1, being the full negative (or sensor) of our lenses and cameras
2:1 our format in Bookish season 1 & 2
2.39:1 the suggested new format for Bookish 3

• as we can immediately tell from the example above, we are more immersed into the environment while still having our full attention on our character, whereas in the narrower format you lose that immersion more easily
• now as we are wider and can see more around the close-ups of our characters, we also see more of our sets, and let that be one of the key strengths and productional values of Bookish, the beautifully crafted and designed sets and decors, the world that has been created in Bookish becomes on a literal note wider and more noticeable, but even more so on a subtle and clever way it is the immersiveness of it all that draws us even more into the adventures of Book
• we shoot anamorphic, meaning that the optical, beautiful characteristics come even more to life because we aren’t cutting anything of the image that is rendered through the lenses onto the camera sensor. you practically show and keep it all there, maximising the quality of the image.
• a vast amount of shows are heading into cinematic territory these days, with for example; Star City, Slow Horses, Severance, Silo, Euphoria, House of the Dragon, Fallout, Chernobyl, …

Thanks for giving this a read, please support our cause for an even more cinematic experience. If you would have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Maximiliaan.

All the best,