More than one hundred films have now been made in this medium and it has been established that production costs are no greater, and in most cases less, than if the picture had been made in the older methods.ĬinemaScope provides a presentation which simulates the wide angle experience of human vision and because of this most scenes can be staged with fewer cuts and camera angles than were formerly necessary. In my talks with producers, I gather that many feel that the CinemaScope method is more expensive to use on production. Also, many inquiries resulted from the usual host of misconceptions, misunderstandings and false information which invariably surround new and challenging developments. I know this from experience, because in the course of filming CinemaScope during the past two years, here and in Europe, I have been asked many questions which indicate to me that the questioner is thinking in terms of applying the older technique to the newer medium. The CinemaScope technique of making motion pictures with stereophonic sound has met, to a limited degree, this reluctance to accept new ideas. Probably this is the result of our becoming so accustomed to the previous and older methods that we approach new concepts hesitatingly. Whenever any new technique is introduced, it is frequently human reaction to view it with a certain amount of reservation and doubt. This article originally appeared in AC, June 1955. Some images may be additional or alternate. The text with illustrations also is being published in booklet form by Twentieth Century-Fox Studios. His knowledge of and experiences with the popular widescreen medium is set down here for the benefit of other cinematographers. Clarke, ASC.Įditor's Note: Clarke, who is one of Twentieth Century-Fox’s top directors of photography, has perhaps photographed more film using the CinemaScope process than any other cinematographer in the industry. At top, Lee Marvin plays it tough in the crime drama Violent Saturday (1955), directed by Richard Fleischer and shot in CinemaScope by this article's author, Charles G. Clarke, ASC explains the advantages of CinemaScope to traditional filming methods.