‘Sinners’ Director Ryan Coogler Explains Film Aspect Ratios and Different Formats in 10 Minutes

Ryan Coogler went full professor while deep-diving into film aspect ratios and formats for 10 minutes.

In a partnership with Kodak leading up to the release of his new horror film “Sinners,” Coogler showed off four sizes of film stock, what they bring to the table when shooting and what each brings to him as a director. Over the course of the long explainer, he even managed to fill a number of whiteboards while flexing his extensive filmmaking knowledge.

“I’m really excited to announce that ‘Sinners’ was captured on film,” Coogler said. “That’s a format that I fell in love with when I was in film school, so I brought a few film strips along here.”

The “Black Panther” director dove into his explanation by showing off Super 8mm film, saying it is often used for home movies but can bring a certain aesthetic to a shot. He then showed off Super 16mm footage which sits close to Coogler’s heart.

“This is what we shot ‘Fruitvale Station’ on and it’s crazy because this is the same material just a little bit wider and when a capture film gets wider — same as digital photography — what happens is you get a little bit more resolution and you get a shallower depth of field, meaning less of the image is in focus at any particular time,” Coogler said.

He then pivoted to 35mm film – which he explains a lot of masterpieces have been shot on. But then, and with some pride, Coogler gets to what “Sinners” was at least partially shot on and what the director calls “the big boy format” – 65mm.

“Sinners” has already made some history because it is the first film to be shot at the 2.76:1 aspect ratio – which Coogler points out classics like “Ben-Hur” and “The Hateful Eight” were shot on – but also in Imax’s 1.43:1. The Michael B. Jordan-led horror film is the first ever to be shot in both ratios.

Listen to Coogler’s entire explainer in the video above.

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