How can I shoot a dinosaur movie in a 2.35:1 ratio?

Question

Recently, the only way to see a recent dinosaur movie in a 2.35:1 ratio was the 2005 remake of King Kong. All the others required a 1.85:1 ratio for the dinosaurs to have more headroom. The question is How can I shoot a dinosaur movie in a 2.35:1 ratio despite the limitations of that ratio? How Can I solve the problems of shooting a dinosaur movie in a 2.35:1 ratio? Would I shoot a dinosaur movie in a 2.35:1 ratio but with plates shot in the VistaVision format for the dinosaurs to have more headroom? Can I enhance the VistaVision plates for a dinosaur movie with modern anamorphic lenses and unsqueezed it and resize it to fit the Cinemascope ratio? How can I do it? Well, Answer me.

Answer 1

The choice to shoot "Jurassic Park" flat (i.e. 1.85) was a decision by Spielberg. His rationale was that it gave the dinosaurs more height and made them grander.

As you pointed out, Jackson opted for scope (although he used Super 35). It's purely an artistic decision.

To capture more of the dinosaurs height in scope, simply pull the camera back and fill the other side of the frame with something. You needn't worry about VistaVision (which will not be enhanced by using anamorphic lenses.)