Right angle

Magnascope

I believe that list of film formats describes the format accurately. Essentially, it simply used wider projection lenses (which would keep the 1.33 aspect ratio, but increase the throw) to emphasize certain scenes - which presumably were probably kept on separate reels to make the projection efficient. It certainly wasn't widescreen, but it does technically have a claim to being among the first of the 1920's "big format/big screen" formats. Your edits look fine to me, so far, but I just was uncertain if the details regarding the format were clear to you, judging from your comments. Best of luck editing and see you around! Girolamo Savonarola 16:22, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

No, I agree - it wasn't widescreen. But it wasn't cropped either - the screen was enlarged for these sequences. So the image had twice as much throw and was thus bigger. It wouldn't make sense otherwise, because using a lens twice as wide for the same size screen requires both a smaller aperture mask for the projector, and thus is using even less of the image to keep the same sized screen filled, which is essentially like extracting a 16mm-sized image from a 35mm print.

The Magnascope format was restrictive because it needed a theatre with a huge screen and moveable masking tabs on all four sides of the screen. It also decreased the image quality by further enlarging the film beyond normal 35mm projection recommendations. This is discussed here, here, and here, among other places. I believe that Wide Screen Movies Corrections also goes into the subject. In essence, the problems with the format drove the industry towards the solution of large gauges, which is where the true widescreen formats of the 1920s originated. Girolamo Savonarola 16:38, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes, you are right that it was only used for a handful of scenes. Remember, though, that the format is completely identical with normal 35mm at every point until the image is actually passing through the projection lens. There's no difference in the production, post-production, or release prints. In that sense, it's a pseudo-format. Girolamo Savonarola 16:40, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Napoleon used Polyvision for the last reel, which was simply three projectors side to side (4.00:1), a precursor to Cinerama. The earliest known widescreen format actually would be the Eidoloscope, which had a 1.85:1 ratio and was invented in 1895. Girolamo Savonarola 16:51, 25 November 2006 (UTC)