Modern filmmakers are obsessed with the widescreen. They believe that a 2.35:1 aspect ratio automatically lends their mundane drama “cinematic scale.” But width without purpose is merely empty space. In The Lighthouse, director Robert Eggers and cinematographer Jarin Blaschke understood that the geometry of the frame must dictate the psychology of the characters.
The ‘One Rule’ Constraint: The Orthochromatic Trap
To achieve a genuinely transportive, weathered aesthetic, Eggers established a brutal set of constraints: the film had to be shot on 35mm black-and-white stock, using 1930s Baltar lenses, in an agonizingly severe 1.19:1 aspect ratio.
Bref, they did not stop at simply shooting film. Blaschke utilized a custom-manufactured filter to emulate early-1900s orthochromatic stock. This specialized emulsion is blind to red light. The result? Skin tones are violently darkened, and every single pore, blemish, and wrinkle on the actors’ faces is aggressively emphasized. The camera does not capture beauty; it captures salt, sweat, and decay.
Trapped in the Box
C’est magnifique. The choice of the 1.19:1 aspect ratio—a boxy format utilized in the early sound era—was not a stylistic gimmick. Blaschke championed the ratio because it served two critical functions simultaneously.
First, it perfectly accommodated the towering, vertical structure of the lighthouse itself. Second, and more importantly, the extreme narrowness of the frame isolated the two men. When they are finally forced to share a frame, the geometry of the lens literally traps them together. There is no wide-angle escape route; they are crushed against each other, suffocating in a box of madness.
Insights regarding Robert Eggers and Jarin Blaschke’s use of a 1.19:1 aspect ratio, vintage Baltar lenses, and custom orthochromatic filters to physically weather the actors and trap them in the frame were extracted from a technical breakdown in American Cinematographer.