Letterboxing is the practice of which of the following?

• A. Cropping the top and bottom of the frame to fit a different aspect ratio.
• B. Adding color grading to simulate film stock.
• C. Transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio.
• D. Increasing the frame rate of a film to achieve widescreen look.

Answer: (C)

Letterboxing is about keeping the film’s wide framing when it’s shown on a screen with a different shape. Instead of cropping or stretching the image, black bars are added above and below so the original aspect ratio remains intact. This happens when a widescreen film is transferred to standard-width video formats or displays, ensuring the full composition is preserved. Cropping would cut parts of the frame, color grading changes color and not the framing, and increasing frame rate changes motion speed rather than how the image is displayed.