In Hollywood feature production during the 1960s, the aesthetics of a cinema of sensation that emphasized increasingly graphic visual depictions and effects began to coexist alongside the classic cinema of sentiment and spectacle. American feature films became faster-paced and more visceral visually, and less traditionally dramatic and dialogue- bound. Cinematographers experimented with grittier, more realistic looks and laid the groundwork for filming with decidedly lower light levels than had been demanded by classic three-point lighting for that sleek Hollywood look.

Widescreen possibilities and the more elongated rectangular aspect ratios of feature films meant that directors of photography had more space to fill in the frame. Overall, however, the wider formats and aspect ratios had less impact on the audience's perception of movies than critics often have claimed. Moreover, the principles of visual composition and visual storytelling were actually given less attention in the new aesthetics. The cinema of...