Aspect Ratios becoming more diverse?

[Coenskubrick]

Originally you had academy ratio and that was it. Then in the 50's it went crazy, with all these new cinema options and wider ratios brought out to compete with TV. Then by the end of the 70's, it was pretty much settled (in America and the UK at least). You had a choice between 1.85:1 and 2.35/9:1 and it's been that way for 3 and a half decades more or less, and those are the only options for DCPs.

However, it's started off small and is now starting to pick up, but I think we may be entering a new age of freedom of ratio.

There have been a bunch of 4:3 films made since the year 2000, with seemingly more appearing since 2010. See these. http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/n...-academy-ratio

Andrea Arnold has made several films in this ratio. And now, this year, the Hateful 8 is the first film since way back to be shot in anamorphic 70mm giving a 2.76 ratio, and Slow West recently was made in 1.66 (a personal favourite of mine). The new trailer for The Witch also appears to be in 1.66.

Theoretically there should be no trouble with digital technology to shoot in any ratio, but studios and filmmakers have just been set on the standards for a long time. Could this be about to change? Or will this trend die down shortly?

I personally would welcome some variety in aspect ratio shooting as I feel there are some very interesting compositions to be gained from experimenting with frame.