Widescreen and Letterbox anti advocacy - THERE ARE EXCEPTI..

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I've been following the widescreen vs. 4:3 thread for a while, now.

Who is to say what the director wanted you to see? Why, the director, of
course. The person who made the movie chose a widescreen format. The last
4:3 movie I was in a theater was "The Blair Witch Project" which was that
way by design.

Yes, it *is* true that sometimes a 4:3 frame will show more vertical
information than the 2.35:1 or even 1.85:1 frame. In other words, they
showed more of the original 4:3 frame of film. This happens all the time -
especially on movies shot on Super35.

Watch the behind the scenes of Terminator 2 - Ultimate Edition. You'll see
how Cameron edits the Super35 frame for both the widescreen and 4:3 (AKA:
Fullscreen) versions. There's one scene in particular - Sarah and Kyle in a
dream sequence in the Pescadero Hospital - you see Cameron's monitor (a 4:3
display). Superimposed is a 2.35:1 rectangle and a 4:3 rectangle. His
editing suite allows him to move the 2.35:1 rectangle up or down (or even
make it smaller, if he desired). It also allowed him to move the 4:3 box all
around the screen and up to the full size of the original frame.

The end result was that there are scenes in the movie where the 4:3 frame
exists inside the 2.35:1 frame and there are other times where the 2.35:1
frame exists inside the 4:3 frame.

Bottom line: He's creating a "new vision" for the DVD 4:3 market as he
produces the DVD. Now... this is made easier due to filming in Super35, but
every director has to do "something" when (if) he produces a "fullscreen"
version of a "Widescreen" movie.

My preference? Widescreen was the "original vision". My 16:9 HDTV plays
2.35:1 with only the smallest of black bars across the top and bottom of my
screen. I choose widescreen and I never look back.

OK... one exception. In the movie "Rock Star", Jennifer Aniston is wearing a
cute little number to Mark Wahlberg's first concert - a nice little
semi-transparent thing. In one scene - in the 4:3 version - you can see she
is wearing a thong. You see the whole thing - along with her lovely ass.
Nice. In the 2.35:1 version, the image is cropped at about her waist. Major
bummer. I really hated widescreen at that moment. But I got over it. :)

--
Chris

Munged email. To reply by email (each "word" a letter):
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"FlyByKnight" <FlyByKnight@example.invalid> wrote in message
news:0Mcmc.37818$Dp2.4680@fe03.usenetserver.com...
> I've been following the widescreen vs. 4:3 thread for a while, now.
>
> Who is to say what the director wanted you to see? Why, the director, of
> course. The person who made the movie chose a widescreen format. The last
> 4:3 movie I was in a theater was "The Blair Witch Project" which was that
> way by design.

Blair Witch was 4:3 because the film school kids who shot it only had
mini-dv handicam's to shoot on which were 4:3. You can be sure those film
kids would have shot it widescreen if they could have afforded the gear.
 
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"Charles Tomaras" <tomaras@tomaras.com> wrote in message news:<orednZq0JaFNJQTd4p2dnA@comcast.com>...
> "FlyByKnight" <FlyByKnight@example.invalid> wrote in message
> news:0Mcmc.37818$Dp2.4680@fe03.usenetserver.com...
> > I've been following the widescreen vs. 4:3 thread for a while, now.
> >
> > Who is to say what the director wanted you to see? Why, the director, of
> > course. The person who made the movie chose a widescreen format. The last
> > 4:3 movie I was in a theater was "The Blair Witch Project" which was that
> > way by design.
>
> Blair Witch was 4:3 because the film school kids who shot it only had
> mini-dv handicam's to shoot on which were 4:3. You can be sure those film
> kids would have shot it widescreen if they could have afforded the gear.

I don't remeber if I seen it on VCR or on DVD, but clearly remember
that the image was cropped at the sides as well as at the top and
bottom! I read somewhere that it was an emphasized "artistic intent"
to make viewer field ridiculosly small. Anyway, I didn't like the film
(who did?), and tiny screen size contributed to it.
 
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"Mikito Harakiri" <mikharakiri_nospaum@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:8a529bb.0405060956.1c402bef@posting.google.com...
: "Charles Tomaras" <tomaras@tomaras.com> wrote in message
news:<orednZq0JaFNJQTd4p2dnA@comcast.com>...
: > "FlyByKnight" <FlyByKnight@example.invalid> wrote in message
: > news:0Mcmc.37818$Dp2.4680@fe03.usenetserver.com...
: > > I've been following the widescreen vs. 4:3 thread for a while,
now.
: > >
: > > Who is to say what the director wanted you to see? Why, the
director, of
: > > course. The person who made the movie chose a widescreen format.
The last
: > > 4:3 movie I was in a theater was "The Blair Witch Project" which
was that
: > > way by design.
: >
: > Blair Witch was 4:3 because the film school kids who shot it only
had
: > mini-dv handicam's to shoot on which were 4:3. You can be sure those
film
: > kids would have shot it widescreen if they could have afforded the
gear.
:
: I don't remeber if I seen it on VCR or on DVD, but clearly remember
: that the image was cropped at the sides as well as at the top and
: bottom! I read somewhere that it was an emphasized "artistic intent"
: to make viewer field ridiculosly small. Anyway, I didn't like the film
: (who did?), and tiny screen size contributed to it.

==================
Your memory is faulty.
There was no cropping whatsoever!
====================
 
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"Charles Tomaras" <tomaras@tomaras.com> wrote in message
news:eek:rednZq0JaFNJQTd4p2dnA@comcast.com...
> Blair Witch was 4:3 because the film school kids who shot it only had
> mini-dv handicam's to shoot on which were 4:3. You can be sure those film
> kids would have shot it widescreen if they could have afforded the gear.

Though perhaps true, note that this logic is diametrically opposed to the
usual claim of

Original Aspect Ratio = Artistic Intent

The would've-could've argument could just as easily apply to the entire film
industry: "If the film industry hadn't had to compete with television, it
would never have adopted Cinerama, and would still be using 4:3 today." "If
filmmakers didn't have to accommodate current theaters, they would film in
4:3." Etc.

In other words, I think it's foolish to argue would've-could've at all.
Films are what they are.
 
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"Lawrence G. Mayka" <lgmayka000@ameritech.net> wrote in message
news:QTrmc.14837$sG3.9534@newssvr31.news.prodigy.com...
> "Charles Tomaras" <tomaras@tomaras.com> wrote in message
> news:eek:rednZq0JaFNJQTd4p2dnA@comcast.com...
>> Blair Witch was 4:3 because the film school kids who shot it only had
>> mini-dv handicam's to shoot on which were 4:3. You can be sure those film
>> kids would have shot it widescreen if they could have afforded the gear.
>
> Though perhaps true, note that this logic is diametrically opposed to the
> usual claim of
>
> Original Aspect Ratio = Artistic Intent
>
> The would've-could've argument could just as easily apply to the entire
> film
> industry: "If the film industry hadn't had to compete with television, it
> would never have adopted Cinerama, and would still be using 4:3 today."
> "If
> filmmakers didn't have to accommodate current theaters, they would film in
> 4:3." Etc.
>
> In other words, I think it's foolish to argue would've-could've at all.
> Films are what they are.

I merely responded because I thought you implied that somehow the Blair
Witch aspect ratio was something to be held up as an example. I agree with
most of your other thoughts.