Re: TSRTS Film Ratio

[lester@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Jeff Lester)]

"Brad Schauer" <bjschauer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> added:

>>There is no way the movie was shot in 4x3, that is the aspect ratio for a
>>normal television set and this was supposed to be a theatrical release from
>>the beginning.
>
>Many films intended for theatrical release are shot in 4:3.  This is called
>"full frame." (Example: "Full Metal Jacket".)  In the theater, they are
>either shown in that 4:3 format, or are matted to 1.85:1.  This could very
>well be the case with "The Song Remains the Same".  But we'll wait and
>see...

There was a discussion about this back in January regarding the "widescreen"
laserdisc release of TSRTS. The conclusion was that this is indeed how TSRTS
was shot and that the VHS release (and original laserdisc) actually had more
picture than the the widescreen LD release.

Jim Rice wrote:



On Sat, 16 Jan 1999, Ron Koms wrote:

> I am not an expert either.  But you would think that there would be a little
> more (very little) on your wide screen, on the left and right edges.
> Because if you think about it, the normal VHS release was for a normal TV,
> something has to make up the far left and far right.
> Jim could you look it over and compare the two?

I've played the new "widescreen" disc at the same time as my older full
screen laser and done an exact comparison. It's my opinion that the older
release actually presented more of the picture than what was seen in the
theaters. My only knowledge with regards to film making is what I've read
in video magazines but I think that sometimes when a movie is shot, in say
1:85, that the film negative actually records more at the top and bottom
which the film maker never intends for us to see. He frames the shot for a
typical movie screen by masking the negative. Usually a full screen video
release just zooms in on the framed image, losing information on the
sides. This is what is normally so attractive about widescreen releases;
they add back this missing information.
In this case though I believe that the full screen version was made
by removing the upper and lower masks thereby presenting MORE of the
picture by revealing more of the negative. If there is any additional
video at the sides of this new release it is so fractional as to be
invisible. I couldn't see any. There is a LOT of extra stuff at the top
and bottom of the older version however.



and Chris Milazzo added:



Jim:

You are absolutely right.  TSRTS was shot using a "soft matte" format.
During filming, the negative is fully exposed in the camera.  The "matting"
takes place in the projector at the theater.  If you've ever been to a movie
at the theater and seen microphones at the top of the picture it's because
the rocket scientist in the booth doesn't know how to use the projector.
When the movie was initially released on home  video the company just took a
print of the movie and transferred it as-is.  So, in the case of the TSRTS
widescreen LD, you are getting less information than you are used to seeing
on home video, but exactly what you would see in the theater.  For more info
on this and other fascinating film to video topics see:

http://www.cs.tut.fi/~leopold/Ld/FilmToVideo/

or

http://home.epix.net/~pennstat/

or

http://www.cheezmo.com/wsmc/

Chris