Widescreen is better! (was Re: Wide/full screen/ DVD players)

[illyana delorean]

>Lisa writes:
>
>>  Thanks for the preview of the cover. But I do have a question, which
>>  is better, full screen or wide screen?
>
>Full screen.  Some movies wide screen is better, but with HP (at 
>least SS/PS) you lose more with the wide screen than you do with the 
>full screen.  Make sense?  There's a site somewhere that has some 
>pictures comparing the shots, and to me the wide screen cuts off so 
>much it takes away from the movie.  Like part of Harry's letter, 
>things like that are important to me!
>

I believe that Richelle is the person who wrote the response to 
Lisa's post, but there was no signature, so I am just taking the name 
attached to the email.

Anyway, I know that this is totally off-topic, but I would really 
like to reply, and I don't know if this person is on the OT list.

I beg to differ regarding the full vs. widescreen. You say that 
widescreen "cuts off so much." This is not true. The film that is 
used to make a movie has a 4x3 aspect ratio - this is the same aspect 
ratio as a normal TV. When a movie is filmed in widescreen (such as 
both of the Harry Potter movies), pieces of metal are placed at the 
top and the bottom of the gate on the camera - the gate is the area 
of the camera where the film will be exposed while shooting. It is 
basically the "shutter" of the camera - where the camera brings in 
information. This process is called "gating." Although parts of the 
film are not used during the filming, these pieces are not exposed 
and, therefore, do not contain any information (they did not film 
anything). This creates widescreen.

When you watch Harry Potter in the theatre, you are viewing 
*everything* that the camera captured. When the movie is put onto a 
DVD in widescreen format, you are seeing exactly what you saw in the 
movie theatre - *nothing* is cut out. However, when you watch the 
full-screen version of Harry Potter on DVD (also referred to as 
"pan-and-scan"), you are cutting out part of the film. The way they 
make the fullscreen version of the DVD is that they enlarge the image 
to get rid of the "letterbox" (the black space at the top and bottom 
that is created by "gating"). In doing this, the left and right sides 
of the picture are pushed offscreen; therefore, you are *not* seeing 
everything that was shot. Pan-and-scan refers to the nauseating 
effect that is created when something important occurs in the left or 
right areas of the film that was cut-off and the frame is moved over 
to one of these areas.

This quote is taken from the back of my Harry Potter and the 
Sorcerer's Stone Widescreen DVD box:

"Widescreen version presented in a "Letterbox" widescreen format 
preserving the "scope" aspect ratio of its original theatrical 
exhibition."

(The word "scope" is the name that Warner Bros. chose to give to the 
aspect ratio that the movie was shot in)

Basically, Warner Bros. is saying that the information on this DVD is 
exactly the same as what was presented in the theatre.

I would like to have the URL of this website you mentioned, because 
there is *absolutely* no reason that someone's widescreen DVD 
shouldn't contain everything that was shown on the big-screen. Plus, 
if what you are saying is correct, Warner Bros. is basically lying in 
that quote up there.

illyana
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