[HPFGU-Movie] Re: Widescreen -v- Letterbox

[Monika Huebner]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <hp at plum.cream.org>
To: <HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 7:21 PM
Subject: [HPFGU-Movie] Re: Widescreen -v- Letterbox


> Err.. I don't know about Germany, but here in the UK (and I know the 
> same is the case in the USA), there are two versions of the DVD: one 
> widescreen and the other "full screen". 

AFAIK, we only have one version of the DVD in Germany, sorry
for "generalizing". The common release format for DVDs over here 
is widescreen nowadays, but in the past there have been quite
a few releases of full screen DVDs without the original language
track (only the German dubbed version - yech). I own a couple
of older DVDs, though, that have both widescreen and full screen
versions on them, but I never bothered to check the latter ones out.

> A suggestion has been put forward that 
> as most DVD releases are ONLY in widescreen format, it's the full 
> screen versions which should be tagged, as they are not the norm. :-)
> (My personal suggestion for a phrasing of the tag would be "WARNING: 
> This version of the film is NOT the the one you saw in the cinema!")

Good idea. :-) Although some people might still feel cheated by the
black bars and might want a picture that fits their TV screen.

> AFAIK, the VHS release is available ONLY as the "full screen" 
> version, in every market.

Haven't looked at videos lately, but in the past there sometimes were
two video versions, one in full screen and one in widescreen, the
latter one being usually more expensive. (Why, because you actually
got the *whole* movie?!)
 
> Says something about those unwilling or unable to update their 
> hardware... :-)

I don't own a widescreen TV set but still wouldn't buy full screen
versions of movies, so it's more in the heads of people I suppose.

> The popularity (to studios) of Super 35 has meant that film 
> directors/ cinematographers are generally (but not necessarily 
> always) aware of artefacts outside the "cinema" frame but still 
> in "full screen" shot so the appearnce of booms and mikes is getting 
> increasingly rare. Ths certainly seems to be the case with Columbus 
> and his collaborators. 

Good to know, but still not a reason to buy full screen DVDs. :-)

Monika