That is one reason the MAYORITY of standart Widescreen movies (1.66-1.85) are shot open matte. (Another is that there's no need to modify or make two separate kinds of cameras (one for Academy ratio and another for Widescreen ratios) the Academy type serves for both, since it's in PROJECTION that the Aspect Ratio is presented.)bmadigan wrote:Could Disney have done this with TV in mind? So that they could show the film on TV later without modifying it with pan and scan?
But make no mistake, the image must be composed for the "letterboxed" within the camera area , otherwise when projected on theaters, the image would have choppped off heads and feets, like an abnormal vertical pan/scan job. (Or like what would happen when projecting the Academy ratio movies like Gone With The Wind and Wizard of Oz, Snow White , etc in Widescreen)
here's a quote that talks about this too on
http://www.tech-notes.tv/Jim/Articles/Cut-Off.html
The article wrote:It is important to note that all wide-screen films employ aspect ratios based on the projection aperture not the camera aperture. At present, most films shot for the United States are generally composed for a 1.85:1 A/R, while European films are generally composed for the 1.66:1 A/R.
Surveys of theaters throughout the world have shown that actual projection screenings fall somewhere between 1.66:1 and 1.85:1, with the average about 1.75:1.
The projection problem complicates composing for flat wide-screen films in the camera because the top and bottom of the frame are imaginary lines. The cameraperson is at the mercy of the projectionist for both up-and-down framing and choice of mask. Screen proportions may further mutilate the composition. There is no guarantee that flat wide-screen films in any aspect ratio will appear on the screen as composed in the camera.
American producers, generally, do not shoot with a hard matte in the camera which would result in the desired aspect ratio on the original negative. However the cinematographer does compose with some aspect ratio, other than the 4x3 or 1.33:1 full aperture A/R, based on lines drawn on the graticule or focusing screen. All American releases are generally slated for showing on television later and an elongated A/R hard matte in the camera would result in masking at the top and bottom (letterbox) of the television display. Therefore, the entire aperture must be "protected", i.e., kept clear of lights, mike booms, scaffolding, etc. Although these things will not be seen on the theatrical screen, they will appear on standard 4x3 A/R television sets.
movie title typo now gone with the wind
