Steven Soderbergh wrote Format Wars in DGA Quarterly.
"Television operators, the people who buy and produce things for people to watch on TV, are taking the position that films photographed in the 2.40:1 ratio should be blown up or chopped up to fit a 16:9 (1.78:1) ratio. They are taking the position that the viewers of television do not like watching 2.40 films letterboxed to fit their 16:9 screens, and that a film insisting on this is worth significantly less—or even nothing—to them"
MGM, IFC, Sundance, HDNet Movies and FMC get it right. Showtime mostly gets right. HBO and AMC get it wrong.
3 comments:
The hell of it is, they may be right in general. I see SO many improperly-adjusted 16:9 sets showing Stretch-o-vision 4:3 content because people "don't like those bars on the side." One acquaintance actually said he paid a lot for the wide screen, he wanted to use ALL of it. Even when he shouldn't.
They are selling poorly-reformatted content to the same viewers who made G.I. Joe a box office smash.
THey should at least zoom and not stretch the pic. At least these people won't be cutting off the subtitles!
Wait, you mean Jon Stewart isn't a fatty?
Post a Comment