I am missing curtains. I am missing the bookshelf in the background. I am missing immobile characters. I am missing walls and dark spots. These are not big losses.
What I am gaining is better cropping, a more tightly-focused area of action, and the use of the full screen instead of blacked-out letterbox bars.
This is one incredlbly short segment from one movie you don't care about. Remember, this goes on for the entire length of the film, and there are thousands and thousands of other films out there. There are about a bajillion more horrible examples of this travesty on YouTube. Let's start with Blade Runner.
First the letterboxing doesn't crop out any of the image. Secondly, you are using one limited example from one specific movie. This article gives a good overview of the issue. If you only watch a film to know "what happens", I guess that is your prerogative. To me it is like only looking at the Mona Lisa to see that the subject is a woman and ignoring the composition and technique.
This is too true. Size of TV should depend on the room, and how far away the distance form seating to display. Don't get a pointlessly gigantic TV just to have a bigger screen-peepee.
This is one incredlbly short segment from one movie you don't care about. Remember, this goes on for the entire length of the film, and there are thousands and thousands of other films out there. There are about a bajillion more horrible examples of this travesty on YouTube. Let's start with Blade Runner.
Wait. You're using BLADE RUNNER as an example of how a piece of art shouldn't be modified from it's original version? Do you understand irony?
There are about a bajillion more horrible examples of this travesty on YouTube. Let's start with Blade Runner.
I can't see this clip because work is highly restrictive of video clips. However, I have multiple versions of Blade Runner at home. I like the Full Screen versions I have much better than the Letterboxed versions.
This is a little off topic, but not by much. One of the reasons I don't like watching Letterbox versions on my 21" TV is that, sometimes the screen looks tilted. It's as though the TV itself is actually sitting on an angle. Of course it's not, but that's what it looks like. It's only a very small angle but it starts to bug me after a short time of viewing.
The image you used was kinda BS, since some pan and scan movies lose more than 1/2 of the image. Also, what "wasted information" is there in losing from 1/3 to 1/2 of a dance routine, or a scene qith someone in the back left.
This is one incredlbly short segment from one movie you don't care about. Remember, this goes on for the entire length of the film, and there are thousands and thousands of other films out there. There are about a bajillion more horrible examples of this travesty on YouTube. Let's start with Blade Runner.
Wait. You're using BLADE RUNNER as an example of how a piece of art shouldn't be modified from it's original version? Do you understand irony?
True again. There's about a hundred versions of Blade Runner. I have seven myself, and I'm not a big collector.
This is a little off topic, but not by much. One of the reasons I don't like watching Letterbox versions on my 21" TV is that, sometimes the screen looks tilted. It's as though the TV itself is actually sitting on an angle. Of course it's not, but that's what it looks like. It's only a very small angle but it starts to bug me after a short time of viewing.
If your TV is indeed level with the ground, then the problem is probably that you are not sitting perpendicular to the television. This happens to me with my computer monitor at work. It looks like it is tilted, but it checks out when I put a level on it. Then problem is that the center of the screen is aiming to the left or right slightly, and I have to adjust. Your couch is probably not paralell with the opposing wall.
Also, if your eyes really are that bad, that's seriously seriously bad. You need to get some eye surgeries or something.
While to you plebians that stuff on the side might be wasted space, to a filmmaker it is an essential and intentional part of the mise ene scene. Look at the Blade Runner example where they cut out "empty" space to the right or left of the two characters at the table. Even though there is no visual activity in that space, it greatly affects your perception of what is going on. I mean, how different would the Mona Lisa be if there were about an extra 12" of empty sky above her head? It would change everything. Think of that space as you would think of a rest in a piece of music. It is essential, and removing it is a bastardization.
Just because the filmmaker puts it there does not mean it's superior. Many films would benefit from heavy editing. Look what happened with Star Wars; A New Hope benefited from heavy studio limitations, while The Phantom Menace suffered without anyone to pull in Lucas' reins. You plebs might not understand that.
While to you plebians that stuff on the side might be wasted space, to a filmmaker it is an essential and intentional part of the mise ene scene. Look at the Blade Runner example where they cut out "empty" space to the right or left of the two characters at the table. Even though there is no visual activity in that space, it greatly affects your perception of what is going on. I mean, how different would the Mona Lisa be if there were about an extra 12" of empty sky above her head? It would change everything. Think of that space as you would think of a rest in a piece of music. It is essential, and removing it is a bastardization.
While I might be inclined to give in a very little bit in the case of an art film or a special effects extravaganza, most movies are not like this. Most movies are not Blade Runner or Dreams or The Seventh Seal. If my wife is watching Steel Magnolias (for about the hundredth time), we can lose the stuff on the sides.
While I might be inclined to give in a very little bit in the case of an art film or a special effects extravaganza, most movies are not like this. Most movies are notBlade RunnerorDreamsorThe Seventh Seal. If my wife is watchingSteel Magnolias(for about the hundredth time), we can lose the stuff on the sides.
If something isn't worth watching in its full glory, it's not worth watching.
If something isn't worth watching in its full glory, it's not worth watching.
You don't always know before you watch, do you? I watched Diary of the Dead this weekend. I could have blocked out half the picture and still gleaned all possible enjoyment from it.
Do you only watch high art? Do you never watch crap for the sheer enjoyment of crap? I watched Zardoz and Logan's Run this weekend too. I could have watched with the sound muted and still gleaned all possible enjoyment from those films.
Here is an idea... maybe it's a matter of personal preference. Maybe there is no right or wrong answer.
The director can have their own opinion, but at the end of the day the consumer can make a personal choice based on their individual preference.
I have my opinion on this issue (as my DVD collection full of letterbox titles shows), but at the end of the day it's a subjective matter.
However, if a director intends for a work of art to be viewed a certain way, and has created that art accordingly, there can be no question that a modification results in viewing something other than the original work of art. Whether or not you care as a consumer of that work... well... that's where personal preference comes in.
Do you only watch high art? Do you never watch crap for the sheer enjoyment of crap? I watchedZardozandLogan's Runthis weekend too. I could have watched with the sound muted and still gleaned all possible enjoyment from those films.
See, us young kids have this problem, you might have heard us talk about it. Seeing as we have limited time in our lives, and the quantity of available entertainment media is increasing at an exponential rate, we are extremely picky about what we spend our limited time on. In our younger days we were lucky if we had even a few video tapes to watch. Now that we have almost every movie ever at a fingertips, we do not take it for granted.
See, us young kids have this problem, you might have heard us talk about it. Seeing as we have limited time in our lives, and the quantity of available entertainment media is increasing at an exponential rate, we are extremely picky about what we spend our limited time on. In our younger days we were lucky if we had even a few video tapes to watch. Now that we have almost every movie ever at a fingertips, we do not take it for granted.
If something isn't worth watching in its full glory, it's not worth watching.
Said the guy who watchedWelcome to Gaytown.Shouldn't this be pointed out in that "other" thread?
At first I didn't know wtf you were talking about.
Anything that gets watched on Boxee in the living room shows up there, whether it is me or not. That particular instance was everyone in the FRC browsing Hulu to see what was up. We did not watch more than a minute of that, IIRC. We just watch enough to figure out what the deal was.
That was when he was living alone at the top of a mountain with no Internets, television, or much money. He left to consume and re-consume what happened to occupy his hard drive.
That was when he was living alone at the top of a mountain with no Internets, television, or much money. He left to consume and re-consume what happened to occupy his hard drive.
He obviously took the time to put it on his hard drive when he did have Internet access.
Do you only watch high art? Do you never watch crap for the sheer enjoyment of crap? I watchedZardozandLogan's Runthis weekend too. I could have watched with the sound muted and still gleaned all possible enjoyment from those films.
See, us young kids have this problem, you might have heard us talk about it. Seeing as we have limited time in our lives, and the quantity of available entertainment media is increasing at an exponential rate, we are extremely picky about what we spend our limited time on. In our younger days we were lucky if we had even a few video tapes to watch. Now that we have almost every movie ever at a fingertips, we do not take it for granted.
Wait . . . are you saying that you never, never watch crap? You only watch dense, arty films that are full of lofty merit?
Comments
Here is a good guide.
This article gives a good overview of the issue.
If you only watch a film to know "what happens", I guess that is your prerogative. To me it is like only looking at the Mona Lisa to see that the subject is a woman and ignoring the composition and technique.
This is a little off topic, but not by much. One of the reasons I don't like watching Letterbox versions on my 21" TV is that, sometimes the screen looks tilted. It's as though the TV itself is actually sitting on an angle. Of course it's not, but that's what it looks like. It's only a very small angle but it starts to bug me after a short time of viewing.
Also, if your eyes really are that bad, that's seriously seriously bad. You need to get some eye surgeries or something.
But truly, aside from being legally blind, my eyes are just aging like everyone's. My wife has pretty similar problems.
Do you only watch high art? Do you never watch crap for the sheer enjoyment of crap? I watched Zardoz and Logan's Run this weekend too. I could have watched with the sound muted and still gleaned all possible enjoyment from those films.
The director can have their own opinion, but at the end of the day the consumer can make a personal choice based on their individual preference.
I have my opinion on this issue (as my DVD collection full of letterbox titles shows), but at the end of the day it's a subjective matter.
However, if a director intends for a work of art to be viewed a certain way, and has created that art accordingly, there can be no question that a modification results in viewing something other than the original work of art. Whether or not you care as a consumer of that work... well... that's where personal preference comes in.
Anything that gets watched on Boxee in the living room shows up there, whether it is me or not. That particular instance was everyone in the FRC browsing Hulu to see what was up. We did not watch more than a minute of that, IIRC. We just watch enough to figure out what the deal was.