Hi everyone!
and for a start, I hope you'll forgive my broken english...
here is my question for those who have seen TRUE STORIES in a theatre and not on dvd.: What is the original ration for the film?
Second question for english users: I bought a vhs tape of the movie during the 90's in england. I lost the tape... In my memories, the ratio for the tape was 1.85 or 2.35. was it really the case or was, like the dvd edition, a 1.33 copy (pan and scan)?
THank you all!
The original theatrical ratio was 1:66. The 1:33 version I'm pretty sure is NOT pan and scan. It is "unmatted". Matted means cropped (matted off) at the top and bottom to give a wider rectangle effect. This is how 1:66 is achievied. So you're better off with this type of full screen. You're seeing all of the frame, plus more, than in the matted type of wide screen.
shareActually I would have thought that the film was composed for 1.85:1 ( all US theatres, Canadian, most Irish and UK etc have 1.85 and 2.35:1 ( actually 2.39:1 now ) :
but is was very common then to have a 1.66:1 mask in the camera : this is 100 % image area, the perfect cinema would show 95.5 % of that.
As most of Europe ( not UK or Ireland, except art-houses ) and Scandinavian countries showed films mainly in 1.66:1 ( ie showing a little more top and bottom ), rather than 1.85, then having a film with a NEGATIVE mask of 1.66:1, allows the film to be shown anywhere in either 1.66 or 1.85 ( or in some UK Odeons then... 1.75:1 ) without seeing frame-bars top and bottom: this is how David and his DOP would have composed the image surely, being theatrical 1 st TV second ? so showing more at the top and bottom is maybe the worst option...?
my 2p
Could be it was composed with 1.85 in mind, or as an option, that is, maintaining leeway in the composition so the important stuff would always be inside a 1.85 'safe' area.
Then again, it might have been done according to the music video style, which would be 1.33, but with a 1.66 safe area for theatrical release.
I suppose David Byrne or Ed Lachman could answer this, but why would they bother?
This movie has a 1:85 anamorphic HD (yes high definition) transfer.
It's on INHD (mojo) now. Part of the Comcast HD package.
It looks quite nice.
Just to add... Isn't this an odd choice for an HD transfer? Especially this early in the high definition era.
here's a couple pictures.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f373/jfuqua27/IMG_1291.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f373/jfuqua27/IMG_1289.jpg
The HD can be produced by "up-res" of a standard definition. This means it's copied to a larger size, with pixel interpolation to smooth the image. This can even be done real-time by display hardware.
So it may not be a new transfer.
I'm pretty sure it was High Def (the tv guide listing said it was).
At the very least, it's a transfer that's not 1.33:1 pan&scan.
The DVD is not pan&scan, it is an Open Matte transfer. I watched it on my HDTV zoomed to fill my widescreen and everything was perfectly framed, except the segments of the film that were shown theatrically pillarboxed: The opening scenes with dinosaurs and Indians, some of the cilps during "Puzzling Evindence" and "Love For Sale".
There are many films that are released on DVD as Open Matte / 1.33:1 that are NOT pan&scan even though many sites erroneously label them as such.
I saw this in a theater upon release (at North Park Mall in Dallas, the one used for the mall interiors in the film) and I cannot swear that the aspect ratio was not 1.33:1, though I think it was 1.66:1.
Enter the Lodge>
http://tinyurl.com/yqwurw
Although I live in the United States, I have a multi-region DVD player.
I was able to find a version of the DVD that is 1.85:1 (16:9 Full Frame Transfer) from Australia. It is, of course, Region 4 and PAL encoded. It looks great!
I was also frustrated that no widescreen version seems to exist on DVD in the U.S.
I find it Ironic that as an American I had to go to an Australian site to order a copy of a film about Texas.
I have this version also---I found it on eBay. Seems almost no one knows about this film, so I'm not holding my breath waiting for a widescreen R1 release. Too bad, it's wonderful!
"I prefer to remember things my own way ... not necessarily the way they happened."
I just orded the wide-screen version from eBay, but was disappointed when the full screen version arrived. It is definitely chopped at the sides, and zooming in will result in cropping at the top and bottom. The opening and closing title sequences are shown wide screen, and can be zoomed. Guess pan & scan doesn't work when the titles run across the entire wide screen.
Note that the eBay seller updated their listing when I complained. The DVD was definitely a delete, but was still in the original Warner Brothers shrink-wrap and protection seals.
I have the R4 PAL release, too, and it is a great transfer! I found mine on eBay.
"I prefer to remember things my own way ... not necessarily the way they happened."
I ordered the widescreen edition from Australia, looking forward to comparing the framing with my R1 edition.
My Movie List>
http://tinyurl.com/22as9c