MovieChat Forums > Naqoyqatsi (2003) Discussion > DVD is Stretched (and Cropped?)

DVD is Stretched (and Cropped?)

posted 18 years ago by maturity
7 replies | jump to latest

The DVD is not really widescreen. It's been stretched from 4x3 to 16x9, so every thing looks 1/3rd wider than it should. You can see this most easily on the human faces and circles, but everything exhibits the problem, including Miramax's logo and the architecture at the beginning.

The movie was originally shot in HDTV, so I think it was also cropped. Then they stretched it back out, hoping nobody would notice. It may not be hurt as much by cropping, since the visuals are so repetitive. But the stretching is annoying. I noticed that every frame was stretched by exactly 1/3rd.

It looks normal when you set your DVD player (and 16x9 TV) to squeeze it back to the original ratio of the content. First, set your DVD player to 16x9 mode. With 16x9 TVs, you also need to set the TV to normal 4x3 mode.

[–] cjpatten 18 years ago

Check this thread: http://www.koyaanisqatsi.org/community/discussion/read.php?5,2159,2247

If you believe the credentials, the co-producer of the film indicates it's *supposed* to be stretched. (circles appear as ovals) This was a creative choice.

[–] maturity 18 years ago

I think they are just spinning it this way after the fact, since someone in that thread confirmed it was originally shown at ~1.37:1 (Academy Ratio) in one movie theater, at least. Given that Reggio wanted the movie to look totally un-natural, maybe he felt it enhanced that goal. Still, it's annoying if you want to see the original (normal) video format and ratio.

If this was really a creative choice, it's a rather lazy and UN-creative one. It would be like shooting everything with the same lens / filter. Boring and stale. It seems more a matter of expediency than creative choice. They had 4x3 footage, theaters wanted widescreen, so they stretched it. Using the same effect over and over isn't creative. It's repetitive, weak, and dull.

I'm surprised they didn't get more complaints about this. Most people don't seem to notice. If it was deliberate, why not stretch or squeeze by a varying amount? That way, it's less repetitive and clearly intentional. Stretching it all by 33% looks more like a compromise than a creative choice.

[–] megArnold 16 years ago

Funny. I first thought "that's funny, those stretched people". Then, after 20 minues, it got annoyingly boring. I first thought my DVD player was set wrongly. Then I thought there was a fault on the DVD...

So it's "creative stupidity", after all.

[–] ImGonnaJump 16 years ago

I just saw the film last night in the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. It was definitely a 35mm print and NOT an HD projection (the print had dust and scratches; and as any non-platter film print would have, it also had changeover marks in the upper right hand corner...).

The images were definitely stretched to fill a 1:1.85 frame. Therefore, the DVD is a faithful replication of this and NOT a mechanical error.

Whether or not this was a good creative choice is clearly left up to the individual.

For me, as a creative concept, it was just another example of technology's cancerous metastasization over anything human. In this case, including the very film itself...

"Gravity is a harsh mistress." -Tick

[–] maturity 7 years ago

The Criterion Collection "Qatsi trilogy" blu-ray doesn't seem to suffer from the same problems.

[–] maturity 7 years ago

I have the criterion Qatsi trilogy blu-ray and it doesn't seem to have the same problem. I just skimmed it. I haven't watched it all yet because it's not my favorite.

[–] gameshowalex 7 years ago

The back of my DVD of this title specifically mentions Widescreen [1.78.1], but what does this mean??