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Do you actually like Letterboxing?

Fbh

Fbh

Member
Because I don't.
Most people seem to agree that they don't like it in games, but personally I also don't like it in movies.

I own a pretty nice 55" TV. I would prefer it if the majority of movies used my whole screen instead of having black bars taking up like a third of the screen.

I've seen people say that letterboxing gives movies a more "cinematic" feeling but I just don't see it. As someone who watches more TV shows than movies the fact that TV shows tend to not have letterboxing has never bothered me or made me feel less "immersed" in them. Hell, I think stuff like Fargo (tv show) has better looking shots and photography than a lot of movies, and using the whole screen did not hold it back from doing so

EDIT:
I'm not saying I want Cropping in home releases (bluray, streaming,etc).
Just that I'd personally prefer if movies were made with the TV aspect ration in mind from the start. I'll watch them in the cinema once, I'll watch them for the rest of my life on a TV
 
M

MMarston

Was getting caught part of your plan?
If a film was made and framed specifically with letterbox resolution in mind, then yes.



Cropping can get the hell out.
 
O

Orbis

Member
What? There is no solution to letterboxing. It's either that, or you crop the sides of the content. Movies are made for projection in a cinema, not your fixed aspect ratio TV.
 
Fbh

Fbh

Member
MMarston said:
If a film was made and framed specifically with letterbox resolution in mind, then yes.



Cropping can get the hell out.
Click to expand...

If the movie was made for letterbox then I would of course rather watch it in that format.
I agree that cropping can get the hell out.

I would just rather have most movies be framed to use the whole screen


Orbis said:
What? There is no solution to letterboxing. It's either that, or you crop the sides of the content. Movies are made for projection in a cinema, not your fixed aspect ratio TV.
Click to expand...

I'll watch them in the cinema mabye once if I'm lucky.

I'll watch them for the rest of my life on a TV. I'd rather they made for the TV format and I don't think it would have a negative effect on the movie going experience
 
S

Sophia

Member
You should play(*) and watch stuff at the original aspect ratio. For most movies, that means black bars at the top and bottom unless you have an ultrawide monitor. Cropping stuff/pan and scan is awful and can ruin a lot of movies that way by cutting out stuff you were intended to see.

(*Obviously, this only applies to video games that don't have variable aspect ratio support, such as older 2D games.)

Fbh said:
If the movie was made for letterbox then I would of course rather watch it in that format.
I agree that cropping can get the hell out.

I would just rather have most movies be framed to use the whole screen
Click to expand...

Get an ultrawide monitor then, and watch movies on that. It'll fill the screen. Of course, then you'd have to deal with black bars on the side for 16:9 content...
 
S

Sojgat

Member
So use your TV's zoom function.

If you're advocating for movies to be cropped to fill your 16:9 display, you don't deserve to watch them in the first place.
 
The Faceless Master

The Faceless Master

Member
Fbh said:
Because I don't.
Most people seem to agree that they don't like it in games, but personally I also don't like it in movies.

I own a pretty nice 55" TV. I would prefer it if the majority of movies used my whole screen instead of having black bars taking up like a third of the screen.

I've seen people say that letterboxing gives movies a more "cinematic" feeling but I just don't see it. As someone who watches more TV shows than movies the fact that TV shows tend to not have letterboxing has never bothered me or made me feel less "immersed" in them. Hell, I think stuff like Fargo (tv show) has better looking shots and photography than a lot of movies, and using the whole screen did not hold it back from doing so
Click to expand...

there's a button on your remote to make it fit.
 
J

jond76

Banned
Imagine taking the Mona Lisa and slicing off edges to make it fit your specific frame. Its like that.

The director makes a movie in the aspect ratio they desire, and I want to see their movie the way they desired to make it.
 
O

Orbis

Member
Fbh said:
I would just rather have most movies be framed to use the whole screen
Click to expand...
But it's a film, not a TV show. Films are usually for cinema where the aspect ratio doesn't really matter (unless it's something crazy). If you want to watch them at home, this is the compromise.

EDIT: I saw your response. I get your point but they are still making it for cinema first and foremost. And consider the motivation for wider aspect ratios; it's a creative decision made for various reasons that may suit some films more than others.
 
I

Inferno313

Banned
Composition is incredibly important to the visual language of filmmaking. Would you go to an art museum that cuts off a third of each piece?
 
M

Merchandise

Member
I mean on my TV what am I going to to about it, but at the theater, yes. It's tacky if you can't be bothered to enclose the frame with curtains.
 
V

Vulcano's assistant

Banned
I'ts like not liking a dish that doesn't cover the entire plate, every plate size. The chef shouldn't compromise his work to carter to a plurality of delivery methods.
 
Z

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
Yeah I kind of agree OP. I don't really think everything needs to be filmed at 1.85:1 or 2.39:1, but generally they are.

I basically never go to the cinema though so that's part of it.
 
Melon Husk

Melon Husk

Member
I think people who like pan-and-scan are in the minority these days, thanks to bigger TVs.

If your TV is so nice it must have a zoom feature. Alternatively, sit closer. I like to see videos in their original aspect ratio, be it in academy ratio or 16:9 portrait.
 
T

theCalamity

Member
Servbot24 said:
Film should be produced at whatever ratio the director feels best supports the work.





What are these posts, lol
Click to expand...

UE1Z3WQ.jpg


From here
 
F

Fhtagn

Member
I prefer to watch films at the original aspect ratio and now that huge 4K tvs are the reasonably affordable, watching very wide presentations is easier than ever.

Good directors and cinematographers frame everything based on the aspect ratio they are using.

If you're arguing that in light of most the being 16:9 now, movies should be made in that format, then that's a different argument; I think directors and cinematographers should pick aspect ratios that they feel best fits their subject.
 
G

greycolumbus

The success of others absolutely infuriates me.
OP, how do you feel about films with dynamic aspect ratios like Life of Pi or The Grand Budapest Hotel?
 
Fbh

Fbh

Member
greycolumbus said:
OP, how do you feel about films with dynamic aspect ratios like Life of Pi or The Grand Budapest Hotel?
Click to expand...

Don't really remember being more bothered by those.


But some of the Noal movies that have those IMAX screens tend to alternate between letterboxing and using the whole screen. And those Imax scenes definitely look a whole lot better
 
Caayn

Caayn

Member
I don't like it. It's less of an issue with OLED than it was with LCD/LED or even Plasma TVs but it's still an annoyance.

I don't like it when movies do it and I certainly don't like it when games do it, made me skip two games so far.
 
R

RipperGrim

Member
Orbis said:
What? There is no solution to letterboxing. It's either that, or you crop the sides of the content. Movies are made for projection in a cinema, not your fixed aspect ratio TV.
Click to expand...

Not true at all, have you seen the Blu-ray versions of The Hunger Games catching fire and Captain America Civil War? For Catching Fire the aspect ratio changes when the games begin and the movie goes full screen, same goes for the big fight at the airport in Civil War. It looks so much better when there aren't any black bars and I would be glad to see them gone.
 
Fbh

Fbh

Member
Orbis said:
What? There is no solution to letterboxing. It's either that, or you crop the sides of the content. Movies are made for projection in a cinema, not your fixed aspect ratio TV.
Click to expand...

Yes there is.

Start shooting movies in the format in which they will be watched for decades to come instead the format in which they will be shown for like a month or two
 
I

Inferno313

Banned
RipperGrim said:
Not true at all, have you seen the Blu-ray versions of The Hunger Games catching fire and Captain America Civil War? For Catching Fire the aspect ratio changes when the games begin and the movie goes full screen, same goes for the big fight at the airport in Civil War. It looks so much better when there aren't any black bars and I would be glad to see them gone.
Click to expand...

That's because those sequences are filmed with IMAX cameras, not because the aspect ratio is inherently superior.
 
Melon Husk

Melon Husk

Member
Fbh said:
Don't really remember being more bothered by those.


But some of the Noal movies that have those IMAX screens tend to alternate between letterboxing and using the whole screen. And those Imax scenes definitely look a whole lot better
Click to expand...

Those IMAX scenes were shot on a better camera, and they were even taller (1.43:1) in the theaters.
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
Realistically I don't see feature films ever changing from the >2:1 aspect ratio; widescreen 16:9 TVs and screens proliferating reduces the visual impact of letter boxing, but I think the "cinematic" aspect ratio is going to die as slow a death as 24fps.

Cropping and pan-and-scan are terrible.
 
L

Lys Skygge

Member
I vastly prefer letterboxed ratios. I think they make for more interesting compositions. Also, if everything was filmed at 16x9, then we wouldn't be able to see the beautiful imagery that anamorphic lenses create.
 
M

Moppeh

Banned
Fbh said:
Yes there is.

Start shooting movies in the format in which they will be watched for decades to come instead the format in which they will be shown for like a month or two
Click to expand...

Cinema is made for the cinema.

Television is made for the television.
 
B

Betta Lines

Member
Fbh said:
Yes there is.

Start shooting movies in the format in which they will be watched for decades to come instead the format in which they will be shown for like a month or two
Click to expand...
Ultrawide displays are increasing in popularity. Nobody knows what screens will look like in a few decades.
 
R

RipperGrim

Member
Inferno313 said:
That's because those sequences are filmed with IMAX cameras, not because the aspect ratio is inherently superior.
Click to expand...

Game of thrones looks amazing and they don'y shoot with Imax cameras. Black bars are just taking up space and have never looked good in my opinion, just something that had to be dealt with.
 
O

Orbis

Member
Fbh said:
Yes there is.

Start shooting movies in the format in which they will be watched for decades to come instead the format in which they will be shown for like a month or two
Click to expand...
TV was 4:3 not long ago, would you have supported filming in 4:3?
 
M

MMarston

Was getting caught part of your plan?
Fbh said:
If the movie was made for letterbox then I would of course rather watch it in that format.
I agree that cropping can get the hell out.

I would just rather have most movies be framed to use the whole screen
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter what you think really. If a director thinks that a certain aspect ratio — be it 16:9, 4:3. 2.39:1 — is the best way to convey the image to an audience that reflects their intended message, then you'll just have to take it for what it is and judge it based on what they did with that. This is the same case for more mainstream films as well, regardless of what they decide to go with.

For a good example, here James Cameron's Terminator 2, where he actually took the extra effort to frame the film for both the cinema and home video in a way that best reflect how he wants a viewer to see it in each perspective medium. Christopher Nolan also does this when he needs to fit an IMAX scene into a general theater format, which unfortunately means cropping sometimes, but he keeps that into careful consideration.

termsuper35c.jpg


For a bad example of how to utilize aspect ratio, here is this awful Star Wars fan film that tries to go with an ultra-wide cinemascope format, but it's pretty clear whoever directed it just thought it looked cool and tacked it on anyway. There's no consideration for visual framing -- this is what it means to just "tack on" black bars, create some awful cropping, and as result, you just can't see hit 'ere cap'n. .

lOzYAM.gif
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
MMarston said:
For a bad example of how to utilize aspect ratio, here is this awful Star Wars fan film that tries to go with an ultra-wide cinemascope format, but it's pretty clear whoever directed it just thought it looked cool and tacked it on anyway. There's no consideration for visual framing -- this is what it means to just "tack on" black bars, create some awful cropping, and as result, you just can't see hit 'ere cap'n. .

lOzYAM.gif
Click to expand...

Reminds me of the Film Riot guys, who do good shorts but their director always adds 2.35:1 matte bars to their 16:9 shots. Definition of "this makes things like movies!" without actual consideration for the subject matter.
 
Fbh

Fbh

Member
Betta Lines said:
Ultrawide displays are increasing in popularity. Nobody knows what screens will look like in a few decades.
Click to expand...

They are?
Aside from 1 hardcore PC gamer I know literally no one with an ultrwide screen. Nor have I seen any ultrwide TV's in any big electronics store in my area.


I agree, we don't know what screens will look like in a few decades. But movies will be displayed on 16:9 screen Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer than they will be shown in cinemas
 
9

99Luffy

Banned
No one likes letterboxing. But many directors dont often make movies with a 55" hdtv in mind. They make them for theater screens.
bH24Wg6.jpg


That said, I think 2.39 is actually a terrible aspect ratio. Imagine if all our phones and monitors had to be 2.39. Not fun. And often times movies arent shot in ultrawide. Theyre shot with more of a 4:3 aspect ratio and then cropped to 2.39. Movies like Skyfall had so much visual information cut out for the 2.39 blu ray release compared to some theater releases. And we'll never see it again unless the studio does some kind of 'special edition' re-release.
 
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