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Aspect ratios? [Merged]

Jadentheman

Jadentheman

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I saw the trailer and everything was epic, except fro thr fact that the aspect ratios kept changing. I think I'll be a little bothered by that.

First it's widescreen, then it's letterboxed, then a full screen image. So how will this work out in the theatres?
 
Re: Aspect ratios?

I noticed that too being a broadcast student, and a bit of an aspect ratio nerd.

The smooth criminal "sliding down the handrail" is 4:3, the rehearsal footage is 16:9 anamorphic, and the (me speculating) dress rehearsal footage elements are 4:3 letterboxed.

The only conclusion I can come to, is that the elements they are putting together come from different sources and were shot differently. I assume the studio footage was shot (or at least given to sony) in 4:3, the months of rehearsal footage was shot correctly in 16:9 (maybe on HDV or something), and the dress rehearsal stuff was shot letterboxed while they were testing the multicam system or something.

Again this is just me speculating, and based on very little evidence from the trailer. I guess we'll find out properly by looking at the movie.

Because it's a documentary, changing aspect ratios can be forgiven, but I just hope i'm wrong, and in fact the dress rehearsal stuff was shot in 16:9 HD anamorphic.

Nonetheless sony will probably crop and upscale things to unify the ratios...Or maybe the footage they used for the trailer was temporary footage at a lower resolution that they referenced before all the elements came in.

Or maybe they just letterboxed and pillarboxed some of the shots to make the trailer more visually engaging.

...Who knows.
 
Re: Aspect ratios?

Yeah I noticed that too...it was weird.
 
Re: Aspect ratios?

jmoses said:
I noticed that too being a broadcast student, and a bit of an aspect ratio nerd.

The smooth criminal "sliding down the handrail" is 4:3, the rehearsal footage is 16:9 anamorphic, and the (me speculating) dress rehearsal footage elements are 4:3 letterboxed.

The only conclusion I can come to, is that the elements they are putting together come from different sources and were shot differently. I assume the studio footage was shot (or at least given to sony) in 4:3, the months of rehearsal footage was shot correctly in 16:9 (maybe on HDV or something), and the dress rehearsal stuff was shot letterboxed while they were testing the multicam system or something.

Again this is just me speculating, and based on very little evidence from the trailer. I guess we'll find out properly by looking at the movie.

Because it's a documentary, changing aspect ratios can be forgiven, but I just hope i'm wrong, and in fact the dress rehearsal stuff was shot in 16:9 HD anamorphic.

Nonetheless sony will probably crop and upscale things to unify the ratios...Or maybe the footage they used for the trailer was temporary footage at a lower resolution that they referenced before all the elements came in.

Or maybe they just letterboxed and pillarboxed some of the shots to make the trailer more visually engaging.

...Who knows.
Click to expand...

*reads thread, nods head, feels out of depth, leaves*
 
Re: Aspect ratios?

trailers are made while films are being worked on, we probably seen footage that hasnt been corrected as of yet, some films are worked on right up until the day of the release.

The trailer looks like it was made up of raw footage edited together with some shots which have been worked on.
 
Re: Aspect ratios?

The Dome project was filmed in HD meaning it had to be 16:9, but they could have just cropped it for the moniters they were going to use in the concert.
 
Re: Aspect ratios?

They can't adjust it without losing detail or elements...
I think they'll keep it in the format of the source material...
It doesn't bother me, documentaries often are like that...
 
Differing Aspect Ratios

Does anyone have any idea why in the trailers and the clips certain clips are shown "windowboxed" (the black box around the image)? It seems strange to me that a professional film would do so... I guess some stuff was only shot on SD?
 
Re: Differing Aspect Ratios

adamschoales said:
Does anyone have any idea why in the trailers and the clips certain clips are shown "windowboxed" (the black box around the image)? It seems strange to me that a professional film would do so... I guess some stuff was only shot on SD?
Click to expand...

Apropo was the movie shot in 35 mm or just videotape ???
 
Re: Differing Aspect Ratios

From all the cameras I've seen it looks like everything was shot in HD. One of the cameras is the RED camera which is an INCREDIBLE camera (and probably is what was used for the Dome project stuff).

so i doubt 35mm was used. Too costly (and remember this whole film project was unplanned so there would have been no reason for them to use 35 mm)
 
Re: Differing Aspect Ratios

adamschoales said:
From all the cameras I've seen it looks like everything was shot in HD. One of the cameras is the RED camera which is an INCREDIBLE camera (and probably is what was used for the Dome project stuff).

so i doubt 35mm was used. Too costly (and remember this whole film project was unplanned so there would have been no reason for them to use 35 mm)
Click to expand...

Damn nothing looks better than 35 mm it gives the movie a "warm" touch. Video is always cold and it looks always kind of cheap.
 
Re: Differing Aspect Ratios

I totally agree... though the RED camera has a lot of technology to replicate that film look. Its the only HD camera I can genuinely say I myself (as a filmmaker) would choose over film.

A lot of films from this year were shot on it including Angels and Demons, which while not a FANTASTIC film had stunning cinematography.
 
Re: Differing Aspect Ratios

adamschoales said:
I totally agree... though the RED camera has a lot of technology to replicate that film look. Its the only HD camera I can genuinely say I myself (as a filmmaker) would choose over film.

A lot of films from this year were shot on it including Angels and Demons, which while not a FANTASTIC film had stunning cinematography.
Click to expand...

I know that 35 mm is expensive but how much more does 35 mm cost in comparison to video. Let´s say for 10 minute film footage. Is it double the cost or even more???

I wonder If MJ has 35mm footage from at least one concert. It would be a great loss if we don´t get to see at least one Bad Concert in 35mm.

Elvis on the other hand has the "The Way it is-Concert Fim" in 35mm and it looks great.

I would love to see Vicotry Tour in 35mm. I really hope MJ has 35mm footage.
 
Re: Differing Aspect Ratios

Kenny said that a range of different cameras had been used to film the rehearsals. They wouldn't have messed with the aspect ratio on purpose and would only have included varying aspects if it was unavoidable because it doesn't look that great.
 
Re: Differing Aspect Ratios

Think to consider is this. Kenny has already stated that they nearly pulled the plug on ALL the rehearsal footage, so really we need to be thankful that there is any at all!
 
Re: Differing Aspect Ratios

one of the cameras on the day of rehearsals looks like it hadnt been calibrated with the correct HD settings, was perhaps 720P HD instead of 1080P?
 
Re: Differing Aspect Ratios

As a videographer, this is one of the most surprising and interesting threads I've ever found on an MJ forum! All good theories.

On the related subject, did anybody else notice that the original 2-minute TDCAU video that was released shortly after MJ's passing seemed to not have been deinterlaced, hence horrible horizontal lines?
 
Re: Aspect ratios?

BUMP:

Mods, this should be merged with the "differing aspect ratios" thread in the TII forum. They both contain discussion on the same subject.

Edit: Cheers!
 
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Re: Differing Aspect Ratios

Chris_Jones said:
Think to consider is this. Kenny has already stated that they nearly pulled the plug on ALL the rehearsal footage, so really we need to be thankful that there is any at all!
Click to expand...

Sorry. Could you elaborate? They DIDN'T film rehearsals, or DID? What do you mean pulled the plug

FunkyMunky said:
As a videographer, this is one of the most surprising and interesting threads I've ever found on an MJ forum! All good theories.

On the related subject, did anybody else notice that the original 2-minute TDCAU video that was released shortly after MJ's passing seemed to not have been deinterlaced, hence horrible horizontal lines?
Click to expand...

Probably because of a PAL/NTSC issue. They rushed the stuff out and I dont think they mastered it with a great deal of care.
 
It was a cause of concern because movie theatres have a set ratio and it seems like this movie will go over the whole place.
 
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