If you ’ve watch over many movies on video , you ’ve belike read the lyric , " This celluloid has been modify from its original version . " But how has it been modified ? The message that appear at the first of telecasting tapes is n’t very specific . As it turns out , there are a number of way television producers alter theatrical films for video firing , and factor of these processes have sparked het up debates about maintaining artistic visions .
In this article , we ’ll essay the method and issues involved in formatting movies forvideos , DVDsandtelevision . We ’ll also take a flavor at the history of film prospect ratios and talk a little bit about the future tense of video data formatting . By the end of this clause , you ’ll be able to watch movies and videos with a whole Modern discernment of the process of their yield !
What is Video Formatting ?
There are a lot of things imply in depict theatrical movies on a television because moving-picture show and television are very dissimilar medium . Movie film is a very strong-arm medium . It ’s exactly like thefilmin yourstill camerain that it records optical entropy with chemical reaction on special material . Video , on the other hand , stores visual information as an electronic sign that can be transmitted viaradio waves , place through coaxial cable , etc . Because of this , moving-picture show and video have very unlike properties . For one thing , they do n’t split up still image the same way . Filmed movie frame must therefore be reorganized into a picture data format before a picture show can be express on a television .
The more controversial data format issue is changing the contour of a movie ’s picture so that it fills a television screen . picture producers significantly alter most movies from their original theatrical presentation because standardtelevisionscreens have a unlike shape than received movie pictures . A received television has anaspect ratio , or proportion of breadth to top , of 4:3 . Another way to express this ratio as 1.33:1 . This means that a television screen is 1.33 prison term as wide as it is high . Theatrical movies are filmed using several unlike facet ratios , almost all of which are somewhat blanket than a telecasting screenland . These 24-hour interval , the most vernacular U.S. theatrical aspect ratios are 2.35:1 and 1.85:1 , but some movies are even all-embracing . As you may see , while a television screen is fairly stuffy to a square , a motion picture characterisation with a 2.35:1 vista ratio is more than doubly as wide as it is high-pitched .
therefore , modern moving-picture show do not mechanically fit standard television screens . to release a movie onVHS videoandDVDor broadcast it on television , video and television producers have to accommodate this remainder . There are a number of manner of accomplishing this , each of which we ’ll examine . We ’ll also look at why televisions and theatrical movies have different face proportion in the first position and explore the " widescreen vs. pan and scan " debate . But first , let ’s face at the first step in video formatting , sour move pictures on moving-picture show into moving pictures on video .
Frame Rate Conversion
The easiest means to exchange a film to video would be toprojectthe moving-picture show and shoot it with avideo camera . This would give you a copy of the picture show on television tape ( this is how mass make illegal video copies of motion picture that are only playing in theatre of operations ) , but the image would have a constant waver to it . This is because film and TV have a differentframe rate , meaning they show a different number of still picture per second .
Most lineament films are projected at a pace of 24 frames per second . This means that in one second , theprojectorshows 24 all over still pictures in succession . This is essentially the entire mental process of creating the illusion of movement with flick . Video formats were design to be used on cathode electron beam tube television , which work in a completely unlike style than a moving picture projector . If you ’ve readHow Television Works , then you hump that a telly make still photo line by seam , with an electron beam that passes over a phosphor - coated screen , in rows from leave to right wing , top to bottom . When video was first evolve , it was n’t viable to create a system that could " paint " all the lines in one pass over the concealment , so the cathode electron beam tube system was modified to paint every other line in one pass and then meet in the rail line in between in a 2d passing game . This process is calledinterlacing , and each complete pass of the negatron gun is called afield . Technology has improved to the point where we do n’t have to ramp up boob tube this way , but much of the rest of television broadcasting equipment has been designed around this musical theme , so it is fairly entrenched for the time being .
The telecasting used in traditional television set signals takes this particular form , but specific data format vary from country to area . There are three commonly used formats :
On a PAL or SECAM system , the electron shaft pass over the total screen 50 times a second , which have in mind the television presents a staring photograph 25 prison term a second . This is pretty penny-pinching to 24 shape per secondly , so if you make a verbatim conversion record one complete celluloid frame in every full video frame , the movie play pretty well , just a petite bit quicker . The main thing you might notice is that all the sound has a slightly higher pitch .
NTSC format shows about 30 frames per second ( 60 fields ) , so it is a bite trickier . Mathematically , you ca n’t easily spread 24 material body across 30 skeleton . But you’re able to disunite up 60 fields so that you show only 24 frames per second base , if you apply a block of five telecasting fields to show two film frames . The math is pretty simple :
Of naturally , you ca n’t part five by two equally , so formatters have to stagger it . A video written matter of a picture appearance skeletal system 1 for three fields , skeletal frame 2 for two fields , frame 3 for three fields and so on . This does n’t present motion precisely as it appeared when the movie was project ( pans are n’t as unstable , for example ) , but the movie is n’t sped up at all and the soundtrack is n’t affect .
But how do you split up a movie this way ? This is done with a gadget call atelecine . There are two different types of telecine , picture chainsandflying touch scanners .
Film chain are the cheaper option , but they do n’t make as beneficial a copy . With a movie range of mountains , you attach a exceptional sort of shutter to afilm projectorand envision the image through a lens and off of a mirror to a specialised telecasting tv camera . The shutter is rig so that it projects each frame for the appropriate amount of time .
The other type of telecine , the one used for high quality picture copies , does away with the projector and the shutter . fly spot digital scanner run a slight light on one side of the plastic film and a little tv camera on the other side of the motion picture , so they can scan each frame of film . Once a film systema skeletale is scanned , it ’s very easy to dissever it up into different picture field .
This process forge a minuscule bit other than with videodisc flick . DVDs store movie inMPEG digital format , which compresses the movie file by using the same image information from frame to frame . For a full description of how this works , check outHow DVDs and DVD Players Work .
Aspect Ratios
Theatrical filmmakers have primarily used 35 mm film from the very starting time of motion picture product , and they carry on to use it to this day . This is primarily because it is the established standard . The actual vista proportion of 35 millimetre film is 1.33:1 , the accurate face ratio used in established televisions – when television was developed , it was a logical choice to model them on the shape of films . This exact ratio was used for most silent impression , but Hollywood change the picture ratio more or less with the advent of talkie , to make room for anaudio caterpillar tread . The new proportion , 1.37:1 , became known as theAcademy Ratioand was used for the vast majority of U.S. films until the 1950s . Most motion-picture show grow before the 1950s set conventional boob tube sets pretty well .
But in the 1950s , moving-picture show - makers begin developing techniques to widen the look ratio of their picture . The chief reasonableness for this was the increasing popularity of tv set ; to keep people come to the movies , Hollywood had to give people entertainment they could n’t get at home . They set about making wider and wide-eyed movies , boast spectacular bird’s-eye cinematography . The main thing movie theaters had over television hardening is that they could immerse the viewer more profoundly in the world of the flick , and the best way to do this was to fill more of the hearing ’s lifelike airfield of vision ( which has more breadth than it does height because our middle are positioned side by side ) .
In addition to the grandeur and immersing qualities of panoramic scenery shots , panoptic aspect ratios plainly allow for more interesting aesthetic composition . If you go to an art museum , the vast bulk of paintings you see will either be significantly extensive than they are tall , a " landscape shape , " or importantly taller than they are wide-eyed , for a " portrait shape . " This is because a more rectangular canvas shape allows the creative person to balance the elements of the picture more effectively , which create a horse sense of visual harmony . Movies are the same way : A director and a camera operator can write shots that are much more pleasing to the eye when they use a wider aspect proportion . The shape of a television set screen , which is more straight - shaped , severely limits the possibilities for interesting visual compositions .
Since the 1960s , almost all major filmmakers have used a wide-cut prospect proportion when establish a theatrical pic . They still use 35 millimeter film with a 1.37:1 panorama ratio , however , so they have to somehow inflict another look ratio on that film . There are several way of doing this , and the method acting the manager choose determine the telecasting producer ’s options for modifying the picture show to fit a idiot box screen .
Today , the most uncouth methods of imposing a wide facet ratio are :
Each method acting has advantages and disadvantages , and directors often have a personal preference .
Anamorphic Lens
One of the most pop ways of create a all-encompassing picture is to " wring " it onto the narrower film . This is accomplished with an anamorphic crystalline lens on the camera that horizontally condense thelightit takes in . On the actual film of a movie made with an anamorphic lens , all the people and things in each framing appear unnaturally marvelous and skinny . In the movie theater , the projectionist attaches a like anamorphic lens to the projector to unsqueeze everything . The vantage of this formatting is that it apply the entire film domain to record the film picture as it will finally appear , so it does n’t sacrifice any resolving in creating a wide expression ratio picture . This method define the profundity of centering somewhat , however , and images in the screen background are sometimes distorted .
heavily - mat
A film maker can heavily felt a film by impound a peculiar mask to the television camera . This masquerade party blocks off the top and the bottom of the setting in front of it so that the film is only exhibit to the desired rectangular double . This is cheaper than using anamorphic lens , and it is a safe way for a conductor to completely ensure the motion-picture photography of his picture , but , because it only employ the halfway part of the uncommitted moving picture area , it sacrifices image resolution somewhat .
Soft mat
A filmmaker using this method acting only exposes the entire area of the plastic film but composes his picture with only the middle part of the picture in mind . The television camera may show only the center part of the film to the director and cinematographer , or it may have an outline on the entire image that point the margin of the desired expression ratio . When a soft - matted motion-picture show is projected , the projectionist has to dissemble it correctly so that only the mediate part of the picture seem on the screen . If you go to a lot of movies , you ’ve likely spotted a boom mike creeping into a stab or look a movie where people ’s heads are turn off off or there look to be too much empty quad at the top of each shot . These thing befall when a projectionist does n’t decent mask a voiced - matte film .
Letterbox and Pan & Scan
No matter how it was film , the adept way to represent a movie on video as it was originally created is toletterboxit . This format presents the full , wide-cut picture on the centre of the television screen , with black bars above and below it . This maintains the moving-picture show ’s original theatrical aspect ratio , so that you see everything the music director intended you to see . Because they preserve the original filming of the movie , letterbox , orwidescreen , video have become more and more pop in late years . The format is in particular common on DVD because their increase storage capacity can hold both a letterbox interpretation and afull - frameversion , a demonstration that uses the full television screen . Also , their increased picture quality helps counteract the red of resolution induce by shrinking the movie movie .
The trouble with letterboxing is that it shrivel up the viewing area of the television receiver sieve , which , if you have a small hardening to begin with , can make it moderately unmanageable to see the movie . For this reason , letterboxing is not the most popular formatting choice . Most TV audience are bothered by the pitch-black cake at the top and bottom of their silver screen more than they are annoy by the idea of not seeing the picture as it was originally filmed , so full - frame motion-picture show presentations are much more prevalent than letterbox intro . But if you are a scholar of film and want to fully experience the movie as a work of art , then the letterbox format is the only way to go .
Squeezing & Cropping
If a moving-picture show was filmed using an anamorphic lense , then the complete picture already live in a 1.37:1 format and so can be shown full frame on a television receiver without cutting much of the image . The job , of course , is that this image is severelysqueezed , so that circles appear to be egg and everyone ’s face is creepily elongated . Most viewers find this distracting , to say the least , so this formatting alternative is not used very often . Some TV producer did release movies this way when home video was just starting out , but these days , the only time you ’re likely to see this is at the start of picture show , as a mean of go wide opening credits on the screen . The more popular choice in recent years has been to letterbox the hatchway credit sequence
Another method from the early days of home video iscropping . This term is sometimes used generally to describe cutting off part of the original theatrical icon , but it also bring up to one specific formatting method acting . In this original cropping technique , the video formatter simply stage the halfway part of the theatrical picture on television . Cropped movie oft have rotten motion-picture photography and can actually be hard to trace . This is because the proficiency blindly ignore anything that happens on the side of the filmdom , play the betting odds that most of the important legal action will appear in the middle of the covert , at least in part . If a pocket-sized character only evince up on the far left-hand side of a wide - aspect ratio stroke , then he may not even show up in the cropped edition of the movie . A in particular craze scenario is when two characters in conversation stand on either side of the picture . The looker encounter the entire conversation with only the very edge of each person ’s face appearing on their screen , and nothing but blank space accept up the rest of the picture . Fortunately , this technique has mostly fallen by the roadside .
Pan & Scan
The method that has mostly replaced cropping and bosom ispanning and scanning . In this process , a video technician view the flick with its original look ratio and determine which TV - sized lump of the pic to show at any one time . Usually , this mean focus on the ingredient of the moving-picture show that are most of import to the plot , which is obviously a immanent decisiveness . If you have two character at either oddment of a widescreen dig , for example , the pan - and - scan operator must adjudicate which one to show . The operator will probably show the one that is talking , or performing the more conspicuous action . A careful pan - and - scan operator will attempt to represent the different significant aspects of a stab by " cut " between the two half of the screen , so that what was originally one shot becomes multiple jibe . The operator can also create a goat god from one side of the flick to another ( hence the name of the process ) .
To see what you might miss when a movie scene has been panned and scanned, click several times on the left or right arrow.
If a movie was shot with an anamorphic lens or a hard matte , the two main formatting options are to letterbox the movie or pan and rake it . If the movie was shot using a soft lustrelessness , however , there is a third pick .
Open Matte
We know that a filmmaker using a soft matte exposes the intact film region when shooting a pic . If 35 mm film is used , this full image has an look ratio of 1.37:1 , evenhandedly close to television ’s 1.33:1 prospect ratio . One formatting solution is to lead the matte " capable , " making the video recording copy of the movie from this entire flick domain . The painting then fill the entire television screen and only crops a small amount from the sides of the film image .
The success of this method acting depend on how the director blast the movie . Some directors compose each shot with both the easygoing - matted painting and the full image in head . When they look through the camera , they see the full pic exposed to the movie and a superimposed rectangle indicating the theatrical vista proportion . In this casing , the main matter you miss in video formatting is visual composition . So if you are mainly interested in following the plot of a movie , and not so much in cinematography , a full - frame edition of a soft - mat picture will in all probability suit you all right . A full - frame flick of this sort does n’t cut out much visual information , so you are n’t as likely to miss details or plot points as you are watching a panned and skim version of an anamorphic or hard - matted picture show .
The full - anatomy picture of a delicate - matted movie is not always usable , however . A lot of directors will practice a soft matte but completely ignore what ’s outside the theatrical matte . If you take a full image from this variety of movie , you might very well see godsend mikes , lights and bare circle . Also , if the pic includesspecial visual effects , there ’s a skilful prospect they were add only to the theatrical vista proportion portion of the image . It might be that some shot are useable and some are not . In this character , the video formatter may choose to combine full - frame shots with panning and scanning of the soft - matted theatrical pictorial matter .
For more information on video recording format and related to topic , train out the links on the next page .
