What's the difference between Serenity Widescreen and Serenity Fullscreen DVDs? by iccledames

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

What's the difference between Serenity Widescreen and Serenity Fullscreen DVDs?

POSTED BY: ICCLEDAMES
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 15:09
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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 1:59 PM

Hi all - don't think I've ever started a topic here before so apologies if I've gotten it in the wrong place.

Although I'm in the UK, I've recently purchased a multi-region DVD player (my old one broke unfortunately. It was Region 2 only but at least now I've got this shiny new contraption, I can get Serenity a bit earlier). Just wondered (it's probably a stupid question) but what's the difference between the Fullscreen and Widescreen DVDs? Am wondering which one to buy (I can't afford both!!) as I only have a portable TV so it's a relatively small screen - which format DVD is gonna look better do you reckon? Help! Which do I buy!!?

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 2:06 PM

CHINDI

Full screen fills the TV but often has the edges of the film clipped as the shape of most tvs is not the same as film..

Wide screen gives you the shape of the film but its a bit smaller and there is a black area above and below the film to letterbox or shadow box it.

I do NOT know the difference if you have one of those fancy newer tvs that are actually shaped like film cells...

most film nuts (uh that would include me) prefer widescreen as you see what the director shot, and little bits on the edges are not missing...

chindi

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 2:10 PM

JASON2025

On a 16x9 (ie fancy film cel shaped TV's ;) ) you usually have the option of:

1) Displaying a regular image centered with black or other coloured bars on the sides.

2) Displaying a regular image stretched sideways to fill the screen

3) Displaying a regular image zoomed in with the top and bottom cropped off.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

J\

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 2:15 PM

NDRAGE85

my personal preference is widescreen. i also just bought my parents a 52 inch widescreen TV, so i get to use that when i go home. but in the dorms, i have just a 19 inch standard 3:4 TV. like the others said, widescreen puts those black lines on the top and bottom. Even though they bothered me at first, I now prefer them because you see everything as it was in the theater. With fullscreen DVDs they have to clip the edges off the picture in order for it to fill the entire screen on standard TVs. While widescreen gives you a smaller picture, it gives you the full picture, the way the director intended it. so yeah, movie buffs, a.k.a nerds, like myself prefer widescreen.

p.s. almost all DVD players come with a zoom feature that allows you to zoom in on widescreen DVDs so they take up the entire screen. While it does a good job, it is not always centered the way it would be on a fullscreen version DVD.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 2:34 PM

HOONDATHA

Just a point of historical note, movies used to be in 4:3 (today's TV aspect ratio). Watch any old Marx Brothers movie, or The General or whatever, and they're 4:3. Since that was the standard, it made sense for the newly-invented television to copy it.

Then television took off, and movies started trying to come up with ways of differentiating themselves to maintain a competative edge. Once of those ways was to change the aspect ratio. They went through a number of strange combinations (especially Disney cartoons) for about a decade before settling down on today's standards.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 2:38 PM

ROBINHOOD

Also, when you play your widescreen vers, make sure your player is set to 16:9, else everyone's gonna look like they got sucked through the cargo bay door

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 2:42 PM

GREENFAERIE

Get the widescreen. Unless you have a tiny TV, then get the full-screen.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 2:43 PM

MOHRSTOUTBEARD

There is absolutely no reason to buy a "fullscreen" DVD, and I wish studios would stop releasing them. "Fullscreen" destroys the composition of a widescreen shot, and it's completely pointless. Serenity was filmed with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, which means that if you get a "fullframe" version you'll be missing about 50% of the original picture.

I'll spare you all from a lecture on aspect ratios, but if anyone wants more information on them, check out The Digital Bits. They have a very good article on them as part of their discussion of anamorphic DVDs.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/aspectratios/widescr
eenorama.html

------------------
"Remember, there's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over."

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 3:30 PM

LISSA

Quote:
Originally posted by MohrStoutbeard:
There is absolutely no reason to buy a "fullscreen" DVD, and I wish studios would stop releasing them. "Fullscreen" destroys the composition of a widescreen shot, and it's completely pointless. Serenity was filmed with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, which means that if you get a "fullframe" version you'll be missing about 50% of the original picture.

here here!

except for full screen tv shows like buffy which were shot for full screen...but this is the only exception.

~lissa, retired spwhore

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 3:40 PM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by MohrStoutbeard:
Serenity was filmed with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, which means that if you get a "fullframe" version you'll be missing about 50% of the original picture.

You sure, M?
It looked more like 1.85:1, like the show.
But I could be wrong.....

Either way- get the widescreen, definitly, even if your watchin' it on a 7" LCD!!!!!!!!!

Chrisisall about preserving the artist's view

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 4:30 PM

JAYHAWK35

Yes, there is absolutely no reason to buy a FOOL screen movie. With FOOL screen, if you have a wide shot in the movie of two people talking to one another on screen, someone has to make a directorial decision as to who (or what) you see as each person speaks, because there isn't enough space in the 4:3 picture for both people to be on screen at the same time. Do you really want some lacky in the DVD transfer room choosing what you will see, and what you won't???? Get the WIDESCREEN version for EVERY DVD you buy, and be sure you see the film the way the director intended you to see it!

Jayhawk

---
Zoë: "Preacher, dont the bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?"

Book: "quite specific. It is however somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps"

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 4:39 PM

ICCLEDAMES

Thanks guys (and girls!) - so many replies and so fast! I think I'm gonna go for the Widescreen one!

I'll probably end up getting the Region 2 one as well if the coverart is different so I'm probably gonna spend hours deliberating over whether to watch Region 1 or 2. Random point for you all there lol.

Thanks again, I'll head over to Play and order the Widescreen one now!

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 5:16 PM

MOHRSTOUTBEARD

Quote:
Originally posted by lissa:
except for full screen tv shows like buffy which were shot for full screen...but this is the only exception.

Of course. I should have used the term "pan & scan" instead of "fullscreen" to better illustrate my point, which is that anything you get should be in its original aspect ratio. The problem almost always involves a widescreen picture getting truncated to fit into a 4x3 television, but in rarer instances there are cases of films that have the top and bottom chopped off to fit into a 16x9 screen.

For example, the latest release of Dr. Strangelove is an anamorphic widescreen DVD, whereas Kubrick presented it with a shifting aspect ratio ranging from, I believe, 1.33:1 to 1.66:1. When it came time to get it on DVD, I had to go with the transfer that was approved by the director. I believe a similar thing happened with Anchor Bay's Book of the Dead edition of the original The Evil Dead.

So, basically, the rule of thumb is just to go with the director's preference.

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
You sure, M?
It looked more like 1.85:1, like the show.
But I could be wrong.....

I double-checked IMDb to make sure, and it is listed as 2.35:1.

------------------
"Remember, there's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over."

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 5:22 PM

DONCOAT

Quote:
Originally posted by Jayhawk35:
Yes, there is absolutely no reason to buy a FOOL screen movie. With FOOL screen, if you have a wide shot in the movie of two people talking to one another on screen, someone has to make a directorial decision as to who (or what) you see as each person speaks, because there isn't enough space in the 4:3 picture for both people to be on screen at the same time. Do you really want some lacky in the DVD transfer room choosing what you will see, and what you won't???? Get the WIDESCREEN version for EVERY DVD you buy, and be sure you see the film the way the director intended you to see it!

Hence the phrase "pan and scan", which is a synonym for fullscreen. It means that certain scenes include "camera motion" from side to side that wasn't in the original film, as the technician tries to keep the current "talking head" in the frame.

Or, sometimes, you see the nose and lips (and nothing else) of two actors wagging at each other from either side of the frame!

Some of the worst pan and scan disasters have involved old musicals, where dance numbers can be horribly mangled. Not my favorite genre, but I'm just sayin'...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't about you, Jayne. It's about what they need.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 6:45 PM

RHUTTNER

First, let me start by saying that I am NOT recommending getting the Fullscreen version over the Widescreen version. I am getting the Widescreen version for myself.

But

I believe Serenity was filmed in Super 35. That means that the fullscreen version has more to the top and bottom than the widescreen (which has more to the left and right than the fullscreen).

Usually a fullscreen version is the same from top to bottom as the widescreen, so the only difference between the 2 is the sides getting cropped. But with Super 35 each version has something the other doesn't.

Look at this picture from T2

You can see that the widescreen has more on the sides and the fullscreen has more on the top and bottom.

I do not know if the fullscreen version of Serenity will have more on the top and bottom than the widescreen, but it might.

So, those of you that plan on purchasing more than one copy just to help support the film might consider getting the fullscreen. You may actually get something that you wouldn't have gotten by getting a 2nd widescreen.

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Wednesday, December 7, 2005 8:14 AM

CHRISISALL

I bought Airforce One with Harrison Ford, the flick was shot Super 35, and on one side of the disk, it had the widescreen, on the other, it had full frame, and the full frame had more at the top and bottom, but was very slightly cropped at the sides missing maybe 3-5% left and right (just as in T2 above). It was interesting to compare, but nothing essential was added to the visuals with the addition top and bottom. The decision to release it pan and scan, or full super 35 frame lies with the company most times, so I'm gonna wait 'till someone sees it. If it has the extra top and bottom, as opposed to just having the sides chopped to fill the frame, then I'll get it just out of curiosity and complete-ism. I'm getting two copies in any case.

Anyone with more time available than me care to research it a little?

Chrisisall, on a short break

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Wednesday, December 7, 2005 8:38 AM

STORYMARK

A couple other notes about Super 35:

Sometime when exposing the top and bottom of the screen, things are revealed that shouldn't be (example: Pee Wee's Big Adventure - the gag of him pulling the endless chain from his pack is shot since you see the chain feeding in through the bottom).

The other issue, is that special effects are always done for the widescreen print (no point in putting the work in if it's off screen). So, if Serenity was shot in Super 35, even if they showed more at the top and bottom (rather than cropping the sides) durring some shots, any with digital effcts would be cropped to pan and scan, as there is nothing extra at the top and bottom to expose.

It's all moot to me. I've been a widescreen nut since before DVD even showed up. I won't even watch a pan 'n scan movie for free.

"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."

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Wednesday, December 7, 2005 1:18 PM

SICKDUDE

Storymark and Rhuttner, thanks for the info on Super 35. I had never heard this before!

One question: in the above T2 example, what would have shown at the theatre? Do they chop off edges when they make the print that we all see? If so, how much? Or do we see the entire Super 35 image?

"Don't say 'ka' until you've tried it." Daniel Jackson

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Friday, December 9, 2005 8:13 AM

SICKDUDE

*bump*

Let me rephrase my question: Is the widescreen version pretty much the same as the theatrical prints, or is the theatrical print closer to the Super 35 original film?

"Don't say 'ka' until you've tried it." Daniel Jackson

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Friday, December 9, 2005 8:17 AM

CHRISISALL

The widescreen IS the theatrical print, the super 35 is the master from which a widescreen or fullscreen (for TV or DVD) is produced.

Answerman Chrisisall

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Friday, December 9, 2005 8:20 AM

SICKDUDE

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
The widescreen IS the theatrical print, the super 35 is the master from which a widescreen or fullscreen (for TV or DVD) is produced.

Answerman Chrisisall

Ahhh, I get it. Thanks Answerman!

"Don't say 'ka' until you've tried it." Daniel Jackson

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Friday, December 9, 2005 8:30 AM

SHINYHINEYSUPERLIMEY

I'm gonna get the widescreen when it comes out here, but I've ordered the fullscreen Region 1 DVD too. I'll be interested to see if either lose much as a result of their format. I didn't really give it a thought when I made my order, just got the fullscreen as it'll fit on my laptop screen better :)

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Friday, December 9, 2005 1:57 PM

RUNA27

I ordered the Widescreen myself. Then again, even though my TV's not widescreen, I have the benefit of a laptop with a widescreen screen. :) And since windows can be resized anyway. ^_^

-Runa27

Can't Stop The Signal

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Friday, December 9, 2005 4:51 PM

ICCLEDAMES

Garr! I ordered it and then the next day I found out that the Region 2 release is set to have more exclusive content. Poo.

Went back to Play to cancel my order but it says they sent it already - and according to them it's not due out until the 15th! Just my luck...

Looks like I'll be getting two copies of Serenity afterwards...

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Tuesday, December 13, 2005 3:09 PM

JASONZZZ

Here are some really great examples of
the very same scenes from movies released
in widescreen and fullframe formats.

http://plum.cream.org/HP/poa.htm
http://www.widescreen.org/examples.shtml

It's just crazy to not have widescreen format.

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http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=5&t=3283
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=13317#185514

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