Pirates of Caribbean - Blockbuster - widescreen only

[caitycaity]

i am a huge widescreen fan.

recently though, i discovered that one of my all time favorite moves, "the sting," was originally filmed in 1.33:1 (i.e. fullscreen).

 

[tkyes]

The black bar at the top and the bottom of the screen bug me. So I guess we usually watch stuff in full screen. What we need to see of the movie is on the screen.

 

[ErikdaRed]

Actually, its not all on the screen. The most famous example I've seen is a seen on Bridge over the River Kwai where 2 guys are having a discussion with a bottle between them. The "camera" plays ping pong from side to side when both men are in the shot in wide screen.

 

[MICKEY88]

In one of the scenes I tested this on last night...

Captain Jack Sparrows, head almost totally disappears in full scene, in other scenes entire characters are cut off....I've definitely been converted to wide screen..

once I saw that it didn't take long for me to adjust to the black band, you get so drawn into the movie you don't even notice it...

 

[MICKEY88]

In one of the scenes I tested this on last night...

Captain Jack Sparrows, head almost totally disappears in full screen, in other scenes entire characters are cut off....I've definitely been converted to wide screen..

once I saw that it didn't take long for me to adjust to the black band, you get so drawn into the movie you don't even notice it...

 

[wdwoldtimer]

A lot of older films, especially foreign ones tended to use the full widescreen frame even during closeups of two or more characters. Ever see ones where Fullscreen cuts off half the actors faces during a conversation? I think the Fullscreen version of Sound of Music has a couple scenes like that.

Really? The Sting was filmed in 1.33:1 ? Weird. Great movie. Ever see the sequel? Wasn't bad either, for a sequel.

 

[tkyes]

I guess what I'm saying is that they don't leave anything off that I can't live without seeing. Even if they pan back from one character to another, they still show the characters that I need to see.

I just can't get past the black bands, maybe someday.

 

[wdwoldtimer]

I think the DIS Widescreen Task Force is going to have to work overtime to pull tkyes from the Dark Side. We may have to upgrade the reward from a toaster to something better too.

Ok, how about this...

Get a big posterboard that covers your entire TV screen. Cut out a rectangle that just reveals a Widescreen frame. Voila...no black bars! You can even decorate the posterboard with Disney characters, pics of family members...anything as long as it's not black.

Come into the light....all are welcome...all are welcome...step into the light....

 

[MICKEY88]

Originally posted by tkyes
I guess what I'm saying is that they don't leave anything off that I can't live without seeing. Even if they pan back from one character to another, they still show the characters that I need to see.

I just can't get past the black bands, maybe someday.

if your dvd player has the capability to switch widescreen to full screen, rent a wide screen movie..or better yet buy Pirates...watch in wide screen mode.find a scene with action along the sides..then pause and switch to full screen...you're missing more than you realize...up until last night I was a diehard full screen person,,after listening to my friends here yesterday, I tried this and was amazed at what was cut off.....no more full screen movies for me.....

 

[tkyes]

Ok, how about this...

Get a big posterboard that covers your entire TV screen. Cut out a rectangle that just reveals a Widescreen frame. Voila...no black bars! You can even decorate the posterboard with Disney characters, pics of family members...anything as long as it's not black.

LOL!!!! Because that would be less distracting than the black bars! lol!

Maybe I'll give it a shot someday Mickey. Black bars are bad though, so it's a matter of getting over that.

I have Nemo on DVD and it has both versions in the case, so I could put the widescreen in someday.

99% of the movies I've watched at home have been fullscreen and I've never walked away thinking "hmmm, I think I was missing something. I don't get what happened in the movie. Maybe if I had seen additional characters off in the background." lol!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Disclamer: Finding Nemo is not a good comparision because they did the full screen a different way. You see as much there as the widescreen, they just filled in the areas where the black bars would be. Maybe they did it just for you, Tykes!

 

[tkyes]

Originally posted by Miss Jasmine
Disclamer: Finding Nemo is not a good comparision because they did the fully screen a different way. You see as much there as the widescreen, they just filled in the areas where the black bars would be. Maybe they did it just for you, Tykes!

Just for me? yeah! lol! That's funny that the movie I was going to check out isn't a good comparison. lol! I guess I'll have to wait until we go rent something. Thanks for the heads up or I would have come back here and said "nothing was different at all! You guys are cracked!!"


Tamie

 

[MICKEY88]

Originally posted by tkyes
LOL!!!! Because that would be less distracting than the black bars! lol!

Maybe I'll give it a shot someday Mickey. Black bars are bad though, so it's a matter of getting over that.

I have Nemo on DVD and it has both versions in the case, so I could put the widescreen in someday.

99% of the movies I've watched at home have been fullscreen and I've never walked away thinking "hmmm, I think I was missing something. I don't get what happened in the movie. Maybe if I had seen additional characters off in the background." lol!

I didn't think I was missing anything either until last night,,but then again I didn't think I was missing anything soundwise until I ran my tv thru my stereo..now I can't wait to get my large widescreen tv, and surround sound system to enjoy the total movie theater experience in the comfort of my home....

look at it this way, once upon a time people thought black and white tv was wonderful until they experienced color tv...give it a try with an open mind...

 

[MICKEY88]

additional thought..watch it in a dark room that way you'll only see the picture..no distracting black bars...

just don't watch it on the porch of a mountain cabin....

 

[wdwoldtimer]

Originally posted by tkyes
Thanks for the heads up or I would have come back here and said "nothing was different at all! You guys are cracked!!"


Tamie

Well, I'm not sure if you can rule that out.

I had another brilliant idea. Pick up a pair of clear safety goggles. Tape two strips of opaque construction paper above and below your field of vision. Any color will do besides black. Turn on a widescreen DVD, set your head so the paper strips align with the black bars on the TV. Then DON'T move your head for the entire movie! I bet that will take care of your problem with the black bars.

 

[MICKEY88]

Originally posted by wdwoldtimer
Well, I'm not sure if you can rule that out.

I had another brilliant idea. Pick up a pair of clear safety goggles. Tape two strips of opaque construction paper above and below your field of vision. Any color will do besides black. Turn on a widescreen DVD, set your head so the paper strips align with the black bars on the TV. Then DON'T move your head for the entire movie! I bet that will take care of your problem with the black bars.

hmmmm why not just keep a can of white paint handy..use it as white out to get rid of the black bars...

 

[Growin'upDisney]

Ok I have a dumb question - but if you have a widescreen TV don't you want the fullscreen version? Otherwise it adds the balck bars on top of it already being in wide screen? I thought that the fullscreen version adapts to the widescreen TV. Maybe I am wrong. Can anyone help??

 

[MICKEY88]

this web site shows pictures of what you miss watching full screen.....

wide full comparison

 

[tkyes]

thanks Mickey for the comparison website. It kind of looks like when you crop a picture for scrapbooking - you take out the unnecessary stuff and just leave the important part of the picture.

 

[wdwoldtimer]

Originally posted by Growin'upDisney
Ok I have a dumb question - but if you have a widescreen TV don't you want the fullscreen version? Otherwise it adds the balck bars on top of it already being in wide screen? I thought that the fullscreen version adapts to the widescreen TV. Maybe I am wrong. Can anyone help??

Nope. DVD players allow you to setup which kind of TV you are connected to. If it's a widescreen TV, you will not get the bars. You still want the Widescreen version.

Don't confuse that with a feature most widescreen TV's have, which is to take a fullscreen video feed and stretch it to fill the entire widescreen viewing area. This, IMHO, is even worse. Not only does a good portion of the film STILL get cut off on either side....the square picture gets stretched out so everything looks short and fat. Worse still is another feature where the widescreen TV will stretch only the sides of a 4:3 (fullscreen) image so that things in the middle aren't stretched too much, but the sides are. That's barf city as soon as there's any kind of side to side motion.

But considering that nearly all of primetime TV is now in HD Widescreen and pretty much every DVD comes in Widescreen, all of this confusion will be a thing of the past.