Cropping is never the right choice for media presentation. Ever.
Mainstream media disagrees. In fact, cropping context is their main technique :-)
Mainstream media is wrong.
‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes
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Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
That and/or owning DVDs/BRs. Most of my friends laugh at me for still buying physical media, but the reality is I don't trust streaming services, or IP owners in general really. There is no way my kids are growing up thinking that Han didn't shot first.
I hope your kids get to watch Han shoot first in 4K - https://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/project-4k77/
Oh man thanks for this link. Hadn't heard of this project. I only had Harmy's despecialized. I'll definitely compare them.
Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes
#93Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
For another striking example of this, see the original Star Trek series. It now looks 10x better than it ever did when originally shown on TV.
As a counter-point I think it looks worse in many ways. You can see the screen make-up jarringly clearly. And the special effects were added after filming, so they have had to be redone.
Fair enough. Whether it looks "better" is subjective. There's no question that it's shockingly higher in resolution and detail, though.
Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes
#95If I had done directing or camera work during the 4:3 era and saw my work cropped to 16:9, I'd probably be furious. A lot of thought goes into framing a shot just right, making sure it has the right balance and composition. Even in cases where nothing too important goes missing, cropped video just looks really off. Oftentimes you'll see the tops of heads cut off at the top of the frame, or small details just on the v…
As a film major, you give 90s live audience sitcom cinematography too much credit. From a cinematography standpoint directing something like Seinfeld is quite standard. They don't even move the cameras and lights between episodes. The operators are instructed to keep whoever is speaking in the frame. I love Seinfeld to death, but this is no Citizen Kane. We're here for the performances, not for the camera work. Settle down a bit.
Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes
#96First world irritation - when I finally got a 16:9 television they started making TV shows even wider so still letterboxed! Why? Grrr.
Why do you even care that there are letterboxes? Why must every pixel be lit just because they exist? Think of the screen like a wall in your house. You hang a painting on the wall. "Why do they make paintings in all these random sizes instead of filling this wall edge egde? Why? Grrr."
It doesn't look as pleasant, that's all.
Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Amazon prime on my phone blows up 16:9 material too, chopping off the top and bottom to fit the wider aspect ratio, unless you're careful to 'zoom out' Interesting. I've just checked on my iPhone, and 4:3 video stays 4:3, with black bars on the side.
I'm talking 16:9, I was watching a fairly recent south park (from about 2015) on an iphone12 mini, there are two options that double tapping toggles between, one is the original 16:9, the other zooms in so it's full width (including the notch), so 19.5:9. In other words it's taking a 1920x1080 image and only showing 886 lines, dropping 97 lines from the top and bottom.
Why would it behave differently with 16:9 and 4:3 videos?
I only have an older iPhone with a 16:9 ratio, so I can't test what happens with 16:9 material.
But if I do the double-tap you describe on 4:3 material, it will zoom-in and crop the top and bottom.
But that's not the default behaviour in my case. I actually didn't even know about the double-tap thing.
Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Probably not, or the mix might be off. It's worth checking. Your experience seems consistent with a missing center track (which contains most of the dialogue sound).
Which really isn't the person you're replying tos problem. Stereo should just work you shouldn't need to get a center channel.
It might very well be his setup that's causing the problem.
Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
That was a good show. Got any Exit 57?
First I've heard of it, but that is exactly the sort of thing I'm going for, I'll check it out. I thought I had most of the UCB related stuff, but it goes to show you how much of this stuff will fall through the cracks once we have a generation or two of streamers. My white whale is Viva Variety[0], I've even requested it at some of the private clubs and nobody can find it. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viva_Vari…
Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes
#100This was the case with Simpsons when it came onto Disney Plus - they took the 4:3 and didn't just blow it to 14:9, but 16:9 -- throwing away a quarter of the original image. There's now an option to show the original aspect ratio, I didn't discover it for a long time though. Amazon prime on my phone blows up 16:9 material too, chopping off the top and bottom to fit the wider aspect ratio, unless you're careful to 'zo…
One thing the article doesn't seem to address is why these cuts are happening? What motivates a streaming company to go out of its way to re-shape the aspect ratio of a film? It is totally possible to re-digitize film without changing aspect ratio. Look at the re-done Star Trek TNG Blu-rays, they're amazing and with the original aspect ratio preserved. All widescreen TVs I know will play 4:3 content perfectly fine. I…
There is just no feedback from viewers to managers making decisions, and people actually doing work cropping don't have authority to override them.