Klarinet Archive - Posting 001045.txt from 2003/04

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Benny Goodman
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 00:46:21 -0400

Jim Lytthans wrote,
>I did some research online and could not find any
>mention of wide screen or pan and scan. One source:
>http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?PID=5647998
>states that the film was shot in "full frame", with no mention of
>formatting.

I checked that web site. No, it doesn't say the movie was *shot* in full
screen format. It mentions full screen three times, twice specifically re.
the DVD. I think the third mention fooled you:

>>Movie Details:
>>Color; Digitally Re-Mastered; Full Screen

Notice the "Digitally Re-Mastered"--that can't possibly apply to the
original theatrical version of the movie. That's just repetitive
information about the DVD. "Full Screen" also applies to the DVD. That
site doesn't say anything one way or another about the original aspect
ratio.

My information that the DVD is Pan & Scan comes from the Amazon.com web
site, the Internet Movie Database and the All-Movie Guide. All three are
professional sites and all three get their technical specs directly from
the manufacturer.

In a different message, you wrote,
>One more comment and then I'll drop this. Universal Studios,
>at their site
>http://homevideo.universalstudios.com/details.php?childId=33567
>List the formant of The Benny Good Story as full frame (1.33:1)

I looked at that site, too. It lists the format *of the DVD* as full
frame. Like the other sites, that one doesn't say anything at all about
the format of the original theatrical release!

> I've watched the movie several times and could
>see no indication of pan and scan editing, such as artificial
>camera movement or large spaces between main characters
>commonly found in wide screen films.

That's good news, although I've been surprised a few times when I've seen
something in widescreen for the first time and discovered unsuspected
action occurring at the edges of the frames. The difference between the
first MGM DVD release of "The Princess Bride" in Pan & Scan and the second
MGM DVD release, less than a year later, in anamorphic widescreen, was
shocking, even though the first release looked okay to me until I saw the
second one. Ditto "The Magnificent Seven."

If someone prefers full screen (on a small screen TV, for instance) or
doesn't care, fine with me, but this back-and-forth, yes-it-is /
no-it-isn't stuff is pointless. Before the Bandwidth Police come carry us
away in chains: This is my last comment on this subject, too, unless or
until someone gets solid information about the original *shooting* format
of the theatrical version.

"If it's not in the frame, it doesn't exist." -- F. W. Murnau

Lelia Loban
lelialoban@-----.net

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