"no black bars" sticker on full-frame ver of UNFAITHFUL (1 Viewer)

[Kevin M]

Pandering to people who don't understand rather than educating people who don't understand is never a good course of action.
I agree with the idea that if these pan & scan boxes say "No black Bars!" as if it were a virtue then OAR boxes should say "The Whole picture with nothing cut out!", equal opportunity propaganda and all that.
Plus, is it more or less expensive to produce a Pan & Scan transfer with all the moving of the frame that has to be done than it is to produce a high quality widescreen/OAR 16:9 enhanced transfer?

 

[Augustin Rodriguez]

I don't care what studio is doing it. It's just plain wrong. "The customer wants it so we are going to do what the customer wants", seems to be everbody's reasoning here. If that were truly the case why make widescreen movies at all. It's pretty obvious to me that unless the OAR lovers become the majority we will always get the short end of the stick.

If P&S is the favorite over OAR then let's at least do something special for both and properly promote both with correct information. I am just tired of the excuses and I don't care who knows. Studios, stop misinforming the consumers and start educating people.

We all like doing our chats and emailing studios about what we like to see on DVD releases, but obviously money drives this market, not the people who really care about the film. I feel sorry for some directors who bust their butt making films, their vision, then have to sit back and watch the studios cater to consumers and crop their film to hell.

I respect the director's intent regardless of aspect ratio, or content approval on DVD, but let's at least be truthful about what's being done here. If the studios stopped putting out P&S films on DVD, what are people going to just stop watching movies? Of course not! They will assimilate as anyone would. The more we cater the more they ask for.

Mr. Staddon I do appreciate your reply but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Well that's my two cents.

 

[Ron-P]

It doesn't bother me what Fox or any other studio does in regards to their P&S DVD's, as long as they still produce WS DVD's. If that stops, then I'll care.
Peace Out~

 

[John Berggren]

Maybe it's because of a direct request from the customer who's buying the discs?

I didn't see this before I posted on this originally. This changes my outlook some.

At this time I would like to specifically request, as a consumer of Fox DVDs, that widescreen OAR DVDs be clearly marked with a sticker that specifies "Theatrical version, Complete Image".

 

[Steve Kuester]

Exactly. Which is why from now on, whenever there is a dual release (MAR and OAR) I will go to Walmart and buy the OAR.

 

[Joshua Moran]

Mr. Staddon has stated that an OAR version will always be made available. So I say let FOX experiment. The company you need to complain to would be Wal-Mart and not FOX. Well I agree the statement of No Black Bars is wrong. I am not going to argue about it. Lots of the P&S crowd no the difference between widescreen and P&S they just don't care. Unfortantly my best friend prefers P&S over widescreen and I can't convert him. He knows the difference. I just quit arguing about it and go on. One day we will be happy.

 

[Ryan Wright]

If I were showing a non-enlightened re: OAR person, my new "State of Grace" DVD on a 4x3 set, he might moan about the bars. I can't say, "Well, you're getting more image on the sides..." because when he pops in his old "State..." VHS, there is absolutely NOTHING missing from the sides (Complete open matte transfer) and in his opinion, he'll say, "See, you ARE getting the top and some of the bottom chopped off! I told you! I KNEW it!!!" (I have compared my VHS and new DVD, BTW...) and then it would REALLY be difficult explaining director's OAR intent etc....

No kidding.

In light of this very important issue (brought up by multiple people here), the answer is simple: Put all movies out in OAR. Period. If it's widescreen, that's all you get. If OAR means a fullscreen copy, that, too, is all you get.

Why are we giving people a choice in the matter, anyway? I was under the impression that the studios were in business to make movies. You make a movie, you sell the same movie exactly as it was made, and you're done with it. When they complain, instruct store employees to give them the standard answer: "That's how the movie was made. We can't change that." Then, they can hand the customer a slip of paper with instructions for locating their DVD player's "zoom" feature.

The customer will be just as happy.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

I don't have a big problem with separate OAR and reformatted DVDs, so long as the OAR version is available.
But what is to gain by promoting the reformatted versions in such a way as to imply that is better?
This is not simply labelling the different versions, it is promoting the non-OAR version.
Why?

Exactly!
And even though a "customer" may have requested these stickers, labeling them "no black bars" just isn't the way to do it, as it really does imply that this is the "better" version.

 

[TonyD]

No kidding.

In light of this very important issue (brought up by multiple people here), the answer is simple: Put all movies out in OAR. Period. If it's widescreen, that's all you get. If OAR means a fullscreen copy, that, too, is all you get.

Why are we giving people a choice in the matter, anyway? I was under the impression that the studios were in business to make movies. You make a movie, you sell the same movie exactly as it was made, and you're done with it. When they complain, instruct store employees to give them the standard answer: "That's how the movie was made. We can't change that." Then, they can hand the customer a slip of paper with instructions for locating their DVD player's "zoom" feature.

The customer will be just as happy.

.

that was exactly my point in this thread earlier and many other posts i have made.
if the only version to buy is widescreen ..what happens do they not buy it period.NO.
people will still buy it.

how much did gladiator suffer from beinf wide only. i don't know anyone who said they wouldnt buy it if it wasnt full screen.
what other gig sellers were onl wide?

 

[Colin-H]

I have serious doubts that many J6Ps are smart enough to understand anything more complex than "NO BLACK BARS". Check out this Amazon.com user review of the FOTR EE:

I have been waiting anxiously for the extended version release. When I saw it at the theater I thought it was the movie of the decade. The movie held true to my imagination and the scenery in the film was astonishing.
When viewing the newly released extended version I was truely disappointed. The widescreen extended version released in both CD and VHS format aspect ratio is done at 2:35:1; the smallest widescreen compression currently made. The viewable portion lost is about one half. To watch such a beautiful scenic movie even on our 50 inch big screen televsion was terrible. I cound only imagine what it would look like on a regular televison set.

Better watch out for that widescreen compression on your CDs!

 

[AaronMK]

Mr. Staddon has stated that an OAR version will always be made available. So I say let FOX experiment.

While it is great to know that Fox will always make an OAR version available (it really is), they can't force Blockbuster or K-Mart to carry any copies of that version.

It used to be that I could count on OAR release any new release being widely available for rental. However, even though OAR is still made available for practically all new releases, most rental outlets won't carry it.

Will it eventually get to the point where we either have to cough up cinema ticket prices or purchase every movie we wish see in a non-butchered form.

The issue is not just availability. It is also making OAR just as easily accessible as P&S has been for far too many years. With DVD, it came close. If the studios had gone full steam behind it, it may have gotten there, and it wouldn't have had to come at the cost (for lack of a better word) of making P&S just as widely available.

At the very least, it is about not going back to the VHS/LD days where OAR was only available on an expensive niche format (LD), or sometimes on VHS through mail order or at a few specialty stores at full MSRP, and definitely not to rent.

Don't get me wrong. I am thrilled that Fox has committed to making OAR available for each release. Even if all studios made a similar commitment, I just don't feel it addresses the complete issue.

 

[Martin Fontaine]

Better watch out for that widescreen compression on your CDs!

A lot of people refer to DVDs as CDs hehe! Even I say it sometimes!

People think I sit to close to my TV! That's because it's not filled! Since I can't afford a wider/bigger TV (For now) and I don't want to cut off the sides of the picture, I sit closer to the tube.

4 Months ago (The week before LOTR Standard Cut came out) I was over at a friend's house and we were talking about it:

Me: Tuesday, I'm buying the Widescreen version.
Her: I am buying the fullscreen version because I hate black bars.
Me: NO! That's the wrong version you know, they should never make those.
Her Mum: Bah, that doesn't matter, we'll just use the Zoom function to fill the screen.
Her: If we do that, we're gonna cut off the sides, so we should get the fullscreen version.

And I was like... WTF? Just what do you think they do to make it fill the screen?

 

[Michael Allred]

Widescreen DVD's still sell in huge numbers, as long as that happens, we'll always have it as an option (unless it's a Columbia release.)

I agree with some of the others here that the wording on the FS "Unfaithful" disc is pandering to the dumbest of the dumb. Isn't the simple "Full Screen" label clear enough?

 

[Martin Jeeves]

I think that FOX and Mr Staddon have done more for DVD than any other studio recently and I stand by them. Afterall they did the impressive OAR demo on the "DIE HARD" discs right?

I agree with Ron that the "..without black bars..." sticker is perhaps NOT the best way to do it - personally I would love to see the sticker with an illustrated description of the aspect ratio stating whether it has been modified or not. But perhaps for the public that would be too confusing.

Eitherway, Mr Staddon - I'd just like to thank you for the "UNFAITHFUL" disc. It's an amazing DVD of an amazing film.

Good luck with the Diane Lane awards campaign as well. It was a terrific performance!

Thanks again and please consider a different way of wording the stickers. Thanks,

M.J.

 

[TonyD]

I think that FOX and Mr Staddon have done more for DVD than any other studio recently and I stand by them. Afterall they did the impressive OAR demo on the "DIE HARD" discs right?

tha is exactly right. that is why in the very first post in this thread i said they should include these demo on the fullscreen versions. because they are the people that need to learn this stuff .

most of the people that buy the wide already know the benefits of wide screen.

 

[Martin Jeeves]

they are the people that need to know....

Yeah. I totally agree with you.

 

[John Berggren]

How about a sticker on each containing an image of a scene in the film. The OAR version has the full image, and the MAR version has black bars covering that part of the image that will be coverred.

 

[Damin J Toell]

How about a sticker on each containing an image of a scene in the film. The OAR version has the full image, and the MAR version has black bars covering that part of the image that will be coverred.

And, for films that show more image on the MAR version, how many more copies will the MAR version sell because the sticker shows that the MAR shows more and the OAR version has black bars covering the image? Or do you want to deceptively sticker only those movies for which such a sticker would help OAR?

Once again, telling people that it's all about "seeing more" just isn't the way to go.

DJ

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

Why did that sentence send shivers down my back?

We're doomed, doomed I tells ya.

 

[Stu Rosen]

As the risk of stating what everyone knows, Fox isn't in the business of "educating" its customers as to what they want -- it's in the business of giving them what they want. And if some of its customers really want a full screen presentation, and aren't sure which presentation to purchase, these stickers make absolute sense.

The flaw in these threads is the presumption that a movie studio should persuade its customers to purchase what they clearly don't want.

Put aside the inevitable and condescending discussion regarding whether these poor souls really do know what they want. If we assume that -- rightly or wrongly -- some consumers want P&S presentations, why in the world shouldn't a studio like Fox cater to that need?

Last time I checked, it wasn't against the law for consumers to have bad taste, and it was certainly not against the law for studios to cater to those tastes. We may not like it, but that's our problem, not the studios'.