The Time Is Now For A Nationwide Campaign Called "Why Widescreen" (1 Viewer)

[David Lambert]

I have seen bunches of OAR ads on TV

You mean "bunches of Widescreen ads on TV", I presume. I **presume** you are confusing the term "OAR" (Original Aspect Ratio) with "Widescreen", because - like many of us - you tend to talk about the OAR of modern theater-shown films (which is, of course, widescreen).

* The OAR of Ben Hur is "widescreen".

* The OAR of Friends is "fullscreen".

* The OAR of Enterprise is "widescreen".

* The OAR of a Doritos commercial from 1979 is "fullscreen".

Having said that, I was shocked a few days ago to see a commercial in widescreen for a local travel ad for some cavern-related tourist spot in either Alabama or Arkansas (both states often advertise their tourist spots here in Memphis, so I get 'em confused). I hadn't realized that WS ads on TV had gotten to that level yet.

Good for them!

 

[Phil Florian]

Most J6P rent most of their films

I have to disagree about the average user of VHS and DVD being in the "simply rent" mindset. My job takes me into MANY homes of families of all income levels (especially "poor" or "low income"), and many of them are stocked to the hilt with VHS tapes. In some cases, they are kid's tapes (Disney, etc.) and in other cases, they are dad's favorite action movies. In all cases, there are lots of tapes. Some fill up a bookshelf, others are piled around the TV. If they were just renting them, P&S versions of films wouldn't still be selling like hotcakes. Rental is big, sure, but the majority of purchases are still coming from the so-called "J6P."
Phil
PS As for ads, I was talking ads "about" widescreen. Sorry my English sucked there. Directv has ads that show what films look like in OAR and F/S versions. TCM does, as well. On the other hand, I do see lots of ads that USE widescreen as well!

 

[Karl Englebright]

Why is it that when somebody mentions that it bothers them to watch a scope movie on a small screen, the response is always; "I watch OAR movies on a nth inch screen!" ? So what??? Some people don't like that! You could probably also make the argument that the director never intended you to watch it on a itty bitty screen in the first place!

Look, I only like to watch the OAR versions of movies. But to me it's also about choice...One of the cool things about the advent of DVD's was that you were supposed to have choices on how to watch a movie (i.e. different languages, subtittles, DD, DTS etc.), no?

My beef is with stores like Walmart, Blockbuster and Hollywood Video that are taking away that freedom of choice by not allowing me to rent or buy the OAR versions!

 

[Shad R]

Thank you karl. Finally, someone else understands that some people hate watching OAR movies on small screens. I agree, it's about choice. BTW, I bought Mummy Returns from Wal-Mart in widescreen. I wonder if it's the store's choice on what product they order.