Buffy Season 4 in Widescreen. Yech! (R2) (1 Viewer)

[Rich Malloy]

Raimi would not have sent Bruce to SPECIFICALLY oversee said transfer if he did not want the film to be a certain way for the new 1.85:1 transfer

Perhaps not, but the new transfer is a much poorer presentation of the film, and not just the framing - for some reason, the film looks worse in nearly every regard on the Anchor Bay release.

It is very disappointing to read about the 16x9 framing of Buffy Season 4. I find it hard to believe that such shoddy work is being done on this series. Stage equipment, light racks, and stage "hands" are obviously not intended to be viewed within the frame, so I find it doubly odd that there's even a debate occurring on this.

Far worse than the combing issues on season 1-2, I'm just appalled by what I'm reading about this set. Does anyone on the Buffy production team even care about the quality of the DVD product they're releasing? Perhaps they too sent Bruce Campbell to oversee the DVD transfer?

 

[Kai Zas]

Hm... saw a car in the MIDDLE of the screen there. Last episode, Buffy fighting the first slayer in the desert.
Oh well, great season anyway! Can't wait 'till october for the next one. Had my cable-tv disconnected about a year ago, so it'll all be fresh. That's a big plus when you buy tv on dvd

 

[Chad B.]

I own the R4 Buffy box sets and I think that season four looks great in widescreen... of course, I have never watched Buffy on network TV, only on DVD.
PS: I hate it that Willow has turned into a lesbian.

 

[Kai Zas]

I hate it that Willow has turned into a lesbian.

Why?

 

[TheoGB]

Yeah, Willow rocks!! The only downside to her lesbianism is the loss of Oz...but then I guess going by behind the scenes stuff it's actually the other way around isn't it?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

"turned into a lesbian"

Ummmm, no, no one "turns gay"

Why not lust after the real person instead of a character? The real person is straight, even tho she's dating Alexis Denisof (Wesley) last I heard

 

[Kai Zas]

Ummmm, no, no one "turns gay"

Very true! At least, it didn't happen to me overnight

 

[Simon Massey]

Well, I am surprised by the flaws in the widescreen presentation of Buffy, because I saw the series on TV in widescreen, and I don't remember any problems like this (and the one in Goodbye Iowa is pretty obvious). I felt the widescreen presentation was a big improvement, and everything didn't feel as cramped. A good example (at least for me) of the benefit of the widescreen image (and this was a while ago, so details may be slightly wrong) is when Buffy walks into the library for the first time (I think its The Freshman), the widescreen image emphasising the scale of the place.

And Angel in Season 2 is vastly improved in widescreen, but I think they shot for widescreen on this series (they definitely did on Season 3, because the framing problems with the 4:3 version on TV were really obvious.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

David Greenwalt wanted to go 16:9 only on Angel Season 2, but finally got permission for 3. I wouldn't be suprised if he gave 16:9 preference just like Buffy gives it to 4:3

 

[Kai Zas]

Well now, the library. That scene was filmed in a real library on the real university. The entire opening was filmed there, then they slowly switched over to the studio. They never used it again

 

[Mark ZA]

I cant site any examples, perhaps an oversight on my part, but I feel the S4 DVDs are excellent in their framing (barring the already mentioned faults).

I cant put my finger on it but alghough the show was clearly shot with a 4:3 safe area, the framing just looks top-notch on 16:9 sets, IMO of course.

Mark