Remember when "Widescreen" movies were actually, you know, wider than regular movies? (1 Viewer)

[SD_Brian]

I attended a recent screening of Skyfall and became nostalgic for the tinge of excitement I used to feel when, at the beginning of a 2.35 movie, the curtains on the sides of the screen would open up to reveal a wider screen.
This has been replaced in today's multiplexes by a curtain that lowers to cut off the top of the screen. This gives the picture much less height while the width remains the same, thus completely negating the whole point of Cinemascope.
Just one more way the experience of going to the movies has become less magical. Perhaps we should start calling it "Shortscreen."

 

[Steve Tannehill]

I saw Skyfall in IMAX. It was 16x9.

 

[SD_Brian]

Non-IMAX screening was 2.35. The lowering of the curtain issue is not unique to Skyfall.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

.

 

[bryan4999]

Theaters, in general, are not big enough for it to matter anymore. I remember going to the Fox Theater and it seemed like it took 5 minutes for the curtain to open to the full Cinemascope width. It was thrilling. Unless you go to one of the few remaining vintage theaters, that feeling is lost. I am glad I was in on the last few years of it. (Superman [1978] is the last one I remember with that impact).

 

[Jason Charlton]

Hmm, I saw Skyfall and am pretty certain the masking opened up on the sides for the wider feature presentation.

This was a non-3D, non-IMAX presentation.

 

[cineMANIAC]

Improper masking can be a problem in certain theaters but it's not something I would consider widespread or even much of an issue. First, nobody uses curtains anymore. But the dark masking used to adjust for aspect ratio, which can become transparent because of the brightness of the screen, can obscure vsible parts of the screen and image, areas where the the action should be visible to the audience. I've noticed this in some of the smaller theaters within the multiplex, which is why I try to avoid getting stuck with a small screen. Second, many of the larger chains have installed those giant "EFX" screens (besides IMAX) where there is little to no masking. They're more expensive but for some films I think it's worth the extra cost.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It's a theater by theater design issue. We have two multiplexes in town. One has common height screens, where the curtains away to the left and right revealing a larger screen for 2.39:1 films, and the other has common width screens, where the mattes narrow the screen from top and bottom for 2.39:1.
There's no technical requirement for common width screens, and which screen type you get depends on the location, available space, theater designer and the quirks and preferences of the different chains.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Most theaters built in the last 15 years or so seem to have common-width screens, which is a huge mistake. The worst part is that many of them are making it even more worse by running their stupid ads and stuff on the full 1.85 screen, then having the masking come down when the film starts! That is NOT showmanship! I was projection manager for a year at a Regal and they forced me to start doing this, so I quit!
Just another reason not to go to theaters anymore- this is completely inexcusable given how much tickets are these days. If I want to watch a letterboxed movie, I can do that at home!

 

[disctrip]

Going to the movies today is a joke. I'm glad I grew up in the 50's and was able to attend a movie in a "movie palace" where they really cared about presenting a movie the way it should be. Reserve seat engagements, ushers who cared about their jobs, nobody on a cell-phone, times were great and "widescreen" really meant "WIDESCREEN".
I feel sorry for anyone who never got to expierience it. Those days are gone. We will never see the like again.
Sometimes progress does'nt mean "better".

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I keep wondering how much worse and more expensive the "moviegoing experience" will have to get before more people decide they've had enough. I laugh at people who say "but it has to be seen on the BIG screen!" I always reply to that with "WHAT big screen?"

 

[Alan Tully]

Yep, I can still remember the excitment when the curtains just kept opening for 'scope films in cinemas in London in the 60's. I hardly ever go to multi-plexes now.