SteveK
Supporting Actor
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2000
- Messages
- 518
One of the ideas I suggested on the lengthy Disney thread was to have the Disney characters explain widescreen. David Lambert seemed to like the idea, and he included the suggestion in an e-mail he sent to Disney. Well, I've given the idea some thought, and I've come up with the following script. I know that Disney could do a lot better, but at least it mentions some of the core ideas regarding widescreen. I'm of course going to send the script to Disney as my way of requesting OAR presentations on all movies. I tried to keep it relatively short, but it's amazing how much space a few minutes of dialogue can take! Anyway, here is my suggested script. Any comments would be most welcome.
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DISNEY DVD PARTY
Scene: Donald Duck (DD) has invited his friends Mickey Mouse (MM), Goofy (G) and Ludwig Von Drake (L) over to his house to watch a DVD with him on his new DVD player, which he is using for the very first time. After hooking it up and starting a movie, the following conversation ensues:
DD: In the inimitable Donald Duck style) Yak Yak Yak. Hey what are these ugly black bars on my television???!!! Yak Yak Yak.
MM: Why doesn’t the picture fill the screen?
G: (humming) Oh the world owes me a full screen…
L: What’s the problem, guys?
DD: I just bought this Disney DVD and look at the ugly black bars!! Yak Yak Yak!
L: Well, you’re seeing the movie the way it was shown at the theater. This TV screen is almost square, see?
MM: Yeah, but so what?
L: But the screen at the theater is much wider than it is tall, like this rectangle.
DD: So what? I don’t like these black bars. Yak Yak Yak!
L: They’re not really black bars, Donald, they’re just areas of the screen that aren’t used.
MM: But the whole screen should always be filled. I’ve rented lots of movies and I’ve never seen black bars until Donald Duck got this DVD player. Why?
DD: Yeah, and I don’t like the black bars. Or unused areas of the screen either. Yak Yak Yak. I want to see the whole movie like I’ve always done.
L: Well, actually you are seeing the whole movie. Nothing is being chopped off from the top and nothing is being chopped off from the bottom.
DD: But there must be something missing! Why isn’t the whole screen filled?
L: Let me show you some examples. Remember this scene from (Insert Disney title here)? Look at the image in widescreen. Now here’s the same shot in full screen. See how ______ is not even in the picture anymore?
MM: Yeah, but that’s only one example. I bet there aren’t any others.
L: Actually, you could choose almost any movie made in the last 50 years. Here’s a scene from (Insert different Disney title here) in widescreen. Now, here’s the fullframe version of the same scene. And look, _______ is completely cut out of the picture. And look how the camera has to shift from one part of the image to another, back and forth. It’s enough to make you seasick! You’re NEVER seeing the entire image at one time. It’s called Pan&Scan, but sometimes it’s also called fullframe, which is completely inaccurate, because you’re not seeing the whole image. Unfortunately, that’s the way almost all movies on television and even home video are shown. But now with DVD, we’re finally able to see a movie the way it was filmed. Donald, you wouldn’t want to be left out of a shot, would you?
D: Yak Yak Yak, you better not cut me out! Yak Yak Yak!
L: And Goofy, don’t you want to see a movie on your television just as you saw it at the theater, rather than having part of it chopped off?
G: Uh, yeah, I guess I would.
MM: I guess I would too. But what happens if I buy that new widescreen TV I’ve been looking at?
L: Then it’s even worse to have “full frame”. Because when you go to widescreen TV, everything that now fills up your regular TV will have bars on both sides of the image on your widescreen TV. So whenever you see the message that “this movie has been formatted to fit your screen”, understand that it only fits the square screen and doesn’t fit the widescreen.
MM: I didn’t know that.
G: Yeah, I didn’t know that either.
DD: So anytime I buy a DVD, I should buy it in widescreen, even if I don’t have a widescreen TV?
L: That’s correct. You’ll be seeing the movie just like you saw it at the theater. Remember, the black bars aren’t covering anything or cutting anything off. They simply allow the movie to look like it did at the theater. Nothing is cut off, distracting camera angle changes are avoided, and everything just looks better. After all, you try to compose everything very carefully when you take a picture, and so does the director of the movie. And when you do get your next television, which will likely be widescreen, you’ll be ready for it. Remember, don’t be bothered by the black bars, they’re just unused areas of the screen, not cut off areas.
MM: Well, you certainly changed my mind. Thanks, Ludwig!
DD: I guess the black bars are OK, since they don’t cut off any part of the picture like I thought. To tell you the truth, I guess I really don’t notice them after a few minutes anyway.
G: But how did widescreen first come about?
L: Well, the history of widescreen is something I can talk about some other time, but right now, let’s just watch the movie.
DD: Good idea!
G: (humming) Oh, the world owes me a widescreen...
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Parts of it may be somewhat silly, but I think it helps educate people about widescreen in a slightly humorous fasion without being condescending (hopefully). Obviously there's room for other topics (such as why widescreen came about), but that just means there's room for other Disney "featurettes" expanding the widescreen information.
Again, your comments are welcome.
Thanks
Steve K.
edited to correct David Lambert's name
-------
DISNEY DVD PARTY
Scene: Donald Duck (DD) has invited his friends Mickey Mouse (MM), Goofy (G) and Ludwig Von Drake (L) over to his house to watch a DVD with him on his new DVD player, which he is using for the very first time. After hooking it up and starting a movie, the following conversation ensues:
DD: In the inimitable Donald Duck style) Yak Yak Yak. Hey what are these ugly black bars on my television???!!! Yak Yak Yak.
MM: Why doesn’t the picture fill the screen?
G: (humming) Oh the world owes me a full screen…
L: What’s the problem, guys?
DD: I just bought this Disney DVD and look at the ugly black bars!! Yak Yak Yak!
L: Well, you’re seeing the movie the way it was shown at the theater. This TV screen is almost square, see?
MM: Yeah, but so what?
L: But the screen at the theater is much wider than it is tall, like this rectangle.
DD: So what? I don’t like these black bars. Yak Yak Yak!
L: They’re not really black bars, Donald, they’re just areas of the screen that aren’t used.
MM: But the whole screen should always be filled. I’ve rented lots of movies and I’ve never seen black bars until Donald Duck got this DVD player. Why?
DD: Yeah, and I don’t like the black bars. Or unused areas of the screen either. Yak Yak Yak. I want to see the whole movie like I’ve always done.
L: Well, actually you are seeing the whole movie. Nothing is being chopped off from the top and nothing is being chopped off from the bottom.
DD: But there must be something missing! Why isn’t the whole screen filled?
L: Let me show you some examples. Remember this scene from (Insert Disney title here)? Look at the image in widescreen. Now here’s the same shot in full screen. See how ______ is not even in the picture anymore?
MM: Yeah, but that’s only one example. I bet there aren’t any others.
L: Actually, you could choose almost any movie made in the last 50 years. Here’s a scene from (Insert different Disney title here) in widescreen. Now, here’s the fullframe version of the same scene. And look, _______ is completely cut out of the picture. And look how the camera has to shift from one part of the image to another, back and forth. It’s enough to make you seasick! You’re NEVER seeing the entire image at one time. It’s called Pan&Scan, but sometimes it’s also called fullframe, which is completely inaccurate, because you’re not seeing the whole image. Unfortunately, that’s the way almost all movies on television and even home video are shown. But now with DVD, we’re finally able to see a movie the way it was filmed. Donald, you wouldn’t want to be left out of a shot, would you?
D: Yak Yak Yak, you better not cut me out! Yak Yak Yak!
L: And Goofy, don’t you want to see a movie on your television just as you saw it at the theater, rather than having part of it chopped off?
G: Uh, yeah, I guess I would.
MM: I guess I would too. But what happens if I buy that new widescreen TV I’ve been looking at?
L: Then it’s even worse to have “full frame”. Because when you go to widescreen TV, everything that now fills up your regular TV will have bars on both sides of the image on your widescreen TV. So whenever you see the message that “this movie has been formatted to fit your screen”, understand that it only fits the square screen and doesn’t fit the widescreen.
MM: I didn’t know that.
G: Yeah, I didn’t know that either.
DD: So anytime I buy a DVD, I should buy it in widescreen, even if I don’t have a widescreen TV?
L: That’s correct. You’ll be seeing the movie just like you saw it at the theater. Remember, the black bars aren’t covering anything or cutting anything off. They simply allow the movie to look like it did at the theater. Nothing is cut off, distracting camera angle changes are avoided, and everything just looks better. After all, you try to compose everything very carefully when you take a picture, and so does the director of the movie. And when you do get your next television, which will likely be widescreen, you’ll be ready for it. Remember, don’t be bothered by the black bars, they’re just unused areas of the screen, not cut off areas.
MM: Well, you certainly changed my mind. Thanks, Ludwig!
DD: I guess the black bars are OK, since they don’t cut off any part of the picture like I thought. To tell you the truth, I guess I really don’t notice them after a few minutes anyway.
G: But how did widescreen first come about?
L: Well, the history of widescreen is something I can talk about some other time, but right now, let’s just watch the movie.
DD: Good idea!
G: (humming) Oh, the world owes me a widescreen...
-----
Parts of it may be somewhat silly, but I think it helps educate people about widescreen in a slightly humorous fasion without being condescending (hopefully). Obviously there's room for other topics (such as why widescreen came about), but that just means there's room for other Disney "featurettes" expanding the widescreen information.
Again, your comments are welcome.
Thanks
Steve K.
edited to correct David Lambert's name
