TO ALL STUDIOS: Please put "Widescreen Tutorial" on all DVDs! (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

This weekend I had several friends come over with their girlfriends to watch DVDs on my new 47" widescreen set.
When I popped in a 2.35 movie, some of the girls said "Oh you still got those black bars..." which led to a general widescreen/letterbox vs. TV discussion. Most of my male friends already know my HT passion, but the 3 girlfriends there just did not get it.
Then I popped in the "Why Widescreen" part of Die Hard Ultimate Edition...
All 3 girls understood and then supported the use of widescreen/letterboxing.
There is nothing like a short visual tutorial of the compromises that have to be made to put a widescreen movie onto a 4:3 TV to drive the point home. Although I was doing (IMO) a decent job of explaining the situation, it wasn't until this short 5 minute demo that they all "got it."
Then I popped in Star Trek IV and fast-forwarded in the documentary to Leonard Nimoy's little bit about widescreen vs. pan & scan, complete with moving picture comparisons of both. This further drove the point home and convinced 3 girls I had barely known (and who have no HT background) that letterbox was the way to go. Here are some great comments made while we were watching the demos:
"Oh my god, what happened to the other guy?"
"Whoa, it's like a totally different movie!"
"Check out how one camera's stable, and the other one keeps moving back and forth to try and follow the conversation."
So please, ALL STUDIOS, consider putting a short (like 3 minutes or so) Widescreen Explanation on all DVDs. It could even be a stock one that you use over and over again, or a few that you rotate between on different DVDs. It will help educate the masses in a way that we OAR supporters only dream of.
Thank you for your time. And please, anyone in support of this idea please post here.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

How bout a commentary or subtitle track on the pan and scan versions pointing out what's missing?
I still say the public shoulda figured it out when they started putting the message "THIS FILM HAS BEEN MODIFIED FROM ITS ORIGINAL VERSION." That says it enough.

 

[Carlo_M]

Jesse,
Unfortunately the wording "modified to fit your screen" doesn't indicate a loss of picture. And if peoples' entire TV screen is filled up, why should they even think about picture loss?
To me it's surprising that people don't say, "Hey, how come a theater screen is rectangular and my TV is almost a square?" They don't put 2 and 2 together.
That's why I'd like to see a small, 3 minute demo on why widescreen is important to the presentation of a film.

 

[John Berggren]

I'm all for this. To the point of bringing it up at any chat. Unfortunately, I have too many "questions" for Warner Brothers to fit this one in. Next time perhaps.
Every studio should include a short feature on "Why Widescreen" that is equivalent to that which is presented on the Die Hard set or Star Trek IV. Get creative!
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