Wonderfalls comes to DVD on december 7th, 2004! (1 Viewer)

[Kyle**S]

I agree. I downloaded the widescreen versions of the first four episodes, and there was a lot of unused space on the sides. In the third and fourth eps, there were even a few shots where the shot didn't cover the entire screen, and there were moving black bars on one side.

 

[Michael Sliger]

The only "moving black bars" present in the widescreen episodes that I have been shown were in the scene transitions. Those are supposed to be there to emulate a frame change in an old Viewmaster machine. It is a style, not an attempt to hide crew members or equipment. The style is just more noticeable in a 16x9 frame.

The more I hear these gripes, the more I keep wondering why pan-and-scan on-the-fly isn't used for TV series filmed for multiple aspect ratios. That would give everyone exactly what they want to see. It shouldn't take any time at all to encode the cropping (since it should be stagnant throughout the episodes). The only issue I see is that the bitrate may need to be increased to maintain a decent image quality in P&S mode, potentially increasing the number of disks in each set.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

if they do decide to pull something crappy by making it widescreen... I'm gonna zoom on my 4:3 tv...

 

[Kyle**S]

I don't just want P&S on-the fly. I want real framing as intended by the producers. If the eps do end up in WS, I'll just mentally focus to 4:3.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Zooming does the exact same thing as center extraction, which is how the 4:3 versions are made.

 

[Kyle**S]

The 4:3 shot's aren't exact centric on the 16:9's, just approximately, for most moments of most shots. It's the editors who decide on the exact framing.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

I'm pretty sure they are exactly centered. This isn't pan and scan. It's being framed for the 4:3. Any moving is just second-guessing.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

I agree. I paid attention during all of the scenes, and it looked to me like it was all just useless.

My guess is they use a camera with something like this technique used...

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They simply frame everything they want in the 4:3 frame. Wonderfalls was one of the few examples of useless widescreen framing I've seen. It looks really bad, honestly. Probably very similar to seasons 4-7 of Buffy. But at least those supposedly had more room to breath in the fight scenes... with Wonderfalls, there aren't any...

 

[Rob Speicher]

Oh my god I never even noticed. That is bad.

 

[Kyle**S]

I know the

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cameras are sometimes used for TV shows, but if you look at some of the 16:9 shots, it seems as if the occasional 4:3 would contain nothing but shoulders, yet that's not how it looks in that version. Granted, I haven't actually done a compare and contrast, I was just making assumptions. Really I don't know.

If you can just zoom into the awful 16:9's to get a perfect 4:3 shot, that would be mostly fine with me, although the main titles will likely be expanded to fit a 16:9 screen.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Well, that's how they looked on the 4:3 broadcasts. In widescreen, the titles were windowboxed.

 

[David_Blackwell]

Let's hope the episodes are released in 4:3 on DVD.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

If there was a way to e-mail fox, or give them a call, I would. Anyone know where we could call to complain in advance, before they actually start working on this set?

 

[Kyle**S]

SaveWonderfalls.com has a lot of great info in their campaign section.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

I sent 2 e-mails to different addresses telling them to let Tim Minear have control over the presentation. Then said a lot of fans would be upset if it wasn't OAR.

 

[Kyle**S]

There's an update on the DVD set at savewonderfalls.com.

The release is still scheduled for Dec. 7 and the episodes will be in 16:9. Several commentaries have already been recorded,and more are planned.

 

[Stephen Ford]

We have a bit of Wonderfalls DVD news for you! The release is still (tentatively) scheduled for December 7 of this year, and the episodes will be presented in 16x9 widescreen. Bryan Fuller and Todd Holland have already recorded commentary on "Crime Dog," "Lovesick Ass" and "Caged Bird." They'll be joined by stars Caroline Dhavernas and Katie Finneran for "Wax Lion" and "Safety Canary" commentary, and by Caroline, Katie and Scotch Ellis Loring (Dr. Ron) for "Cocktail Bunny" commentary. The disc set will also contain a documentary on the show and most likely a few deleted scenes and outtakes. Other features are TBA.

 

[David_Blackwell]

Can't we just get along and have the episodes in 1.33:1 full frame?!

Hmmm. I would like to see Wonderfalls in widescreen, but if it was it's intended aspect ratio.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Damn. I guess I'll still buy it, but it's really ridiculous...

They won't AIR the shows in widescreen, but they're obsessed with releasing the DVDs that way...

 

[Robert Ringwald]

MUSIC VIDEOS!!!

The ones I've seen online are hilarious, and really catchy.