3 ms·

Try watching e.g. Friends without the top and bottom cut off, in a legal way. I hate how the IP owners just can't resist messing up the culture.

toast0 4y ago
The DVDs are probably 4:3, right? Just gotta go to enough thrift stores...
- rightbyte 4y ago
  Maybe. I haven't looked too hard. Just got pissed off by scenes being so much harder to follow.
gamblor956 4y ago
Part of my job involves reviewing IP licenses. We don't negotiate technical details like aspect ratios. (Some IP owners do, like Disney.) The decision to mutilate Friends was made by a software engineer (working for the Licensee) who couldn't be bothered to add black bars or convert ratios because "reasons."
- rightbyte 4y ago
  Ok interesting. Ye I guess much of these thing happen at random really.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago
  The original was filmed in 1.33:1 then cropped down to 4:3. For the streaming platforms, they chose to crop it the other way: https://i.imgur.io/sbdIoxd_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium https://i.imgur.io/sbdIoxd_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f... IMO they should just split the difference and stream the full original 1.33:1 with (smaller) black bars.
  - toast0 4y ago
    Showing the original film means showing things the director thought would be out of frame. In the 90s, film directors would often consider both the cinema and TV ratios, but TV directors? I kind of doubt it; changing the framing might be interesting, but it's not a good way to show it, IHMO. Debates over overscan are fine, but if it wasn't part of the original broadcast, and wasn't part of the directors' intent to be shown, it shouldn't be part of any distribution.
  - dragonwriter 4y ago
    > The original was filmed in 1.33:1 then cropped down to 4:3. It was filmed at 1.37:1. 1.33:1 would be almost indistinguishable from 4:3 (its 3.99:3)

3 ms·

Try watching e.g. Friends without the top and bottom cut off, in a legal way. I hate how the IP owners just can't resist messing up the culture.

by rightbyte 4y ago

toast0 4y ago
The DVDs are probably 4:3, right? Just gotta go to enough thrift stores...
- rightbyte 4y ago
  Maybe. I haven't looked too hard. Just got pissed off by scenes being so much harder to follow.
gamblor956 4y ago
Part of my job involves reviewing IP licenses. We don't negotiate technical details like aspect ratios. (Some IP owners do, like Disney.) The decision to mutilate Friends was made by a software engineer (working for the Licensee) who couldn't be bothered to add black bars or convert ratios because "reasons."
- rightbyte 4y ago
  Ok interesting. Ye I guess much of these thing happen at random really.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago
  The original was filmed in 1.33:1 then cropped down to 4:3. For the streaming platforms, they chose to crop it the other way: https://i.imgur.io/sbdIoxd_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium https://i.imgur.io/sbdIoxd_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f... IMO they should just split the difference and stream the full original 1.33:1 with (smaller) black bars.
  - toast0 4y ago
    Showing the original film means showing things the director thought would be out of frame. In the 90s, film directors would often consider both the cinema and TV ratios, but TV directors? I kind of doubt it; changing the framing might be interesting, but it's not a good way to show it, IHMO. Debates over overscan are fine, but if it wasn't part of the original broadcast, and wasn't part of the directors' intent to be shown, it shouldn't be part of any distribution.
  - dragonwriter 4y ago
    > The original was filmed in 1.33:1 then cropped down to 4:3. It was filmed at 1.37:1. 1.33:1 would be almost indistinguishable from 4:3 (its 3.99:3)