The_Preacher1973 Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 (edited) From The Digital Bits: In the meantime however, a LOT of you have sent in e-mails asking how the aspect ratio is going to work on the DVD and Blu-ray Disc editions of The Dark Knight (due 12/9). I've just heard back from Warner Home Video on this, so here's the deal: The widescreen versions of the DVD will present the film in a 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio, reproducing the standard theatrical experience of the film. For the Blu-ray Disc however, while most of the film will also be presented in the 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio, the scenes that were specifically shot in IMAX format will be presented at 1.78:1, which will fill the frame and will thus recreate the IMAX experience at home. This is not via seamless branching (you can't turn it off). I hope this doesn't become common. Edited October 1, 2008 by The_Preacher1973
Foggy Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 Yikes, as if we needed another reason to hate Warner Brothers!!
Jeffie1503561482 Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 but why?? that would look ridiculous on anyones system.
The_Preacher1973 Posted October 1, 2008 Author Posted October 1, 2008 but why?? that would look ridiculous on anyones system. Well, it wouldn;t be tto bad on a 16:9 setup. The black bars would simply disappear for those scenes, but I could imagine that it would be distracting. I just can't understand why they wouldn't use seemless branching to give people the option to leave it in 2.40:1.
momaw Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 but why?? that would look ridiculous on anyones system. I agree. I only have a 16:9 setup but chopping and changing between aspect ratio's will be extremely anoying. It is beyond comprhension that they don't include the constant ratio version that was screened in 99% of cinema's.
Volunteer Kazz Posted October 1, 2008 Volunteer Posted October 1, 2008 I had a fleeting thought that they may change their minds about this before they press the discs.................................but then came to my senses.......................they don't care what the consumer wants they just do whatever seems like a good idea to them. It's going to be very annoying even on a 16:9 setup.
SDL Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 Holy changing aspect ratios Batman - this is just stupid!
willk Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 Call me a cynic but it may well be a way to sell the same movie multilple times to people. First edition has the special feature of changing the aspect ratio on you... as part of the spot me if you can game. Then comes to second ultimate collectors edition which will only be in 1.78:1 and another ultimate ultimate collectors edition in 2.40:1 ratio only. Given the density of BD I'm sure you can fit that all these 'features' into the one disc but hey!!! they are trying to give us the closest experience to watching the movie in a cinema (including paying more than what it would have cost to buy a movie ticket) and we can't have the BD giving better value than watching the movie at the cinemas. Cheers William
CAVX Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 This is not really as big an issue as it seems. The IMAX presentation of this film was technically a letterboxed 2.40 in a 1.66:1 frame. Therefore, when ever there was an "IMAX" shot, it filled the screen, but otherwize the audiance watched a letterboxed film on the same screen - so in essence CIW. The same presentation will be used for the BD, but for CIH, the end viewing experience will simply be the CinemaScope film that I saw in the cinema. See the point is, the framing for the IMAX experience is such that there is no "story telling" info in the portions above and below the frame for the 2.40:1 frame, so the scalaing for CIH will simply clip these bits off - the rest of the film in these areas will be black bars. So no, I am not concerned by this... Mark
James Belsey Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 (edited) Having seen the movie in IMAX I didn't really notice the aspect ratio changing between the scenes, but did notice the huge drop in resolution when moving from IMAX to the non-IMAX scenes. Granted, this shouldn't be noticeable on Blu-Ray, but I'm happy to have the IMAX scenes at 1.78:1 and the remainder at 2.40:1, but also agree that it should really be an option to use seamless branching to go full 2.40:1 if you want. It's really only the first scene and then a handful of other shots that we filmed in IMAX. EDIT: What Mark said ^ Edited October 1, 2008 by James Belsey
The_Preacher1973 Posted October 1, 2008 Author Posted October 1, 2008 This is not really as big an issue as it seems. The IMAX presentation of this film was technically a letterboxed 2.40 in a 1.66:1 frame. Therefore, when ever there was an "IMAX" shot, it filled the screen, but otherwize the audiance watched a letterboxed film on the same screen - so in essence CIW.The same presentation will be used for the BD, but for CIH, the end viewing experience will simply be the CinemaScope film that I saw in the cinema. See the point is, the framing for the IMAX experience is such that there is no "story telling" info in the portions above and below the frame for the 2.40:1 frame, so the scalaing for CIH will simply clip these bits off - the rest of the film in these areas will be black bars. So no, I am not concerned by this... Mark I don't think so Mark. It definitely states that the IMAX sections of the film will be presented in 16:9 full screen. So if you have your system setup for CIH you will be clippling off the information at the top and bottom of the screen as the BD will be using all 1080 lines during those scenes.
AndrewW Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 I only have a 16:9 setup, but this has put me off buying this on BD (and on DVD out of protest, I'll pick it up when I can get it for $8 from kmart). Why on earth would they do this? Changing the aspect ratio mid movie is just ridiculous.
seadog Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 Does this mean it will be rated RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
AndrewW Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 Does this mean it will be rated RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. lol, now that's funny
MACCA350 Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 You can stick this one on the "What Were They Thinking" board BTW I thought IMAX presentations are filmed using 70mm with an aspect ratio of 1.44:1, so if they're going to chop it to 1.78:1......... I haven't seen the movie so I don't know that these scenes impact is, in fact this is the first time I heard about it........if you ask me, it sounds pretty stupid cheers
momaw Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 Bad news guys: Michael Bay Shooting Select Transformers 2 Scenes in IMAXNow that Christopher Nolan proved action and IMAX are a winning combination with The Dark Knight's $60 million large-screen format box office take, other filmmakers are convincing studios to pony up the cash for similar 70mm sequences. The next director to utilize IMAX cameras is none other than Michael "stuff blows up real good" Bay. It's being reported he will film at least three action scenes from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in IMAX, possibly more. Other directors exploring the possibily of 70mm sequences are John Favreau for Iron Man 2 and Eagle Eye's D.J. Caruso for Y: The Last Man. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will roll into conventional theaters and IMAX simultaneously on June 26, 2009. http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Michael_Bay_...es_in_IMAX/3535
Volunteer Kazz Posted October 1, 2008 Volunteer Posted October 1, 2008 Bad news guys:http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Michael_Bay_...es_in_IMAX/3535 Oh joy......................
AndrewW Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 Bad news guys:http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Michael_Bay_...es_in_IMAX/3535 Oh ffs.
MACCA350 Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 (edited) Bad news guys:Now that Christopher Nolan proved action and IMAX are a winning combination with The Dark Knight's $60 million large-screen format box office take, other filmmakers are convincing studios to pony up the cash for similar 70mm sequences. http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Michael_Bay_...es_in_IMAX/3535 Arrggg, FFS Have these guys got their heads up their clacker ............Dark Knight's success had sweet F...all to do with that BS and everything to do with the movie, it's actors(one in particular) and the publicity that surrounded it.............and now all because of a coincidence we're going to have to put up with these tossers screwing around with this ................as if the greater public haven't got enough to worry about trying to understand current "black bars", this is really going to get their knickers in a knot <and the bear grumbles back into his cave> cheers Edited October 1, 2008 by MACCA350
collinhack Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 I take it that for my "zoom mode" 2.37:1 setup this would involve picture intermittently appearing outside the borders of my screen during the movie?
darockk Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 From The Digital Bits:QUOTE ... the scenes that were specifically shot in IMAX format will be presented at 1.78:1, which will fill the frame and will thus recreate the IMAX experience at home. As if making the picture slighty larger than original is going to recreate a 5 story high IMAX movie screen in your lounge room?
The_Preacher1973 Posted October 1, 2008 Author Posted October 1, 2008 I take it that for my "zoom mode" 2.37:1 setup this would involve picture intermittently appearing outside the borders of my screen during the movie? That's the way I read it.
James Belsey Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 (edited) I don't think so Mark. It definitely states that the IMAX sections of the film will be presented in 16:9 full screen. So if you have your system setup for CIH you will be clippling off the information at the top and bottom of the screen as the BD will be using all 1080 lines during those scenes. I think what Mark meant though is that the IMAX scenes were framed such that the important parts of the picture were held in the central part of the frame (from a height perspective), and that the image shown in the standard 2.40 aspect ratio is just the central part of the IMAX frame anyway, so if you 'zoom' it before it reaches the projector for CIH, it'll be the same as the normal cinema presentation. You just some extra bonus picture information if you view it in 1.78. Whether that's actually true or not, I don't know. Edited October 1, 2008 by James Belsey
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