Thanks, Myles, for the very thorough explanation.
Janis McKenzie
Vancouver Public Library
On Wed, 25 Mar 1998, Myles Jaeschke wrote:
> Just a little history on why letterboxing is done for videos. (There does
> seem to be some confusion the terms letterboxed and widescreen.)
>
> The reasoning for this process is to show the film in its proper aspect
> ratio, the way the director intended it to be. Now before 1953, nearly
> all movies were filmed in the aspect ratio of 1.33 to 1. A film thus
> would be 1.33 times wider than its height. By the way, this aspect ratio
> is exactly what your television set is at home.
>
> In 1953 a new process called CinemaScope was introduced to the movie
> going public. The first film to use this process was the Robe. Now the
> aspect ratio for a CinemaScope film (today refered to as just scope) is
> 2.35 to 1. Films in scope are 2.35 times wider than their height.
>
> Today many movies are filmed in scope which is an aspect ratio of 2.35 to
> 1. If they are not in scope then they are filmed in "flat". A "flat"
> films aspect ratio is 1.85 to 1.
>
> What does this all mean to us and videos?? Well if a film transfered to
> video is not letterboxed, then some of the picture is lost. (Which we
> have already discussed.) How Much?? Look below...
>
> 2.35 to 1 aspect ratio at movie theater
> 1.33 to 1 aspect ratio shown at home if not letterboxed
> this equals a 43.4% loss in picture. Almost half the picture is cropped
> off!!
>
> 1.85 to 1 aspect ratio at movie theater
> 1.33 to 1 aspect ratio shown at home if not letterboxed
> equals a 28.1% loss in picture. Over a quarter of the picture.
>
> This is a significant loss! There have been several articles in various
> magazines that discuss this in more detail. I have seen similar info in a
> magazine called Widescreen Review.
>
> BTW--other aspect ratios have been used. Ben Hur was a huge 2.75 to 1. A
> non letterboxed version results in a loss of 51.6% of the picture! Wow!
>
> Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide is an excellent source that tells which
> films were originally shot in "scope" processes. He goes on to explain
> the different types of "scope" camaras in the beginning of the guide.
> Check it out.
>
> Sorry for being so long winded. If you have any questions about anything
> I've just typed feel free to email me.
>
> Myles Jaeschke
> Tulsa City County Library Film Librarian and
> Movie Theater Projectionist
>
>
Janis McKenzie
Librarian
Vancouver Public Library
e-mail: janismck@vpl.vancouver.bc.ca