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[J2 Cool]

So I was anticipating The Incredibles coming out, and really wanted to check out the movie again and all the extras. But I'm broke Tuesday, and wait patiently. I mention it to my mom, tell her the little siblings loved it and she should buy it. She says maybe for Easter. I find out yesterday, I have a Best Buy gift card for $15 meanwhile. Got $10 in my wallet so I'm about to pick it up. I tell my mom I'm gonna leave, going to go grab the movie. Then she says "No! I already bought it for Easter". So I explain I've waited patiently already, I'm not waiting till easter. I was gonna buy it anyway. So she says I can have it tomorrow.

Today comes around, and the my little brother and sister are about to watch it. I grab the case and look at it, which they've already ripped open.. Full screen! Bastards. And then to top that, my little impatient brother and sister say "Oh, who cares, let's just watch it! I don't like the black bars anyway!". I almost backhanded 'em. Then they complain it's not my movie, they want to watch it. Anyway, so I gotta play keep away, wait for my mom to get home with the receipt in a few hours, and go argue it's only partially open with Target. Damn Fullscreen. Hasn't Pixar continually came out with widescreen/fullscreen in one package also? Ah well. I am NOT giving in to some impatient bastards, when I've been waiting to watch it in beautiful 16x9 w/ progressive scan on my widescreen tv. Pixar's continuously made the most amazing transfers.

Anyway, it's cool if they split it to add more extras, but these employees need to make sure you want full screen before you leave with any dvd. And especially the older folks need to be questioned what they're doing

 

[Prospero]

Well, Pixar recomposes all the shots for the fullscreen versions of their movies instead of doing a straight pan and scan, so it's not a total wash.

 

[Naked Snake]

Well, Pixar recomposes all the shots for the fullscreen versions of their movies instead of doing a straight pan and scan, so it's not a total wash.

Yeah I'd like to know more about that... Is it like those Superwhatever movies where you get even more "image" than the widescreen version?

 

[Prospero]

Yeah I'd like to know more about that... Is it like those Superwhatever movies where you get even more "image" than the widescreen version?

No--the filmmakers actually move the characters around in the backgrounds so that the action remains in the frame, as if they "reshot" the movie in 1.33:1. (Though I googled to check this just now, and one person claims that the only Pixar film for which this was actually done is A Bug's Life. I could swear I read an article about the reformatting process for the fullscreen Incredibles DVD somewhere online, though. And I found this interview with the DVD producer for Finding Nemo: )

UGO: Why is a full screen version of Finding Nemo included with the DVD?

Bill Kinder: That's what the people want, so we give them what we want.

UGO: Do people want full screen more than they want widescreen?

BK: We like to give them the choice. I know that some people like full frame more than widescreen, and vice versa. The beauty of doing it this way is giving the choice. Also, we have the advantage of working in a computer to recompose shots for the 4 by 3 camera. We try really hard to make the presentation the best that can be had in that format.

EDIT: Here's an example of how Pixar recomposed a frame of A Bug's Life. The elements are in different places with respect to each other:

 

[Vgamer]

Wow that pic is interesting it almost looks like you get more with the fullscreen then the wide screen. Of course the Wide Screen is the way it was originally intended for theatres but its interesting to see the stuff thats different in that full screen shot.

 

[olimario]

If somebody buys full screen I really don't mind because it really isn't a big deal.
Of course I buy Wide Screen when available, but it isn't the big deal so many make it out to be.

 

[Naked Snake]

Wow that pic is interesting it almost looks like you get more with the fullscreen then the wide screen. Of course the Wide Screen is the way it was originally intended for theatres but its interesting to see the stuff thats different in that full screen shot.

From what I can, you do in fact get more (a lot more) with the widescreen in that comparision image... It makes me almost feel "robbed" getting the widescreen version.

 

[sefskillz]

but it isn't the big deal so many make it out to be.

eh, i disagree. it is the big deal everyone makes it out to be. try watching one of your favorite movies on tbs or something where they pan and scan you to death trying to get things in frame, halves of faces are showing etc etc.

 

[Gorgie]

My mom did the same thing and bought Shrek 1 and 2 in full screen. Luckilyi, I bought Incredibles, and it is wide screen. Fornately, Incredibles is a classic, while the Shrek movies will be stale in a few years with all its pop culture jokes that won't be funny in the future.

Also, soundtrack for Incredibles > *

 

[Diablos]

But still, look how much more you see in the full frame version.

Movies that adopt the Super 35 method (which, sadly, is just about all of them) lose a LOT for a just an inch or so on the left and right. I remember watching The Patriot on DVD (widescreen) and then watching it on HBO. I paused the DVD at an easily recognizable point and then unpaused it while I saw the exact same thing on HBO. I switched back and forth - I could barely see the widescreen advantage for this movie, but holy crap, the full frame version had an awful lot on the top and bottom that the DVD did not.

 

[Prospero]

It bears mentioning that Pixar is the only studio, animated or otherwise, that actually recomposes its films like this. The reason the fullscreen frame in that comparison looks better is because it's an entirely new render--there's not just new material generated in the top and bottom of the frame, but the characters are squeezed closer together to fit inside it. There never was a "Super 35" version to begin with.

Films shot in Super 35 that are open matte on the fullscreen versions often have terrible composition--sometimes you even see artifacts in the top and bottom that weren't meant to be seen (like the shadow of the cameraman's helicopter in the opening shots of The Shining. And, yeah, whether Kubrick DVDs ought to be full frame or not is another can of worms.)

 

[J2 Cool]

Anyway, got it returned with no porblems. And I agree, The Incredibles is a classic. Got the stickers carefully ripped off with no marks, made sure it's widescreen. But yeah, what Pixar does with full screen is fantastic, but I'd still want it in widescreen. For their other movies, the option was nice though.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Movies that adopt the Super 35 method (which, sadly, is just about all of them) lose a LOT for a just an inch or so on the left and right.

The point isn't what gets the more shot, though, it's to get the shot the director wants. It just so happens that since their end target tends to be a wide screen, they tend to put their work in a wide format.

Certainly, though, I agree that 4:3 versions of those movies tend to be much better than pan-and-scan, besides the odd unintended elements as Prospero notes.