will festivals prefer to that my 4:3 film is in 16:9?

S

sean90291

Veteran
I filmed a short on my DVX100A in 4:3. It's pretty much finished, and I'd like to start submitting it to festivals. Do you think it stands a better chance getting in to fests at full resolution at 4:3 or should I sacrifice some resolution and submit it as 16:9? What would be the best route to going to 16:9 (DigiBeta projection...this is not going to film...it's just a wee short after all)--things like Photozoom, I understand, are better for uprezzing for web distribution, but not so good for the bigger screen.

Any advice appreciated, thanks.
 
I was waiting to see if someone with more experience on the topic might ring in... but, no dice.

Here's an opinion - first off, if you framed for 16:9, you may need to crop it just for it to look the way you imagined it. On the other hand, if you didn't... well... check it out, see if you like it. If it doesn't work for you, you know what you have to send for your own comfort.

So, anyway - I say make both versions, figure out what you like. Send in the one you love the most.
 
Well my first short that i made was shot on a regular mini dv camcorder I think i paid 900 for it, I came up with the story and shot and edited the film in 4 days and it is in 4x3 and my budget was about 25 dollars for some plastic flowers. and I submitted to a few festivals and it was Selected to one already and in consideration for another right now and it won a Silver Telly award there highest honor. SO i say it is not the 4x3 or 16:9 or HD or 24p it is more about what you made how you made it and How good you can tell a story. Alot of people think they know how to make a film , ya you can make a movie , but can you tell a story that someone wants to, and will sit threw that is the Question. Be a story teller.
 
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What skrott says makes sense, if it's a good movie, I'm sure the last thing they'll be worried about is if it's 16x9 or not. I wouldn't worry about it personally, but if this does actually make a difference to judges someone let us know cuz now I'm kinda curious as well.
 
if ur question is pertaining to whether a festival is more likely to take a widescreen project over a 4x3 based on its supposedly more "cinematic" look, then no, they won't. Or at least festivals run by people who know what they are doing. A good movie is a good movie and they'll take any good movie, no matter what the aspect ratio. Your movie is 4x3 and I'm assuming to framed to 4x3 so leave it. Don't artificially crop out portions of your movie just to look more "filmlike."

Now if your question pertains to whether, starting with a widescreen project, it is better to turn in your anamorphic 16x9 master or a 4x3 letterboxed master, then it depends. (by the way, I think you weren't really asking this but just to be a completist, I'm gonna answer it anyway :-) ). Now if we are talking about higher end festivals, then I do believe they would prefer an anamorphic widescreen project (aka one that will looked "stretched" on a regular tv, normal on an hdtv or hdtv widescreen projector). If we are talking about the other 90% of festivals, I've found that most of them actually prefer a 4x3 letterboxed master b/c of one reason: they will be getting a lot of submissions from people who don't really know much about authoring, aspect ratios, timelines, etc, and most of them will edit a widescreen project they shot on a 4x3 frame and not a 16x9 widescreen frame. Because the majority of the work coming in will be from these people, you will have to conform and submit one too b/c they won't want to stop midway during a showing and suddenly change the aspect ratio to your 16x9 project, even though you're the one ACTUALLY DOING IT RIGHT.

yes, this happened to me, so I am a little bitter. I shot my project on 16x9 squeeze on the DVX and edited on a anamorphic widescreen timeline. I work at an electronics store selling tvs so I'm hyperaware of the looming trend of hdtvs which naturally mean widescreen sets, therefore I want to "futureproof" my projects and shot in the format best suited to widescreen (well the best would be the anamorphic lens but I'm too cheap and not disciplined enough for it). So I do everything like I'm supposed to do and what do festivals tell me after I get in? To create a 4x3 letterboxed master for them. DAMNIT! All that anamorphic resolution, GONE! Well whatever. As with everything in life, they must cater to the lowest common denominator. Still, I think its better to have an anamorphic master though b/c A) when making DVDs, it is better to have an anamorphic master and B) if you need to, like I did, and have to make a 4x3 letterbox copy, you can always do that and you won't lose too much quality because you're resizing the picture smaller, but if you have only a 4x3 master and you try to upconvert to a widescreen anamorphic project, you'll lose more noticable quality cuz you're resizing the frame BIGGER.
 
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