Added letterbox in post or no?

F

fadedjosh

Well-known member
I am trying to get people's opinions on if I should leave it normal or add (letterbox slugs) So what looks better to you? I like the bars it gives it this different feel, but most of the shots where not framed for it.. So someone wanna throw out there thoughts. i cant decide haha Thanks in advance


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If you want bars, then stick to a common aspect. I'd also suggest doing it in post only, not in camera (if shooting with a 4:3 native cam)

Additionally, I'd suggest one of these two options;

1. Create a black solid in your NLE, and create a rectangle matte of the proper aspect and use that in a 4:3 sequence. This way you can still adjust your images up/down if needed, and it's easier than adding the "widescreen" filter.

2. Create a sequence that is 16x9 aspect. You should see the top part of your footage being cut off. You can still adjsut it up and down, but doing it this way will ensure that playback on a widescreen TV or computer won't have bars, it will be a widescreen aspect. 4:3 TVs will show bars.

Make sense? Go have fun.
 
Boy, it is so nice to see some rollerblading grabs in here for once. If you're framing the film in a wider ratio, of course letterbox it. But since they weren't framed for it, just use a pan-and-scan technique to try to incorporate most of the original shot into the final composition; try to adjust the focal points.

The grabs look nice though. Blown out pretty bad, but it fits the aesthetic.

Also: What Zak and arges03 said. The ratio is indeed a bit tall for today's standards, and those are good tips from arges03.
 
Framing can be adjusted up or down.

But the question is, is cropping to wider aspect artistically appropriate? Let it serve your project.
 
Bars make it look more professional, but since this is a rollar blading project...

Ha just kidding.

Bars make it look really nice. you can do some motion key framing on the Y axis to for a smooth look.

Robbie
 
Thanks for everyones input, I was not plan on using the aspect ratio that i used (I just used the slugs in fcp for an example i guess) and the clips are so blown out its insane. I let my friend borrow my cam for a little local skate camp. And he had no idea how to use it, so when I got the camera back. The lens filter was extremely dirty with finger prints and the gain was at 12 with the iris wide open for some reason.. haha anyways thanks for everyones help. I will post the footage when I edit it. Should be a few days before I am able to start
 
"Bars make it look more professional, but since this is a rollar blading project..."


rollerblading


Professional is professional.... Period ! If you don't want the dads home video look then add a logo or something at the bottom. I think they look good and maybe it's just me. :)



"What's the fading around the edges?"

That would be vignetting. Could be from post or an adapter. Looks like an adapter, can kind of see the smearing in the corners.
 
Yeah no adapter, it was added in post. You also can see the ghetto rain protector we made in some shots.. haha pretty much the whole competition was during the storm so the majority of the shots turned out looking really crappy. Some of them are really cool though, next time I just need to teach the person borrowing the camera how to use it. Live and learn.
 
Bars don't automatically make something look professional. And something can look just as professional without them.

And to be honest, I don't think the bars do anything special for that footage. But if the OP likes them, then fine.
 
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