Anamorphic a must for film blow?

L

Ldogg

Active member
I am filming a Doc this summer. If I don't blow it, I think the content should be good enough to blow up to film and entered into festivals. My question is....

If I am certain on blowing up to film from 24p(a) recordings, do I certainly need to have an anamorphic adaptor. Thanks
 
No, you don't NEED it. It can make the blowup look sharper, but it's not absolutely mandatory. Shooting 24PA will give you a sharper look than any VX2000 or PD150 blowup, and certainly plenty of those have been done.
 
Yesterday, I did several side-by-side tests of the native 4:3 versus 16:9 "squeeze" mode.

I viewed the results on both a 60-inch HDTV and a 27-inch SDTV. My reluctant conclusion is that 4:3 looks significantly better than 16:9 squeeze, especially on the HDTV.

Of course I knew that squeeze mode compromises resolution...but wasn't sure the difference would be enough to warrant shooting in 4:3. Now I believe it is.

If I were definitely, positively planning on film-out, I think I'd opt for the anamorphic lens, or just stick with 4:3.

I've recently watched some great documentaries (ie. 2003's Spellbound) that were all shot in 4:3. So now I think I'm back to shooting my doc in 4:3. Might as well use the native strengths of the DVX, and focus our efforts on content.
 
Thanks very much Barry and Sean. Sorry for the late reply, had to leave town. I think I will stick with the 4:3 and put the extra cash into audio. Thanks again
 
Ldogg said:
Thanks very much Barry and Sean. Sorry for the late reply, had to leave town. I think I will stick with the 4:3 and put the extra cash into audio. Thanks again
Click to expand...

I think this is absolutely the right call. Only about 10% of your audience will even notice the aspect ratio of your piece, and even those 10% probably won't care. However, 100% of them will notice (and be very annoyed by) muffled, bad audio.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top