Letterbox vs Squeeze Mode

L

ldthompson

Member
I want the greatest number of options for distribution of a film that I'm working on. Should I shoot normal, letterbox or squeeze mode. I understand that the anamorphic adapter is something that is recommended but don't have time to get one and get up to speed on it before I start shooting.

thanks
ld thompson
 
It really all depends on your application, what final product are you looking for, are you looking for a cinematic end product, like a short film?, are you doing a commercial style project?, These are really a matter of preference

If the question your asking is that you want your end product to be widescreen, and you want to know which mode will give you the best results, then I can give you my experience with it.

I have done all three, shot normal and croped for widescreen, shot squeeze and stretched it to wide screen, and shot letterbox, my preference is to use squeeze, I usually make cinematic films, and I like the 2.35 style widescreen, so I usually add a widescreen matte on in FCP, then in AE I stretch the footage to fit the widescreen as well as other quality enhancing filters, so when I want widescreen, I go squeeze mode

-Matt-
 
Ok, I don't want to hijack this thread, but my question is closely related, I promise! I've read a lot on these forums about shooting for widescreen output, and I just need someone to clarify for me:

If you shoot 4:3 and crop in post to 16:9 (as I prefer, since it gives you the most options, especially in reajusting your framing) what happens when you output to DVD for playing on a widescreen tv? Will it recognise the footage as 16:9, or do something funny like putting black bars at the side of the screen so you end up having a small image in the middle with black all around it?

Any pearls of wisdom appreciated!
 
You would have to crop it down and then stretch it vertically to make it anamorphic 16:9. Then the DVD player will know what to do with it (i.e., display it natively on a 16:9 TV, or shrink it down and letterbox it for 4:3 TVs.)
 
Thanks Barry!

I don't suppose anyone knows if this can be done in FCP? I've read the thread about uprezzing using Photozoom Pro, but I tend to produce hours of footage, so playing around with it frame by frame would take an excrutiating amount of time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top