2:1 for theatre release a problem?

[XiaoSu Han]

Since the RED ONE offers the 2:1 record mode and we are quite fond of the aspect since it's right between 1.85 and 2.35, I wanted to ask if there could be technical problems if the feature film would be shot in 2:1 and then slated for a cinema release, even prints perhaps?

I wouldn't want to crop my picture afterwards after framing it for 2:1...

I know that there as been a movement started by Storaro called Univisum, but that never took off really.

Thanks!

 

[Charles Angus]

I would think that if you delivered your files to filmout padded with black bars it would be fine, but talk to your lab.

 

[Nir Shelter]

Talk to your lab and print a test but from my experience shoot 16:9 always and make sure to have the 2:1 markers for framing. If you can record more resolution and leave your self some extra head space... why not?
Cropping wont heart and is a a safety measure though as a DP told me once "after 25 years of framing I should know what I am doing." Basically it is for safety and nothing ells that can only be good.
Good luck.

 

[Dan Hudgins]

2:1 for filmout?

2:1 for filmout?

Since the RED ONE offers the 2:1 record mode and we are quite fond of the aspect since it's right between 1.85 and 2.35, I wanted to ask if there could be technical problems if the feature film would be shot in 2:1 and then slated for a cinema release, even prints perhaps?

I wouldn't want to crop my picture afterwards after framing it for 2:1...

It would be abnormal to make release prints that are 2:1 with wider black frame lines.

Prints are made about 4:3 in order for there NEVER to be "black" film base density projected above and below the top and bottom of the image frame area onto the screen.

35mm movie projectors do not have good registration and the width of the black areas at the top and bottom of the screen will change from frame to frame, making the areas vary, also the framing adjustment will vary on reel changes if your prints are shown at a festival with reel changes.

If you shoot 16:9 you can avoid the black frame lines on the screen issue in most newer theatres since the screen will be between 1.85:1 and 2:1 much of the time. The framing will vary, as it always does since the projector will have some random framing setting.

Since the newer print stocks may not have a good black, the so called "black" frame lines will be dark purple, gray, or greenish, depending of the lab used, and so the audance will be able to see that the image does not fill the screen from top to bottom.

If you want a wider screen format, you might put 2:1 onto a 'scope print with pillar boxing, that way the image will fill the screen height without issues, and the black down the sides can be covered in the normal way by bringing the side curtains in like they would be in a 1.85:1 print. The prints would need to cary a note telling the projectionist to disable the automatic full with of the side curtains on 'Scope projection.

The pillar boxed prints are sometimes called "Disney" prints since they (I was told) sometimes pillar box their flat movies into 'Scope trailers, so some labs know how to make at least trailers in the pillar box format.

Anytime you do things that are non standard in a print you may get problems in projection, maybe more so now since there will not be a projectionist in the booth all the time.

If you want flat prints I would shoot 16:9, and if you want scope prints I would shoot 2:1 and crop it to 2.3x:1 to make a normal 'Scope print. With the choice between letter box and pillar box, I would probably take pillar box since it uses a larger film area in the printstock. To make pillar box frames for a 'Scope print for the 2K filmout you can squeeze the 4K TIF frames in software after Grading and with the Grading resize step.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Storaro released some movies shot in his 2:1 Univisium format, such as "Tango" and "Goya in Bordeaux". In those two cases, he had the 2:1 image (shot in 3-perf 35mm with a 2:1 gate) optically blown-up to a 2.40 anamorphic release print format with side black borders (pillarboxing) to hold the 2:1 image on the screen.

You have to figure that most first-run movie theaters are set-up to project "flat" 35mm prints with a 1.85 projector mask or "scope" prints (35mm 2X anamorphic 2.40) -- so your 2:1 image has to be made to fit within those two options, either with top & bottom borders in 1.85 or side borders in 2.40.

Basically a 2:1 image inside a 1.85 print would be 21mm x 10.5mm, which is 220.5 sq. inches. A 2:1 image inside a 2.40 anamorphic print would be 17.5mm x 17.5mm (with a 2X squeeze), which is 306.25 sq. inches. So you use more print real estate by printing 2:1 on an anamorphic release print. On the other hand, you have to deal with the quality of anamorphic lenses in movie theaters, which is quite variable. But at least you are using mostly just the sharper center area of the projected scope image.