film festival projection - anamorphic or crop?

[mospeaker]

shooting a short film for submission to festivals, here's the concern:

 

film festivals notoriously and unfortunately use cheap video projectors especially for shorts programs.

 

if i shoot 4:3 and crop will the projectionist fill the screen with my image or will it look like a small rectangle with a black border? (an example would be watching and HD TV channel on a 16:9 TV when something is shown as cropped 4:3)

 

i'm not too keen on the anamorphic adapter since i've heard it can end up a little soft, plus i kinda want the option of using the wide angle and telephoto adapters.

 

however, i want it to look good, and certainly don't want the black border effect.

 

please weigh in!

[David Mullen ASC]

It's just a risk you have to take -- you can't control all digital projection screenings. Some will zoom the letterboxed image for you to fill the screen, some won't. You'd have to be there before the screening to supervise.

 

You could also consider converting the letterboxed image to a 16x9 anamorphic recording in post. Still doesn't guarantee that it won't end up letterboxed on the screen though.

[mospeaker]

It's just a risk you have to take -- you can't control all digital projection screenings. Some will zoom the letterboxed image for you to fill the screen, some won't.  You'd have to be there before the screening to supervise.

 

You could also consider converting the letterboxed image to a 16x9 anamorphic recording in post.  Still doesn't guarantee that it won't end up letterboxed on the screen though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

yep, i was afraid that the realistic answer is that ultimately, especially for a short, i will not have much control over it regardless.

 

so i think i'm gonna use the lenses i want, get the look i want, worry about the acting, then put it in a an envelope, mail it and pray to the independent film Gods that it looks as good as it can when people see it.

 

if only the independent film Gods financed films...

 

thanks david!