Malcolm Ian Vu

What equipment are you using to record onto DVD? Standard VCRs only ever had composite output. An SVHS VCR would have S-Video output. That's a much cleaner signal to start with. But most D-VHS VCRs have component outputs, as well as HDMI output. You could play a standard VHS tape out through HDMI to a HDMI Recorder PC card (or external device), bypassing any DVD recording equipment. Then just burn the DVDs on the PC. Note: I have never tried this. Note2: D-VHS VCRs only ever had HDMI 1.0 with HDCP. I don't know if there would be compatibility problems with recording devices. Note3: D-VHS isn't cheap. They're not common. Although as of writing this, there is a unit available on ebay which might be ideal for your needs : The JVC HM-DH5U

They look variable to me. In the first segment you mentioned, even though the old woman and child are moving very slowly, I suspect that was coached. The movement of the birds at 1.25X speed appears normal. Of course, when the shot cuts to the pendulum on the clock, that is clearly moving at normal frame rate. The woman walking in the water and the children swimming under the water both appear to be shot at 48fps. Which version of the film are you watching? I'm not seeing a flashback sequence at 02:38:08.

Of course common integer is a better system. You just have to keep in mind the lack of precision that might make certain people even more confused. 16:9, for instance, not actually being 1.78, but rather 1.7777777777... And 17:9 is used for the whole integer aspect ratio describing a 2K DCI, right? That's just a whole big mess. 17:9 = 1.8888888..., but will be shortened to 1.89, 1.9, or just referred to as 1.85. I'm not sure anyone with a physical film background ever really gets confused by these terms, since knowing measurements of the recording medium down to the hundredth of a millimeter usually accompanies such work.

Perhaps it's a stylized action shot. The movie 300 used multiple cameras at different focal lengths on certain shots. I believe they cropped the first, then blended to the second, cropped that, then blended to the third. A highfalutin form of the "digital zoom" on cheap camcorders.

It always seemed to me that the oval aperture discs should result in significant exposure variances across the frame. But I have yet to notice that in any of the footage shot by the youtuber (Tito Ferradans) mentioned above.