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16:9 vs 4:3 for DVX100-a


Mvadik

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Shooting a feature on the DVX100-a. A question has come up : The producer wants to shoot 4:3 and crop to16:9 "if we get a limited theatrical release" - the DP feel the we should shoot 16:9 with the anamorphic adapter and crop off the edges for TV or DVD.

 

They have left the option to me as director. I'm inclined to think the anamorphic would give us a better picture even if we crop to full screen - and this will maintain quality if we get a theatrical? Is this correct? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

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You should go for 16:9, to get the best quality, as you said your self. If you´r going to shoot 4:3 and then make a "fake" letterbox or 16:9 you will lose some badly needed information in your shots. Since the camera have 1/3" sensors, you will need all the quality you can get to make a 35 mm blow up for your theatrical release.

 

 

Good luck,

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm inclined to think the answer is not that simple, depending on the likelihood of actually going to film. We're in the last stages of post-production for a low-budget feature which we shot 4:3 and cropped. Because of our low budget and thus our lack of time in set-ups and shoot time, we found the choice to shoot and crop was best. It also gave us a second chance in post to recompose shots we would have had to live with had we shot with the anamorphic. We had already made this decision when we heard about Nancy Schreiber's cinematography award at Sundance for November, shot with the DVX. She also opted for a 4:3 shoot after blow up tests convinced her the Panansonic anamorphic adaptor was soft. That was reassuring to us going into our shoot without it.

 

Your decision, of course, depends on the likelihood of a blow-up to film. But Nancy Schreiber and her team at indigent planned a blow-up from day 1.

Good luck.

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