Birds of Prey on DVD July 29!

[TheOriginalKal-el]

Finally...has it really been six years?? Wow...

[Hydra]

I'd given up hope that this would ever happen. I suppose I'll have to buy these sometime.

[krpto]

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Birds-Prey-Update/9454 Update about the aspect ratio and the unaired pilot.

[Hydra]

Well Crap.

Matted widescreen is the worst.
At least they're showing us the unaired pilot.

[Superboy2]

I thought it was July 18th? 3 days earlier...sweet!

[DK2]

I'm confused by this about the aspect ratio? Was the series matted in the first place? I mean as an example the first season of Justice League they had the series in either format, full screen and widescreen. But the widescreen was matted over the full screen. Same with the Transformers & Batman: Mask of the Phantasm animated movies, before it was put onto video the fullscreen is actually the proper way it was produced and the widescreen theater the black bars were matted over. But in the case of these, when widescreen video wasn't the norm, the cartoons were made like this in the first place to be ready for tv airings and video releases. So was Birds of Prey just matted in the first place? Does anyone know?

[MetroGirl06]

Damn. Six years? I wondered what made them decide to release it now? TDK can't be the only reason. Oh well, I can't complain because at least we finally get it on DVD. Better late than never, I guess.

[Hydra]

I'm confused by this about the aspect ratio? Was the series matted in the first place? I mean as an example the first season of Justice League they had the series in either format, full screen and widescreen. But the widescreen was matted over the full screen. Same with the Transformers & Batman: Mask of the Phantasm animated movies, before it was put onto video the fullscreen is actually the proper way it was produced and the widescreen theater the black bars were matted over. But in the case of these, when widescreen video wasn't the norm, the cartoons were made like this in the first place to be ready for tv airings and video releases. So was Birds of Prey just matted in the first place? Does anyone know?

I'm pretty sure it was just 'fullscreen'. The thing is I hate matted widescreen. Even with Batman Mask of the Phantasm, I'd rather watch it full screen than have the top and bottom edges cut off. It something is filmed in Widescreen just leave it that way, but if it was filmed fullscreen then leave it that way. I hate it when the make it 'fake' widescreen. The Smallville DVD's do it too and it makes me feel ripped off.

[Xanderman]

Smallville isn't fake widescreen, it's widescreen (16:9).

As for matted widescreen, it's no big deal, it's still widescreen, it just isn't as nice as anamorphic. As you have to "zoom" in on the picture to better fill your widescreen tv when it's in a matted format, thus sacrificing some resolution. I have some dvds like this. But it's not really as big a deal as the article on tvshowsondvd.com makes it. If you have a nice tv, it will look fine. BoP was filmed in widescreen and that's what we're getting, just not in the best possible format.

The information a matted widescreen dvd contains fills a 4:3 ratio because the black bars are made part of the image. The actual show/movie part in between the bars is widescreen. With anamorphic, black bars aren't part of the image information in the dvd itself, and the image is designed to "auto-fill" your screen as best possible with some image proportional stretching that doesn't affect resolution. A matted image is "fixed" and won't automatically adjust itself or "morph" in any way, requiring you to zoom in on it. Zooming affects resolution.

Or at least this is the way I understand it...I could be wrong. Someone correct me if I am...

* * *

I just read up on it, and it depends on how it was filmed. If it was filmed matted (with black bars already in place) as DK2 said, then we're losing nothing. So this type of matting basically just simulates widescreen, without actually being filmed with a "widescreen lens" or something like that. It's widescreen without the best possible resolution, as can only be achieved through filming with a widescreen lens.

If however it was filmed fullscreen, then it would be what Hydra describes, fake widescreen with the tops and bottoms chopped off -- I highly doubt this will be the case though.

[SSJConan]

The Smallville DVD's do it too and it makes me feel ripped off.

You obviously don't know much about this matter. Smallville has been filmed in 16:9 wide-screen format since day one, and hence that's how they're presented on the DVDs and meant to be seen. In a 4:3 full-screen ratio, as seen on ABC Family airings, they'd be "pan-&-scanned", hence sacrificing a considerable deal of the right and left sides of the screen. The wide-screen "black bars", for a show filmed with 16:9-35mm film, do not crop out the top and bottom of the screen, they simply show the limit for how much footage is present. As for Birds of Prey, I strongly believe it was filmed in 16:9, as it was produced during such shows as Smallville and the latter seasons of Angel, both of which originally aired in wide-screen. Even if it originally aired in full-screen, it could've still been originally filmed 16:9, as Angel's second season was a couple years prior.

So let me get this straight, you guys are assuming that just because of the "matted" statement for the wide-screen, this'll be letterbox (as Return of the Joker was) and not anamorphic? Umm, why? Smallville's DVD sets have their format labeled as "matted" on the back of the cases, yet they're anamorphic.

[Hydra]

Smallville's DVD sets have their format labeled as "matted" on the back of the cases, yet they're anamorphic.

Well in that case I'm being lied to by my box set covers and its not really fair to say I 'don't know much about the issue'.

----- Added 5 Minutes later -----

If however it was filmed fullscreen, then it would be what Hydra describes, fake widescreen with the tops and bottoms chopped off -- I highly doubt this will be the case though.

Interesting. Was Batman (1989) filmed in widescreen then? Because I have the original version of the DVD with one side being widescreen and the other fullscreen, but if I watch the widescreen side and compare it with the fullscreen side its clearly 'matted' widescreen as the tops and bottoms are clearly being cut off. Same goes for my Batman Mask of the Phantasm DVD.

[SSJConan]

and its not really fair to say I 'don't know much about the issue'.

I only said that because you honestly seem to think that Smalville's being cropped in its wide-screen format, when that's far from true, that's how it was filmed and originally aired. It's meant to be seen in wide-screen, nothing is cropped. If you watch it in a 4:3 full-screen manner, then it is being cropped due to the necessary "pan-&-scan" process to make it as such, hence why I said you don't seem to know much about this matter.

Interesting. Was Batman (1989) filmed in widescreen then? Because I have the original version of the DVD with one side being widescreen and the other fullscreen, but if I watch the widescreen side and compare it with the fullscreen side its clearly 'matted' widescreen as the tops and bottoms are clearly being cut off. Same goes for my Batman Mask of the Phantasm DVD.

In the first Batman movie's case, much like the Back to the Future trilogy, it most likely was filmed with an "open matte" 4:3 backup film print. Such a print eliminates the need to pan-&-scan the original wide-screen reels for a full-screen home release or televised airing. Although, special effect shots will still be pan-&-scanned, but a bit more footage is indeed present on the top and bottom of most of the feature if such a print is selected when filming. Nonetheless, it was framed for wide-screen, its best looking print being such, so extra footage on the top and bottom is negligible and in some cases may result in production goofs being visible. Also with an open matte print, or if the full-screen release is an all-out pan-&-scan version, then meant-to-be-seen footage on the right and left sides of the screen will be sacrificed and partially screw the viewing experience.

As for Mask of the Phantasm, I believe that was animated and filmed in full-screen format, though framed for wide-screen viewing (without actually filming it in wide-screen, but animating it with the knowledge that it'd be presented as such). Kind of like how the DragonBall Z movies were. I'm not 100% certain on MotP, either way.

[DK2]

I only said that because you honestly seem to think that Smalville's being cropped in its wide-screen format, when that's far from true, that's how it was filmed and originally aired. It's meant to be seen in wide-screen, nothing is cropped. If you watch it in a 4:3 full-screen manner, then it is being cropped due to the necessary "pan-&-scan" process to make it as such, hence why I said you don't seem to know much about this matter.



In the first Batman movie's case, much like the Back to the Future trilogy, it most likely was filmed with an "open matte" 4:3 backup film print. Such a print eliminates the need to pan-&-scan the original wide-screen reels for a full-screen home release or televised airing. Although, special effect shots will still be pan-&-scanned, but a bit more footage is indeed present on the top and bottom of most of the feature if such a print is selected when filming. Nonetheless, it was framed for wide-screen, its best looking print being such, so extra footage on the top and bottom is negligible and in some cases may result in production goofs being visible. Also with an open matte print, or if the full-screen release is an all-out pan-&-scan version, then meant-to-be-seen footage on the right and left sides of the screen will be sacrificed and partially screw the viewing experience.

As for Mask of the Phantasm, I believe that was animated and filmed in full-screen format, though framed for wide-screen viewing (without actually filming it in wide-screen, but animating it with the knowledge that it'd be presented as such). Kind of like how the DragonBall Z movies were. I'm not 100% certain on MotP, either way.

Warner Bros is clearly guilty of doing this on their movies. The Avengers ('98 tv show remake),Terminator 3 and Batman & Robin are the same thing. They seem to be shot in fullscreen and then "matted" during theatrical runs, then when its aired on tv and fullscreen dvd's you see more of the upper and bottom scenes/shots/visual as it was shot on film. I actually looked at these three films back then checking their widescreen and fullscreen versions and you clearly are seeing more that was "chopped off" with the black bar matting. In the case of Birds of Prey to me after the tvshowsondvd article, wondering if BOP was given the "fake" TV widescreen look by being matted? Why would it in the first place be this on the announcement and then the confirmation? I mean thats how I'm taking this understanding on the aspect ratio info. The dvd release is coming out like this. So was it shot like this then and faked on the aspect ratio? Thats all I'd like to know. Just makes you wonder?

[SSJConan]

Warner Bros is clearly guilty of doing this on their movies. The Avengers ('98 tv show remake),Terminator 3 and Batman & Robin are the same thing. They seem to be shot in fullscreen and then "matted" during theatrical runs, then when its aired on tv and fullscreen dvd's you see more of the upper and bottom scenes/shots/visual as it was shot on film. I actually looked at these three films back then checking their widescreen and fullscreen versions and you clearly are seeing more that was "chopped off" with the black bar matting.

Nevertheless, such extra footage is not meant to be there as the director intends the film to be seen. It's negligible, prone to goofs, and is not important. It's an optional watch, yes, but not how to get the best experience out of the feature.

In the case of Birds of Prey to me after the tvshowsondvd article, wondering if BOP was given the "fake" TV widescreen look by being matted? Why would it in the first place be this on the announcement and then the confirmation? I mean thats how I'm taking this understanding on the aspect ratio info. The dvd release is coming out like this. So was it shot like this then and faked on the aspect ratio? Thats all I'd like to know. Just makes you wonder?

From what I understand about Birds of Prey, it originally aired in Europe wide-screen, just as Buffy Seasons 4-7 did. That means it was originally filmed in wide-screen, for 16:9 viewing. If it did air full-screen here in the States, I wouldn't be surprised if it were pan-&-scanned (though possibly properly framed when shooting) for 4:3, just as Buffy Seasons 4-7 and Angel Season 2 were.

As for this whole "matted" wide-screen debacle. Look guys, it'll most likely be an anamorphic format, as it was originally filmed. WB doesn't change the aspect ratio of something like this, not like Disney with The Jungle Boy or FUNimation with their DragonBall Z seasons. If some of you are so concerned, email a WB rep. Shoot, be glad we're getting Birds of Prey at all, since we sure as hell wouldn't be if not for this new Batman movie.

[Hydra]

Nevertheless, such extra footage is not meant to be there as the director intends the film to be seen. It's negligible, prone to goofs, and is not important. It's an optional watch, yes, but not how to get the best experience out of the feature.

Then why when I watch them in widescreen, do the characters get their heads cropped off, and the picture itself looks squished? And yet when I watch it in fullscreen its not nearly as bad if it happens at all?