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Post #1174617

Author
spoRv
Parent topic
Movies in UAR - opinions needed
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1174617/action/topic#1174617
Date created
22-Feb-2018, 5:13 PM

Once upon a time, I started a thread about AAP-AR (you can read it here: http://originaltrilogy.com/topic/restoration-tips-axis-aligned-polygon-aspect-ratio/id/16435); found that this AAP-AR acronym was too long, and decided to go with UAR - where AR stands for Aspect Ratio, while the U… I’m still not decided what does it mean for the moment; Unconventional, Unexpected, Unorthodox, Ultimate, Unusual, Unified, Useless, you name it…

Long story short, an UAR film could look like this:
using two sources, or like the following using three sources:

Of course, it would never stay the same for the whole movie - you are lucky if few subsequent shots maintains the same AR - so it’s not for the faint of heart, or VAR haters.
Sometimes the frame could be full open matte (so it takes the whole screen), others can be “fullscreen” (1.33:1), but usually it’s a combination of both; in the case of an UAR using three sources, it could use only open matte (rare), two sources (sometimes) or all the three sources at once (most of the times).

Important note: an UAR movie using open matte (1.78:1) and letterbox (2.35/2.40:1) could always use a YAO sub hack, where the black bars could be overlaid to added parts of the image, leaving the image as a normal letterbox version; UAR using fullscreen (1.33:1) and open matte (1.78/1.85:1) could still use YAO sub hack, but in few shots where the fullframe is not placed centrally, you would of course note the offset position; no YAO sub hack for a UAR using three sources, I’m sorry!
(more about YAO hack here: https://forum.fanres.com/thread-300.html - and a test clip here: https://mega.nz/#!1uZUWLbT!tWoHF9vOnXYAz7-QjOxeC3q7JIIYQRHx6pCcsezvZX4)

The UAR could be usually used only on non-anamorphic movies, but there are few instances when you can get a little more image even with them, like the following:

(okay, not that much more, but better than nothing! 😉 )

I’m working on some projects using UAR - one is The Matrix, that would take a bit as it uses three sources; the other is Resident Evil (two sources, SD version ready, so if you want to take a look just ask me for the link, but hurry up, it will vanish in few days!)

So, as usual, I’m doing these for my own pleasuse - I always wanted to do that, combine more versions to have more image to watch, and even if I usually follow the “less is more” philosophy, there are some times where “more is more” is better, like this! 😉

At the end, how it looks like? Well, first of all, it’s strange… we were used to watch films in fullscreen (oh, the good ol’ days of cathode ray tubes…), then letterbox came, and we were “forced” to watch movies with huge black bars on top and bottom; luckily, new 16:9 displays came, and black bars were smaller (almost disapperared with 1.85:1 movies). So, with UAR it seems (almost) to be back in the old days, but this time black bars are usually on both sides, and they are not even straight, but like stair steps… and costantly changing!
Isn’t this distracting? Yep, you bet it, BUT… strangely enough, our brain seems to say “OK, I can watch it, go on!” after few minutes.

But you have not to trust me, just watch an entire movie - even if it’s not your preferred one - and give me your opinion… would you ever watch a movie with a strange aspect ratio like this? If so, just for the pleasure to watch more image, for curiosity, or to analize the frame composition, cinematography etc.?

Ready to read your opinions and feedbacks!