stir of echoes. full frame?

I was reading a review of the Stir of Echoes DVD, on DVD Nightmare and the reviewer said it was Anamorphic 1.33. How is this possible does a person with a 16/9 set see this like an anamorphic 1.77 title with just the top and bottom cut off. Does anyone know whether stir of echoes was maybe shot in full frame and released matted to widescreen in the theaters?

If it's full frame and enhanced for 16x9, it probably appears like any 4:3 image with bars on the side, but you don't have to switch the TV to 4:3 mode.

I had preordered this title, but when I discovered that it is pan and scan, cancelled the order. I used to be a fan of Artisan. They were very good at supporting anamorphic before it became the issue that it has become. Yet, lately, they are at best hard to figure out. Stir of Echoes - anamorphic and pan and scan?? What is that??
And Illuminata, a great movie, unfortunatly released by Artisan, came out non anamorphic, even though it is a new release. Not long ago, they were putting out catelogue titles anamorphic. They appear now to be big fans of fox and disney. Next thing you know, they will be advertising the case the dvd comes in as a special feature.

[clortho]

This is what the IMDB lists as the tech specs for Stir of Echoes when it was filmed. I'm not too adept at figuring out what it means, but I imagine someone out there knows what it means by spherical. But the 16x9 enhanced simply doesn't make sense next to the 1.33 ratio.

Technical Specifications for
Stir of Echoes (1999)
Film negative format (mm/video inches)
35 mm

Cinematographic process
Spherical

Printed film format
35 mm

Aspect ratio
1.85 : 1


And for what it's worth, though they have been wrong in the past, the IMDB lists the dvd details as 1.85 anamorphic.

Clortho

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I am the Keymaster
clortho@hotmail.com

[This message has been edited by clortho (edited 01-28-2000).]

I'm kinda confused doesn't full frame mean that its the whole image and that when its presented in the theater its matted. Or can full frame also mean pan and scan?

Let's see if I can remember this right. I read on another forum that this title has a misleading AR spec on the box. According to these people Stir Of Echoes is framed to be full frame on a 16x9 t.v. In other words, the AR will be about 1.77:1 (16 divided by 9 = 1.777777778) and will be widescreen when viewed on a 4:3 t.v. with the black bars on top & bottom.

So, all of us anamorphic widescreen afficionados can rest in peace.

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Brad Vautrinot

I do hope that you are right, Brad V., but unfortunatly, I dont think so. The reviewer sited above by crazydave indicates that the picture is full frame, and it doesnt sound like he has a widescreen tv. The packaging, which you can see at dvdexpress, indicates that "the picture has been formatted to fit your screen." This is the same with Artisans other current release, The Buena Vista Social Club. Both of these titles, although pan and scan, are enhanced for 16:9 tvs. The other current release by artisan, Illuminata, is the only one that contains a letterbox picture. It is also the only one that is not anamorphic enhanced. The Limey, thier next release, is 16:9 enhanced, leading me to believe that it will be pan and scan only.

Until recently, Artisan released both widescreen and pan and scan versions on the same disc. Now, they seem to have dropped support for the format, and are playing games to see what people want more - anamorphic enhanced, or letterbox, by not allowing both on the same disc. This is not the act of an "artisan." This is the act of a business person, looking to save a dime at great cost to the public, and the presentation of thier films.

While Eyes Wide Shut, a high profile release, gets much attention for being fullscreen only, Artisan seems to get very little notice for insulting the dvd community. While I dont think that Warner is making a good decision with their presentation of EWS, at least they are providing reasons. Artisan is just turning out crap to see how much we will swallow. They deserve thier share of negative attention for this. I do hope that they get it.

Well, I hope I'm right, too. Will know soon enough as DVD Express has shipped mine as of yesterday. I should have it by Tuesday at the latest and hope I'll be pleasantly surprised by seeing it in widescreen. If not, I'll return it and start blasting Artisan to kingdom come.

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Brad Vautrinot

SWEET! The reviewer at DVDNightmare posted an update, that he messed up and its in its original 1.85. Check it out! http://www.dvdnightmare.com

[Dick]

Sometimes even the packaging indicates full-screen (pan and scan) when in fact the film is letterboxed. Case in point: the recent release of Hallmark's ANIMAL FARM. Advertising and keepcase say "reformatted to fit your screen," and the disc itself says "fullscreen." Yet, the movie is letterboxed to 1.85. Let's hope Artisan's STIR OF ECHOES turns out to be widescreen when the picture actually hits the monitor.

Well, it looks like I am wrong here, and oh there are times that I do love to be wrong! What, me jump to conclusions and get all hot under the collar knowing nothing but what is written on the package?

Never.


Brad
the dumb one

Last Friday I found Stir of Echoes at a Best Buy in Lewisville, TX. I about shat myself when I got home and opened the box to see FULLSCREEN on the disc. When I played the DVD, it was most certainly letterboxed and from what I remember seeing the movie in the theater it didn't appear to be cropped.

James

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Evil will always prevail because good is dumb- Dark Helmet

[clortho]

I got my copy today and it is definitely anamorphic...I have no clue what Artisan was smoking on this one! But the box says 16:9 fullscreen version...how confusing! Artisan needs to just stick with the terms anamorphic or non-anamorphic!

Clortho

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I am the Keymaster
clortho@hotmail.com

[Gabe Oppenheim]

The problem here is that Artisan is using different terminolgy than the rest of the DVD industry. They started with this fullscreen - enhanced for 16x9 stuff back with their release of the CBS miniseries "Joan of Arc" (which was orginally filmed for 4x3 but is letterboxed at 1.85:1 on the disc!). The term 16x9 fullscreen does make sense, as almost the entire screen would be filled on a widescreen t.v. with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The confusing factor is the [...modified to fit your screen] message. This is not true, except, perhaps, in the case of "Joan of Arc." The other two titles "Buena Vista Social Club," which, as a side note, everyone should see, and "Stir of Echoes" are not modified from their original form. Perhaps Artisan created a standard set of labels for their "fullscreen - enhanced for 16x9" discs when they released "Joan," and haven't bothered to change it for the new discs, for which some of the information is incorrect.

To further confuse the issue, Artisan has continued to use "widescreen - enhanced for 16x9" on some of their releases, and not just scope movies, for which the whole "fullscreen" thing wouldn't apply anyway.

IMHO, Artisan needs to standardize their terminology. Confused consumers are not happy consumers, and will not buy the discs. There is nothing inherently wrong with the "fullscreen - enhanced..." term (it does, after all, make sense), but to use it along with other terms describing the same thing is outrageous.

I hope this is the definitive response to this topic.

Stir of Echoes is indeed in Letterbox format and not pan and scan - I watched it last night. I think Arisan meant that if you have a widescreen TV then no bars should be present as the image is cropped so that it fills the screen. They were pretty misleading I must admit. The image is neither 1.33:1 nor 1.85:1 - which is rather odd. I thought the quality of the transfer was pretty poor in the picture quality stakes and the film was more suited to a TV movie than a feature film. Nice use of the discrete channels though!