Reframed TV Shows

[Liam]

I don't know if everyone else has been seeing all the tv show reruns being like uncropped to fit 16x9. Mostly I'm just confused how it's possible. I guess they kept the original negatives and rescanned everything for higher resolution etc. But it seems they also shot (s16mm instead of 16mm) - or whatever format - in 16x9 with the foresight that they would be uncropping later when tv standards changed..? PLUS a lot of the lenses vignette like crazy because of it.. meaning they were using the wrong lenses for the camera?

But it's also weird to me that they'd even want to do this. It fits the screen now, but vignetting (a ton on That 70's Show), performances that were supposed to be cropped out (people breaking character on Friends etc), once I saw a body double whose face would have otherwise been cropped off on Malcolm in the Middle. It's bugging me.

[webrunner5]

Well I am down in Florida right now living with  wife's brother for a couple months, and he is into ME TV pretty big time. I am amazed how good Gun Smoke, Perry Mason, etc look on a 720 LCD TV ??

[Stanley]

@Liam something similar was pointed out to me one day whilst watching an old movie that was shot in wide screen, and had been re-shot or re-scanned by a television network for 4:3 transmission. If the scene was originally a static shot, but had cropped out an important element in the re- scanning for 4:3 transmission, they would do a gentle pan or tilt to incorporate it. 

@webrunner5 Too true, you also probably used a coat hanger as an indoor antenna to watch them sometimes back then. 

[mercer]

1 hour ago, Stanley said:

@Liam something similar was pointed out to me one day whilst watching an old movie that was shot in wide screen, and had been re-shot or re-scanned by a television network for 4:3 transmission. If the scene was originally a static shot, but had cropped out an important element in the re- scanning for 4:3 transmission, they would do a gentle pan or tilt to incorporate it. 

@webrunner5 Too true, you also probably used a coat hanger as an indoor antenna to watch them sometimes back then. 

And wrapped the ends of the antenna with aluminum foil.