On Sat, 22 Nov 1997 14:00:02 -0500 susan crutchfield <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
 
>I just saw The Ice Storm at a local Ann ARbor theater last night and
>noticed A LOT of glaring problems with the boom microphone.  It shows up
>at the top of the frame in a couple scenes, and otherwise it seems that
>the microphone has been masked out of a lot of scenes by masking WELL INTO
>the upper part of the frame.  In some of the later scenes, for example,
>the screen at my theater was 3/4 to 1/3 black.
>
>What's up?  Did I see a bad print? Was my theater screwy?  Or did this
>somehow just get through the 20th Cent Fox gristmill looking like this?
 
This is a pet peeve of mine, Susan.
 
The theater was indeed screwy.  That is, it was solely a projection
problem.  More specifically, the projectionist improperly framed the image.
 
The framing problem is rooted in the issue of aspect ratio (the ratio of
the width of the screen to its height).  Most contemporary films are
projected at an aspect ratio of 1.85 to 1.  The screen is 1.85 times wider
than it is tall.
 
To achieve this ratio, filmmakers use cameras that actually record more of
the image above and below the frame than we are intended to see.  When the
image is projected, that additional material (including booms and lighting
equipment) is masked out (the projector's aperture plate blacks it out).
However, if the projectionist sets the frame wrong, we see that masked-out
portion--which is what happened when you saw ICE STORM.
 
>My sense is that it couldn't have been the projection situation, since the
>masking changed *with* the cutting from shot to shot, sometimes a big
>swatch of masking would cut to no masking at all.
 
Sometimes filmmakers will shoot with a camera that inserts a hard mask into
the shot or, when preparing a print, filmmakers will put masking *on the
print itself*--instead of relying on the projector's aperture plate.  For
instance, if you watch the shower scene from PSYCHO, you'll see masking to
cover Janet Leigh's breasts.  Evidently, the producers of ICE STORM put
masking (which, like the booms, you were not supposed to see) on some of
the shots, but not all of them.
 
For a more detailed explanation, with illustrations, please see the online
version of TELEVISION:  CRITICAL METHODS AND APPLICATIONS.  I've included a
sample chapter online and it explains masking and anamorphic prints and the
like.
 
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/screensite/res/pub/tvcma/
 
Regards,
 
----
Jeremy Butler
Associate Professor
[log in to unmask]
ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite
Telecommunication & Film/University of Alabama/Tuscaloosa
 
----
Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
University of Alabama.