The letterbox was used back in the days to “convert” (and I use this word quite loosely) from widescreen format to 4:3 in order for the programme to be broadcasted and be presented on CRT television sets.
Before the use of the letterbox, filmmakers used this technique called “pan and scan” to “convert” their feature films, that were shot in a widescreen format, to a “TV friendly” aspect ratio which is most often, 4:3. This however, crops the frame by a fair bit and in a very selective fashion, shows what is most important in the frame. (Ie. the action that is taking place in the frame.) This method of crop frames means a lot of negative space and information have to be left out. Viewers do not get the whole picture, quite literally, and might not experience the full effect of the filmmaker’s use of spatial manipulation, camera movement, and the mise-en-scene.
These days, the letterbox is just added on to achieve a cinematic look more often then not. Photographers use it on their stills to give their work the effect like it’s been taken a screen grab off a feature film. However, not many people understand the uses of it these days and the struggles past filmmakers had to go through to convert their widescreen format films to something that can be shown on TV.
After attempting to edit and apply a basic colour grade on the footage we shot on Tuesday, here is the outcome after having gone through post.
I’ve included a before and after video with and without the letterbox and colour grade, to see the effects.
Leave a Reply