It's Horror Movie Time, Kiddies!

[Gemini Cricket]

I love how dated Halloween is. The hair, the bad clothes, the dialogue (totally!)...

[innerSpaceman]

I'm watching both DVD versions of The Shining simultaneously on different monitors. It's undeniably odd.


<<<< (not at this part yet)



The earlier version is indeed the original camera negative, simply a bigger and "more" picture of the image that was shown on screen. There's a significant space of "extra" image at the top and bottom, and even more image on the sides (a lot more on the right than the left, for some reason).

The color timing on the new DVD is simply more beautiful, but I can't say how accurate.

Nor can I say which is the "real" version of The Shining.


Even if it's true that Kubrick filmed the movie so that it couldn't be pan&scanned for TV, did he compose the shots for the widescreen frame? The TV frame? Both??


The widescreen matting is much more pleasant ... but now that I know it's simply a matte covering over the existing image, I have a harder time accepting it as the "real" film. Are most films like this ... with a larger negative image that's simply matted into the widescreen and 'scope aspect ratios shown theatrically?


I don't suppose there's any way to confirm that Kubrick intended audiences to see the widescreen compositions, but I assume he had enough clout that the release version is his director's cut in every way.


It's tough to suddenly think of the some of the picture "missing" from The Shining, but it's nice to finally have the theatrical version of the film on DVD.

[JWBear]

We watched The Haunting (1963) tonight.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by JWBear

We watched The Haunting (1963) tonight.

Despite the efforts of a few dinglecheeses at the cemetery, The Haunting is still one of my all time favorite horror films.

[innerSpaceman]

Wow thanks for that site, flippyshark.

Of course, on the question I have, there's conflicting information ... which leads to the regrettable conclusion that both versions of The Shining are authentic.

It seems Kubrick may have composed the shots for full drame while he shot them.

Originally Posted by Kubrik FAQ

It seems to have been Kubrick's preference for his films to be shown in the 4:3 or "full frame" aspect ratio, because, according to his long-standing personal assistant Leon Vitali, that was the way he composed them through the camera viewfinder and if it were technically still possible to do so, he would have liked them to be shown full frame in cinemas as well. As Vitali said in a recent interview: "...when he composed a picture through the camera, he was setting up for what he saw through the camera - the full picture. That was very important to him. It really was. It was an instinct that never ever left him. [...] He did not like 1.85:1. You lose 27% of the picture, Stanley was a purist. This was one of the ways it was manifested."

On the other hand, the film was edited with compositions at 1:85:1.

According to Gordon Stainforth, assistant editor on the film:

Originally Posted by Kubrick FAQ

Although The Shining was shot with the full academy aperture, it was designed and composed entirely for the 1.85:1 ratio, and that is the only way it should be projected in the theatre.

All the Steenbecks in the cutting rooms accordingly had their screens marked, or even masked off, with the 1.85:1 ratio. The 6-plate Steenbeck in Stanley and Ray's main cutting room was masked off with black masking tape, because you cannot cut a movie properly unless you can see the frame exactly as it will appear in the cinema.

And yet Kubrick's assistant, Vitali, and his Estate, seem to believe Kubrick wanted the films released in 1.33:1, even though Kubrick never publicly said so.

I'm glad someone else finally had the clout to release The Shining in its theatrical aspect ratio. The color timing is certainly superior to the earlier release ... so I'm gonna come down on the side of the widescreen being the "real" version of the film. Truthfully, though, they are both real. Bah.

[JWBear]

"No one lives any nearer than town. No one will come any nearer than that."

[Gemini Cricket]

Love the hair...

[flippyshark]

According to editor Gordon Stainforth's comments here at the Kubrick FAQ (scroll down just a little, it's the first question) the film was intended to be screened in theaters in the 1.85:1 ratio, which I presume is what you see on the widescreen DVD (which I'm burning to get, but I haven't got HD TV yet, so it makes little sense to buy it right now). Kubrick seems to have preferred the "fullscreen" ratio for video releases in his lifetime, though who knows what he would think by now. This FAQ kept me up for hours when I first stumbled on it, so beware.

[Gemini Cricket]

Poltergeist was last night.


One of my favorite horror films.

[CoasterMatt]

Poltergeist is also a really fun rollercoaster at Fiesta Texas...