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I recently bought the iTunes version of season 1 and saw they opened it up and it’s 16:9 now. I know it’s not unusual, but I haven’t seen any discussions about it. I know it wasn’t shot that way, and considering the treatment Buffy got, I’d imagine they would shy away from doing it again. Anyone has any insights in regards to the show masters’ or if there are any plan to have it HD remastered in the future?
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I'd love to have a HD remaster of the original 4:3. I rarely ever watch my UK version now, I love watching the 4:3. Having that in HD would be amazing.
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I believe in season 4 of Buffy that they started filming it to work in 16:9 for Europe. So, Angel season 1 would have been filmed so it could be shown in widescreen, even if it wasn’t exactly the preferred plan. I think the biggest problems were in converting Buffy seasons 1 -3 While most 4:3 shows actually were filmed with wider lenses, they left all kind of things in the sides that they knew would be chopped with the 4:3 framing. Season 4 onwards had a safety area, so if Europe wanted to disregard Joss Whedon’s preferred dimensions, at least it wouldn’t be too embarrassing. Making the earlier seasons widescreen either means catching things that shouldn’t be there, chopping off the top and bottom or zooming in.
As I recall, while Angel season 2 DVD is widescreen, they didn’t switch to a widescreen TV broadcast until season 3 — but maybe that was the cable channel?
I don’t know how much they wanted Angel in widescreen or if that was truly only planned with the later seasons.Last edited by PuckRobin; 20-04-22, 12:19 AM.Comment
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Isn't there a point where you see Angel waiting at the side for his cue to join the walk in the gym in Judgment? Was that them just missing his reflection in the mirrors (ooops) or was that a ratio mistake?Comment
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Here we go.Originally posted by Stoney View Post
It was a ratio mistake.
Back when Angel was shown in repeats in the early 2000s the repeats were shown in fullscreen. Here is an idea of what same scene looked like in fullscreen.
They/Them/She pronouns please.Comment
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The Angel season 2 DVD boxset is weird. The back of the box of the season 2 Angel DVDs that I own says fullscreen even though the disk are in widescreen.Originally posted by PuckRobin View Post
I found this very old forum topic about it.
https://www.hometheaterforum.com/com...ounced.137317/
The first two seasons of Angel were only meant to be seen in fullscreen. Starting with season 3 the show was shot with widescreen in mind. As I said earlier, repeats were show in fullscreen. At least in my country(United States).Last edited by Lostsoul666; 22-04-22, 03:33 AM.
They/Them/She pronouns please.Comment
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No Josh , I'm causing confusion and confusing myself, sorry.
I was initially thinking about the BtVS box sets I have where I have the option of watching it all in 4:3 in the US versions, which I love being able to do. I thought that Angel was shot that way too (4:3 for all 5 seasons) but understand now that S3 onwards were intended for widescreen? I only have the UK version of AtS so I assume it is all in widescreen and would show that error in Judgment. I think that's right. Sorry for muddling things up.
I'm surprised iTunes were able to open up the ratio if it was never released that way, which is why I'm now wondering if S1 of the UK version was widescreen too. I'll check my DVDs when I get home and see if there is at least S1 in 4:3. If there's the option of having a US version, like I have with BtVS, that would have both S1 & 2 in 4:3 I would probably buy it. I do like to see the shows as they were intended to be viewed.
A HD version of the series would be brilliant, but only as it originally aired. Sadly, I can't imagine that AtS will get a HD release true to the original airings if they aren't going to go to that trouble with the Buffy seasons.
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Gotcha! Yes, eventually they made the move to 16:9. I have the UK version and so I was confused about the US one.Originally posted by Stoney View PostNo Josh , I'm causing confusion and confusing myself, sorry. I was initially thinking about the BtVS box sets I have where I have the option of watching it all in 4:3 in the US versions, which I love being able to do. I thought that Angel was shot that way too (4:3 for all 5 seasons) but understand now that S3 onwards were intended for widescreen? I only have the UK version of AtS so I assume it is all in widescreen and would show that error in Judgment. I think that's right. Sorry for muddling things up.
I'm surprised iTunes were able to open up the ratio if it was never released that way, which is why I'm now wondering if S1 of the UK version was widescreen too. I'll check my DVDs when I get home and see if there is at least S1 in 4:3. If there's the option of having a US version, like I have with BtVS, that would have both S1 & 2 in 4:3 I would probably buy it. I do like to see the shows as they were intended to be viewed.
A HD version of the series would be brilliant, but only as it originally aired. Sadly, I can't imagine that AtS will get a HD release true to the original airings if they aren't going to go to that trouble with the Buffy seasons.
There is an HD version of Season 5 available on iTunes, btw. I'm terribly confused why it was never made available back when Bluray sets were still in demand. Buffyverse fans are really getting the least.
Charmed, Smallville and a lot of other shows got a proper remaster. With Charmed, they had all of the effects remade and that must have been some work. I don't get why these two can't get the same treatment. Was Firefly originally shot in HD or was it remastered as well?Comment
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I thought the difference between Buffy season 1 and Buffy season 4 / Angel season 1 was from “completely unusable in 16:9” to “more-or-less usuable, but we really wish you wouldn’t”. When the Wire went 16:9, the show’s creator supervised the changes. I’m not sure if Disney to do the same with a Buffy remaster as so many are struggling to forget the creator’s name. Might look funny putting all those asterisks on the Ultra 4k BluRay label.Comment
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I found this posted elsewhere by u/BuffyHD 7 years ago, discussing the What's Wrong WIth Buffy HD video on YouTube, providing the thoughts shared by some members of the show's original team which helps to shed light on the situation we're discussing...Originally posted by PuckRobin View Post
While they never shot the show with 16:9 in mind, they did keep a list/16:9 safe copies. Needless to say, no one ever looked at it.https://youtu.be/F28XcxHxH6k
"I probably should know more about this before I open my big mouth but from the little I do know Fox has made a mess of remastering the great work of Joss Whedon and Sarah Michelle Gellar and all the other actors, directors and technicians who worked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The show and the work were important to me at the time and there are fans throughout the world that still get inspiration from the little girl with the big wooden stake and her struggle for justice and a simple dinner date in a nice black dress. This is worth a look." - Mark Metcalf (The Master)
"Hey #.BTVS purists: What's wrong with Buffy's HD upgrade? How about a new remaster, #Fox?" - Nerf Herder (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme song)
"I was the post coordinator for Season 5 and we actually made a list of 16X9 fixes for every show that would need to be done when the show was remastered for HD. They definitely did not contact me at any time." - Aaron Miller (Post-production coordinator)
"Here's a comment from my post supervisor/AP that I worked with on Buffy. He was a post PA on Season 1 and moved up to AP by Season 6. He and I both went to work on Firefly so we did not do Season 7:" - Aaron Miller (Post-production coordinator)
"Thanks for asking! I am a little torn. The true purists should only ever watch the 4:3 standard def original release versions (exception being the "Once More With Feeling" which was intended to be shown widescreen). Not only is the framing as was originally intended, but i suspect that there will be lots of details in sets, props, costumes and makeup that might not hold up in HD. That's for the purists. BUT... Right or wrong there is a large population of average Joes who just want the picture to fill their frame. The same group who 15 years ago would have preferred the center cut to the black bars on top and bottom. Would be a shame for a whole new generation to miss out just because they (or their local TV station which is more likely) got turned off by black side bars. I agree that if it must be done there's a better way to do it. Season 1 was 16mm 4X3 so there is no way to make it 16:9 without blowing up the image. One of the things that bugs me the most about the ones I have seen is that top of show credits appear over peoples faces. We always had a rule to keep credits below the chin in closeups. Starting with season 2 we shot 35mm composed for 4X3 but protecting for 16X9. After we delivered the 4:3 air master I would sit down and watch the 16:9 version and take notes and do blowups and repos where necessary to avoid crew, equipment and ends of sets in shots. We called these the "16X9 safe masters" and archived them with everything else. I thought these were pretty cool to watch, the problem is when they went back to negative for the HD rexfer in this latest release it looks like they did not consult the original for either color timing or re-framing reference. I'm sure the stories and characters will hold up but it's too bad more care was not taken. Nobody asked me, but if they did I would have loved to have consulted on this. Probably could have organized a crowdsourcing effort of comparing the originals to the re-transfers. Lots of crew alumni with lots of love for the originals would have likely participated. Maybe for the 4K/3D version?" - Brian Wankum (Post supervisor/AP)Comment
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Yes - I can see the Box Set now. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Created by J*** W****n. Or better yet, "No one you know."Originally posted by PuckRobin View PostComment
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