[No Longer Available] The Fellowship of the Ring Variable Aspect Ratio aka Open Matte

[PDB]

The Fellowship of the Ring Variable Aspect Ratio (Original TC Colors v1.0A)
The Fellowship of the Ring Variable Aspect Ratio (Color Corrected v1.0B)

Project Info:

Sadly, there is no true or completely open matte version of FOTR. The HDTV broadcasts contain various shots that are open matte with much of the last 25 mins being open matte but the majority of film is cropped down from the 2.39 frame. There is maybe 18% or less of the HDTV broadcast that could qualify as open matte.

So given those circumstance, it was the consensus of this board that the best course of action was to change the aspect ratio and show the most image as possible. This would create a variable aspect ratio (VAR) presentation similar to the Nolan or MI films. The majority of this project will be 2.39 and then switch to the 1.77 HDTV shots

Example (ignore color differences)


when they are open matte. See post 12:

https://fanrestore.com/thread-2563-post-...l#pid51446

for the complete list of OM shots. The HDTV broadcasts both have station/log bugs that need to be removed by combing picture information.

Video:
The theatrical cut BD was used for the 2.39 shots and then combined with the 1.77 OM shots from 3 HDTV copies. The HDTV broadcasts were run through several filters including de-blocking, IVTC, compression cleaning, graining etc. Further the HDTV videos were aligned to remove existing logos. The original BD footage was also grained to offset the original DNR.

The combined video was separated into two projects. One that has the original TC color timing and another that color corrected to remove the magenta/pink tone in the highlights; typical of an early 2000s HD master. And then a slight amount of yellow is added to the mids and green/blue to the highs to match closer the more accurate EE and 35mm version but still be closer to the side of the TC colors.

Audio:
1. DTS-HD MA 5.1 (from the Cinema DTS discs)
2. DTS-HD MA 6.1 (from the BD)

Sync
Synced to the US TC BD

Pics:
Original TC Color Version


Color Corrected Version


Collaborators and Thanks (In order of help):
babouin
Colek
Vouka
Doombot

[PDB]

As I'm going through the footage I have, I realized that I needed to make a decision

So the name of this project is a bit of a misnomer. The HDTV broadcasts of FOTR are not fully open matte. I'd say roughly about 20% of the film is actually open matte (aka opened up on some of the sides).

The rest is a straight crop of the 2.39 frame, removing the sides to get the film down to 16:9.

I'm posting this in the proposal section to hear from fellow fanres members as to what to do next. The way I see it is there are two solutions for this project:

1. Release it as the original 16:9 and people will just have to enjoy the cropped with the open matte. The obvious problem is that you are watching a cropped version of the film for the majority of the run time. The good is you get to see the open matte frames, which do add something over the existing 2.39 S35 frame.

2. Release it as variable aspect ratio (VAR). In other words have the film run in 2.39 for the cropped shots and switch to 16:9 for the open matte. Similar to the Nolan and MI IMAX BDs. The good is you get the best of both worlds. The bad is the OM shots can be random, not just at interesting spots. So you could have the picture randomly shifting all the time.

After that's decided I'll get into color grades. Probably two: the original BD/HDTV TC look and something more akin to the EE/35mm look with less green.

The next part is like my Terminator project. I need to see what languages I can add to this theatrical cut project. Sadly, the US TC BD only has English and Spanish. It doesn't even have the French Canadian that most North America discs do. So I need to collect dubs from people if they want them included.

[Beber]

I vote for option 1. The shifting aspect ratio is okay when it lasts for an entire sequence, but it's too annoying when the ratio shifts constantly à la Transformers: The Last Knight. I have yet to see this crap because of this nonsense.

[spoRv]

Option 2.1: as option 2, but adding YAO subs for open matte parts - even if not perfectly centered, at least the OAR will remain stable.

(yeah, I know someone will not like it - any resemblance to previous poster is purely coincidental! )

[Beber]

Option 2.1: as option 2, but adding YAO subs for open matte parts - even if not perfectly centered, at least the OAR will remain stable.

(yeah, I know someone will not like it - any resemblance to previous poster is purely coincidental! )

And you claim to have no memory...

[spoRv]

I have good memory for some things, bad for other things... if only I could choose what to remember!

[Setzer]

My vote goes for option 2

[deleted user]

Most definitely option 2.

[Booshman]

2 please.

[LucasGodzilla]

Since the project's focus is to be an open matte, I'll go with Option 2 since we get the most out of the picture.