[Weekly Update] August 16, 2021

Hope you enjoyed our last video on Tony Leung! It was fun gushing about his acting, partly because Asian male actors are usually very overlooked in the west, as they are perceived as "less expressive", and partly because they are often desexualized. It's just fun to bring forth and example that counters both stereotypes at once, even though the comment section is... understandably thirsty haha.

CHANNEL UPDATE

• Editing for our next video has begun. Script will be uploaded later. It'll be about the references in Kung Fu Hustle that non-Chinese viewers may have missed.
• It'll be one of the longer video in this channel, even after I tried to condense it as much as possible. Hopefully I can get it published by Thursday or Friday!
• After two 15+ minute longer video, I think I'll pick up a smaller video topic to destress and also catches up with our schedule. I have no idea what to talk about just yet, so feel free to make a suggestion!
• As the release of Shang-Chi approaches, It seems like it won't be releasing digitally until later. That means I probably won't be able to make a Shang-Chi video right at release. Still, I can probably talk about something related. We'll see.

MEDIA TALK

• What's your favourite aspect ratio? Mine is 1.85:1, it's just wide enough to feel cinematic, but not too wide like 2.35 where it just feels excessive.
• In case you don't know what aspect ratio is, it's the ratio between a image's length vs. height. You computer monitor is likely in a 16:9 aspect ratio.
• --------------------
• I'm talking about this because I was reminded of a tidbit about Jurassic World. During production, Spielberg told the directors that the film needs to be in 1.85 (instead of 2.35:1 as it was popular at the time). The extra vertical space helps show the verticality of the dinosaurs.
• But, and I will never not make fun of this, the directors said 1.85:1 feels too TV-ish, because it's too close to 16:9.
• As a compromise, they went to 2:1, which is not an industry standard aspect ratio.
• Yes, there are industry standards when it comes to this. Most theatre projection systems have 3 presets (beyond 16:9):
• 1.33, which is the "Square" format used by hipster "old" movies, like The Lighthouse.
• 1.85, generally used by independent films, but also by some blockbusters like Ant-Man.
• 2.35, the "cinemascope" aspect ratio, used by most big budget epics like Transformers. It accentuates the scale of the landscape.
• There are also IMAX projectors but those are its own beast.
• When a preset is selected, a non reflective curtain will cover all the extra space of the screen, to ensure everything outside the screen is black.
• And here's the fun part: A lot of theatre saw Jurassic World, assumed it's in 2.35, as it was the popular choice, and just used that preset without paying attention.
• As a result, half the movie is outside the frame for a lot of people. Frequently character's forehead got cut off.
• In an attempt to look "cinematic", they made the movie even less cinematic.
• --------------------
• The hilarious thing is, adding black bars, cropping your film into 2.35 aspect ratio is one of the most newbie trick people used in film school.
• The aforementioned Ant-Man, Pacific Rim, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes all uses 1.85 to an amazing cinematic blockbuster aesthetic.
• In other words, Jurassic World was directed by a bunch of freaking amateurs.
• --------------------
• That's it, that's the rant I want to make today lol.

I supposed I can make an entire video talking about aspect ratios, but it wouldn't be related to Asian or World cinema.

Still, I'm enjoying the recent resurgence of 1.85 aspect ratio, and appreciated Snyder's attempt of presented IMAX on a small screen in full, even if the attempt wasn't entirely successful.

I have legit met people who thinks 2.35 is the only "cinematic" ratio. I hope this talk can be a reminder that, a crap movie will still look crap in 2.35. And a good movie will look stunning in any aspect ratio.