VOTD: Widescreen Vs. Pan & Scan

C'mon, we all know the difference between "letterbox" (widescreen) and full screen pan & scan presentations. And thanks to the growing acceptance of 16x9 widescreen HDTV's, we might not have to explain this difference to our unknowing friends and family much longer.

After the jump is a video from a couple years ago explaining the differences, and features appearances from a bunch of famous directors such as Martin Scorsese and Michael Mann. This would have been a great video to have in my collection 10 years ago. Scorsese says compares the process of converting a widescreen film to pan & scan as "technically, re-directing the movie." And we see some comparisons from Ben Hur, Gigi, Lawrence of Arabia, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

via: kottke