01-07-2022, 05:47 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-07-2022, 05:48 PM by Neil Jones.)
(01-07-2022, 07:59 AM)nionlogos18 Wrote:That was pretty common practice for a lot of US shows in the late 1990s and 2000s. to be done on film and the shot/protected for 4:3.(30-06-2022, 09:53 PM)Aplus1 Wrote: I don’t think that was a remaster - Season 10 was originally made in 16:9 HD for NBC in 2002, as was Season 11 the following year. 4:3 copies were still available for international broadcasters who needed/preferred them, though.
Interesting that the show was originally made in 16:9 yet 4:3 copies exist too.
Friends is the obvious example here, though in fairness it wasn't framed for 16:9 and you can see a lot of stuff at the edge of the frame, but because it was shot on film so they can go back and remaster it to 16:9 HD from (IIRC) 35mm film. Which is the proper way to do this job.
Remember remaster doesn't mean restoration, it means recreation.
We saw this phenomenon a couple of years ago when all the YouTube music videos were "remastered" - or not as the case may be. Wham's Last Christmas? Beautiful. Some other stuff? Yeah, whatever.
Some American sitcoms were done on videotape, so they can never see a proper HD restoration without it looking, well like total crap basically. Home Improvement for example, which was done on videotape even in its later years, presumably to match the rest of the series look wise (even if the kids did insist on growing up!). But most high profile US shows of this era I believe were done on film.
Upscaled/"HD" videotape that has been cropped and zoomed to "make" it HD deserves only to be seen in one of two places: The bin or a bonfire. Or a bin in a bonfire if it makes you happy.