I’m personally not that excited for Zack Snyder’s new 4-hour cut of Justice League. But I am more amused at how Snyder’s version also insists on being “presented in a 4:3 format”.
“This film is presented in a 4:3 format to preserve the integrity of Zack Snyder’s creative vision,” wrote HBO before showing the Snyder cut to viewers.
The 4:3 format was the aspect ratio you would see on older boxy televisions—it’s how old-school shows like Friends and Will & Grace are currently presented on your screens despite us now having wide-screen televisions. According to Snyder, he filmed in that aspect ratio in order to “better project the film to IMAX screens”.
The standard screen size in movie theatres are on average about 72 x 53 feet. Whereas IMAX screens have an aspect ratio of 1.43:1 or 1.90:1—close to the 4:3 aspect ratio seen on “standard televisions“.
So if it’s meant for IMAX, why is HBO releasing the Snyder cut through online streaming with the same ratio? Decider asked producer Deborah Snyder the question and this was what she responded with.
“The film was originally shot that way. You know, don’t forget it was intended for the theatrical release, and it was intended to have an IMAX release. But now that it was on HBO Max, Zack didn’t want to change the aspect ratio, because everything was framed that way. And it’s also, I just think it’s just so unique. You’re getting so much of the picture, you’re seeing a lot more. If we then made the decision to just chop it off, we would be losing part of the frame. So it was really important to maintain the aspect ratio because that’s how it was originally intended to be. That’s how it was shot. That’s how the visual effects were done,” she explained.
The version you’d see online would also include ugly black boxes framing the film. However, The Verge Deputy Editor Dan Seifert shared that you can watch the movie without it having the black boxes surrounding it by watching it with a 12.9″ iPad Pro. You’d just need to “double-tap the image” on the iPad to snap it to the correct size.
Besides the 12.9″ iPad Pro, the 4:3 ratio also works with the 11″ iPad Pro, the 10.9″ and 10.5″ iPad Air, the Kindle Voyage, and some others. And yes, you can watch stuff on your Kindle.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is now streaming on HBO Go—and you can subscribe through Astro, through iTunes or Google Play at RM34.90 per month. With the subscription, you’ll be able to watch Snyder’s vision through your browser, or through the HBO Go app that’s available on iOS, Android and Android TV.
[ SOURCE, IMAGE SOURCE ]
