Ninja Scroll (DVD)

Is it possible that the animation in "Ninja Scroll" was originally shot at a 1.33:1 screen ratio, as many films these day are, and then matted to 1.78:1 for widescreen theatrical distribution? Cropping a film later for widescreen is easier for a lot of directors than trying to film (or graphically create) something initially in widescreen. It would explain the apparent discrepencies in frame size.

The question at this point is which set of dimensions the director prefers. Stanley Kubrick, for instance, shot his last few films at 1.33:1 and resented having to matte or cut them down for widescreen. It's why he stipulated that all of his later films be transferred to disc in their original 1.33:1 screen ratios (for better or for worse; his decision).

In other words, the 1.33:1 frame size may be what the director of "Ninja Scroll" prefers because it's how he created the animation and how he likes it; but for purists who saw the theatrical release, the 1.78:1 dimensions may be preferable. By including both sets of dimensions, the disc's producers may be trying to satisfy both camps.

John

John, "Ninja Scroll" was drawn with 1.33:1 in mind. It has been seen as 1.33:1 for years. The "widescreen" version is not even described as the film's native aspect ratio--it's just something that was created for "home theatre enthusiasts" (which is odd since home theatre enthusiasts would want OAR and not the vertical equivalent of Pan&Scan).

As for Kubrick...I really wonder how much of a perfectionist he was if he really wanted people to see boom mikes and helicopter blades in aerial tracking shots.

I'm assuming "Ninja Scroll" originally opened as a theatarical release, as implied at IMDb. And I'm assuming it did not open in theaters in Japan or the U.S. in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. If it were originally made exclusively for TV, and it never appeared in theaters, that would be another story.

As to Kubrick, his original 1.33:1 shooting ratio did not include boom mikes or such. He shot as old-time directors did in 1.33:1, with a mind toward eventually showing the films the way he shot them. None of his transfers to DVD in 1.33:1 are inferior in any way to their widescreen theatrical-release croppings. They show more and appropriate information.

John

I dunno, those aerial tracking shots in "The Shining" look kinda funny to me.

Holy shit, people actually responded to a review I wrote! Excuse me while I print this out and stick it to the refrigerator. . . done.

John, in every "how animation is made" feature I've seen in anime, it's created very purposefully and as efficiently as possible. There are no out takes, retakes, deleted scenes, etc. The cost of animation (especially for cels and ink, which were just becoming staggering when this film was made, remember, no digital effects at all) is too high to draw it all one way and then just crop out a large part of every scene. Also, not a single person I know ever mentioned a greater than 1.33:1 version of Ninja Scroll before. While it was indeed released in the theatre, it could have easily been shown at 1.33:1.

However, the SE isn't a total loss. It has really nice sound, and the 1.33:1 print is there. I haven't watched the standard edition on DVD, so I don't know how the extras compare.

I can't imagine any new theatrical release in the last forty years being acceptable to audiences seeing it in a motion picture theater in anything other than widescreen, even if it means cutting out a lot of material originally shot.

I didn't mean to start a debate. I was just guessing where the widescreen matted version might have come from. I doubt that a small studio like Manga Entertainment spent the money necessary to purposely cut or matte the film themselves just for the DVD. But anything is possible. Perhaps a phone call to the studio would be in order?

John

John,

All those movies with 1.66:1 ratios don't fill up the 2.35:1 dimensions of the widest movie screens. You see black bars at the sides, much like you would 1.33:1 TV shows on 16:9 TV sets.

At any rate, I've seen the press releases for the DVD as well as the packaging itself--the 1.78:1 transfer is not called the OAR version but something created for "home theatre enthusiats" (again, it makes no sense since true enthusiasts would want OAR and not vertical cropping).

Eddie

Eddie,

I think you're missing my point. I'm asking in what screen ratio the movie was originally shown in theaters.

I'm convinced, as you are, that the animation cells were shot at 1.33:1, but I'm not convinced that the studio would have released this film in 1.33:1 to mainstream movie theaters. Audiences in movie houses expect some sort of widescreen these days, be it 1.66:1, 1.78:1, 1.85:1, 2.20:1, 2:35:1, or whatever. It's why mainstream films for the past forty or more years have been matted for widescreen theatrical distribution if they were not originally shot at a widescreen ratio. (And barring, of course, re-releases of old films originally intended to be seen in 1.33:1.)

John

According to two other rather prominent anime oriented review sites, Manga created the widescreen print on their own, and the 1.33:1 print is indeed the real McCoy.

Plus, once again, when something is supposed to be animated widescreen, it's drawn on the proper dimension cels. It wouldn't make any sense to waste months of time, as well as extra money on art supplies and artists, to fully animate (story board, key frame, inbetweem, pencil, ink, color, photograph) a bunch of sequences that weren't going to be fully seen, or draw much larger set frames than what was needed.

I suppose I could eat crow and drop Manga a line about this, if everyone think it necessary for DVD Town's rep, but it'll be kind of embarrassing to fact check something that I was sure about after the review was published.

John,

Even if "Ninja Scroll" had been matted in theatres, there is a possibility that the matting was inappropriately applied. As Olen observes, it's insane for animators to draw more than what they need since animation (especially by hand) is so time-consuming.

By the way, this is from Manga's own website:

"DUAL SIDED, DUAL LAYERED DVD 18 CONTAINS
SIDE A:
DIGITALLY REMASTERED ORIGINAL 4X3 FULL SCREEN

SIDE B:
DIGITALLY REMASTERED ENHANCED 16X9 WIDESCREEN".

As you can see, the film's native resolution is supposed to be 1.33:1. Creating a 1.78:1 version is exactly what many fans feared would happen--vertical cropping and Pan&Scan!!!

Eddie

So, you're all saying absolutely that the movie appeared originally, ten years ago, in motion picture theaters in a 1.33:1 screen ratio. OK. I was just asking the question.

John