Super 35 & Open Matte

I return with some findings about HD presentations, specifically in regards to this whole KING KONG letterboxing situtation. Thanks to everyone who commented on my previous entry, and thanks to the various sources on the wonderful internet (see below) who provided the answer to this short-lived mystery.

Turns out KING KONG was shot on Super 35 mm film, which allows the filmmakers to utilize additional space on the film that the soundtrack would have previously used, to create a larger negative to work with. It also helps to enhance the presentation of different formats, as it can add horizontal space to home video releases, and with todays widescreen televisions means you can see a significant amount more of the horizontal image.

Of course you are losing some of the vertical image as a result, as is always the case with non-letterboxed scope aspect ratio films, but the difference is less noticeable than it used to be on a standard 4:3 television. For the HBOHD version, they made it open matte to show the additional horizontal image that was always there. Which is basically the same thing they've been doing for full-frame TV versions, but here at least you aren't losing as much. Kind of an interesting compromise if you think about it.

Check out this thread on AV Science Forum where a bunch of nerds like myself went over the same comparisons. (Thanks to cag.com member Ph8te for pointing me in the right direction.)

Also, if you feel like delving even deeper into this, check out widescreen.org's aspect ratios and filming techniques page (their motto is "defending the visions and intentions of film makers").