love this style of commentary (jokes here and there, fast paced without being overwhelming) and a nice topic about something I've always wondered about. Not political or divisive, and the relaxing music in the background is pleasant to listen to. Good job!
very nice video but you totally ignored the fact that we pefer wideness because thats how our vision works. two eyes *next* to one another. very wide shots imitate (horizontal) peripheral vision. it's not just a historical coincidence.
I don't think that this was really missed as the narrative works with or without the fact, for example a large portion of the population watched movies in 4:3 every week in America even though our eyes prefer wide stuff (though you can make an argument that this isn't true considering how small our focal point is). Then people started to have other things to do so they stopped going to the movies until widescreen came out with content that is less about entertainment and more about an experience.
The main reason we have the eyes next to each other is because of stereoscopic 3D. Our vision aspect ratio, if we had one, would be much closer to 4:3 than to 2.4:1. VR headsets have an aspect ratio closer to 4:3. I think 16:9 is fine and everyone should use that aspect ratio. If we start doing movies for 8k, 16k resolution and very high FOV, 2.4:1 would be very stupid. That's why IMAX doesn't use that aspect ratio, they use 1.44:1 if I'm not mistaken. The video does a great job explaining that it was a marketing thing and not done because it is better.
One of the best videos I've seen on UA-cam. Not just amazing graphics and effects but excellent direction, script & production overall~ Profound work. IGTV is pretty whack tho, our phones are vertical coz that's how they'll go into our pockets, but vertical video is still pretty niche in wha kind of content it frames well. If you film a person, they take up the entire frame pretty much in any way you frame it.
9:53 Look at the effort that went into this cutaway visual! Well done, this video is informative, entertaining and with excellent production values. A winner is you!
Highly interesting and informative; always wondered why some older films and TV shows I watch online have such a variation in the visible frame. Some of the assumptions I held as to why this was turned out to be lacking. Thanks!
This is a great video. Interesting to see why we still often see black bars when watching something in widescreen on a widescreen TV. Something my dad always complains about, not getting 100% use out of the expensive TV he bought *shrugs*.
Now THIS is a change in pace! And a welcome one, too! I loved watching this video. It wasn't too different from other similar formats, but certain aspects are top notch. The commentary, style, jokes, and timing are PRIME! Awesome video!!
This was incredibly well made, keep it coming! Great content from Quartz lately! I've been reading the obsession newsletters, but these really bring it to life as a video essay!
Thanks for a great video! I'm sharing this to my intro to film history class. Especially for students who don't clearly remember a time before "widescreen" TVs, the concept of aspect ratios is often very confusing to them. This is a fun video to communicate this concept - I think they'll actually enjoy it (unlike the section in their textbook).
Ha! Thanks. Many wondered how the video would turn out when the idea was pitched - we knew it would be good, but we didn't know how much we'd all get engrossed in the topic. Thanks for the comment @Elissayah Medina
4:01 America decides to go out and enjoy doing things rather than sit down at the cinema, and "Scott's still mad about it" I know that was in jest, but that's wonderful to hear. '40s people living their lives and making memories. Great vid!
They didn't explain why "wide" feels more profound or dramatic. Obviously people responded to "wide" before the precedent they claim makes people respond to "wide" ....so???
@@PieGaming87 - I don't think they would - wide is still more "epic", not because of film precedence, but because it fills more of your field of view. Wider screens are more immersive because you see more of what's going on at any given time - a tall vertical screen wouldn't really do that as well, unless maybe you have a really particular subject matter, such as a rocket launch - but even then, no matter how tall you make it, wider with the same height will still look better. Between human perception inherently being horizontal and our natural tendency to scan horizon lines, wider screens help to draw you in by feeling more natural. Stepping up further we'd end up with something like VR, where it's no longer a question of "wide" or "tall", but just complete immersion in another world (though in VR, a wide field of view on the actual headset is still important because of the aforementioned human perception). Or in other words, less peripheral vision of the theater, more immersion in what's going on in the screen. Or at least, that's what makes it more epic in theaters - when you're at home and the show suddenly tosses black bars on the top and bottom... yeah, it's not _wider,_ but that feeling of epicness is entirely from theater precedence I think.
At 15:30 there is a black-fingerprinted-screen-kinda-following-the-phone :) Seriously, the whole video is PERFECT (in my humble opinion), and perhaps the reason I watched it on my Desktop widescreen monitor is because I expected something from it (?). Great job here, both in the narration, in the visuals and in the content! Next time, you may want to look at 3d tracking in after effects, it's actually pretty simple...but hey, "Better Done than Perfect" ! Grettings from Switzerland
And right now, I'm watching this on a 45" Super-ultrawide monitor lol. I still remember the old box from when I was a kid with all the front facing dials and buttons, 4.3 aspect ratio that lost its signal every time a pigeon landed on the exterior aerial & of course the good ol' wooden frame :)
Wow that was a wonderful video. Makes me want to go see a movie in the theatres again. Too bad nothing good has been playing for the last decade at least...
Whereas the history is fascinating I think the answer is actually much simpler. Humans have a horizontal field of vision which is appx 60 degrees wider than the vertical viewing angle, and also people naturally surround themselves around a screen horizontally so as to see it clearly, for various reasons. These are the actual reasons why it feels epic to watch a movie in wide screen, which were completely unmentioned in this video.
I3LINK This ratio is sort of correct for vision, but the rest of the comment is hogwash. The widescreen ratios employed by cinema is far, far wider than the human eye ratio. That’s why if you actually filled your vision with various cinema shots horizontally, you’d have large space of nothing at the top and bottom where the vertical didn’t fill. It would also be incredibly difficult to watch as you’d have to move your eyeballs way too much to capture all the action. Widescreen feels epic because of a few things, but one of them is that you rarely sit like that and instead sit farther back where the field of view is more comfortable.
I used to wonder as a kid, when on the video options menus for DVDs you got to choose between widescreen and fullscreen, why anyone would choose widescreen and see black bars on the screen. you've finally answered it for me.
This is an excellent presentation about Widescreen. However, the only thing I noticed was that while Back to the Future was shot open-matte, the VFX shots were cropped to widescreen, resulting in the full screen version being pan and scan in those shots, because they were shot in VistaVision and hard-matted to 1.85:1.
9:58 Disney's Lady and the Tramp was actually shown in both 4x3 and 2.55-1 widescreen versions. But the only way to see the original academy version is on laserdisc, other full screen versions are cropped from the wide print.
Disney's "Lady and the Tramp" was advertised as the first animated CinemaScope film. Disney's artists loved 'Scope because they felt it was easier drawing things in motion. Soon after "Lady" came out, other animation houses turned to CinemaScope for cartoons. UPA, Columbia's in-house animation house which usually specialized in spare animation, used CinemaScope for Mr. Magoo. Even Terrytoons, usually pretty primitive animation, was encouraged by its distributor (Fox) to shoot some Mighty Mouses in CinemaScope.
I remember seeing a couple of Cinerama movies in the 1950s at the Melba Theater (later the Capri) in downtown Dallas. I was disappointed that they didn't catch on and only were around for a couple of years.
That’s an interesting association. Maybe this feeling has some thing to do with the formality of a widescreen in a theater or across the room versus most vertical videos being viewed on a handheld device. Certainly worth thinking about.
Thanks for making this video. I shoot video at work, and the issue we're having is something you addressed. We're asked to cover certain events, and to shoot in 16x9, yet our final product is going to be 4x5 for Facebook. Oooh. This is so difficult. I thought shooting for open matte was a challenge. Oh, and our 30 fps footage is to go onto a sequence that is 24 fps, and exported at 24 fps. Just a bunch of style choices I guess, but it's a challenge. Yet the powers that be say they have the metrics to back up the changes.
4:3, 16:9, 21:9, widescreen, cinerama and cinema-scope is all in the past. Thankfully apple have shown us the future - 18.5:9 with a little notch on the left of your screen (when in widescreen mode).
UA-cam started out with square videos, and now it's wide. lol Something everyone forgets. I brought it up with some friends a couple years ago and they called me a liar.
This deserves way more views! I was thoroughly "entertained".
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED
This wasn't entertaining. It was an experience.
love this style of commentary (jokes here and there, fast paced without being overwhelming) and a nice topic about something I've always wondered about. Not political or divisive, and the relaxing music in the background is pleasant to listen to. Good job!
📻 It's long form radio voice. Add a soundtrack by Radiohead or Nickel Creek and this could be "This American Life".
This is honestly one of the few UA-cam videos that I think qualifies as a cinematic work of art. The pacing, narration, scene choice, all fantastic.
We're a big fan of the narrator/editor/writer of this video too!
You should see more of the good ones; lots exist.
Damn i gotta say props to whoever made this. idk why i liked the video so much. maybe it was the wideness?
very nice video but you totally ignored the fact that we pefer wideness because thats how our vision works. two eyes *next* to one another. very wide shots imitate (horizontal) peripheral vision. it's not just a historical coincidence.
I also missed this fact. Very important.
so true lol
Evolutionarily evolving from necessary function to scan our environment horizontally.
I don't think that this was really missed as the narrative works with or without the fact, for example a large portion of the population watched movies in 4:3 every week in America even though our eyes prefer wide stuff (though you can make an argument that this isn't true considering how small our focal point is). Then people started to have other things to do so they stopped going to the movies until widescreen came out with content that is less about entertainment and more about an experience.
The main reason we have the eyes next to each other is because of stereoscopic 3D. Our vision aspect ratio, if we had one, would be much closer to 4:3 than to 2.4:1. VR headsets have an aspect ratio closer to 4:3. I think 16:9 is fine and everyone should use that aspect ratio. If we start doing movies for 8k, 16k resolution and very high FOV, 2.4:1 would be very stupid. That's why IMAX doesn't use that aspect ratio, they use 1.44:1 if I'm not mistaken. The video does a great job explaining that it was a marketing thing and not done because it is better.
One of the best videos I've seen on UA-cam. Not just amazing graphics and effects but excellent direction, script & production overall~
Profound work.
IGTV is pretty whack tho, our phones are vertical coz that's how they'll go into our pockets, but vertical video is still pretty niche in wha kind of content it frames well. If you film a person, they take up the entire frame pretty much in any way you frame it.
I love how your professor talks. I'm not into movies at all but this video is entertaining.
Remember That French Guy!?
9:53 Look at the effort that went into this cutaway visual! Well done, this video is informative, entertaining and with excellent production values. A winner is you!
I love that this was actually a look at the history of movies as we know it. This is an experience in itself. :)
"It's a story about America, roller coasters, and Jesus." - Quartz 2018
Highly interesting and informative; always wondered why some older films and TV shows I watch online have such a variation in the visible frame. Some of the assumptions I held as to why this was turned out to be lacking. Thanks!
"Remember that french guy?"
*Zimmer horns*
Entertaining and educational, I love it
wow this was a hidden gem, this taught me some stuff and it was fun to watch, im glad i watched it
This is a great video. Interesting to see why we still often see black bars when watching something in widescreen on a widescreen TV.
Something my dad always complains about, not getting 100% use out of the expensive TV he bought *shrugs*.
Nice video! Missed opportunity to make it in 2:1 or another wider ratio ;)
Now THIS is a change in pace! And a welcome one, too! I loved watching this video. It wasn't too different from other similar formats, but certain aspects are top notch. The commentary, style, jokes, and timing are PRIME! Awesome video!!
Thanks, @Phillip. What do you think about our Selzer video (by the same creator) ua-cam.com/video/PrJrq4-Jn4Y/v-deo.html
A lot of love and care went into this! Definitely something dear to one's heart and it shows! Keep up those obsessions and keep on sharing
This was very helpful in answering some of the format questions I had.
Most underrated channel. Ever. Great Job, that's some epicness right here.
This was incredibly well made, keep it coming! Great content from Quartz lately! I've been reading the obsession newsletters, but these really bring it to life as a video essay!
We do love our Obsessions here at Quartz! Thanks for the support.
Thanks for a great video! I'm sharing this to my intro to film history class. Especially for students who don't clearly remember a time before "widescreen" TVs, the concept of aspect ratios is often very confusing to them. This is a fun video to communicate this concept - I think they'll actually enjoy it (unlike the section in their textbook).
Never knew I needed this before. Props!
Ha! Thanks. Many wondered how the video would turn out when the idea was pitched - we knew it would be good, but we didn't know how much we'd all get engrossed in the topic. Thanks for the comment @Elissayah Medina
This is an incredibly well made video. Very rare today on youtube.
I’m telling you, Quartz is gold.
Absolutely loved this video! Brilliant!
this video didn't take up my time, it took me somewhere!
Who's also watching this on a 21:9 monitor?
Really interesting video Quartz!
I'm too poor for a noodle monitor
21:9 looks like a lack of height rather than extra width to me.
@@S2Tubes Except theres literally more pixels on the side compared to the relevant 16:9
ultrawidemasterrace
21:9 mobile
4:01 America decides to go out and enjoy doing things rather than sit down at the cinema, and "Scott's still mad about it" I know that was in jest, but that's wonderful to hear. '40s people living their lives and making memories. Great vid!
Wow, never expect this video to be this good and interesting. Well done sir!
Finally, a video with good content! Oh, and the origin of "-rama" in everything originated from Cinerama.
As an aspiring filmaker that knows lots about the history of aspect ratios i learned new things from you video. Excellent lesson. Subbed.
They didn't explain why "wide" feels more profound or dramatic. Obviously people responded to "wide" before the precedent they claim makes people respond to "wide" ....so???
@@PieGaming87 - I don't think they would - wide is still more "epic", not because of film precedence, but because it fills more of your field of view. Wider screens are more immersive because you see more of what's going on at any given time - a tall vertical screen wouldn't really do that as well, unless maybe you have a really particular subject matter, such as a rocket launch - but even then, no matter how tall you make it, wider with the same height will still look better. Between human perception inherently being horizontal and our natural tendency to scan horizon lines, wider screens help to draw you in by feeling more natural. Stepping up further we'd end up with something like VR, where it's no longer a question of "wide" or "tall", but just complete immersion in another world (though in VR, a wide field of view on the actual headset is still important because of the aforementioned human perception).
Or in other words, less peripheral vision of the theater, more immersion in what's going on in the screen.
Or at least, that's what makes it more epic in theaters - when you're at home and the show suddenly tosses black bars on the top and bottom... yeah, it's not _wider,_ but that feeling of epicness is entirely from theater precedence I think.
probably one of the best videos ive ever watched on youtube. ever.
Best video I have seen from Quartz
why did I watch this whole video thinking it was a vox episode
I guess that speaks to your production quality, good job!
This is really well put together. I enjoyed it a lot. Thank you!
first time seeing a professor managed to naturally sneak an infinity stone joke
great job on the video
this documentary is freakin awesome i loved it all the way to the end, amazing work!!!!!
8:13 WE HAVE THE INFINITY STONES
Watching this on a 3:4 monitor from 2007
CLASSIC!
I'm watching this on a 5:4 monitor from 2006.
@@happysmash27 Watching this on a 16:9 monitor from.. ah, umm..
*goes to laptop*
Watching this from a 3:2 monitor from 2017
Watching on a 1x1 pixel monitor.
This video is so "Vox style", I know I know both Vox and Quartz are equally good tho
Vox is garbage
Except Quartz isn't making political commentary, something I hate about Vox.
Vox is garbage, at first they were decent since their videos were non-political now everything is spewed to fit their agenda.
J nope
No. Vox is much better.
This is so gad damm good. I’m in love with this video production and quality
This bit was amazing. Very well paced, funny and informative! All with good graphics, what more can you ask for!
This video was as good as widescreen cinema. Perfect ending!
Why this video feels epic
because!
At 15:30 there is a black-fingerprinted-screen-kinda-following-the-phone :)
Seriously, the whole video is PERFECT (in my humble opinion), and perhaps the reason I watched it on my Desktop widescreen monitor is because I expected something from it (?). Great job here, both in the narration, in the visuals and in the content!
Next time, you may want to look at 3d tracking in after effects, it's actually pretty simple...but hey, "Better Done than Perfect" !
Grettings from Switzerland
Very well done!
This is a very well-made video -very informative & entertaining.
Fascinating insight, highly enjoyed this! Cheers.
Great explanation, fun to watch
I learned a lot, this was amazing
Holy sheet! That was brilliant, subbed and going to check more!
Really well done!
But nothing beats the experience of watching an epic movie in a theater where nobody is talking or seeing their mobiles.
And right now, I'm watching this on a 45" Super-ultrawide monitor lol. I still remember the old box from when I was a kid with all the front facing dials and buttons, 4.3 aspect ratio that lost its signal every time a pigeon landed on the exterior aerial & of course the good ol' wooden frame :)
Damn your channel should have a million subs at least! Your style of video is awesome!💓
I cannot help buy giving you a thumb up! Nice work and I hope to see more video like this
2:14 "Extremely very good"
Fantastic video! Loved it the whole way through.
This is really, really well done. I don’t know if the people behind this do it for Quartz regularly, but they totally should. :)
This was an amazing video... very well done!
This was surprisingly interesting
Wow that was a wonderful video. Makes me want to go see a movie in the theatres again. Too bad nothing good has been playing for the last decade at least...
Beautifully done!
Great video!!!
great vid and interpretation at the end. really makes you think
Whereas the history is fascinating I think the answer is actually much simpler. Humans have a horizontal field of vision which is appx 60 degrees wider than the vertical viewing angle, and also people naturally surround themselves around a screen horizontally so as to see it clearly, for various reasons. These are the actual reasons why it feels epic to watch a movie in wide screen, which were completely unmentioned in this video.
I3LINK This ratio is sort of correct for vision, but the rest of the comment is hogwash. The widescreen ratios employed by cinema is far, far wider than the human eye ratio. That’s why if you actually filled your vision with various cinema shots horizontally, you’d have large space of nothing at the top and bottom where the vertical didn’t fill. It would also be incredibly difficult to watch as you’d have to move your eyeballs way too much to capture all the action.
Widescreen feels epic because of a few things, but one of them is that you rarely sit like that and instead sit farther back where the field of view is more comfortable.
Honestly after part III, you start reminding me of Bill Wurtz in the way you narrate and it's amazing 😂
A very good video, love your format. Informing and interesting. Subscribed
Thank you for subscribing and for the nice comment. Welcome to Quartz!
A+ on commentary
I used to wonder as a kid, when on the video options menus for DVDs you got to choose between widescreen and fullscreen, why anyone would choose widescreen and see black bars on the screen. you've finally answered it for me.
Happy to clear it up!
i actually learnd something. good job!
This is an excellent presentation about Widescreen. However, the only thing I noticed was that while Back to the Future was shot open-matte, the VFX shots were cropped to widescreen, resulting in the full screen version being pan and scan in those shots, because they were shot in VistaVision and hard-matted to 1.85:1.
I thought I know about the subject a lot before watching the video. But, it blew my mind in many ways.
9:58 Disney's Lady and the Tramp was actually shown in both 4x3 and 2.55-1 widescreen versions. But the only way to see the original academy version is on laserdisc, other full screen versions are cropped from the wide print.
Disney's "Lady and the Tramp" was advertised as the first animated CinemaScope film. Disney's artists loved 'Scope because they felt it was easier drawing things in motion. Soon after "Lady" came out, other animation houses turned to CinemaScope for cartoons. UPA, Columbia's in-house animation house which usually specialized in spare animation, used CinemaScope for Mr. Magoo. Even Terrytoons, usually pretty primitive animation, was encouraged by its distributor (Fox) to shoot some Mighty Mouses in CinemaScope.
Ok, THIS is epic
We loved making this video - thanks!
Wow! what an amazing video it is! Informational and Entertaining :)
Nice transition.
I remember seeing a couple of Cinerama movies in the 1950s at the Melba Theater (later the Capri) in downtown Dallas. I was disappointed that they didn't catch on and only were around for a couple of years.
Damn this channel is awesome!!!
😃
wow! excellent video!!
Great video. Another thing you can mention is that vertical video feels "Authentic" while widescreen feels "fake" but "epic".
That’s an interesting association. Maybe this feeling has some thing to do with the formality of a widescreen in a theater or across the room versus most vertical videos being viewed on a handheld device. Certainly worth thinking about.
Nah. Vertical video is the scourge of Satan.
This is an amazing video, however it would have been cool to know all the aspect ratios, not just that old movies were in 4:3
Ok, now this is epic.
Really nice video, good job!
What a great movie. Thanks for making this.
Thanks for making this video. I shoot video at work, and the issue we're having is something you addressed. We're asked to cover certain events, and to shoot in 16x9, yet our final product is going to be 4x5 for Facebook. Oooh. This is so difficult. I thought shooting for open matte was a challenge. Oh, and our 30 fps footage is to go onto a sequence that is 24 fps, and exported at 24 fps. Just a bunch of style choices I guess, but it's a challenge. Yet the powers that be say they have the metrics to back up the changes.
How does this video only have 58K views? This video is absolutely amazing, on par, and even better than what VOX shows. Instant subscribe from me
4:3, 16:9, 21:9, widescreen, cinerama and cinema-scope is all in the past.
Thankfully apple have shown us the future - 18.5:9 with a little notch on the left of your screen (when in widescreen mode).
Very good video!
Absolutely amazing and astounding
Watching this on my new 21:9 monitor, didn't even know I wanted one till a few months ago but damn is it nice.
UA-cam started out with square videos, and now it's wide. lol Something everyone forgets. I brought it up with some friends a couple years ago and they called me a liar.
This was entertaining beyond the wildest expectations
A VERY UNDERRATED CHANNEL
this is amazing!
This was so nice!!
That was really informative! Loved it!
An amazingly informative and entertaining video.