Open matte

For other uses, seeMatte (disambiguation).

Open matteis a filming technique that involvesmattingout the top and bottom of the film frame in themovie projector(known as asoft matte) for thewidescreentheatrical release and then scanning the film without a matte (atAcademy ratio) for afull screenhome videorelease. It is roughly equivalent to an uncropped version of the film.

A frame from a35 mm filmprint. Here, the picture is framed for the intended theatricalaspect ratio(inside the yellow box). The picture outside of the yellow box is matted out when the film is shown in widescreen. For4:3television and home media versions, a large portion of the picture can be used (inside the red box) with an open matte.

Open matte example with a slight shift of the image section upwards.

Aspect ratio 2.35:1 versus 1.85:1

Open matte can be used with non-anamorphicfilms presented in 2.20:1 or 2.39:1, but it isn't used as often, mainly because it adds too much additional headroom, depending upon how well the framing was protected or for aesthetic purposes. Instead, those films will employ eitherpan and scanorreframingusing either the well-protected areas or the areas of interest. Films shotanamorphicallyuse the entire 35 mm frame (except for the soundtrack area), so they must use pan and scan as a result.

History

The rise of television and home media saw the use of a narrow aspect ratio of 4:3.To avoidletterboxingfor broadcast releases, films were therefore reframed and cropped shot by shot to fit appropriately the full screen with the 4:3 aspect, with a process calledpan and scan.Hence, only a cropped small portion of the theatrical frame was broadcast.

Many films over the years have used the open matte technique for home video releases and television broadcasts, the most prominent of which include theBack to the Futuretrilogy, theJurassic Parktrilogy,Schindler's List,Titanic,Top Gun,Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,The Fugitive,SilveradoandPredator,as well as many films that have been specially formatted for theIMAXexpanded aspect ratio of 1.90:1 and 1.43:1.Stanley Kubrickalso used this technique for his last three filmsThe Shining(1980),Full Metal Jacket(1987) andEyes Wide Shut(1999).

Films such asJames Cameron'sTerminator 2: Judgment Day(1991),Michael Bay'sThe Rock(1996), andSteven Spielberg'sMinority Report(2002), all of which were shot inSuper 35also utilize the open matte technique, but this is mixed withpan and scandue to the visual effects being rendered in a wider aspect ratio.

Open matte and pan and scan

Pan and scanis an important process to optimise the film presentation for home viewing and television. ForHDTV,a combination of zooming and cropping is done to a portion of a frame, usually in accordance to the most important details in a shot. Pan and scan can be done on ascope(2.40:1) master for a film, or even the open matte version.

Open matte helps in the pan and scan process, as there is more image to work with, and use the extra image on the top and bottom to fill a 16:9 display for HDTV broadcasts. Additionally, filmmakers may choose to release the open matte version for a film's "widescreen" home video release, such as with James Cameron'sAvatarand theBlu-ray 3Drelease ofTitanic.

Usage

Usually, non-anamorphic4-perffilms are filmed directly on the entirefull framesilent aperture gate (1.33:1). When amarried printis created, this frame is slightly re-cropped by theframe lineand optical soundtrack down toAcademy ratio(1.37:1). Themovie projectorthen uses an aperture mask to soft matte the academy frame to the intendedaspect ratio(1.85:1 or 1.66:1). When the 4:3 full-screen video master is created, many filmmakers may prefer to use the full Academy frame ( "open matte" ) instead of creating apan and scanversion from within the 1.85 framing. Because the framing is increased vertically in the open matte process, the decision to use it needs to be made prior to shooting, so that thecamera operatorcan frame for 1.85:1 and "protect" for 4:3; otherwise unintended objects such as boommicrophones,cables, and light stands may appear in the open matte frame, thus requiring some amount ofpan and scanin some or all scenes. Additionally, the un-matted 4:3 version may often throw off an otherwise tightly framed shot and add an inordinate amount of headroom above actors (particularly with 1.85:1), depending upon how well the framing was protected or for aesthetic purposes. With high-definition television now in common usage (with its standardized 16:9 (1.78:1) aspect ratio), the need to reformat 1.85:1 movies for television viewing has virtually evaporated, although television broadcasts still reformat 2.39:1 movies by means of using open matte or pan and scan. For films with wider aspect ratios (2.39:1, for example) the matting bars will appear on the top and bottom of the screen of the broadcast image, thus preserving each director's framing intent.

See also

• Shoot and protect