Rocky Horror Picture Show (Normal / Proper Aspect?)

[Randy Stankey]

I bet it was cheaper to do that way. They shot the original footage at full frame because it's easier. It's not THAT much more expensive to build 16 ft. scenery flats than it is to build 12 ft. flats. Most of that stuff gets reused and recycled, anyhow. They probably pulled half the stuff out of storage. What you get from all that is the ability to decide what format to make the film when you get down to final editing.

Then, when you get to the editing room, you can make the film for 1.85, 1.66, 16mm or any of the other, various, video/internet formats. (Not that they had digital distro in those days.) If you ever decide to re-release to video or anything else, you've got the flexibility you need to do what you want.

If they had shot the movie in, say, 1.85 with hard mattes, they'd be stuck with that.

Rocky Horror wasn't supposed to be an epic, cinematic masterpiece. It was meant to be a one-off thing...brain candy...just for fun. Nobody ever imagined that it would reach the cult status it has, today. Tim Curry certainly didn't! I bet he'd rather forget it ever happened!

The movie was made on the quick and cheap... Git 'er done!

When we present the movie, today, it's important to do our jobs well but it's also important to remember how and why the movie was originally made and to temper our work attitudes to that.

So, as I said, do your job and be a professional but don't sweat so many of the details. They certainly didn't when they made the movie!

[Jesse Skeen]

That’s not a microphone, it’s some hanging light or decoration on the church. But even in the commentary track on the DVD, they think it’s a boom mike.

[Tim Reed]

Interesting. As I recall, most flat movies in those days were full frame, simply because that's what the cameras captured. You just had to know when you were "in frame" while showing it. I may be having faulty memories, but I don't recall seeing hard matted prints until the late 70s. Heaven Can Wait stands out, because it was all over the place, up and down, through the whole movie. Smokey and the Bandit was full frame, but you can tell by looking at the frame that it was definitely composed for 1.85. Mics showed up on early TV screenings.

I ran Rocky Horror for years at 1.85. I had 1.33 and 1.66 options in that particular venue. I ran things like 28 Up at 1.66 because it was made for British television (and 25 fps!! The manager could never figure out why the Up series always ran long. LOL) But RHPS show was made for theatres, and I never noticed any cropping at 1.85.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Interesting. As I recall, most flat movies in those days were full frame, simply because that's what the cameras captured. You just had to know when you were "in frame" while showing it. I may be having faulty memories, but I don't recall seeing hard matted prints until the late 70s. Heaven Can Wait stands out, because it was all over the place, up and down, through the whole movie. Smokey and the Bandit was full frame, but you can tell by looking at the frame that it was definitely composed for 1.85. Mics showed up on early TV screenings.

I ran Rocky Horror for years at 1.85. I had 1.33 and 1.66 options in that particular venue. I ran things like 28 Up at 1.66 because it was made for British television (and 25 fps!! The manager could never figure out why the Up series always ran long. LOL) But RHPS show was made for theatres, and I never noticed any cropping at 1.85.

Yeah you are correct that there is a certain vintage or period to the prints being provided full frame even if a smaller aspect was intended. I don't know when hard mattes became popular... probably after many chains stopped being able to do proper masking? Or perhaps there was some lab specific process that caused many to adopt it. It may equally have to do with the frame size and format of the original camera (or cameras)... or intermediate process.

[Ryan Gallagher]

That’s not a microphone, it’s some hanging light or decoration on the church. But even in the commentary track on the DVD, they think it’s a boom mike.

Wow, you are correct! A few shots earlier in the sequence you can see that it is the hanging lantern above the church entry way.

OpenMatte_Wedding_Lantern.png

So why does the whole internet think that was a microphone, or is there some other shot they speak of. It does swing a bit, so maybe the movement is what made everyone jump to the conclusion. There is a shadow line also, perhaps they assumed that was from the boom, but I would guess it is the pole/chain suspending the lantern.

Suppose I'll have a full res print to inspect soon. lol (for amusement sake)

[Leo Enticknap]

Interesting. As I recall, most flat movies in those days were full frame, simply because that's what the cameras captured.

It's a similar concept to shoot and protect, the difference being that in some cases, the filmmakers didn't care what went on outside the safe area, meaning that even a movie intended for 1.85 had to be panned and scanned for TV. The 16mm nontheatrical prints of Hollywood movies made from the '60s to the early '90s usually weren't, though, with the result that boom mikes were a common sight if they were played on a typical classroom or airliner projector.