The best widescreen director? - Page 2

Hiro11 · 09-15-03, 03:22 PM

I guess Hitchcock should be on this list, particularly for Rear Window, North By Northwest, Vertigo and the Birds.

fumanstan · 09-15-03, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sierra Disc
David Lean, without a doubt. Go watch "Lawrence of Arabia" sometime and tell me he didn't write the book on widescreen for the ages.

Ridley Scott? Gimme a break. If the cluttered CGI confusion of "Gladiator" is the best example we can come up with, I say "thumbs down". A decent director but not a widescreen master scenarist by any means.

David Lean did not write the book on widescreen for the ages.

Drexl · 09-15-03, 05:46 PM

Stanley Kubrick.

(

)

I'll go with PTA also. He still shoots his films anamorphically, whereas many like Fincher, Scott, Mendes, et. al, shoot Super-35, which allows for some additional visual information in a 4:3 version.

Of course, the composition is what's important, and whether Panavision or Super-35 is used is irrelevant to that, but I think the films of PTA and others who use Panavision would look worse in pan and scan than a director who uses Super-35. In fact, I missed Magnolia in theaters so I rented the

Spoiler:

since it came out a month before the DVD did, and in one scene they had letterbox bars temporarily scroll into the image because there was just no way they could have done it with pan and scan. If only it could have been that way for the whole movie!

Neeb · 09-15-03, 11:26 PM

Sir David Lean
Sergio Leone
Michael Mann
Peter Jackson
Michael Bay (seriously, Pearl Harbor had pretty goos shot composition- everything else sucked...)

Giles · 09-16-03, 08:47 AM

Peter Greenaway
Luc Besson
Bernado Bertolluci
Ken Russell
Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie, Delicatessen, City of Lost Children)
John Sturges (Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape)

_______________________

F For Fake · 09-16-03, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bobby Shalom
David Lean, IMO end of story!

I think God invented widescreen so Lean could give us "Lawrence of Arabia".

Hiro11 · 09-16-03, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Drexl
Stanley Kubrick.

()

Haw! I get it!

Kinyo · 09-16-03, 03:25 PM

Just look at my signature.

Hokeyboy · 09-16-03, 03:25 PM

I have to go with Lean as well. There are very few directors that are even close... and IMHO Carpenter isn't one of them.

Lean's WS shot compositions in Zhivago, Kwai, A Passage to India, and of course LOA are practically unrivalled.

wordtoyamotha · 09-16-03, 06:46 PM

Wes Anderson is the first person I thought of. After reading the posts I would have to say Hitchcock and Ridley Scott as well.

joffa · 09-16-03, 07:13 PM

SOOOOOOO John Carpenter! Ridley Scott has become a widescreen sellout, first by going to Super-35 (with its full frame transfer friendly aspect ratio variability), and then to 1.85. I blame his new DOP John Matheison, personally!

09-15-03, 03:22 PM	#26
Hiro11 DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 6,749	I guess Hitchcock should be on this list, particularly for Rear Window, North By Northwest, Vertigo and the Birds. __________________ What's that? Jessie and Prospector are trapped in the old abandoned mine and Prospector just lit a stick of dynamite thinking it was a candle and now they're about to be blown to smithereens? Last edited by Hiro11; 09-15-03 at 03:40 PM.

09-15-03, 05:46 PM	#28
Drexl DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 14,545	Stanley Kubrick. () I'll go with PTA also. He still shoots his films anamorphically, whereas many like Fincher, Scott, Mendes, et. al, shoot Super-35, which allows for some additional visual information in a 4:3 version. Of course, the composition is what's important, and whether Panavision or Super-35 is used is irrelevant to that, but I think the films of PTA and others who use Panavision would look worse in pan and scan than a director who uses Super-35. In fact, I missed Magnolia in theaters so I rented the Spoiler: VHS since it came out a month before the DVD did, and in one scene they had letterbox bars temporarily scroll into the image because there was just no way they could have done it with pan and scan. If only it could have been that way for the whole movie!

09-16-03, 08:47 AM	#30
Giles DVD Talk Hero Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Washington DC Posts: 29,867	Peter Greenaway Luc Besson Bernado Bertolluci Ken Russell Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie, Delicatessen, City of Lost Children) John Sturges (Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape) _______________________ __________________ [2ndDVDTalk Action/Adventure/Crime Challenge 2013 Film List / Unrated-Alternate-Director's Cuts: DVD (updates) / My DVD collection Entertainment or Die soundillustrated - Weekly Music Food Last edited by Giles; 09-16-03 at 08:52 AM.

09-16-03, 03:25 PM	#33
Kinyo SeeNo Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Why should I tell you? Posts: 604	Just look at my signature. __________________ Tell me what you don't like about yourself - Nip/Tuck

09-16-03, 03:25 PM	#34
Hokeyboy DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Posts: 13,308	I have to go with Lean as well. There are very few directors that are even close... and IMHO Carpenter isn't one of them. Lean's WS shot compositions in Zhivago, Kwai, A Passage to India, and of course LOA are practically unrivalled. __________________ Here's to fire. Not the fast and furious kind that burns down shacks and shanties. But the slow, seductive kind that takes down pants and panties. -- Doug Story, 100% White Man, 100% Aryan Bring back wm lopez! And then there's HOKEYBLOG!!!

09-15-03, 11:26 PM	#29
Neeb Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: SoCal Posts: 770	Sir David Lean Sergio Leone Michael Mann Peter Jackson Michael Bay (seriously, Pearl Harbor had pretty goos shot composition- everything else sucked...)

09-16-03, 06:46 PM	#35
wordtoyamotha Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 844	Wes Anderson is the first person I thought of. After reading the posts I would have to say Hitchcock and Ridley Scott as well. __________________ My Holiday Movie Challenge List

09-16-03, 07:13 PM	#36
joffa Member Join Date: Dec 2000 Posts: 186	SOOOOOOO John Carpenter! Ridley Scott has become a widescreen sellout, first by going to Super-35 (with its full frame transfer friendly aspect ratio variability), and then to 1.85. I blame his new DOP John Matheison, personally! __________________ "Anyone who can swallow two snowballs and a ding dong shouldn't have a problem with pride"