History Main / PanAndScan

* Inverted with most of the earlier animated films by Creator/{{Pixar}} (starting with ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', the movies are all shown only in widescreen): Rather than cropping the edges and showing only the major elements of their films, they actually moved certain characters and objects either toward the center of the screen or off to the side in order to preserve the film's original quality.
** One of the most obvious examples of this is a particular scene from ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' where they show two young ants climbing up a leaf: In the original widescreen version, you couldn't see the second ant at all, but in the fullscreen version, you actually do.
** Another obvious example from a Pixar movie appears to be a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment that happens toward the end of ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' during the Aquascum scene (it's right when Gill says "False alarm!").[[note]]It's a brief glimpse of a female patient in the dentist's waiting room, the visible portion of her legs were only seen in the fullscreen version of the film[[/note]]

** When every episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' was marathoned on FXX, the pre-season 20 episodes were cropped like this, rather than being pillarboxed as they were on prior airings and streaming platforms. This led to a lot of visual gags being completely cut out of the frame, and when these versions were released on Creator/DisneyPlus, there was enough public outcry that [[https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/15/20967429/disney-plus-simpsons-feedback-older-episodes-original-aspect-ratio-2020 Disney vowed to fix them shortly afterward]].

** When Creator/{{Disney}} began streaming ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' on Creator/DisneyPlus, every pre-season 20 episode was cropped like this, rather than being pillarboxed as it was on prior streaming platforms. This led to a lot of visual gags being completely cut out of the frame, and there was enough public outcry that [[https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/15/20967429/disney-plus-simpsons-feedback-older-episodes-original-aspect-ratio-2020 Disney vowed to fix them shortly afterward]].

* The HD remasters of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil Remake'' and ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil0'' use vertical cropping and tilt & scan in their widescreen modes, which can obscure important objects. Luckily, the original 4:3 display is still available.

Because of how ubiquitous Pan and Scan was and how much of a problem it was for both videophiles and filmmakers, many directors adopted the practice of shooting movies in "Open Matte" format, in which a film is shot in a full-frame aspect ratio but designed to be cropped to a widescreen format in the theater. Thus, movies could be screened to audiences in an intended widescreen format, but be un-cropped to 4:3 on both TV broadcasts and home media releases without needing to be given the Pan and Scan treatment[[labelnote:note 1]]In the silent era, the full 35mm film frame was exactly 4:3, assuming you use the standard four perfs per frame. The addition of sound-on-film tracks made the image slightly narrower to 6:5 (1.19:1) Movietone ratio. The film was then matted slightly shorter to Academy Ratio (11:8 or 1.375:1), which is very close to 4:3 (1.333:1), as illustrated [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_(image) here]]. The difference is so small that it's generally considered inconsequential except by only the most extreme videophiles.[[/labelnote]][[labelnote:note 2]]In many movies shot this way, VFX shots would have a "hard matte", meaning the widescreen theatrical frame is the most you can get. Showing these in open matte will reveal an AspectRatioSwitch. These shots had to be pan and scanned for full screen releases.[[/labelnote]][[labelnote:note 3]]This practice of 35mm with widescreen safe areas is [[OlderThanTheyThink older than home video]], as ''Film/OnTheWaterfront'' was shot in the same way so it could look good on older Academy Ratio screens and newer wide screens in TheFifties. It could be shown in Academy Ratio, 1.85:1, or anywhere in between. [[https://youtu.be/s7-aMi4Rr-4 This video essay explains in more detail]][[/labelnote]]. The most notable director to make use of this technique was Creator/StanleyKubrick, who used it for his [[Film/TheShining last]] [[Film/FullMetalJacket three]] [[Film/EyesWideShut movies]] (as they were produced when VHS and television broadcasts of films had already become commonplace) and even mandated in his will that open matte transfers be used for posthumous home media releases of all of his movies (which were shot in full-frame and cropped to widescreen in theaters even before he started consciously using the Open Matte technique) just to prevent any horizontal detail from being lost. Later home media releases made after the mass adoption of widescreen at home reverted back to a widescreen-friendly aspect ratio.

Pan and Scan started to decline in [[TurnOfTheMillennium the 2000s]], with UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} credited with killing it off for good[[note]]Pan and Scan [=DVDs=] exist, but were only made in the early days of the format, and typically for movies aimed at younger viewers; studios would often make widescreen versions available alongside pan and scan versions. DVD has an anamorphic widescreen mode, which is the innovation that killed Pan and Scan. The way it works is that a movie can letterboxed to 16:9 instead of 4:3, which provides more pixels to the movie and fewer to the letterbox. It is [[VisualCompression squeezed into the 720x480 resolution of the DVD]], with the player unsqueezing it for playback based on the display width, allowing the picture to maintain image quality regardless of the monitor's aspect ratio[[/note]] As it is with acceptance of [[AspectRatio 16:9]] screens[[note]]16:9 was chosen as a compromise ratio. 4:3 and Cinemascope, the two most common extremes in aspect ratio, will both take up 75% of the screen when {{letterbox}}ed.[[/note]] and the fact that both formats are priced the same, pan and scan has seriously declined in popularity, with letterboxing being seen as more "classy"; plus it doesn't lop off the rest of the screen. As 16:9 sets became the dominant aspect ratio, some TV shows that were originally shot in 4:3 have been "remastered" for HD by cropping them to 16:9; this introduces a lot of the same problems of pan and scan, namely [[DigitalDestruction losing important parts of the picture]].

* The music video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vqgdSsfqPs R.E.M's "Imitation of Life"]] was designed around this: the entire video is just one looping 20-second take, with pan-and-scan used to zoom in on individual parts of the scene.

* The DVD release of ''FIlm/{{Spaceballs}}'' is a "flipper" disc with the original widescreen version on one side and the pan-and-scanned 4:3 version on the other. It includes a paper insert that educates the viewer on the difference and implores them to watch the widescreen version, using a screenshot of the characters skipping four abreast in a visual ShoutOut to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' as an example of the sort of gag that's ruined when the two characters on either side are cropped out of the picture. However, the 4:3 version can play out to the Droste effect in the "We're in 'now' now" joke as Dark Helmet and Col. Sandurz were watching the movie in 4:3. All widescreen [=DVDs=] released by Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer during this time have similar inserts, but are often inaccurate depending upon the nature of how the movie was shot.

* Some scenes in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' were filmed in anamorphic widescreen and intentionally panned and scanned for their TV presentations. They include shots in which special effects couldn't be rendered on a moving camera shot, and one scene in ''[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E16IfWishesWereHorses If Wishes Were Horses]]'' in which Dax interacts with her ''Main/{{Doppelganger}}'', to make it look more convincing.

* Inverted with most of the earlier animated films by Creator/{{Pixar}} (later films, such as ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' are all shown only in widescreen): Rather than cropping the edges and showing only the major elements of their films, they actually moved certain characters and objects either toward the center of the screen or off to the side in order to preserve the film's original quality.

This practice was common in TheEighties and TheNineties when movies were released on [[UsefulNotes/{{VCR}} VHS and Betamax]] and [=TVs=] had smaller screens. As home video became more common in the '80s, film directors would take pan and scan into account when framing shots even in widescreen. Completely CGI productions like those from Creator/{{Pixar}} could simply be reframed and rerendered for the 4:3 home video release.

UsefulNotes/LaserDisc used to be primarily Pan and Scan, too, but starting in the late '80s, it started releasing {{letterbox}} versions of every widescreen film available. It was seen as the premium format of movie buffs and A/V geeks. The VHS format would later follow suit, with movies featuring rare widescreen releases on tape oriented for videophiles in addition to Pan and Scan "full screen" releases provided for the broader public. This practice is still used today for some films when shown on TV channels, though letterbox movies on TV are more common than they used to be thanks to the advent of UsefulNotes/HighDefinition.

This practice was common in TheEighties and TheNineties when movies were released on [[UsefulNotes/{{VCR}} VHS and Betamax]] and [=TVs=] had smaller screens. As home video became more common in the '80s, film directors would take pan and scan into account when framing shots even in widescreen.

This practice was common in TheEighties and TheNineties when movies were released on [[UsefulNotes/{{VCR}} VHS and Betamax]] and [=TVs=] had smaller screens. UsefulNotes/LaserDisc used to be primarily Pan and Scan, too, but starting in the late '80s, it started releasing {{letterbox}} versions of every widescreen film available. It was seen as the premium format of movie buffs and A/V geeks. The VHS format would later follow suit, with movies featuring rare widescreen releases on tape oriented for videophiles in addition to Pan and Scan "full screen" releases provided for the broader public. This practice is still used today for some films when shown on TV channels, though letterbox movies on TV are more common than they used to be thanks to the advent of UsefulNotes/HighDefinition.

Pan and Scan started to decline in [[TurnOfTheMillennium the 2000s]], with UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} credited with killing it off for good[[note]]Pan and Scan [=DVDs=] exist, but were only made in the early days of the format, and typically for movies aimed at younger viewers; studios would often make widescreen versions available alongside pan and scan versions. DVD has an anamorphic widescreen mode, which is the innovation that killed Pan and Scan. The way it works is that a movie can letterboxed to 16:9 instead of 4:3, which provides more pixels to the movie and fewer to the letterbox. It is [[VisualCompression squeezed into the 720x480 resolution of the DVD]], with the player unsqueezing it for playback based on the display width, allowing the picture to maintain image quality regardless of the monitor's aspect ratio[[/note]] As it is with acceptance of [[AspectRatio 16:9]] screens[[note]]16:9 was chosen as a compromise ratio. 4:3 and Cinemascope, the two most common extremes in aspect ratio, will both take up 75% of the screen when {{letterbox}}ed.[[/note]] and the fact that both formats are priced the same, pan and scan has seriously declined in popularity, with letterboxing being seen as more "classy"; plus it doesn't lop off the rest of the screen. Some TV shows that were originally shot in 4:3 have been "remastered" for HD by cropping them to 16:9; this introduces a lot of the same problems of pan and scan, namely [[DigitalDestruction losing important parts of the picture]].

Pan and Scan started to decline in [[TurnOfTheMillennium the 2000s]], with UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} credited with killing it off for good[[note]]Pan and Scan [=DVDs=] exist, but were only made in the early days of the format, and typically for movies aimed at younger viewers; studios would often make widescreen versions available alongside pan and scan versions. DVD has an anamorphic widescreen mode, which is the innovation that killed Pan and Scan. The way it works is that a movie can letterboxed to 16:9 instead of 4:3, which provides more pixels to the movie and fewer to the letterbox. It is [[VisualCompression squeezed into the 720x480 resolution of the DVD]], with the player unsqueezing it for playback based on the display width, allowing the picture to maintain image quality regardless of the monitor's aspect ratio[[/note]] As it is with acceptance of [[AspectRatio 16:9]] screens[[note]]16:9 was chosen as a compromise ratio. 4:3 and Cinemascope, the two most common extremes in aspect ratio, will both take up 75% of the screen when {{letterbox}}ed.[[/note]] and the fact that both formats are priced the same, pan and scan has seriously declined in popularity, with letterboxing being seen as more "classy"; plus it doesn't lop off the rest of the screen.

Pan and Scan started to decline in [[TurnOfTheMillennium the 2000s]], with UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} credited with killing it off for good[[note]]Pan and Scan [=DVDs=] exist, but were only made in the early days of the format, and typically for content aimed at younger viewers. DVD has an anamorphic widescreen mode, which is the innovation that killed Pan and Scan. The way it works is that a movie can letterboxed to 16:9 instead of 4:3, which provides more pixels to the movie and fewer to the letterbox. It is [[VisualCompression squeezed into the 720x480 resolution of the DVD]], with the player unsqueezing it for playback based on the display width, allowing the picture to maintain image quality regardless of the monitor's aspect ratio[[/note]] As it is with acceptance of [[AspectRatio 16:9]] screens[[note]]16:9 was chosen as a compromise ratio. 4:3 and Cinemascope, the two most common extremes in aspect ratio, will both take up 75% of the screen when {{letterbox}}ed.[[/note]] and the fact that both formats are priced the same, pan and scan has seriously declined in popularity, with letterboxing being seen as more "classy"; plus it doesn't lop off the rest of the screen.

Pan and Scan started to decline in [[TurnOfTheMillennium the 2000s]], with UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} credited with killing it off for good[[note]]Pan and Scan [=DVDs=] exist, but were only made in the early days of the format. DVD has an anamorphic widescreen mode, which is the innovation that killed Pan and Scan. The way it works is that a movie can letterboxed to 16:9 instead of 4:3, which provides more pixels to the movie and fewer to the letterbox. It is [[VisualCompression squeezed into the 720x480 resolution of the DVD]], with the player unsqueezing it for playback based on the display width, allowing the picture to maintain image quality regardless of the monitor's aspect ratio[[/note]] As it is with acceptance of [[AspectRatio 16:9]] screens[[note]]16:9 was chosen as a compromise ratio. 4:3 and Cinemascope, the two most common extremes in aspect ratio, will both take up 75% of the screen when {{letterbox}}ed.[[/note]] and the fact that both formats are priced the same, pan and scan has seriously declined in popularity, with letterboxing being seen as more "classy"; plus it doesn't lop off the rest of the screen.

* ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' was shot in widescreen but got chopped down to 4:3 in both theatres and on VHS, then to add insult to injury, that version was cropped vertically for the 2001 "widescreen" DVD. The 2011 Blu-ray restored its original aspect ratio.

* ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' first got chopped down to 4:3 pan-n-scam, then to add insult to injury, that version was cropped vertically for the 2001 "widescreen" DVD. The 2011 Blu-ray restored its original aspect ratio.

* Some of Creator/CartoonNetwork's broadcasts of ''{{Anime/Doraemon}}'' consist of older episodes created before the anime jumped into widescreen, with the top and bottom cropped so that they fit onto a 16:9 screen. Particular egregious in that some of the network's older programs that are still played on a night-time slot[[note]]i.e. past midnight[[/note]] (''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'') remain in 4:3.

* The short-lived smartphone-exclusive streaming app Quibi allowed people to watch content in vertical or horizontal aspect ratios. Many of the vertical versions are pan and scanned versions of the horizontal versions. Some also provided gimmicks, such as the horizontal versions looking like a normal TV show and the vertical version showing what's on the main character's phone.

** For the ''Franchise/DragonBall'' franchise, this trait is one of the biggest points of contention against Funimation's [[DigitalDestruction "remasters"]] of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' for DVD and Blu-Ray, mainly stemming from the perception that it is both unnecessary and awkward compared to the original 4:3 footage (the releases of ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' weren't cropped). Sadly, Creator/ToeiAnimation themselves followed this approach when making ''Anime/DragonBallZKai: The Final Chapters'' to adhere to Japanese broadcast standards, as it was cheaper to do that than to also make a separate uncropped version for the home release.

** When Disney began streaming ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' on Disney+, every pre-season 20 episode was cropped like this, rather than being pillarboxed as it was on prior streaming platforms. This led to a lot of visual gags being completely cut out of the frame, and there was enough public outcry that [[https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/15/20967429/disney-plus-simpsons-feedback-older-episodes-original-aspect-ratio-2020 Disney vowed to fix them shortly afterward.]]

Contrast {{Letterbox}}, Open Matte, VisualCompression, and WidescreenShot. Similar to ScreenCrunch in video games.

Contrast {{Letterbox}}, Open Matte, VisualCompression, and WidescreenShot.

** For the ''Franchise/DragonBall'' franchise, this trait is one of the biggest points of contention against Funimation's [[DigitalDestruction "remasters"]] of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' for DVD and Blu-Ray, mainly stemming from the perception that it is both unnecessary and awkward compared to the original 4:3 footage (the releases of ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' weren't cropped). Sadly, Creator/ToeiAnimation themselves followed this approach when making ''Anime/DragonBallKai: The Final Chapters'' to adhere to Japanese broadcast standards, as it was cheaper to do that than to also make a separate uncropped version for the home release.

This practice was common in TheEighties and TheNineties when movies were released on [[UsefulNotes/{{VCR}} VHS and Betamax]] and [=TVs=] had smaller screens. UsefulNotes/LaserDisc used to be primarily Pan and Scan, too, but starting in the late '80s, it started releasing {{letterbox}} versions of every widescreen film available. It was seen as the premium format of movie buffs and A/V geeks. The VHS format would later follow suit, with movies featuring rare widescreen releases on tape oriented for videophiles in addition to Pan and Scan "fullscreen" releases provided for the broader public. This practice is still used today for some films when shown on TV channels, though letterbox movies on TV are more common than they used to be thanks to the advent of UsefulNotes/HighDefinition.

Since the pan looks entirely unlike a camera move, it can be very jarring for the viewer. Pan and Scan also has minor troubles whenever it encounters a WidescreenShot in a movie, having to pan across it or picking one little part. With the growing acceptance of the 16:9 (or '{{letterbox}}') ratio, publishers have differentiated the formats with pan and scan being marketed as "fullscreen" while letterboxed editions are "widescreen" (though as of 2017, you'll only find fullscreen films to purchase in store discount bins for stock manufactured at least a decade ago and still not sold).

Because of how ubiquitous Pan and Scan was and how much of a problem it was for both videophiles and filmmakers, many directors adopted the practice of shooting movies in "Open Matte" format, in which a film is shot in a full-frame aspect ratio but designed to be cropped to a widescreen format in the theater. Thus, movies could be screened to audiences in an intended widescreen format, but be un-cropped to 4:3 on both TV broadcasts and home media releases without needing to be given the Pan and Scan treatment[[labelnote:note 1]]In the silent era, the full 35mm film frame was exactly 4:3, assuming you use the standard four perfs per frame. The addition of sound-on-film tracks made the image slightly narrower to 6:5 (1.19:1) Movietone ratio. The film was then matted slightly shorter to Academy Ratio (11:8 or 1.375:1), which is very close to 4:3 (1.333:1), as illustrated [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_(image) here]]. The difference is so small that it's generally considered inconsequential except by only the most extreme videophiles.[[/labelnote]][[labelnote:note 2]]In many movies shot this way, VFX shots would have a "hard matte", meaning the widescreen theatrical frame is the most you can get. Showing these in open matte will reveal an AspectRatioSwitch. These shots had to be pan and scanned for fullscreen releases.[[/labelnote]][[labelnote:note 3]]This practice of 35mm with widescreen safe areas is [[OlderThanTheyThink older than home video]], as ''Film/OnTheWaterfront'' was shot in the same way so it could look good on older Academy Ratio screens and newer wide screens in TheFifties. It could be shown in Academy Ratio, 1.85:1, or anywhere in between. [[https://youtu.be/s7-aMi4Rr-4 This video essay explains in more detail]][[/labelnote]]. The most notable director to make use of this technique was Creator/StanleyKubrick, who used it for his [[Film/TheShining last]] [[Film/FullMetalJacket three]] [[Film/EyesWideShut movies]] (as they were produced when VHS and television broadcasts of films had already become commonplace) and even mandated in his will that open matte transfers be used for posthumous home media releases of all of his movies (which were shot in full-frame and cropped to widescreen in theaters even before he started consciously using the Open Matte technique) just to prevent any horizontal detail from being lost. Later home media releases made after the mass adoption of widescreen at home reverted back to a widescreen-friendly aspect ratio.

*** One side effect of Super 35 is a precipitous increase in {{visible boom mic}}s and matte boxes in television airings of 80s films, depending upon the nature of the shot; boom mics that had been framed-out on the 2.39 print suddenly became visible when the frame was embiggened. The Creator/{{BBC}}'s broadcasts of ''Film/JawsTheRevenge'' in the late-1990s/early-2000s led to some especially bad {{Special Effect Failure}}s; in the scene where the shark chases after Michael, audiences can now clearly see [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbv9IybXyKQ a pole sticking out of the beast's chest in every other shot!]]

* The Fullscreen DVD of ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' shows the IMAX scenes in Open Matte, while the scenes filmed in 35mm are pan and scan.

* The DVD release of ''FIlm/{{Spaceballs}}'' is a "flipper" disc with the original widescreen version on one side and the pan-and-scanned 4:3 version on the other. It includes a paper insert that educates the viewer on the difference and implores them to watch the widescreen version, using a screenshot of the characters skipping four abreast in a visual ShoutOut to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' as an example of the sort of gag that's ruined when the two characters on either side are cropped out of the picture. However, the 4:3 version can play out to the "We're in 'now' now" joke as Dark Helmet and Col. Sandurz were watching the movie in 4:3. All widescreen [=DVDs=] released by Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer during this time have similar inserts, but are often inaccurate depending upon the nature of how the movie was shot.

* The Fullscreen DVD of ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' shows the IMAX scenes in OpenMatte, while the scenes filmed in 35mm are pan and scan.

Because of how ubiquitous Pan and Scan was and how much of a problem it was for both videophiles and filmmakers, many directors adopted the practice of shooting movies in "Open Matte" format, in which a film is shot in a full-frame aspect ratio but designed to be cropped to a widescreen format in the theater. Thus, movies could be screened to audiences in an intended widescreen format, but be un-cropped to 4:3 on both TV broadcasts and home media releases without needing to be given the Pan and Scan treatment[[note]]the full space of a 35mm frame is slightly wider than 4:3, as illustrated [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_(image) here]], but the difference is so small that it's generally considered inconsequential except by only the most extreme videophiles[[/note]]. The most notable director to make use of this technique was Creator/StanleyKubrick, who used it for his [[Film/TheShining last]] [[Film/FullMetalJacket three]] [[Film/EyesWideShut movies]] (as they were produced when VHS and television broadcasts of films had already become commonplace) and even mandated in his will that open matte transfers be used for posthumous home media releases of all of his movies (which were shot in full-frame and cropped to widescreen in theaters even before he started consciously using the Open Matte technique) just to prevent any horizontal detail from being lost. Later home media releases made after the mass adoption of widescreen at home reverted back to a widescreen-friendly aspect ratio.

* When Creator/{{Terrytoons}} started making shorts in [=CinemaScope=], much of the action was kept in the center of the screen so it wouldn't be lost when they would be eventually be shown on television. It helped that, by that time, the studio was owned by [[Creator/{{CBS}} a TV network]].

Because of how ubiquitous Pan and Scan was and how much of a problem it was for both videophiles and filmmakers, many directors adopted the practice of shooting movies in "Open Matte" format, in which a film is shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio but designed to be cropped to a widescreen format in the theater. Thus, movies could be screened to audiences in an intended widescreen format, but be un-cropped on both TV broadcasts and home media releases without needing to be given the Pan and Scan treatment. The most notable director to make use of this technique was Creator/StanleyKubrick, who used it for his [[Film/TheShining last]] [[Film/FullMetalJacket three]] [[Film/EyesWideShut movies]] (as they were produced when VHS and television broadcasts of films had already become commonplace) and even mandated in his will that open matte transfers be used for posthumous home media releases just to prevent any horizontal detail from being lost. Later home media releases made after the mass adoption of widescreen at home reverted back to a widescreen-friendly aspect ratio.