New After Life DVD

[Michael E. Kerpan]

The After Life DVD mystery figured out.  

As I reported before -- the new DVD of After Life claims on the box to be
widescreen, but displays as full-screen (on my player at least).  I never got
any response to my inquiry to New Yorker Films, but I think I have solved the
"mystery".  In comparing scenes depicted in the Japanese trailer (which is
displayed in letterboxed format), with the actual film on the DVD (which fills
the full screen), I noted that the side to side framing was the same in both
versions, while the full version had a little extra on top and bottom compared
to the trailer. 

In doing some research, I discovered that some films are actually filmed in 4:3
format, but scenes are really composed with an eye to their appearance in
widescreen display.  Thus, the film, as shown in the theater, is (in effect)
letterboxed (though the missing information isn't particularly important).
Then, when the video is released, it can contain everything one saw on the
silver screen, plus a bit extra above and below.  It would appear that this is
what was done  in the case of the After Life DVD.  If this is true, the video
release might also be "letterbox-plus" (though I _think_ the box described it as
full-screen). It doesn't appear that there is any clear terminology for
describing the result of this dual format film/video process.

Michael Kerpan
Boston, MA