# Stranger than Fiction - Technical Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-than-fiction-technical-question/390671 "2007-02-03T16:15:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Punkyova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@The\_Punkyova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Punkyova)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-than-fiction-technical-question/390671/1 "2007-02-03T16:15:01Z")
My friend and I just saw this last night at a second run theater. We enjoyed it, but… For about the first quarter to third of the movie, there was a boom mike clearly visible at the top of the screen. I kept waiting for it to have something to do with the movie, since it seemed odd to me that a major motion picture would have such an obvious problem repeatedly (i.e., not just in once scene). Obviously, it was never mentioned, and it went away after a while. My friend thought that it may have been because we saw it in a second run theater, as she vaguely thinks that she sees a lot more of those kinds of problems at the cheaper shows. I’m skeptical, as I think it would be the same prints, just getting there months later. On the other hand, I checked the other “Stranger Than Fiction” threads, and no one mentioned this, so maybe she’s right. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-than-fiction-technical-question/390671/2 "2007-02-03T16:51:52Z")
You’re friend’s probably right. What’s filmed is not exactly what’s shown on screen, the top and bottom are cut off by the projector. Directors know this, so they’ll often use a good take where the boom or other distracting details are above or below the shot. However, this is trusting that the projectionist knows how to center the film properly. I wouldn’t be shocked if a second run theater isn’t using the best of projectionist talent. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-than-fiction-technical-question/390671/3 "2007-02-03T16:57:12Z")
Roger Ebert has a “movie answer man” column in which this question gets asked repeatedly. **Menocchio** has given the same answer that Ebert does. If you see this, complain to the management immediately and it might get fixed. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-than-fiction-technical-question/390671/4 "2007-02-03T17:26:18Z")
The first time I saw “Secrets and Lies” was in a small art house where all the staff seemed to be like the pimply faced, squeeky voiced kids out of “The Simpsons.” Boom mikes were visible in nearly every frame. A few weeks later I saw the film in a bigger chain theater. No boom mikes! ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-than-fiction-technical-question/390671/5 "2007-02-03T19:46:24Z")
I’m guessing the fiml was shot in a format called Super35, which uses the full 4:3 frame. For DVD release they have a ready-made version that doesn’t need pan-and-scan butchery, and for normal widescreen TV (16:9 ratio) and theatrical release (1.85:1, typically) they just grab the appropriate section of the frame. If it’s not hard-matted in printing for theatrical release, it’s supposed to be masked to 1.85:1 in the projector, so this was a case of sloppy showmanship at the theater or even sloppier work by the studio.