SFA Theatre Arts Division's production of Six Characters in
Search of an Author, February 21 to 24, at the BU Theatre
Mainstage  Vol. IV No. 23   ·   16 February 2001    Search the
Bridge   Contact Us   Ask the Bridge  How are VCR movies
formatted to fit my TV screen? Every time I see that notice
before the feature presentation begins, I always wonder what it
means. And does it matter what size TV screen I have?  Anyone
who rents a VCR movie has seen this notice, "This film has been
modified from its original version. It has been formatted to fit
this screen," prior to the feature presentation. Charles
Merzbacher, associate professor of film in the College of
Communication's department of film and television, goes back to
the 1950s to answer this week's question.  "One of the ways that
the film industry combated the surge in popularity of television
in the 1950s was to offer movies in a variety of formats," he
says. "This ushered in the era of 3-D movies and other
experiments in projection such as Cinerama. A