APPLICANT #1: Is Whitney Bradshaw the Young & Free SC Spokesperson?

One week in and we already have our first applicant! Whitney Bradshaw is a 22-year-old student from Summerville, South Carolina.

Here is Whitney's video application:

Here is Whitney's current situation:

"Hiya! I'm working on my Education, Media Design, and Technology Masters, online with Full Sail University. But at the moment, I am currently reading up on "Dungeons and Dragons" and "World of Warcraft" for a class (yup, a class). I'm also reading other books... probably about vampires. I just finished watching "Coraline" with my sister. And, ya know, I'm working on checking out some grades on some short films I had to submit for my last class. Big, huge, enormous fun to be had! :)"

Here is Whitney's blog post:

"Widescreen vs. Fullscreen (i.e. Pan-and-scan)

Okay, so, for some of you who are reading this, you may ask, "Whitney, why are you going on a rant about the continuing battle between Widescreen and Fullscreen movies?" I would answer you, "Because it is something that is currently and will forever plague my existence." First, I suppose, I have to say that, as an avid movie viewer, people ask me this question all the time.

A good place to start, I suppose, are the pros and cons of each. Widescreen movies show the film in the aspect ratio, meaning the format, the shape, that the film was meant to be shown in, which, on a TV, means that there is a black bar above and below the movie itself. Fullscreen movies show the movie the full size of whatever screen you happen to be watching it on. The biggest difference is this: Fullscreen movies enable, usually, what is called "Pan and scan." This means that the entire frame of the film isn't on the screen at the same time; somebody, usually an editor or someone from the release company, decides what the most important pieces of the frame are and that's what you see. Here lies the conundrum. If you want to see the entire movie the way you see it in theaters, the entire frame of the film, you have to watch it in widescreen. Period. The problem with this is that, particularly with older movies (like those in Cinemascope or something that actually oversizes the screen), the black on the top and bottom of the screen may be really large, leaving just a teeny-tiny strip of movie in the middle. BUT... with fullscreen, you are missing the edges of the screen, where there are sometimes some really cool cinematic elements. Now, if these don't matter to you, then by all means, watch fullscreen movies.

So, what is my opinion, you may ask (if you can't tell already). Well, if you are a true filmophile, a cinemaphile, a lover of all things movie... If you can quote entire passages of movies by heart, or think about naming your children after your favorite movie characters... You should probably watch widescreen movies; these produce the most authetic film experiences. Just watch them on a bigger TV. If you just watch movies to watch movies, feel free to watch fullscreen movies. I also recommend fullscreen movies for viewing a movie for the first time, i.e. a new movie - this gives you the biggest picture to pick up the main plot (what's most important for a first time viewing). However, in my humble opinion, go with the widescreen. Now, enjoy the movie. And pass the popcorn...

Whitney"

The Y&F SC Team

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