Techniques

During the "pan and scan" process, an editor selects the locations of the aboriginal filmed agreement that assume to be the focus of the attempt and makes abiding that these are affected (i.e. "scanned"). If the important activity accouterment to a new position in the frame, the abettor moves the scanner to chase it, creating the aftereffect of a "pan" shot. In a arena in which the focus does not gradually about-face from one accumbent position to another—such as actors at anniversary acute agreeable in accelerated chat with anniversary other—the editor may accept to "cut" from one to the added rather than rapidly animadversion aback and forth. If the actors are afterpiece calm on the screen, the editor may pan slightly, alternately agriculture one or the added partially. This adjustment allows the best resolution of the image, aback it uses all the accessible vertical video browse lines—which is abnormally important for NTSC televisions, accepting a rather low amount of curve available. It aswell gives a full-screen angel on a acceptable television set; appropriately pan-and-scan versions of films on cine or DVD are generally accepted as fullscreen. However, it aswell has several drawbacks. Some beheld advice is necessarily circumscribed out. It can aswell change a attempt in which the camera was originally anchored to one in which it is frequently panning, or change a individual connected attempt into one with common cuts. In a attempt which was originally panned to appearance something new, or one in which something enters the attempt from off-camera, it changes the timing of these appearances to the audience. As an example, in the blur Oliver!, fabricated in Panavision, the bent Bill Sikes commits a murder. The annihilation takes abode mostly offscreen, abaft a access wall, and Oliver is a attestant to it. As Sikes accomplish aback from abaft the wall, we see Oliver from the aback watching him in terror. In the pan-and-scan adaptation of the film, we see Oliver's acknowledgment as the annihilation is getting committed, but not if Sikes accomplish astern from the bank accepting done it.

Another example, as Martin Scorsese has acclaimed on television, is in the 1959 Ben-Hur. During the agent race, Ben-Hur drives four horses, but in the pan and browse adaptation of the film, the admirers sometimes sees alone two.

Often in a pan and browse telecast, a appearance will assume to be speaking offscreen, if what has absolutely happened is that the pan and browse address has cut his angel out of the screen.