Open matte

For other uses, see Matte (disambiguation).
A frame from a 35 mm film print. Here, the picture is framed for the intended theatrical aspect ratio (inside the yellow box). The picture outside of the yellow box is matted out when the film is shown in widescreen. For 4:3 television and home media versions, a large portion of the picture can be used (inside the red box) with an open matte.
Open matte example with a slight shift of the image section upwards.
Aspect ratio 2.35:1 versus 1.85:1

Open matte is a filming technique that involves matting out the top and bottom of the film frame in the movie projector (known as a soft matte) for the widescreen theatrical release and then scanning the film without a matte (at Academy ratio) for a full screen home video release. It is roughly equivalent to an uncropped version of the film.

Open matte can be used with non-anamorphic films presented in 2.20:1 or 2.39:1, but it isn't used as often, mainly because it adds too much additional headroom, depending upon how well the framing was protected or for aesthetic purposes. Instead, those films will employ either pan and scan or reframing using either the well-protected areas or the areas of interest. Films shot anamorphically use the entire 35 mm frame (except for the soundtrack area), so they must use pan and scan as a result.