Two series, and insofar as I know, *only* two series are currently being
shot widescreen: B5 and Lois and Clark. Here's easy verification: fire up
the first season tape of "The Parliament of Dreams." Fast-forward to the
Minbari ceremony that's also used in the main title sequence. Now compare
the two; you see more of the shot in the widescreen opening than in the
regular shot.

We generally compose for widescreen but protect for regular aspect
ratio, which is how the show is broadcast currently in the US. Sometimes it
gets a little glitchy; in "Matters of Honor," when Marcus hands off the
minbari fighting pike to Delenn, it's very visible in the widescreen shot,
but you barely see it on the edge of the regular shot.

BTW, Germany and France have signed on to follow us through the
post-production process for (trying to remember now) either season 3 or
season 4, re-telecineing the negative stock back to the original widescreen
aspect ratio for broadcast in letterbox format in those countries. The UK,
via Channel 4, is still in negotiations over this.


jms