Films can not exceed an "R" rating.
Films can not use copyrighted materials without permission.
Films should be letterboxed.
Okay, from here on, we need films to be given to us letterboxed.
First, we're not doing this to be a pain in your butt or to impare your artistic creativity. We want your films to be the best they can be. But we need them to be letterboxed.
Q: Why?
A: Simple, the screen at Madstone is widescreen, and 4x3 films won't fit. The only way to get around that is to resize your film to be the right height, and hence narrower also (i.e. smaller image).
Q: How?
A: Here's how we do it. Shoot your film in 4:3 format (not 16:9), but plan to letterbox it in post. Scotch tape on an LCD works good for guides. Next, edit your film like it's a regular 4:3 film. Next, make a letterboxing mask (details below) and slap it on top of your film. Render it out and put it on tape.
Q: What if I don't want my film letterboxed?
A: The screen is wider, so we'll have to squish your film down to fit the screen. On the DVD, it may end up like that too, depending on how much time we have. It's like shooting in NTSC vs. PAL. Think of it as a technical requirement. Sorry.
Q: How do I make a letterboxing mask?
A: In photoshop, make a new document 720x480. Fill it with black. Make a new layer. Fill IT with black. Do a numeric transform and shrink the height of that new layer by 75% and leave it centered. Next, select that layer, inverse the selection. Go to 'channels' window and "save selection as channel". Save what you have (which looks black)as a .TIFF file 32bit and flattened layers. Basically you've made an alpha channel that keeps the bars and cuts out the middle."