Stranger Things Creators Hope to Release Pan-and-Scan Version of Series

Over the course of four seasons, Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer have showcased their love for the ’80s in a number of ways, with the pair recently revealing that this love isn’t limited to references within the TV show, as they also hope to revive a home-video trend from that era for their own series. With the changes in aspect ratios between movies and TV sets up through the 2000s, the Duffers admitted that they were interested in releasing an alternate pan-and-scan version of their series. Stranger Things Season 4 is now streaming on Netflix.

“I want to do a VHS. I want a pan-and-scan version, of at least Season 1. I just want to try to pan and scan it,” Ross Duffer admitted to Collider.

With movie releases offering audiences a much wider picture than what was available to view on a TV set, this would often mean that films would be modified with a slightly different crop on home video. For scenes in which characters had more distance between them, this would also mean that some pan-and-scan titles would artificially move the camera to allow audiences to comprehend how such encounters were unfolding.

Ross went on to note that the filmmakers have already experimented with how a pan-and-scan version of their series would look, detailing, “Skip the VCR, hit it a couple of times, put it on Netflix. At least the nerd in me loves it, the nostalgic factor. We had our colorist do the opening scene of Season 1 pan and scan for us.”

With a wider aspect ratio giving the series a more cinematic look, the brothers noted that it would merely be a novelty for devout fans to enjoy, as Matt Duffer expressed, “[I]t wouldn’t be embedded, it’d be its own separate thing. Like Stranger Things VHS, whatever it is. I’m excited about it, we’ll see if it happens.”

The prominence of Laserdisc and DVD in the ’90s allowed for studios to more easily accommodate changing aspect ratios, while TV sets themselves in the 2000s all began to adopt a different aspect ratio and eliminate the concept of the pan and scan almost entirely. Interestingly, when The Simpsons debuted on Disney+, the series faced the opposite challenge, in that it was always crafted in a 4:3 aspect ratio, so when it appeared on modern televisions, the aspect ratio changes cut out some visual gags. The streamer has since implemented the option to watch the series either in full screen or in its original aspect ratio.

Stranger Things Season 4 is out now on Netflix.

Would you be interested in a pan-and-scan version of Stranger Things? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!