Pan and Scan

What is pan and scan?  Why was it created?  How does it affect a film when it's transferred from the theatre to home video?  In your own words explain 3 examples from the video on how pan and scan changes what the filmmakers intended.

    The pan and scan is a technique to fit films on tv screen which was especially used in the past when television was still in a 4:3 aspect ratio while films were being made in wider ratios. It essentially crops the film and pans the area shown to the audience, creating a somewhat unnatural looking pan. This was created when films began to be aired on television, but the aspect ratios didn't match. The other choice would be to letterbox the image, but many general audience members though it looked odd having black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. The effect of the pan and scan is essentially redirecting the film as the person who creates the pan and scan chooses what to include, what to omit, and what they think the audience should focus on. Most often then not, there will be some detail, big or small, that will be cropped out of frame when using the pan and scan. One of the three examples included in the video was Ben-Hur (1959), which utilized action that would take place in every part of the screen: the main focus, the peripherals, etc. With the pan and scan, a lot of that action is eliminated, reducing the scope and feelings of the action scenes. Another example was Gigi (1958), which revealed how a lot of the artistry and composition of the shots are lost by the way that the pan and scan moves defensively, as though it's trying its hardest to show what's important but losing a good amount of what makes the shots. Another part of the composition which is lost from a pan and scan is the emotional impact and storytelling. This is explained through Lawrence of Arabia as many of the shots are extremely wide in order to show the vastness of the desert, but the feeling is lost once the image is cropped by the pan and scan.