The New and Improved Blu-Ray Megathread

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Bambi: Jan 26, 2009; Any time you see Delekhan post, make this face and tell him how much he owns.

Egbert Souse posted:

Well, I guess I'm going to cancel Spartacus until it goes to to under $10. It looks exactly like the HD-DVD captures.

What the hell is going on at Universal?

Robert Harris to Universal: "Stop transferring. Stop mastering. Stop distribution."

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/300533/a-few-words-about-elizabeth-in-blu-ray

quote:

Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth was a quality film when it arrived in 1998.

Now via Universal's new Blu-ray, the direction is unprofesional, the acting by plasticized replicas of Blanchett, Rush, Gielgud and Attenborough is as stilted and unpleasant as the fake hairpieces. The audio still works, but to what avail. This was never meant to be Elizabeth: The Radio Show.

Heavily processed for grain removal, softened -- and then, of necessity, sharpened, with all of the requisite force fields and halos intact. There is no remaining fine detail whatsoever. This horrific Blu-ray should be put out of its misery.

The fate of cinematography, direction, acting and art direction in the cinema all hinge on reproduction. When quality reproduction fails, so does the film.

As I'm certain that this will not be recalled for some error or other, I believe that the best move for Universal is to halt all distribution of catalog titles. Stop transferring. Stop mastering. Stop distribution. If not for the sake of the films, do it for our planet.

Fail.

RAH

# ? May 12, 2010 16:42

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 01:36

Butthole Prince: Nov 19, 2004; She said that she was working for the ABC News / It was as much of the alphabet as she knew how to use.

Does anyone know the status of The Great Escape on Blu-Ray? Has there been any discussion of a release for it?

# ? May 12, 2010 16:51

Egbert Souse: Nov 6, 2008

I don't get it, Universal has had some of the best DVD transfers out there. Even their DVD of American Graffiti from 1998 is flawless.

Maybe this is fallout from the vault fire from a few years ago? Perhaps they lost the original unfiltered HD transfers and only have the processed masters.

# ? May 12, 2010 17:40

Bambi: Jan 26, 2009; Any time you see Delekhan post, make this face and tell him how much he owns.

Egbert Souse posted:

Maybe this is fallout from the vault fire from a few years ago? Perhaps they lost the original unfiltered HD transfers and only have the processed masters.

Insofar as Spartacus is concerned, this is not the case. Robert Harris shared his thoughts:

quote:

Twenty years ago, under the aegis of Universal�s Tom Pollack, and with the cooperation and support of both Kirk Douglas and Stanley Kubrick, we spent a year reconstructing and restoring Spartacus from extant film elements. The process was difficult, tedious, and expensive. Work was performed virtually on a shot by shot basis.

An HD master was created from our 65mm interpositive some ten years ago. AFAIK it has previously been used for all SD as well as HD releases of Spartacus, I am told that the master was returned to HTV for clean-up and removal of unwanted noise and grain.

HTV, which performed meticulous dirt and grain removal on another large format production, Franklin J. Shaffner�s brilliant 1970 Academy Award winner Patton, has been brought back to perform similar duties with Mr. Kubrick�s Spartacus. Only now, with newer, next gen software, the final results, both based upon the original transfers and the newer software are different.

Many people were thrilled with the look and overall textures of Patton, which was smoother than a baby�s bottom, and to give it proper credit, looked beautiful on smaller screens.

Where are we now?

Where before, we had heavy noise as captured by the HD transfer, we now have something akin to the surface of a quiet pond in which not even the smallest ripple distorts the surface. Make no mistake, the video noise inherent in the HD master was a problem. The film element upon which the master was based had the normal grain attributes of large format separation masters, which are nominal. No grain reduction was necessary.

The information that I received is that HTV noted the problems, and instituted a fix based upon their newest generation noise and grain reduction software.

After doing a comparison of the HD vs. the new Blu-ray, here�s what I�m seeing:

The video noise, inherent in the HD master is gone. That�s a good thing, but keep in mind that it should never have been there to begin with. In removing the noise, all grain is also gone, replaced by what appears to be a pleasant sheen of artificial film grain.

All of the detail captured by Academy Award winning cinematographer Russell Metty�s meticulous large format Technirama camera, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Color Cinematography, is unfortunately also gone.

All high frequency information has been lost, and with it all of the detail in the image.

In its place the newly softened image has been electronically sharpened. We now have a halos. Contrast has been boosted to make the image appear sharper than it is, but this is perceived as opposed to actual sharpness. Fortunately, possibly based upon the new software, we have not gone plastic.

During the restoration of Spartacus, we went through numerous tests to find the optics that could reproduce the immense amount of detail found in the original elements. I recall one test that we screened in the Hitchcock Theater at Universal. The image quality wasn�t quite there. It was slightly soft. When I mentioned that detail was missing in the wood that surrounded the gladiator�s arena, one of the gentlemen from the post house responded �But you can see the wood grain.� I distinctly remember getting an elbow in the ribs at that moment from our tech assistant, Mike Hyatt. He knew where this was going. What we needed to properly represent Mr. Kubrick�s film was not the ability to see the wood grain, but rather to see the insects eating their way through the wood grain. Within two weeks an optical system was put in place that enabled us to reproduce the information as exposed to the original elements.

In Universal�s new Blu-ray release of Stanley Kubrick�s Spartacus, you can almost see the wood grain, but now that grain is covered in electronic enhancement, halos and unnecessary contrast.

The pity is that Spartacus, like Out of Africa and Elizabeth makes Blu-ray appear to be something that it is not � a flawed technological system for viewing motion pictures in home theaters. I was hopeful that the lessons learned with the Blu-ray releases of Patton, The Longest Day and Gangs of New York might have been taken to heart.

They have not.

Where Fox and Disney have been releasing gorgeous Blu-rays of their catalog titles, and Disney recently released a fully corrected version of Gangs, it is now Universal that is placing data of less than stellar quality in the holding container that is Blu-ray. This potentially damages the reputation of the Blu-ray system, while it absolutely damages the concept that is the �art� of cinema, and proper representation of the what was created by the filmmakers. Where we often have to make compromises between art and commerce, with this Blu-ray of Spartacus there appears to be no compromise -- only the resolute purity of commerce.

There will be many people who will love the Blu-ray of Spartacus, especially on smaller screens. I�ll not get into color, densities, black levels or audio because any discussion of those attributes is irrelevant.

There is no problem with the film elements held on Spartacus. There is a 65mm interpositive with virtually all of the basic color timing and densities intact. There are two audio masters. One which replicates the original 6-track 70mm Todd-AO mix, and another, which updates it for those theaters, equipped at the time of the restoration with �baby booms.� It is the Todd-AO mix that properly represents the wide proscenium mix for properly spacial dialogue.

A return to the 65mm IP would not be an extremely expensive undertaking, especially based upon the importance of the film, and of potential worldwide income. The pity is that whatever entity is controlling the purse strings is unable to recognize that fact.

Here we have an example of great classic cinema. Written, produced, photographed, edited and scored by some of the finest talent in the industry. Spartacus is a huge, epic film about the enduring spirit of mankind and the concept of freedom.

It has been turned, on this Blu-ray, into a sideshow pipsqueak, an ugly and unfortunate bit of home video fodder, which would be far better suited to VHS.

I would suggest a recall. Spartacus on Blu-ray could have been as Mr. Kubrick wished it to be � a heroic and majestic piece of epic entertainment. With a simple new image harvest, Spartacus could be a piece of brilliant Blu-ray software.

As it is, Spartacus receives an absolute and undeniable�

Fail.

RAH

# ? May 12, 2010 21:38

doctor thodt: Apr 2, 2004; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

On the Saving Private Ryan issue: you can either return your disc to the retailer, or call 888-370-8621 for exchange details. Fixed discs should be in stores by next Tuesday.

I like how they'll recall SPR over a teeny-tiny little sync issue but Gladiator has been on store shelves for months when the whole movie is hosed.

doctor thodt fucked around with this message at 23:09 on May 12, 2010

# ? May 12, 2010 23:07

BitterAvatar: Jun 19, 2004; I do not miss the future

doctor thodt posted:

On the Saving Private Ryan issue: you can either return your disc to the retailer, or call 888-370-8621 for exchange details. Fixed discs should be in stores by next Tuesday.

I like how they'll recall SPR over a teeny-tiny little sync issue but Gladiator has been on store shelves for months when the whole movie is hosed.

Oh god what's wrong with Gladiator? I didn't even realize it had issues.

# ? May 12, 2010 23:29

Professor Clumsy: Sep 12, 2008; It is a while still till Sunrise - and in the daytime I sleep, my dear fellow, I sleep the very deepest of sleeps...

BitterAvatar posted:

Oh god what's wrong with Gladiator? I didn't even realize it had issues.

It's badly written.

# ? May 12, 2010 23:33

Keanu Grieves: Dec 30, 2002

BitterAvatar posted:

Oh god what's wrong with Gladiator? I didn't even realize it had issues.

It's too much awesomeness to comfortably fit on one disc.

# ? May 12, 2010 23:33

BitterAvatar: Jun 19, 2004; I do not miss the future

Stop toying with my emotions!

# ? May 12, 2010 23:38

Keanu Grieves: Dec 30, 2002

BitterAvatar posted:

Stop toying with my emotions!

He's just out to deceive you.

# ? May 12, 2010 23:39

Nut Bunnies: May 24, 2005; Fun Shoe

Wait, are they loving releasing The Pacific in parts?! :psypop:

# ? May 12, 2010 23:45

blast0rama: Aug 13, 2003; Tingly.

BitterAvatar posted:

Oh god what's wrong with Gladiator? I didn't even realize it had issues.

The regular cut and extended cut scenes come from different masters, and the extended cut scenes are of a noticably different, better quality. The regular cut scenes are full of DNR and other modifications, which makes it look waxy and odd at times.

Granted, I probably wouldn't have noticed this unless the fine folks at AVSForums sperged out about it, but here we are...

# ? May 12, 2010 23:53

The Anime Liker: Aug 8, 2009; by VideoGames

BitterAvatar posted:

Oh god what's wrong with Gladiator? I didn't even realize it had issues.

Rampant historical inaccuracies.
:goonsay:

Also, Russell Crowe. :smug:

So what do I do about Saving Private Ryan if I lost my receipt?

# ? May 13, 2010 00:00

doctor thodt: Apr 2, 2004; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

doctor thodt posted:

888-370-8621

# ? May 13, 2010 00:59

FirstCongoWar: Aug 21, 2002; It feels so 80's or early 90's to be political.

I should send in the netflix copy of Saving Private Ryan I got today for replacement.

Fail.

RAH

# ? May 13, 2010 01:04

Egbert Souse: Nov 6, 2008

Wow, my new Vaio displays BluRay beautifully. It's almost too bright... probably need to mess with the settings. It was delivered to my office (UPS usually doesn't come near my place regularly) and my coworkers were impressed with how nice The General looked. And it's only a 1600x900 res screen.

But it's preinstalled with WinDVD, which happens to not have any new updates that allow for Avatar to play. The only option is to buy a $40 upgrade.

Are there any free BluRay programs or am I stuck with buying software to play one title? VLC doesn't seem to have codecs yet.

# ? May 13, 2010 02:24

Star War Sex Parrot: Oct 2, 2003

Egbert Souse posted:

Are there any free BluRay programs or am I stuck with buying software to play one title? VLC doesn't seem to have codecs yet.

Blu-Ray on the PC is pretty awful. Shell out the cash for WinDVD, PowerDVD, or Total Media Theater.

VLC will play them if you can decrypt them (AnyDVD HD, MakeMKV, etc.) but it's a buggy piece of poo poo with content that large. Seeking tends to crash it.

# ? May 13, 2010 03:07

nuncle jimbo: Apr 3, 2009

Captain Charisma posted:

Wait, are they loving releasing The Pacific in parts?!

Wait, you mean the various discs are being split up? Link?

Actually I think that'd be pretty cool if they only released Sledge's arc, seeing that that's the good part.

# ? May 13, 2010 04:23

Harlock: Jan 15, 2006; Tap "A" to drink!!!

uncle jimbo posted:

Wait, you mean the various discs are being split up? Link?

Actually I think that'd be pretty cool if they only released Sledge's arc, seeing that that's the good part.

Part One is being sold with Band of Brothers, that's all I've seen about it. So, again, I think it's just a promotional tie-in unless they blatantly came out and said they're doing it.

# ? May 13, 2010 04:25

Call Me Charlie: Dec 3, 2005; by Smythe

Egbert Souse posted:

Wow, my new Vaio displays BluRay beautifully. It's almost too bright... probably need to mess with the settings. It was delivered to my office (UPS usually doesn't come near my place regularly) and my coworkers were impressed with how nice The General looked. And it's only a 1600x900 res screen.

But it's preinstalled with WinDVD, which happens to not have any new updates that allow for Avatar to play. The only option is to buy a $40 upgrade.

Are there any free BluRay programs or am I stuck with buying software to play one title? VLC doesn't seem to have codecs yet.

strwrsxprt was right on the money. I would suggest Arcsoft (the trial first) even though they basically told me to go gently caress myself when I told them that my import HD-DVDs crashed their player.

http://www.arcsoft.com/estore/software_title.asp?ProductCode=TMT3P

ARC404P20 will take 20% off.

Call Me Charlie fucked around with this message at 05:33 on May 13, 2010

# ? May 13, 2010 05:29

The Lucas: Dec 28, 2006

Anyone know why Netflix takes a bit to get some Blu Rays? Not the WB or Fox discs, I know about that, but I want to get Django and they don't even have a release date. It took them forever to get Vivre Se Vie as well.

Also, does anyone have a link to the Master of Cinema Blu Ray sale page?

# ? May 13, 2010 05:36

Agreed: Dec 30, 2003; The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down

The Lucas posted:

Anyone know why Netflix takes a bit to get some Blu Rays? Not the WB or Fox discs, I know about that, but I want to get Django and they don't even have a release date. It took them forever to get Vivre Se Vie as well.

Also, does anyone have a link to the Master of Cinema Blu Ray sale page?

Edit: Way too late to be reading and posting, your post makes it clear you know about the time limit they signed with a few majors. I dunno, sorry.

# ? May 13, 2010 08:51

Keanu Grieves: Dec 30, 2002

The Lucas posted:

Anyone know why Netflix takes a bit to get some Blu Rays? Not the WB or Fox discs, I know about that, but I want to get Django and they don't even have a release date. It took them forever to get Vivre Se Vie as well.

Also, does anyone have a link to the Master of Cinema Blu Ray sale page?

I've wondered this too, and the only solution I can come up with is that they have a limited buying fund, and some higher-ups decide which movies to get on Blu-Ray and which ones to avoid.

I'm getting increasingly irritated that I pay for a Blu-Ray membership and they don't have the breadth of coverage they have when it comes to DVDs.

# ? May 13, 2010 09:38

FitFortDanga: Nov 19, 2004; Nice try, asshole

As everyone feared, Storaro got his greasy mitts on Apocalypse Now for the new HD remaster, loving with the aspect ratio because clearly "The Last Supper" should be the guideline for all movies or something.

Vittorio Storaro posted:

Recently I did again a Video transfer of "APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX" and I wrote the following letter to the Distributor of the DVD.

The following is my personal comment about the new HD Video master made in 1:2 aspect ratio of the Film "APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX" that I'm supervising with colorist Nazzareno Neri at Technicolor Rome.

It is a great privilege for me to be able to digitally RE-MASTER, once again, THIS GREAT CLASSIC MOVIE Directed by FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA. I did it already in Standard definition, initially in the original version as " APOCALYPSE NOW " and later in HD version for "APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX". I supervised the Video transfer in Los Angeles with colorist Lou Levinson and both version were transfered in 1:2 aspect ratio, each one of them approved by Mr.Francis Ford Coppola. Each time, also now, thanks to the improvement of the Electronic technology, I'm able to improve all the original Visual ideas that we had during the shooting of the Film with Mr.Coppola, that were impossible to complete exactly in the way we were thinking at that time, with the existing 1977 Film technology.

I believe that this one will be ONE OF THE BEST VIDEO MASTER THAT I EVER DID. As we did for Theater released with the Print on TECHNICOLOR DYE TRANSFER, today we can do with BLU-RAY technology.

I'm able finally to put on Video screen all the visual idea that we had originally with Francis at that time: the conflict between LIGHT and SHADOW and the musical movement of low-saturated or high-saturated COLORS that were underlined the dramaturgy of the story. And, overall, the COMPOSITION of the image that we decided to have for the VIDEO VERSION, without any technical and creative interferance from the usual standard that not necesserily are the best choice for the Authors of a Movie. THE MOVIE WAS FILMED IN ANAMORPHIC I:2,35, WAS PRINTED IN 70mm IN 1:2,21 AND IN 35mm IN 1:2,40 ASPECT RATIO FOR THEATER RELEASED. I REMEMBER THE VISUAL TRAGEDY THAT WE LIVED IN DOING THE FIRST TV VIDEO MASTER IN FULL SCREEN 1:1,35 ASPECT RATIO, PRATICALLY CUTTING 40% OF ALL THE IMAGES SO CAREFULLY COMPOSED IN THE FILM CAMERA AND THE REQUESTED NEW VIDEO VERSION IN 1:1,78 ASPECT RATIO. TOO MANY COMPOSITIONS OF THE FILM THAT EACH TIME WAS CUT TO FIT ANY POSSIBLE DIFFERENT NEED OF THE DIFFERENT REQUESTED SIZE. IT WAS LIKE CUTTING A PAINTING ACCORDING TO THE SIZE OF THE WALL WHERE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DISPLAYED. SO I REMEMBER THE SPECIFIC DECISION THAT WE HAD IN DOING THE FIRST LETTER BOX VERSION OF THE FILM, UNDERSTANDING THAT LOOKING AT A VIDEO SCREEN, AUDIENCES IS RECEIVING A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE COMPARE TO THE FILM THEATER EXPERIENCE. THE DECISION THAT WE HAD WITH MR.COPPOLA WAS TO MAKE THE 1:2 COMPOSITION VERSION, SPECIFICALLY FOR VIDEO An ispiration that we had from the LEONARDO DA VINCI's perfect composition of the visual image: 1:2 (Like in his painting of "THE LAST SUPPER").

FRANCIS AND MYSELF LOVED ALL THE NEW VIDEO MASTER, THAT REPRESENT THE TODAY VISUALIZATION OF THE FILM IN VIDEO SCREEN, MADE AND APPROVED BY THE DIRECTOR AND THE CINEMATOGRAPHER.

I BELIEVE THAT THE MAIN AUTHORS OF THE MOVIE (DIRECTOR - CINEMATOGRAPHER) SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO RE-VISUALIZE THEIR CREATION IN A NEW WAY FOR THE VIEWERS OF A DIFFERENT MEDIA. I believe that FILM THEATER and VIDEO SCREEN are two different emotional experiences.

I BELIEVE THAT ANY ARTIST SHOULD BE ABLE TO RE-VISIT OR RE-STORE IN A MODERN WAY HIS OWN CREATION. I think that WE should put all our energy,TOGETHER, to have any distribution company NOT altereting the decision of Author's composition of every movie to accomodate the various FULL SCREEN VERSION (1:1,35 or 1:1,78) WITHOUT THE AUTHORIZATION OF THE MAIN AUTHORS OF THE FILM, changing the original composition of the image and, in doing that, alterating the movie itself.

I BELIEVE THAT ANY VIDEO DISTRIBUTION COMPANY SHOULD RESPECT THE AUTHORS WILL TO PRESENT THEIR FILM IN THE WAY IT SHOULD BE SEEING, EVEN WHEN THEY ARE IMPROVING WITH NEW TECHOLOGY THEIR ORIGINAL CREATION.

I think that this new version of "APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX" IT IS A GREAT VIDEO MASTER that only the main Author, Mr. Francis Ford Coppola, should decide if it need to be different. I'M SURE THAT YOU WILL LOVE THIS NEW HD VIDEO MASTER, MADE EXPRESS FOR YOUR COMPANY BUT IN RESPECT OF THE AUTHOR'S CHOICE.

Sincerely Vittorio Storaro

# ? May 13, 2010 17:43

Harlock: Jan 15, 2006; Tap "A" to drink!!!

FitFortDanga posted:

As everyone feared, Storaro got his greasy mitts on Apocalypse Now for the new HD remaster, loving with the aspect ratio because clearly "The Last Supper" should be the guideline for all movies or something.

I know it's going to be a loving disaster, but I'm still irrationally holding out hope since it's one of my favorite movies.

# ? May 13, 2010 17:47

Peaceful Anarchy: Sep 18, 2005; sXe
I am the math man.

FitFortDanga posted:

As everyone feared, Storaro got his greasy mitts on Apocalypse Now for the new HD remaster, loving with the aspect ratio because clearly "The Last Supper" should be the guideline for all movies or something.

If I were a DVD distributor and got a letter half typed in CAPS, I'd have a hard time taking it seriously even if it is from an Oscar winning cinematographer. Also, that big paragraph is kind of contradictory, complaining about destroying the composition by changing it to suit 1.78:1 and then arguing that cutting to suit 2:1 is an improvement. Also the fact that he's done this before means it's not really an aesthetic choice based on the film itself, as he tries to imply, but rather some bizarre self imposed restriction.

# ? May 13, 2010 18:04

BajaBurrito: Jan 5, 2003; Delicious Fruit

The Lucas posted:

Anyone know why Netflix takes a bit to get some Blu Rays? Not the WB or Fox discs, I know about that, but I want to get Django and they don't even have a release date. It took them forever to get Vivre Se Vie as well.

It's possible that Django will still show up at the last minute, since it's still two weeks away from release after all.

The situation with recent Criterions is a little mysterious though - perhaps they were in the midst of a renegotiation? I notice Fritz Lang's "M" just got thrown onto the schedule for this coming Tuesday, so they still seem to be coming in, albeit late.

You can definitely find some glaring gaps in the coverage if you look hard enough - especially with Warner/New Line: Any Given Sunday, L.A. Confidential, Song Remains the Same, Neverending Story, Bakshi's Lord of the Rings, Horton/Grinch/Charlie Brown TV specials, Nightmare on Elm Street, all the double-feature discs, etc. Most of the other major and major-minor studio catalogs, however, seem fairly complete as far as I can tell with only a few missing titles here and there.

# ? May 13, 2010 18:06

qbert: Oct 23, 2003; It's both thrilling and terrifying.

FitFortDanga posted:

As everyone feared, Storaro got his greasy mitts on Apocalypse Now for the new HD remaster, loving with the aspect ratio because clearly "The Last Supper" should be the guideline for all movies or something.

Wow, that's incredibly bizarre. Is there even anything else out there, dvd, blu-ray, whatever, that has an aspect ratio of 2:1?

That seems so random.

# ? May 13, 2010 18:32

FitFortDanga: Nov 19, 2004; Nice try, asshole

qbert posted:

Wow, that's incredibly bizarre. Is there even anything else out there, dvd, blu-ray, whatever, that has an aspect ratio of 2:1?

Yeah... The Last Emperor, thanks to Storaro.

# ? May 13, 2010 18:34

Magic Hate Ball: May 6, 2007; ha ha ha!
you've already paid for this

Does this mean he'll be cropping the sides off?

# ? May 13, 2010 20:15

I said come in!: Jun 22, 2004

For some reason the theatrical cut of Apocalypse Now isn't on blu-ray. That is my preferred version of the film.

# ? May 13, 2010 20:21

Call Me Charlie: Dec 3, 2005; by Smythe

FitFortDanga posted:

As everyone feared, Storaro got his greasy mitts on Apocalypse Now for the new HD remaster, loving with the aspect ratio because clearly "The Last Supper" should be the guideline for all movies or something.

Storaro is a loving tool. You can read his manifesto on Univision here.

http://www.cinematography.net/Files/univision.pdf

quote:

Recently, any movie - no matter how big or small, successfull or not - will, after a very short life on the big screen, have a much longer life on an electronic screen. Today, the Answer Print is made for both of these two different media. The Cinematographer's work ends after having released an Interpositive for theatrical distribution, and a Digital Master for video distribution.

Having these two different media, with essentially two different aspect ratios, each of us (Directors, Production Designers, Cinematographers, Camera Operators, etc.) shares the nightmare of compromising the Composition of the Image. Looking trough a viewfinder, a camera, or a monitor, we are always faced with at least two images of the same subject.
Since the Cinema is a language of Images, by changing the original composition of the Cinematographic picture we are altering the linguistic expression, the style and indeed the Film itself.

It is like altering the size of an artist's painting to suit the wall where the painting is supposed to be shown. A film in any video transfer, when recorded in Letterbox and in Full screen versions, is without a doubt actually TWO different movies.
In the jungle of different aspect ratios in today's Cinema and Television, the upcoming advanced HIGH DEFINITION VIDEO SYSTEM will introduce yet another one, an aspect ratio of about 1:1,79. For a while, we will have three different Visual proportions, and therefore three different Compositions, of the same movie.

I don't know who made this decision for a new aspect ratio,since it doesn't resolve any past, present or future problems for a common composition between different media. I am not aware of any Directors or Cinematographers who have been asked for their opinions about the possible new Area or new Composition for future Audio-visual systems.

Some day in the future, any small screen film projector, in any Cineplex, will be replaced by an electronic High Definition Video projector. Consequently any movie made for these small screening rooms, particularly if they are intimate or psychological stories, will be directly recorded in High Definition instead of in 35mm negative. This is a process that we can slow down or speed up, but it cannot be stopped. But I also believe that audiences around the world will always have the need to get together in a large "Amniotic Sac", so to speak, such a big Film Theatre, in order to participate in the Collective Uncounscious of a big audience, watching on a large screen any epic-spectacular-big romance story. This part of the world of cinema, in my opinion, will need to be filmed in 65 mm.
If all of this happens, then the future Audio-visuals recorded in these two different ways will depend on the specific need of the story. Considering High Definition and 65mm, I think it would therefore be sensible to propose a new standard for both.A new aspect ratio that will fit Future, Present, and Past compositional needs. Currently 65mm is set at an aspect ratio of 1: 2,21 and High Definition at about 1:1,79, so, if we remove the 0,21 from the 65mm, and if we add the same number on top of High Definition TV, we will have a perfect balance between the two: that is, 1:2.

Call Me Charlie fucked around with this message at 20:46 on May 13, 2010

# ? May 13, 2010 20:40

Magic Hate Ball: May 6, 2007; ha ha ha!
you've already paid for this

He comes off like a conspiracy theorist.

# ? May 13, 2010 20:47

Keanu Grieves: Dec 30, 2002

This is like a loving communist nightmare.

OUR GREAT LEADER: IN UNIVISSSIIIOOOONNNNN!!!

# ? May 13, 2010 20:48

Peaceful Anarchy: Sep 18, 2005; sXe
I am the math man.

Why is it so hard for him to understand that a 1.78:1 screen can accommodate more than one aspect ratio? And why is someone screaming about forced aspect ratios and unnecessary changes suggesting as a solution yet another aspect ratio that should become the standard for everything?

# ? May 13, 2010 20:53

Keanu Grieves: Dec 30, 2002

Peaceful Anarchy posted:

Why is it so hard for him to understand that a 1.78:1 screen can accommodate more than one aspect ratio? And why is someone screaming about forced aspect ratios and unnecessary changes suggesting as a solution yet another aspect ratio that should become the standard for everything?

I stopped reading at "partecipate." He really is borderline retarded and shouldn't be trusted to do anything right.

# ? May 13, 2010 21:02

doctor thodt: Apr 2, 2004; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

800+ Blu-Rays and I'm just now finding out that Vanishing Point has already been on Blu-Ray for over a year :doh:

# ? May 14, 2010 00:10

Egbert Souse: Nov 6, 2008

I don't get why both formats cannot be included so that everyone is happy.

The idea of cropping 2.35:1 films to 2:1 can be good... you gain some definition at the cost of relatively minor reframing. If it's supervised by the cinematographer and director, I feel it's in safe hands and will be handled as good as possible.

Still, why not just crop to 2.20:1 like the 70mm prints? Monitors with overscan would crop it further.

# ? May 14, 2010 01:09

RevKrule: Jul 9, 2001; Thrilling the forums since 2001

doctor thodt posted:

800+ Blu-Rays and I'm just now finding out that Vanishing Point has already been on Blu-Ray for over a year

And it's actually a really good transfer. One of my faves in my collection.

# ? May 14, 2010 03:36

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 01:36

A Bad Poster: Sep 25, 2006; Seriously, shut the fuck up.

Egbert Souse posted:

Wow, my new Vaio displays BluRay beautifully. It's almost too bright... probably need to mess with the settings. It was delivered to my office (UPS usually doesn't come near my place regularly) and my coworkers were impressed with how nice The General looked. And it's only a 1600x900 res screen.

But it's preinstalled with WinDVD, which happens to not have any new updates that allow for Avatar to play. The only option is to buy a $40 upgrade.

Are there any free BluRay programs or am I stuck with buying software to play one title? VLC doesn't seem to have codecs yet.

I'm in the same kind of boat as you with my VAIO. I just ended up getting PowerDVD, works great.

Another thing, if for any reason you format your computer, back up the preinstalled Bu-Ray software. I forgot to when I upgraded to Windows 7 and it took me a while to scrounge up the money for another player, since Sony doesn't offer it for reinstall off their web site.

# ? May 14, 2010 09:31

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Cinema Discusso > The New and Improved Blu-Ray Megathread

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