Bonus Material shot remotely - is the quality good enough for a commercial release?

[mep]

I just watched the new Scream Factory release of Terror in the Aisles, and sadly was quite underwhelmed of the poor picture and sound quality of the remotely shot bonus material.

I know, we live in challenging times for sure, but that was not even bootleg or free on YouTube quality.

Wanted to start this thread, to hear others opinion with this kind of new trend regarding bonus material. Have there been other current releases, where the bonus material was produced remotely? If so, how was the quality of it? Maybe we can collect releases with mainly remotely shot bonus material in this thread, so that people are aware of this new trend.

If I had known of the subpar quality of Terror in the Aisles, I would not have bought it in the first place and for sure not for it´s hefty current price tag. From my point of view, this is just not a professional produced product anymore, even though I can see it´s hard to produce new content in current times. But I frankly would prefer labels would postpone new releases, before releasing below average quality like in this current case.

[mep]

List of commercially released BD-Titles with mainly remotely produced bonus features:

Blood Games (Vinegar Syndrome)
Ghost Ship (Scream Factory)
Terror in the Aisles (Scream Factory)
The 11th Commandment (Vinegar Syndrome)

[moviegeek1992]

Well just be glad that folks are taking the time and effort to take part in the bonus features for movies. They don't have to.

The remotely shot interviews I watched on some Vinegar Syndrome discs like The 11th Commandment were quite decent quality.

[steve_dave]

Ghost Ship’s new interviews were Zoom calls and while Isiah Washington’s looked good save for the dangling earbuds, the interview with Jason Baird was dark due to his home lighting. Then Baird also wore black clothing that blended with the darkness and the horrible Zoom compression just made it feel cheaply made.

[HorrorBlu]

On Laura Albert's Skype interview for Vinegar Syndrome's Blood Games disc, she did it in front of some kind of copyrighted wall artwork they had to blur out. So the entire interview is just a giant blur with Albert's face in the middle.

[patrick23]

Originally Posted by mep

I just watched the new Scream Factory release of Terror in the Aisles, and sadly was quite underwhelmed of the poor picture and sound quality of the remotely shot bonus material.

I know, we live in challenging times for sure, but that was not even bootleg or free on YouTube quality.

Wanted to start this thread, to hear others opinion with this kind of new trend regarding bonus material. Have there been other current releases, where the bonus material was produced remotely? If so, how was the quality of it? Maybe we can collect releases with mainly remotely shot bonus material in this thread, so that people are aware of this new trend.

If I had known of the subpar quality of Terror in the Aisles, I would not have bought it in the first place and for sure not for it´s hefty current price tag. From my point of view, this is just not a professional produced product anymore, even though I can see it´s hard to produce new content in current times. But I frankly would prefer labels would postpone new releases, before releasing below average quality like in this current case.

I agree. The sound in the Nancy Allen interview didn't even sync. I turned it off

[critterdvd]

On some of the new commentaries for the “Friday the 13th” set the audio gets really low to the point you can’t hear, I think because the speaker gets too far away from there mic. Also I have to admit I’m surprised no one lost a connection or something like that.

[GeoffOliver]

Alice Cooper's interview on the F13 set appears to be remotely-shot, and it looks decent, almost like something you'd see for a professional podcast.

[bergman864]

Originally Posted by critterdvd

On some of the new commentaries for the “Friday the 13th” set the audio gets really low to the point you can’t hear, I think because the speaker gets too far away from there mic. Also I have to admit I’m surprised no one lost a connection or something like that.

That will always be a problem. If it's not being recorded in a sound booth, or similar setup, it will be a problem.

[sonicyogurt]

Originally Posted by Cliff

Case in point. First off, when I see "Justin Beahm's Reverend Entertainment" I think, "Who the f*ck is Justin Beahm that I should know it's his Reverend Entertainment?"

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. Every time I see that flash across the screen, I think back to the old Kids in the Hall bit about Rod Torfulson's Armada featuring Herman Menderchuk.

[Show spoiler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtNpVAWDrZc

Thanks for doing the great work that you do, Cliff.

[Worship.my.wreck]

First of all special features are not going to make or break a blu ray release. The main course is the movie itself. The special features are just dessert.

Second, what exactly do you suggest? No one release any new blu rays ever? No one knows when this Covid stuff is going to go away, if it ever does. So we just have to make do with what we got. We can't just sit around forever. And neither can these companies if they don't sell anything new.

[Monterey Jack]

Long pre-Covid, SF featurettes often had atrocious miking issues. Is it THAT hard to go "Testing, testing, one-two-three..." before sitting down to film?

[hungrywives]

You can't blame Covid for Justin Beahm's shoddy work. He's being doing sloppy, unprofessional special features for Scream Factory for years now. I'm sure he's a nice guy, and more importantly cheap, but I dread every time I see his name in a press release for a title I care about. At least once he's even screwed up the audio in his own vanity logo. I was never more happy than when I heard Michael Felsher was handling the documentary for Tales From The Darkside: The Movie.

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by Worship.my.wreck

First of all special features are not going to make or break a blu ray release. The main course is the movie itself. The special features are just dessert.

Second, what exactly do you suggest? No one release any new blu rays ever? No one knows when this Covid stuff is going to go away, if it ever does. So we just have to make do with what we got. We can't just sit around forever. And neither can these companies if they don't sell anything new.

Use some tech to hide some things.

Disney wrecked Saturday Night Live as the first “new” programs to offer “remote shot” shows. SNL looked like homemade low tech influencer videos most of the time. By contrast, Disney’s home sing along specials looked and sounded fantastic.

Geez even Quibi’s Princess Bride remake had better production values and those were literal phone shot scenes with Legos, cardboard, and whatever the stars had in their house/quarantine location.

Clif even showed us stills from two interviews shot socially distant. That doesn’t always mean a Zoom or Skype call. Setup equipment before talent is on set. Have interviewer six feet or more away and it is done.

[CelestialAgent]

For Doctor Who: The Collection (nothing released yet, but in production), they’ve been very cautious to have extras that don’t feel like they were produced during a pandemic.

Lots of Criterions have had remotely produced extras - look at DVDBeaver caps, or the commentary on Parasite.

The BFI’s Blu-rays of 2020 films e.g. Mogul Mowgli, Lynn + Lucy will have remotely produced interviews.

The Indicator for Cisco Pike had a Kier-La Janisse interview recorded remotely.

Given the timescale, the commentary on Soft Top, Hard Shoulder would have been recorded remotely.

Recent Arrow commentaries e.g. Jasper Sharp’s have been recorded remotely.

Recent audio interviews with Lee Gambin would have likely been recorded remotely as well.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

Given the timescale, the commentary on Soft Top, Hard Shoulder would have been recorded remotely.

Recent Arrow commentaries e.g. Jasper Sharp’s have been recorded remotely.

Recent audio interviews with Lee Gambin would have likely been recorded remotely as well.

Most audio commentaries are recorded "remotely" to begin with.

[Wernski]

Unearthed's Unnameable is another blu with Skype call bonus features, all the worse in that case because they were unedited, even when the interviewer needed to take a break and leave the room.

The quality of shooting remotely doesn't have to be poor quality... I just watched an Alex Gibney doc where they shipped HD cameras to their participants' home. Though I assume that's beyond the scope of most DVD extras.

But I imagine a lot of it depends on the interview subjects as much as the crew... how patient and willing are they to set up some quality lighting? If you're interviewing a posh former celebrity, they might insist they sit in their favorite chair with the sun shining through the window behind them and the air conditioning blaring otherwise the whole thing's off. Meanwhile a working DP might have better equipment than you've ever touched all set to shoot in his home office happy to spend all afternoon with you testing mics.

Even watching shows like The Talking Dead, where each actor Zoom'd in from their personal computers, there was a range of quality just in their webcams. I'd say some of their results would be watchable enough as DVD extras, but others not so much.

Still, I'll always take a low quality interview over none at all.