Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Unlike the Disney Fish Lady movie, Miyazaki, like Akira Kurosawa before him did not call his film The Little Mermaid did he?

And which of Kurosawa's films did he not call The Little Mermaid?

[Jeff Kleist]

He didn't call Ran King Lear, or Throne of Blood MacBeth did he? Nor did he use the proper nouns, because Kurosawa had the integrity to understand that when you make so many changes, it's no longer the original product

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

He didn't call Ran King Lear, or Throne of Blood MacBeth did he?

Well, he didn't call his characters King Lear or Macbeth, either.

However... did Leone call Eastwood Sanjuro? We may never know...

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Kurosawa had the integrity to understand that when you make so many changes, it's no longer the original product

Uh-oh... I don't think I want to head down this particular road with you again.

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

No but you can look at the bottom of the disc for two serial numbers on the hub

Sorry Jeff for bothering you on this same damn question... ok, so I looked at the bottom of discs, but what number or series of numbers tells if the disc is a 25Gb or 50Gb disk?

On some I see the serial number starts with BRDL, and I guess that refers to "dual layer"?

[nathan_393]

Originally Posted by Azyiu

Sorry Jeff for bothering you on this same damn question... ok, so I looked at the bottom of discs, but what number or series of numbers tells if the disc is a 25Gb or 50Gb disk?

On some I see the serial number starts with BRDL, and I guess that refers to "dual layer"?

Dual Layer discs (the DL) is the only one that is 50GB. Each layer has 25 GB.

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by nathan_393

Dual Layer discs (the DL) is the only one that is 50GB. Each layer has 25 GB.

That part I understand, but what I mean is if DL the only reference to tell if a disk is a 50Gb or not? And what references do they use for single layered disks, if at all? Thanks in advance.

[Pyoko]

Originally Posted by Azyiu

That part I understand, but what I mean is if DL the only reference to tell if a disk is a 50Gb or not? And what references do they use for single layered disks, if at all? Thanks in advance.

A BD50 will have two rings, each with its own set of serial number/barcode. A BD25 will only have one ring, with one serial number/barcode.

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by Pyoko

A BD50 will have two rings, each with its own set of serial number/barcode. A BD25 will only have one ring, with one serial number/barcode.

Thanks!

[Jeff Kleist]

So Az, are you in mainland Asia somewhere? Judging by the times you're on...

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

So Az, are you in mainland Asia somewhere? Judging by the times you're on...

I live in Hong Kong, will you be swinging by during your upcoming trip to Japan? Care for a beer or something?

[Jeff Kleist]

I'd love to. One of these times I'm going to go to HK after Japan

Tokyo's as far as I'll get this trip. I'm going to see some friends up north and going to Kusatsu hot springs tho

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I'd love to. One of these times I'm going to go to HK after Japan

Tokyo's as far as I'll get this trip. I'm going to see some friends up north and going to Kusatsu hot springs tho

There will always be a next time, and hopefully it comes sooner rather than later.

[Jeff Kleist]

Well, plan your next vacation around Tokyo Anime Fair or anime content expos

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Well, plan your next vacation around Tokyo Anime Fair or anime content expos

The wife might think otherwise...

[JediFonger]

gr8 explanation Jeff! i'll have to dig up the old DVD copies but there are some discernible differences in subtitles between all the diff. regions of the DVD. i always feel like i'm getting shafted on the Disney versions. there are differences though... will give you examples when i get around to it.

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Other way round. The Ghibli DVDs and Blu-rays use the official Studio Ghibli subtitle scripts that are translated by them, in-house, often by a guy named Steve Alpert, who's the VP of Ghibli international. Steve was instrumental for example, in getting Miramax to include a proper subtitled version on Mononoke Hime back in the day. If the words seem childish, it's because they're intended to be. As Miyazaki-san says, his movies are for those who are, will be, or once were 8 years old

A lot of people who watch fansubs are not used to how a "real" translation is actually structured. A lot of people rewrite dialog to what they think are a "mature" translation, giving characters different voices than they actually have, inserting swear words etc

A great example is Ponyo, the semaphore scene.

The japanese uses "baka", which translates to "fool, silly(in the foolish sense), "moron"(lighthearted sense) etc. In the english dub it's changed to "Jerk", which carries a totally different word flavor. Jerk carries a more negative connotation, it's a much more attacking word than "baka" is. However, ideally the viewer is going to hear the dialog in their head as they read it, and "jerk" is close enough, and helps carry the same cadance (jerkjerkjerkjerkjerkjerkjerk, bakabakabakabakabaka), so by finding something close, that fits in the space, you're making the end experience tighter for the end user experience.

I rewrite a lot of song lyrics from Japanese, so I have a lot of experience in the art of this kind of compromise translating imagery and metaphor


http://vodpod.com/watch/1838576-koji...-studio-ghibli

[Jeff Kleist]

gr8 explanation Jeff! i'll have to dig up the old DVD copies but there are some discernible differences in subtitles between all the diff. regions of the DVD. i always feel like i'm getting shafted on the Disney versions. there are differences though... will give you examples when i get around to it.

Someone must have mixed up closed captioning subs then. Which regions?

All the Japanese DVDs I have of Ghibli titles carry their official subs. I don't have Nausicaa or Laputa Blus so I haven't seen those either

[svenge]

Assuming that the recent report (from the LA Times) is accurate, what would having Sony in charge of MGM's home video output do to the 9 unreleased-on-BD James Bond films? I really don't want to be forced to re-buy all 13 already-released movies just to get those 9...

[Jeff Kleist]

Nothing. The person working at Fox will move their desk to Sony

I do suggest you pick up any MGM back catalog you really want now, because once the transition happens it will take some time to get them back on the market It took close to 6 months when they moved back to Fox

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by svenge

Assuming that the recent report (from the LA Times) is accurate, what would having Sony in charge of MGM's home video output do to the 9 unreleased-on-BD James Bond films? I really don't want to be forced to re-buy all 13 already-released movies just to get those 9...

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Nothing. The person working at Fox will move their desk to Sony

I do suggest you pick up any MGM back catalog you really want now, because once the transition happens it will take some time to get them back on the market It took close to 6 months when they moved back to Fox

Interesting.

One thing I appreciated about the Bond Blu-rays is that they ported *all* the extras over from the DVD versions. Sony's record is somewhat mixed on that, I hope the person in charge of mastering the Bond BDs continues the same work.

[frogmort]

Hey Jeff, is there any rumors/info on what audio codec will be used on the Star Wars blu-ray set, and if it's 5.1 or 7.1?
Thanks!