"Club Penton" - Ask questions to Hollywood insider "Penton-Man"

[sharkshark]

Amusing:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/07/24...es-for-transf/

I actually went yesterday - I =hated hated hated= the first film, and only went to this (knowing ahead of time how awful it'd be be) in order to see Imax robots kicking the crap out of each other.

First of all, as bad as you expect it to be, it's worse.

However, the Imax battle shots looked pretty good, and certainly less smeary than the rest of the film. The CGI models for the most part hold up to scrutiny at that size, yet the choice to shoot in a forest proved to be more distracting than necessary (plus, it really showed off the cast on the right hand of Shia, meaning the shot had been obviously flipped.)

In some ways the apect change in Imax was even more distracting than Dark Knight, as Bay would cut within the same action sequence between Imax and 2.35:1, something (never really letting you settle into the scene). Distracting edits in a Michael Bay "vehicle" are hardly new, but it'll be interesting to see how the response to this disc will be.

The film is a pale attempt at story and character, and even the use of Imax proved to be littler more than gimick in this flick. Still, I'm sure some will be happy with this popcorn pablum making their HT system go "ka-boom", while enjoying slow motion shots of chaste, nubile, nymphet breasts jiggling wantonly.

[Slec]

If you hated the first film so much, why bother going to see the second?

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Slec

If you hated the first film so much, why bother going to see the second?

He's a glutton for punishment.

[sharkshark]

cuz of this thread, actually... Knowing that parts were actually shot in Imax, I figured if I was ever (and I mean -ever-) going to watch it, it'd be while I could on the giant screen. And, frankly, I stand by the fact that this is a better experience than the first (at least Optimus isn't the vehicle for comic relief... "Ooops, my bad" being one of the more horifying moments in cinematic history)

Besides, I'm a (part time) film reviewer, I have to see crap all the time...

[Jeff Kleist]

I'm an IMAX/70mm *****, and between the minstral show, and the nonsensical writing, it's the first Michael Bay movie I refuse to apologize for that doesn't feature Martin Lawrence.

And that's before the issues with further unnecessary screwing with Transformers

[DenonCI]

IMHO, Bay is WAY overrated.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by sharkshark

on a related note to the above poster, and Penton's proclivity for diving....

Well, for one, there is no whining in diving.
I promised a few tidbits on the filmmaking of The Deep…….

The motion picture holds several firsts in the business. Such as the first time that a feature film was shot at underwater depths greater than 10 ft. (most of the action captured on the wreck of the Rhone happens at 65 – 80 ft.).
The first time a real shipwreck was used as a setting for a major Hollywood film....rather than a set constructed of fiberglass, etc.

The first time (to the best of my knowledge) that a feature film was shot with a 35mm. film camera with a 400 ft. magazine, concerning of which, Al Giddings (one of the underwater co-directors and cinematographers) designed and manufactured (by himself) three aluminum housings for three 35mm. Arriflex cams with 400 ft. magazine loads and nicad battery packs. The camera bodies were equipped with interchangeable 35mm, 30mm and 55mm anamorphic Panavision lenses. The housings each weighed 80 lbs. out of water and a cool 8 ounces underwater. They had several innovative features including dome ports for corrected lens optics, optics for through-the-lens reflex viewing, mercury switches for internal illumination, etc. ( As an aside, James Cameron later hired Al as the Director of Under Water Photography for The Abyss.)

The production crew stayed at nearby Peter Island Yacht Club. Kinda funny since the producer was Peter Guber, the Assistant to the Producer was Peter Lake and the overall film Director was Peter Yates.
Jackie Bisset had no knowledge of scuba diving prior to the production and after a couple of weeks she became not only proficient but, very comfortable in the underwater environment.

The underwater film crew averaged four daily dives with each dive lasting an average of 35-45 min. Decompression times ranged between 15-45 min. and the deck crew had rigged long air hoses connected to storage tanks on the support dive boat for the air supply during decompression which grew longer toward the end of the day. Scubapro Decompression Meters were used as a guide along with the Navy decompression tables for safety back-up by the dive master who kept track of bottom times.

[Penton-Man]

Random musings from Comic-Con 2009 or what some locals un-affectionately call Nerdi-Gras in contradistinction to Mardi Gras of New Orleans -

[Penton-Man]

So, I arrive at the Marriott next door to the Civic Center and I see that someone/something of notoriety has parked in my space………

[Penton-Man]

I had a ‘business’ lunch with a gal having the physical attributes and cognitive function very similar to this………….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3oC-...eature=related

Truly unforgettable.

[Penton-Man]

Some things happen at venues other than the Civic Center and the Solamar Hotel, etc.…..
http://www.lajollalight.com/news/259...g-at-lj-shores

^ Provided to keep Jeff and the other Trekies interested.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I had a ‘business’ lunch with a gal having the physical attributes and cognitive function very similar to this………….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3oC-...eature=related

Truly unforgettable.

The eternal question of how someone like that even dresses themselves in the morning springs up. Penton, if it's not too much trouble, would you tell me how long Sony sat on blu-ray once it became feasible?

[Penton-Man]

Received a bunch of PM’s about whether or not Angels and Demons would have Dolby lossless or DTS lossless as the audio codec.
I don’t have the schedule in front of me; however, as this title was encoded and authored awhile ago, expect Dolby.

Later

[Jeff Kleist]

Penton, if it's not too much trouble, would you tell me how long Sony sat on blu-ray once it became feasible?

No one "sat on it"

Just because you have a physical disc does not a format make, or the infrastructure and alliances to support it. That's why recorders were out in Japan 3 years before the format's launch, using non-standard components and just the physical discs

[Jeff Kleist]

Good to see you back Penton, hope you enjoyed the panel

[Eternal_Sunshine]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I promised a few tidbits on the filmmaking of The Deep.

Very interesting. I watched The Deep last week; the underwater scenes were stunning.

[coolmilo]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I had a ‘business’ lunch with a gal having the physical attributes and cognitive function very similar to this………….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3oC-...eature=related

Truly unforgettable.

This has nothing to do with your post but the following link was a click away from your link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97ejk...1&feature=fvwp

This is very funny.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

So, I arrive at the Marriott next door to the Civic Center and I see that someone/something of notoriety has parked in my space………

Shellin' out some coin for the hype on this.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Good to see you back Penton, hope you enjoyed the panel

Thanks.

The City of San Diego really has to build an addition onto the Civic Center as the event is just getting too large for that venue.

I’m told that people stood in line for over three hours just to procure a good position for entrance into Hall H on Thursday and once the doors opened, they filled up the hall in about an hour or so.

Nothing beats access to the service elevators in back , although, the ascension rate is probably around one meter/min.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by coolmilo

This has nothing to do with your post but the following link was a click away from your link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97ejk...1&feature=fvwp

This is very funny.