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

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Well, since I'm banned over at HTF (for merely being Blu and saying that the end of the war would happen EXACTLY like it did, albiet faster than anyone could imagine) can someone please ask Robert George if it's the same source that led him to say:

Indiana Jones, HD DVD this spring, trust me on this one.

You beat me to it! I remember when he was also hinting about Lionsgate releasing on DUD over at AVS a while back.

[jd213]

Did he say that before or after the Warner announcement?

Either way though, even if it was true at the time Spielberg wouldn't have allowed it without a Blu-Ray release.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by jd213

Did he say that before or after the Warner announcement?

After. Supposed to rally the troops I guess since it would have been a huge title in HD.

Either way though, even if it was true at the time Spielberg wouldn't have allowed it without a Blu-Ray release.

Never mind that little detail to begin with, or at least no one on HTF called him on this.

I'm willing to bet we'll get Indy on BD when Indy 4 hits home video.

[PaulGo]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

On the record, “I have been told” that in the post-format war era, there is a definite *irrational negativity* now subtlety expressed regarding anything related to Blu-ray success by the same AVS members that history shows to have been avid red ants. Meaning, the sour grapes attitude persists, it’s just that instead of smacking you in the face, it is more of a hidden undercurrent until you track the post history of the perpetuators that have now reluctantly gotten on the Blu bandwagon simply because there is no other choice in town.

On the record, I know how long “the production queue for BD50” is currently at different plants but, I will not say as that is not my place however, I will enlighten Mr. George as to the fact that…..get ready for this!...... the queue changes not infrequently back and forth and it is not written in stone. So, essentially what he is surmising is meaningless.

On the record, I think I know a little more about Uni’s BD disc publishing position than a movie reviewer in Florida, if I was the first to report on the employment status of one of their main V.P.’s.

On the record, I know that Mr. George in the past has made dubious statements portrayed as fact, based upon things that he has limited knowledge of, for instance the film element of Blood Diamond.

People bash things for many reasons, you get a lot more attention with a negative statement.

One of the reasons I enjoy the insiders thread on Blu-ray.com it the honesty of the insiders. People will always look at things from their own perspective, but you guys in my opinion have show a degree of honesty which make me proud to be a member of this forum. I only wish the politicians were as honest and forthcoming as you guys!

[FourToedStatue]

Originally Posted by Nick Graham

Any Insiders want to go to HTF and chime in on this claim from Robert George?

"Off the record (meaning no link to an official source, not my post), I have been told the primary impediment to Universal publishing on Blu-ray at this time is production. Universal is having problems getting BD50 discs produced, and they are, I am told, none too happy about it."

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...blu-ray-2.html

Wow Max really put him in his place.

[WickyWoo]

Nice pw0wnage max Check your PMs tho :P

[JasonR]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Done...

Nice.

[savage1984]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Done...

Nice work. I didn't realize FUDDers were stilling running rampant. It's nice to know our insiders here at blu-ray.com are the real deal with actual facts to back up their statements. Thanks Max and Penton (it is your thread).

[Nathan P]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Done...

Nice one max

[groovyone]

Nice one, Max!

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by PaulGo

One of the reasons I enjoy the insiders thread on Blu-ray.com it the honesty of the insiders. People will always look at things from their own perspective, but you guys in my opinion have show a degree of honesty which make me proud to be a member of this forum. I only wish the politicians were as honest and forthcoming as you guys!

Thank you.

You know it’s quite astute you mention that because I bring good news as well as bad news to the faithful here so that they can be informed as possible. Everyone naturally remembers the heads-up for all the good news (recently, like my hint to wait for another blast during the St. Valentine’s Week massacre ) but, I also bring the bad ……

For example,
1. Don’t count on LoA on Blu-ray for quite awhile.
2. Don’t count on the SCE insider to appear soon on this forum, if ever.
3. Don’t count on any photo shoot from our mystical model,
(you guys will just have to wait for the dirty blonde I talked about that we captured with a twenty (20) megapixel still camera).

4. Despite the fact that everyone was getting their spirits way up last year for an imminent move by WB (within days) to publish exclusively in Blu back in Sept.? which was floated on this forum as a done deal by a rogue AVS member, I shot it down completely within hours.
5. The revelation that in many HD suites that do the high-def encoding/authoring across a wide segment of the studio and post house business were exclusively using pro CRT monitors…….I think DaViD remembers that well .

So, you see, if BD50 availability for Uni was truly a concern, you would indeed hear about it. Honestly, I am getting a little concerned at this time regarding the advancement of Blu at the rate we had expected, because of one thing………….the economy, since if things continue the way they are going, potentially the decrease in consumers’ discretionary spending will indeed become a factor in the adoption rate of the format by the mainstream public.

The year is young and this is the slow season but, it should be interesting to see how many new high definition TV’s are sold during the upcoming winter Holiday season.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Done...

Max rules.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by PaulGo

I only wish the politicians were as honest and forthcoming as you guys!

B.T.W.
Personally, my most favor-ite "politician" movie of all time is Bulworth.

I just don't know if there is a decent YouTube clip on it due to the fact that it is an oldie.

[spicynacho]

I was wondeering, since it has been alluded to several times that some master films are in great shape and others are in shambles. How does this happen? The studios don't have temp/humidity/fireproof vaults where they keep these? Or do directors get to keep their masters?

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by spicynacho

I was wondeering, since it has been alluded to several times that some master films are in great shape and others are in shambles. How does this happen? The studios don't have temp/humidity/fireproof vaults where they keep these? Or do directors get to keep their masters?

The most important factors to adversely effect the health and longevity of your film holdings is suboptimal storage conditions and simply repeated handling of the original material within that facility.

Many studios have historically used originals as a printing negative, which can be extremely punishing. That’s the reason why so many negs no longer exist. Ironically, the more successful the film was, the more damaged it got! Some were then stored improperly for decades.

Factors include such things as temp, relative humidity, air circulation, air purity, physical storage and most importantly cleanliness in regards to DUST and SCRATCHES.
Many film preservationists believe that with the proper storage, film should last a long time (like 100 years or more). When I get some time perhaps next week I will further elaborate on the strategies of good film preservation……thinking in terms if any one locale (God forbid) ever suffers a nuclear attack or some catastrophic event like a major earthquake (I’m serious here).

But spicy, I think that you may be confusing the terms “master” and “films” and to what has been “alluded” to several times. Sure, there are cases of *original film elements* that are/were in “shambles”, witness The Godfather series at Paramount before S. Spielberg became proactive on the matter to help out F.F.C.

But the more immediate concern to impatient home theatre enthusiasts are the HD masters (generally tape) and the “shambles” some are in which delays their appearance on Blu-ray by studios that care about the quality of their product……and have to invest time and money into redoing those.

Before the onset of the high-def format (Blu-ray), the HD masters were created with the knowledge that there would be down conversion to DVD. Which means that any artifacts on the created HD masters would pretty much be camouflaged at the resolution of the DVD format in consumers’ homes……..except maybe those with screens greater than 100” or so.

Now, with the increased resolution of Blu-ray compared to DVD, people are visulaizing much more transparency to the original HD masters than they did in thee ole days with their DVDs. This has revealed or magnified blemishes that the studios never had to deal with before. Now they do.
Which means that I know of at least one studio that is reviewing each and every HD master they own to check if the production of a new HD master is warranted before release on Blu-ray.

In fact, to take it to a higher level, if during that process of review, the film itself is on the “due” list for archival purposes then a full blown digital restoration (or more) of the original film elements may be in order............ which means that HD master production would possibly be delayed even longer and based upon the new *restored* source.

[sj001]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Done...

Excellent Max, you rock!

[plee]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

On the record, “I have been told” that in the post-format war era, there is a definite *irrational negativity* now subtlety expressed regarding anything related to Blu-ray success by the same AVS members that history shows to have been avid red ants. Meaning, the sour grapes attitude persists, it’s just that instead of smacking you in the face, it is more of a hidden undercurrent until you track the post history of the perpetuators that have now reluctantly gotten on the Blu bandwagon simply because there is no other choice in town.

On the record, I know how long “the production queue for BD50” is currently at different plants but, I will not say as that is not my place however, I will enlighten Mr. George as to the fact that…..get ready for this!...... the queue changes not infrequently back and forth and it is not written in stone. So, essentially what he is surmising is meaningless.

Sounds like another try at bring the BD50 "replication" issue of DV back to life...

[sj001]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

On the record, “I have been told” that in the post-format war era, there is a definite *irrational negativity* now subtlety expressed regarding anything related to Blu-ray success by the same AVS members that history shows to have been avid red ants. Meaning, the sour grapes attitude persists, it’s just that instead of smacking you in the face, it is more of a hidden undercurrent until you track the post history of the perpetuators that have now reluctantly gotten on the Blu bandwagon simply because there is no other choice in town.

On the record, I know how long “the production queue for BD50” is currently at different plants but, I will not say as that is not my place however, I will enlighten Mr. George as to the fact that…..get ready for this!...... the queue changes not infrequently back and forth and it is not written in stone. So, essentially what he is surmising is meaningless.

On the record, I think I know a little more about Uni’s BD disc publishing position than a movie reviewer in Florida, if I was the first to report on the employment status of one of their main V.P.’s.

On the record, I know that Mr. George in the past has made dubious statements portrayed as fact, based upon things that he has limited knowledge of, for instance the film element of Blood Diamond.

Thanks Penton, your comments on this board always bring a smile (well usually), to my face. Blu-ray.com would not be the same without you. Kudos to you!

[Nick Graham]

Max, I edited my initial reply to Obi to take out any specific names. With the time that has gone past, I didn't think it would matter much if I specified the name - sorry!

Bill Hunt just delivered some pwnage as well.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

... thinking in terms if any one locale (God forbid) ever suffers a nuclear attack or some catastrophic event like a major earthquake (I’m serious here).

You're really worried about the effects of a mere non-catastrophic nuclear attack?

Seriously: There should be duplicates kept somewhere else. You can't guarantee any region is stable. So, some redundancy is demanded.