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

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by jopemoro

Tsk, tsk... It's Real Madrid you want to see...

Anyway, any particular kind of food? I'll look for some addresses...

I like anything that is well prepared be it fresh fish/seafood, meat, egg plant, etc.
I would especially be interested in a place with a chef who is half Catalan and half French, if there even is such a place in town with an excellent reputation.

[Bullseye]

Penton if you are going to be in Spain for a while you really need to try El Bulli. You get a 30 course meal. Most of the worlds top chefs visit this restaurant for ideas.
http://www.elbulli.com/menu.php?lang=en

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Guys,
I’m gettng alot of PM’s about video codecs and such regarding their use with Blu-ray titles. Let me say that as long as the title isn’t bit-starved….. and generally it shouldn’t be for any titles that use the BD50 discs, I think that alot of the discussion regarding this is quite secondary to the priniciple cinematography and the condition of the HD masters – which then gets into other more important esoteric topics like who is using or has used things like an image sequence on a drive (DPX) or HDCAM-SR tapes as sources, etc.

In fact, I would say that this video codec topic wouldn’t really have even been much more than a blip on the radar screen of some internet forums in regards to movies, if not for a certain software company previously constantly campaigning this topic in the promotion of the importance of a certain encoder that they developed.

Much, much more important limiting factors are further on upstream in the pipeline but, you just don’t hear about them much because employees from places like Thomson GrassValley, da Vinci, or restoration companies like Cineric, HTV/Illuminate, DTS (Lowry) are too busy proving their products and skills in the real world workplace rather than debating their merits on consumer forums.

As long as you’ve got an optical disc that isn’t limiting you in regards to bitrate and/or bandwith (and the title has been optimized for such capacity) and the encoder is user-friendly and as automated as possible, don’t fret consumer codec choice too much with movies as viewed in your home theaters.

I am not so much interested in the issue of codecs, Penton Man, as in the question of what constitutes "bit-starved." On several recent high profile BD exclusive releases, while the maximum bitrate is certainly used fairly frequently, there are also many scenes with bitrates in the mid twenties or even in some cases the teens. Those scenes to me generally don't look as good as the scenes with higher bitrates, say in the mid 30's. Would you say this is an example of being "bit-starved" or something else?

[jopemoro]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I like anything that is well prepared be it fresh fish/seafood, meat, egg plant, etc.
I would especially be interested in a place with a chef who is half Catalan and half French, if there even is such a place in town with an excellent reputation.

Ok, sent some stuff your way already, I'll send some more asap...

[Penton-Man]

I must say that it is quite nice to see a thread in the General Discussion forum about Heath Ledger (over 12,000 hits).
It shows that alot of you folks are indeed film aficionados and have their priorities in order.

I haven’t commented as yet upon that tragedy as it is quite depressing to me and many others. Suffice to say that as an actor he never shied away from challenging roles and his performance in Brokeback Mountain was fabulous. I also loved him in The Patriot.

For those inclined to such things, say a prayer for Matilda.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Bullseye

Penton if you are going to be in Spain for a while you really need to try El Bulli. You get a 30 course meal. Most of the worlds top chefs visit this restaurant for ideas.
http://www.elbulli.com/menu.php?lang=en

Thanks for the tip and thanks to all those world travelers that PM’ed me.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by patrick99

I am not so much interested in the issue of codecs, Penton Man, as in the question of what constitutes "bit-starved." On several recent high profile BD exclusive releases, while the maximum bitrate is certainly used fairly frequently, there are also many scenes with bitrates in the mid twenties or even in some cases the teens. Those scenes to me generally don't look as good as the scenes with higher bitrates, say in the mid 30's. Would you say this is an example of being "bit-starved" or something else?

With the help of a go-to-guy who is also a forum member here, I’ve started working on trying to get another person with alot of hands-on experience in compression to post as Insider in addition to Ron (drmpeg).

Until then, I’ll defer your question to other well-informed insiders and members here as I’m running behind again in my work due to blabbering on the internet.

Later, guys.

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

With the help of a go-to-guy who is also a forum member here, I’ve started working on trying to get another person with alot of hands-on experience in compression to post as Insider in addition to Ron (drmpeg).

Until then, I’ll defer your question to other well-informed insiders and members here as I’m running behind again in my work due to blabbering on the internet.

Later, guys.

Thanks, as always, Penton Man.



Since you mentioned Heath Ledger, it is really just too painful to think about. His work in Brokeback Mountain was really extraordinary.

[Living Near Shamu]

BTW, Heath Ledger's 10 Things I Hate About You has recently catapulted into the top 10 for Amazon best sellers.

[sj001]

Originally Posted by Living Near Shamu

BTW, Heath Ledger's 10 Things I Hate About You has recently catapulted into the top 10 for Amazon best sellers.

I am going to have to check that movie out, I've always heard good things about it.

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I must say that it is quite nice to see a thread in the General Discussion forum about Heath Ledger (over 12,000 hits).
It shows that alot of you folks are indeed film aficionados and have their priorities in order.

I haven’t commented as yet upon that tragedy as it is quite depressing to me and many others. Suffice to say that as an actor he never shied away from challenging roles and his performance in Brokeback Mountain was fabulous. I also loved him in The Patriot.

For those inclined to such things, say a prayer for Matilda.

Thanks for the comment. I haven't posted anything yet about the tragedy, and I'm still very depressed about it. I met Heath Ledger many years ago (before he was all that famous) when I lived in LA. I'll probably write something about the experience once a bit more time has passed, but suffice it to say, he was an incredibly nice and down to earth individual, without a hint of attitude or ego about what "his work" was. And, yes, Brokeback Mountain, was a phenomenal performance.

(Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread with my comment, but "the official thread" sadly has people arguing and debating things that I don't feel have a place in a memorial discussion for a truly great actor.)

[JadedRaverLA]

(Sorry, I made another post as I did have a question for Penton, but I didn't want to put it within my last post.)

Penton --

Now that the WGA has put aside their demands for union control of writers on reality shows, etc, and the two sides are holding "informal discussions," do you think we're getting pretty close to the end of this? The DGA got a new contract, and it seems like a lot of what the writer's want was given to the directors. Hopefully, that is a good sign.

I know I for one was really sad to see what happened with the Golden Globes. Some truly great smaller pictures didn't get the "box office bump" typically gained by awards shows due to the "press conference." I'd hate for the Oscars to have to do the same thing, and for those great films this year to end up largely overlooked.

[gandley]

Originally Posted by sj001

I am going to have to check that movie out, I've always heard good things about it.

it was quite funny.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Wendell , you really should apply here to the mods for some kind of Insider status because I think you may know far more about the production pipeline prior to high-def optical disc encoding/authoring than many others do……….

including “retired” persons that allegedly “retired” to spend more time with their families and their barbecue machine.

Thanks Penton-Man, I take that as a great compliment. But I gotta tell you, I’m poor at the keyboard, grammar and composition. The many format wars have taken their toll as well (Blu-ray vs. HD DVD, 8VSB vs. COFDM, 1080 vs. 720, etc., etc.) so I must decline at this time.

IMO, the Blu-ray forum is very fortunate to have you and the other insiders as members. I will reconsider the offer after I finish some remodeling.

[zipbags]

I may be way off the mark. But, it seems that almost all of Penton's remarks have more to do with Barcelona and motorcycle safety then with Paramount and Universal. So maybe, that is a good sign.

Also, Penton. I have a family friend who is a higher up at MGM. I pm'ed you her name to see if you know her.

[elwaylite]

I think whatever is going on, they are not allowed to talk about it(and its none of our business).

Whenever you mention the U or the P word, everybody runs

[PaulGo]

The saying goes when it happens it happens.

(But it will happen!)

[danielpwnz]

Originally Posted by zipbags

Also, Penton. I have a family friend who is a higher up at MGM. I pm'ed you her name to see if you know her.

You should tell your family friend to cut the shit then.

[JAGUAR1977]

Penton/Max In 6 months time are we still going to be here asking when Paramount/Universal officially announces support for Blu-ray?

I couldn't careless if they only release on Blu-ray starting Christmas '08, even '09, but we need some encouraging comments from Paramount/Universal by mid summer.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by JAGUAR1977

Penton/Max In 6 months time are we still going to be here asking when Paramount/Universal officially announces support for Blu-ray?

I couldn't careless if they only release on Blu-ray starting Christmas '08, even '09, but we need some encouraging comments from Paramount/Universal by mid summer.

I actually believe the damage is done and that Para and Uni are holding out for cash from the BDA.

IMO the BDA is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

1. They know eventually Uni and Para will have to come on board
2. However, they have to decide whether throwing more money (or money in general) at studios to "come over" now is worth bringing this to a quicker end.
3. Or should they save their "money" let this run its course, and see if the consumer confusion still exists because the "red-side" still has 2 exclusive studios.