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

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

No, the *screenshot scientist* is not Rob T.

It really would've blown my mind if you'd indicated otherwise. In my experience, Rob is a very cool guy and about 1,000 times more reasoned than Xylon.

[Dan S.]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Given that, tell me which state lies to the left of you (when viewing a map) and what classic Blu-ray filmed in B&W (by my all-time favorite cinematographer) that I’m thinking of, and I’ll send you a once viewed copy of said ‘cold’ Blu-ray title.

If Dan can’t figure it out in 24hr., please somebody else provide him with a hint/help.

Kansas is to my left(obviously) and after some searching... I shall guess In Cold Blood, with Conrad L. Hall as Cinematographer.


Took me a while of searching, but I'm sticking with my answer.

Back on Monday to see if I was right...

[Eastkhan]

Again we miss another competition

Hope to join these competitions when/if i decide to move to "Les Etats Unis" this summer

put in other words:
I will have my prize, in this continent or the next

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

If any Stig is unofficially ‘outed’, I’m rather confident that Top Gear will employ the services of a new one(s) so as to keep the legend alive.

Well, the rational explination is that they naturally would use multiple Stigs, sorta like Polkaroo (I promise you this reference kills here up north... shout out to Simon while we're at TVO reference time...)

But I prefer to think that they just throw the dismembered body of the previous Stig into the cage where they keep the other ones.

Additionally, I'd like to thank you for the response above - while I don't share your feelings, that's a very clear, honest, and frank articulation of what specifically drives your irritation with the other forum and Xylon. I've said it before, but I'm of the camp that's highly suspicious of any hyperbole with regards to this hobby, be it blind cheerleading or pile-on denegration. I feel your frustration with negativity born by ignorance, and I rarely, if ever, participate in those thread unless I chirp in with yet another pathetic call for moderation.

That said, and given your caveats above, what (in your opinion) should be done with Patton? Sony certainly had its Fifth Element "debacle", and did something very classy with the rerelease. Does Patton, in your opinion, warrant such a move? Or is the market already under enough pressure without needing to provide reduxes of a too heavyhanded transfer/production?

And (as you brought up Baraka) is your own argument that screencaps are illustrating problems that aren't there but are merely the product of screencapturing or deceipt, or that these "problems" are there but the product of the production process (ie., the way the shot was filmed, the process of 8k downconversion)? If the production qualms are acurate (I belive Vincent P discussed this fact regarding the shot of the motorbike out the car window that generated much discussion) then I do think a fair argument can be made that the lack of context is problematic. If, instead, it's an 8KtoHD process artifact, then what is the reason that, say, your beloved (and well researched!) South Pacific doesn't suggest the same issues? In other words, what about the specific 8k transfer of Baraka results in these artifacts?

Finally, if it wasn't for you and this thread I think I would have avoided South Pacific entirely, but it's the production tidbits that you shared that completely made me reevaluate my interest in this title. I've yet to pick it up, having spent all my money on my first house, thus curtainling BD purchases for at least a week, but I'll definitely be adding this disc to my collection sometime soon.

Oh, and now that Rob T. is a beta tester for the new Oppo player, should he give you back his PS3?

I kid, I kid. In fact, just for that, I'll ask a question that haunts us both (knowing FULL WELL your policy regarding this type of question).... so, when are we going to see Lawrence of Arabia on Blu Ray?

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by sharkshark

I've yet to pick it up, having spent all my money on my first house

Do recall, good sir, that when not acting in the production of a suitable solution, you do indeed account for an element of the very problem!

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Do recall, good sir, that when not acting in the production of a suitable solution, you do indeed account for an element of the very problem!

hey, don't kid... as above, I'm one of the eleven people that bought Mutiny on the Bounty and Forbidden Planet...I'm doing my part...

[Esox50]

Braveheart is on TNT HD right now. As you know, the Blu-Ray is coming soon...looks to be in the July/August time frame.

Given my experience with this film on the DVD released in 2000 (and Laserdisc prior to that), I expected the worst on the Blu. The DVD has always had lots of dirt and a somewhat soft/smeared appearance.

I am pleased to say that even thought it's OTA HD on TNT, and obviously not as good as any Blu, my expectations are now raised for the upcoming Blu-Ray. There's good sharpness and detail; the texture of the costumes is great (look at young Wallace's costume, and also the plaids). Colors are "lush" (for this film, given past incarnations). I am wondering what a high bit rate AVC encode by Paramount is going to look like!!!

I had heard Paramount did some work on the print in the last few years. Is this the fruit of those labors? What exactly have they done? Paramount cannot announce and release this movie soon enough. If this broadcast is any indication, we're in a for treat of the 1995 Best Picture when it hits Blu later this year.

Paramount!!!

-Esox

PS/EDIT: Sophie Marceau in HD.

[Slec]

Penton,
With CGI becoming more and more prevalent, are the days of miniatures/models over? CGI has come a long way (and I personally feel it's used best as only an aid) but in my opinion just can't provide the depth and detail that truly stretch the imagination. I think I know the answer but was curious if there were any directors out there that still prefer this approach.

As always thanks for taking the time to post here!

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Slec

Penton,
With CGI becoming more and more prevalent, are the days of miniatures/models over? CGI has come a long way (and I personally feel it's used best as only an aid) but in my opinion just can't provide the depth and detail that truly stretch the imagination. I think I know the answer but was curious if there were any directors out there that still prefer this approach.

As always thanks for taking the time to post here!

Im a fan of models, too.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by sharkshark

.....And (as you brought up Baraka) is your own argument that screencaps are illustrating problems that aren't there but are merely the product of screencapturing or deceipt, or that these "problems" are there but the product of the production process (ie., the way the shot was filmed, the process of 8k downconversion)? If the production qualms are acurate (I belive Vincent P discussed this fact regarding the shot of the motorbike out the car window that generated much discussion) then I do think a fair argument can be made that the lack of context is problematic. If, instead, it's an 8KtoHD process artifact, then what is the reason that, say, your beloved (and well researched!) South Pacific doesn't suggest the same issues? In other words, what about the specific 8k transfer of Baraka results in these artifacts?

This title has already been discussed by myself on this forum, as well as in detail by a representative from FotoKem and Torsten K. (a Mastering & Film Restoration professional) ad nausea, in the appropriate thread on *science* ……. before they both departed that *discussion*, for good. All of your questions have been previously answered by them or myself before, with the exception of the South Pacific query, which is the only reason why I indulge you now.
As to that…..

in a one sentence way to describe why South Pacific and Baraka may appear different (I haven’t even seen the Blu-ray South Pacific yet) an educated conclusion would be due to the difference in their principal photography and/or a different bias on the downconversion filter utilized, which by no means is standardized or an exact science. Also, on the other hand, even if the exact same downconversion parameters were used with both feature films, the sharpness of the principal photography of South Pacific is pretty consistent whereas the sharpness of the original capture of Baraka was all over the map due to the inherent challenges of obtaining all those diverse images. This had to be reconciled in the end, in one fashion or another, to make the Baraka Blu-ray as seamless appearing as possible. So, going into the whole process, South Pacific had to have been (after it was ‘restored’ [which in itself was a great accomplishment]) much easier to scan and downconvert than was Baraka because of less technical trade-offs to deal with.

Also, if you’ve followed me so far, keep in mind that when you scan film at a high resolution, you must be very careful about aliasing esp. if you then downsample the material. Most people that do this work on a daily basis and are familiar with the effects believe that aliasing artifacts look much more horrendous than occasional sharpening artifacts. Also, aliases are false detail that are not correlated with real actual detail in the image. They ultimately make an image harder to compress, as aliasing artifacts are essentially noise.

Regarding the alleged dnr on Baraka - unlike what faux-science implied with their *screenshot science*, there are no visible grain reduction artifacts on real time viewing of Baraka, conversely there are easily identifiable grain reduction artifacts upon real time viewing of the Blu-ray of Amadeus, which faux-science completely missed or discounted with their *screenshot science*, at least until they red RAH’s review of Amadeus and went back after the fact to re-edit their post(s) to provide spin control to their *scientific* methods.

If you need further insight into Baraka, pick up the phone and call Blink Digital at (818) 526-2800. They encoded the material (in some cases, re-encoded sequences after critical viewing on large screen) and I think you will find them to be quite approachable if you are respectful.

P.S.
If you are a cineaphile, I would recommend that you do not watch movies like this-
http://www.eri.harvard.edu/faculty/p...compressed.mpg

because, that can be misleading --prompting you to feel unfulfilled in viewing instances in which you really should be quite happy and satisfied with the ‘look’.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Esox50

Braveheart is on TNT HD right now. As you know, the Blu-Ray is coming soon...looks to be in the July/August time frame.

Gawd, you have no idea at this time as to the irony of the timing of your post.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Dan S.

Kansas is to my left(obviously) and after some searching... I shall guess In Cold Blood, with Conrad L. Hall as Cinematographer.


Took me a while of searching, but I'm sticking with my answer.

Back on Monday to see if I was right...

Yes, that is correct Jim.
Since you showed due diligence in your vision quest, I will also send you Capote (staring Phillip Seymour Hoffman), i.e. the 2-disc set for continuity.

P.M. me your contact info.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

.....how does it sound if I post the query at ABOUT 10:00 A.M P.S.T. next Tues.?

Does that meet with the needs of most everyone here who has already shown interest?

So, I assume there are no reservations to this offered time ^.
Then so be it, “This is your time ^”………………..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od9vTcKQUDI

come Tuesday I will post a question or questions which may or may not be related to La Femme Nikita and the correct answer(s) to be posted by the first responder (who meets the previously outlined qualification criteria) will ensure they win this freebie Blu-ray disc.

[MerrickG]

Penton,

Whats your opinion on Roger Friedman downloading and reviewing the Wolverine film.

Format war favorite Harry Knowles shares his thoughts and feels that Friedman should get in serious trouble.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/40652

Do you agree?

I think a message needs to be sent that they mean business.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Slec

Penton,
With CGI becoming more and more prevalent, are the days of miniatures/models over? CGI has come a long way (and I personally feel it's used best as only an aid) but in my opinion just can't provide the depth and detail that truly stretch the imagination. I think I know the answer...

Yes you do.
Gotta run.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Gawd, you have no idea at this time as to the irony of the timing of your post.

Given that you quoted that part, I think I'm picking up what you're puttin' down!!!!

-Esox

[Secret_Smile]

Originally Posted by merrick97

I think a message needs to be sent that they mean business.

looks like someone agreed. . .

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...68#post1787868

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Slec

Penton,
With CGI becoming more and more prevalent, are the days of miniatures/models over? CGI has come a long way (and I personally feel it's used best as only an aid) but in my opinion just can't provide the depth and detail that truly stretch the imagination. I think I know the answer but was curious if there were any directors out there that still prefer this approach.

As always thanks for taking the time to post here!

Originally Posted by merrick97

Im a fan of models, too.

It depends entirely on who's doing the CGI, which can look as good or better than modelwork.

It's funny when people criticize something as CG and then learn that it was modelwork.

[Objectivity]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

It depends entirely on who's doing the CGI, which can look as good or better than modelwork.

It's funny when people criticize something as CG and then learn that it was modelwork.

Things have come a long way since The Phantom Menace, but it's telling that the final scene with Yoda at the end was the only CGI Yoda in the movie (DVD release only. I think the movie may have been a puppet). It stood out and was immediately noticeable.

I think part of the problem is that people, be it directors, artists, whoever, strive so much for photo-realism that they forget about real-realism. There are CGI scenes out there that look incredibly fake because the person in charge decided the objects 500 feet in the background should be in as sharp a focus as the person talking in the foreground. I doubt most viewers understand why that's bad, but their eyes know because their eyes don't see that way and they know something is wrong.

There are also CGI scenes out there that go unnoticed because the artist in question realized that noticing effects means that they've failed. It's the effects that are invisible that make us go wow.

Off on a tangent, but the perfect example to the last paragraph is Ghost. The movie builds up this whole story about how it's so difficult for ghosts to affect real world objects. No one says a word when Patrick Swayze makes a penny move up a wall, but when he slaps a sign with his hand out of excitement, everyone wonders how he did that - the excitement is over the shot with no special effect, not the one where tomfoolery exists.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Gawd, you have no idea at this time as to the irony of the timing of your post.

Originally Posted by Esox50

Given that you quoted that part, I think I'm picking up what you're puttin' down!!!!

I should say that since you posted that I'm gonna be on the edge of my seat at work all week refreshing Blu-Ray.com...even on my phone during meetings.

I hope I get to realize the irony sooner rather than later! Esox lies in waiting...

EDIT: Those of you with access to Paramount's press site...I'd be checking...