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

[mark antony]

Ghostbusters was re-mastered for this BD release. the transfer is DP approved.

The look of the film is down to the film stock of the time, the many optical effects that were pre-digital compositing and the stylistic choices of the director/DP.

It's never gonna look like Star Wars Ep. III!

M

[micks_address]

hi mark,

thanks for the response.. i wouldnt expect it to look like star wars episode 3 but there is a serious amount of noise (not sure if thats the correct term) in some of the shots.. fine if its intended but its very distracting (more so than most other films i've seen).. i'm not talking about special effects.. e.g. some of the shots of peter in his office doing the esp experiment.. things are much better in outdoor scenes.. the indoor ones just seem very poor

Cheers,
Mick

Originally Posted by mark antony

Ghostbusters was re-mastered for this BD release. the transfer is DP approved.

The look of the film is down to the film stock of the time, the many optical effects that were pre-digital compositing and the stylistic choices of the director/DP.

It's never gonna look like Star Wars Ep. III!

M

[Oliver K]

Originally Posted by micks_address

hi mark,

thanks for the response.. i wouldnt expect it to look like star wars episode 3 but there is a serious amount of noise (not sure if thats the correct term) in some of the shots.. fine if its intended but its very distracting (more so than most other films i've seen).. i'm not talking about special effects.. e.g. some of the shots of peter in his office doing the esp experiment.. things are much better in outdoor scenes.. the indoor ones just seem very poor

Cheers,
Mick

The film is what it is - some movies might look better to you than others and that is a good thing. Every movie looking the same would be boring and in this case there are both technical and artistic reasons for the way it looks.

You might want to experiment with noise reduction settings in your Blu-Ray player or display in such a case or just accept the movie the way it is - that's what I prefer

[mark antony]

Originally Posted by micks_address

hi mark,

thanks for the response.. i wouldnt expect it to look like star wars episode 3 but there is a serious amount of noise (not sure if thats the correct term) in some of the shots.. fine if its intended but its very distracting (more so than most other films i've seen).. i'm not talking about special effects.. e.g. some of the shots of peter in his office doing the esp experiment.. things are much better in outdoor scenes.. the indoor ones just seem very poor

Cheers,
Mick

I remember it looking like a product of it's time, have you recently calibrated your screen?

M

[micks_address]

my screen is ISF calibrated (by Gordon from AV convergent in the UK).. using a 40 inch 1080p Sony LCD.. UK model 40w4000.. i think the US model is 40w4100... player is oppo bd 83... also have ps3...

Originally Posted by mark antony

I remember it looking like a product of it's time, have you recently calibrated your screen?

M

[cjamescook]

Originally Posted by micks_address

...i wouldnt expect it to look like star wars episode 3 but there is a serious amount of noise (not sure if thats the correct term) in some of the shots.. fine if its intended but its very distracting (more so than most other films i've seen).. i'm not talking about special effects.. e.g. some of the shots of peter in his office doing the esp experiment.. things are much better in outdoor scenes.. the indoor ones just seem very poor.

It is, indeed, a product of its time: budget and film stock and technology. I believe that when PaidGeek was here (Sony VP), he indicated they made a very good effort to do right by the film, but the film was problematical and there were limits as to what they could do.

Bottom line: It probably looks the best that it can.

[Robert Siegel]

Originally Posted by Oliver K

That would be nice although I would prefer for a poll that includes a list of ten or maybe twenty titles from which a certain number that does the best in the poll can be released in 2011.

I mean I could just ask for Lord Jim and The Long Ships because I would like to see them on Blu-Ray but I am pretty sure that they would take some time and effort to prepare that makes a 2011 release date rather improbable.
So imo it is better to have a list of titles to choose from that Sony actually could release without years of preparation.

Here here! I agree, it would be great if we could take a poll on which catalog (classic) titles we would like to see released. Now that the format is expanding into more homes and probably more classic fans are buying players. I am not sure if a poll would work because some of the great titles might not be listed. Perhaps we could all list 5 of our most wanted Columbia classics that we want on Blu-ray. That said, there are some titles like Lawrence, Oliver, Funny Girl that would be perfect for high-def (and lossless audio). There are hungry classic fans out here just waiting to make these purchases, I hope we will be allowed our input in some way. The market does not have enough classic Blu-ray titles from the pre-1970 era. I think if there were more, it would open the market to a whole new demo for buying players (and movies). At least they could be releasing some of the biggest titles to start.

I have seen beautiful new high-def transfers on HDnet of Lawrence, Funny Girl, Oliver and other Columbia classics recently, they have been restored because I am very familiar with previous transfers. Unfortunately, the sound on cable and Sat. is so compressed, these big screen masterpieces need the lossless audio too. Penton, is there anything being done about Columbia's big screen epics and musicals from pre-1970 now that the format is in its 4th year and there are many more players in homes?

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Oliver K

Hi Penton-Man,

long time no post but I would like to add to what has been said before on the topic of classic titles on Blu-Ray and say that I prefer quality to quantity so I appreciate it that Sony gets all their older stuff right and does not sacrifice quality for quantity.

That being said we are well into the 4th year of the Blu-Ray format and 7 pre-1970 titles with 4 of them in the Harryhausen set make for slim pickings from Sony. So here's hoping that we will see a bit more than 2 titles per year in the near future

And reading your new signature made me look around a bit and it seems that for people from outside of the US it is easily possible to help via the red cross or UNICEF. It seems that both accept online donations at least in Germany.

Good man.
Keep us informed as to whether you will be attending Berlinale
and were able to get passes to the screening of the classic Metropolis -
http://www.berlinale.de/en/presse/pr...tail_5300.html

[Penton-Man]

About 200 titles are in some state or phase of restoration or preservation.
A recent accomplishment is From Here to Eternity………
http://www.oscars.org/events-exhibit...oeternity.html

As to which titles eventually warrant a Blu-ray release and at which particular moment in time, is a decision made by the marketing group.
If you folks would like to configure some sort of poll or poll(s) listing a group of titles and vote for them in some kind of hierarchical fashion, I promise to pass on the results to someone in marketing (with influence). If there is enough feedback (meaning a sample much larger than a small focus group), it may be possible for them to adjust a title in the schedule if it makes sense.

Please provide me with link(s) once it starts to ramp up.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Keep us informed as to whether you will be attending Berlinale
and were able to get passes to the screening of the classic Metropolis - http://www.berlinale.de/en/presse/pr...tail_5300.html

Yes, PLEASE!

[mark antony]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

If you folks would like to configure some sort of poll or poll(s) listing a group of titles and vote for them in some kind of hierarchical fashion, I promise to pass on the results to someone in marketing (with influence). If there is enough feedback (meaning a sample much larger than a small focus group), it may be possible for them to adjust a title in the schedule if it makes sense.

Please provide me with link(s) once it starts to ramp up.

If someone knows how to do this, that'd be fab.

Thanks for agreeing to this Penton

[Robert Siegel]

Originally Posted by mark antony

If someone knows how to do this, that'd be fab.

Thanks for agreeing to this Penton

Please count me in on this, let me know when it happens and I have about 10 friends who would love to vote too. We will have to find someone who knows how to create a poll, and then find which titles to list, or hopefully the poll can also offer an area where we can input titles. Does anyone know how to create this? I am very familiar with the Columbia catalog. I would also like to have input on the titles.

Maybe the best way is to start a thread for this, then we won't be bothering Penton with it until it is finished? Anyone?

Penton, thank you for doing this (from a true hard-core classic fan:-)

[Jeff Kleist]

Don't forget about Doctors Without Borders, a far better organization than the Red Cross when it comes to using your money effectively and not participating in active discrimination.

http://doctorswithoutborders.org/

People are going to need somewhere to live after they stop bleeding, so don't forget Habitat for Humanity

http://www.habitat.org/

And Heifer International helps people become self sufficient in more rural areas, seeding livestock populations to create sustainable populations for food, milk, farming labor animals etc.

http://www.heifer.org/

Helping Haiti isn't just thinking about today, it's thinking about tomorrow as well. Making sure they come out of this disaster more stable than they went in doesn't just help Haiti, the ripples in the pond make the world's life better.

[mark antony]

I've started the ball rolling:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...46#post2796246

Please list your wanted titles here and we'll sort out the poll once we have enough responses

[Oliver K]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Good man.
Keep us informed as to whether you will be attending Berlinale
and were able to get passes to the screening of the classic Metropolis -
http://www.berlinale.de/en/presse/pr...tail_5300.html

I will indeed attend the screening of Metropolis, as for the rest of the Berlinale I am still waiting for the program.

It will certainly not be as exciting for me as last year when they showed 2 dozen 70mm movies but I am sure I will find other things to like

Will you be coming to Berlin this year ? And will Grover Crisp attend again ?
He gave us a little introduction to Lord Jim last year - a very impressive print I might add, one of the best new 70mm prints that I have seen.

[abintra]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Don't forget about Doctors Without Borders, a far better organization than the Red Cross when it comes to using your money effectively and not participating in active discrimination.

http://doctorswithoutborders.org/

People are going to need somewhere to live after they stop bleeding, so don't forget Habitat for Humanity

http://www.habitat.org/

And Heifer International helps people become self sufficient in more rural areas, seeding livestock populations to create sustainable populations for food, milk, farming labor animals etc.

http://www.heifer.org/

Helping Haiti isn't just thinking about today, it's thinking about tomorrow as well. Making sure they come out of this disaster more stable than they went in doesn't just help Haiti, the ripples in the pond make the world's life better.

Good post Jeff. Thank you.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by micks_address

Guys sorry to drag this up as I obviously missed the boat on this conversation but I popped on Ghostbusters for the first time last night after it sitting on the shelf for a couple of months.. first thing that worried me was when my 7 year old son says 'oh this is bad quality why dont we watch a blu-ray?'.... i laughed at it him and told him to give it a chance.. the audio and colours etc were grand but there is so much grain/noise in the film in the indoor scenes that sometimes it looked like watching a vhs copy of the film.. how come its so bad? is it down to film stock choice? lighting? cameras? or a poor remaster job? again please feel free to ingore as i know this boat probably sailed a few months ago but after watching the first 25 mins of the film last night i felt strongly enough about it to post here.. with the 3rd film in the works is there likely to be a remaster of the 1st film again down the line or are we seeing the best it can be at the moment?
Cheers,
Mick

Mick,
A great deal of time, expense and attention to detail was invested in the HD master of Ghostbusters. There is really nothing to fault regarding the technical BD production of this title. I’ve discussed some of the specifics in my past posts either on this thread or other Ghostbuster thread(s) located in the Blu-ray Movies – USA and Region A forum…..can’t recall which. Essentially, all the above responses to your query given by other members here are spot-on. All I’ll add is that there is no “noise” (or at least none that a human can detect) in the movie. All the texture which you see is grain. On the other hand, something which I haven’t addressed in the past is that your reaction to viewing the motion picture is a real-world dilemma now faced by the marketing folks in every major Hollywood studio which is distributing Blu-ray movies.

What I’m saying is, that marketing folks are cognizant of the fact there is an HD movie viewing population with definite picture *quality* preferences…. and I’m not just talking about the mainstream public but rather, also some ‘audio-video enthusiasts’ or ‘home theater enthusiasts’ that regularly frequent internet forums, who make their Blu-ray purchasing decisions based upon whether or not a particular movie has “pop” or is “eye candy”. Heck, I think there are even *picture quality* Tier threads based upon that criteria disregarding the true technical merit of the Blu-ray transfer (informed, not speculative) or the creative intent of the filmmaker both of which are given little or no consideration in the end. In essence, many people want movies which will show off their full 1080p displays the best……….creative intent by the filmmaker or mastering accuracy to the source be damned. I think it would be safe to say that if Public Enemies had been shot in the 50’s or 60’s, the studio holding the BD rights for that motion picture would think long and hard about releasing it on Blu-ray these days and possibly not even release it at all, no matter how perfectly the HD master replicated the theatrical exhibition.

Bottom line- your viewing experience and that of your son, illustrates the reason why marketing folks in all the majors are getting a gun-shy attitude concerning older titles, especially really old titles for BD and it is providing an impediment to the studios from going deeper into their libraries, which b.t.w., people should also keep in mind that said libraries are not at all equal on a purely numbers basis in terms of the amount of “classic” or catalog titles each individual major studio holds home media rights to. For example, when WB announced BD exclusivity just prior to the end of the format war, it wasn’t just the fact of one more additional studio putting another nail in HD DVD’s coffin, but it was more like driving a spike into said coffin by having a studio with such a LARGE library of classics as well as modern day fare now diverted solely to Blu-ray home media exhibition.

[cjamescook]

I should also remind folks to check whether their employers will match donations to qualified IRS 501(c)(3) organizations. This can double your donation.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by mark antony

I've started the ball rolling:
Sony Classics Poll List - Blu-ray Forum

It looks like your precursor thread to the poll itself is coming along nicely. After you’ve allowed some time to get more input from everyone who’s interested in doing so, somebody should put it in a poll format and then Deci can make it a sticky in the Blu-ray Movies – USA and Region A forum for easy identification/location.
If you guys don’t know how to configure a poll thread, then just ask one of the mods here for assistance.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Oliver K

I will indeed attend the screening of Metropolis, as for the rest of the Berlinale I am still waiting for the program.

It will certainly not be as exciting for me as last year when they showed 2 dozen 70mm movies but I am sure I will find other things to like

Will you be coming to Berlin this year ? And will Grover Crisp attend again ?
He gave us a little introduction to Lord Jim last year - a very impressive print I might add, one of the best new 70mm prints that I have seen.

I’ll be attending the 2010 Winter Olympics as I’ve been invited to stay with friends who have a place in Vancouver and Whistler.

Grover will indeed be attending Berlinale again this year and like you, is planning on seeing Metropolis. Funny thing is, he was with one of the restorers in Italy on the exact day when word came to the restorer on the 16mm find.

For the festival itself, Grover will be providing a few prints on not very old titles, but there is no SPE restoration program this year per se, instead a Stephen Frears retrospective and selected titles that debuted at the festival over the last 60 years, to celebrate the 60th.