British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[Judex]

^The Eureka release will remain the winner with the score as well(for me at least).
The bernard score on it's own is ok, nothing great. When paired with Nosferatu it's a total mismatch for me. Doesn't work at all.


Beaver have a review of Vivre Sa Vie up. Since the intertitles and the opening British classification card are the only difference in the film, Why didn't the BFI seamless branch them?

Tempting to ditch the Criterion and get this for the Goddard shorts.

[David M]

Beaver have a review of Vivre Sa Vie up. Since the intertitles and the opening British classification card are the only difference in the film, Why didn't the BFI seamless branch them?

I'm glad you asked!

The bottom line: because we have enough space on a BD50, there was no detriment to the film's picture quality by encoding the film twice.

Seamless branching on BD isn't quite as simple as just cutting the film into chunks and having the player put it all together. You have to make sure that the bitrate doesn't change too much around the splice points (which it absolutely does if you're going from black nearly-static intertitles into normal film scenes), otherwise the seamless join can't be made. It can also affect the way files are interleaved on the final disc image and can reduce capacity as a result. With this many splice points, it's hard to do while maintaining BDAV spec compliance. You can also end up with things like audio pops which makes QC more complicated.

Although it seems like an inelegant solution, encoding the movie twice was actually the best plan.

The quantization level is very, very low, and this is what you should look at before you look at bitrate. There shouldn't be a visible difference between this and the Criterion version even if the bitrate is more "robust" - whatever that means!

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by Lyris

There shouldn't be a visible difference between this and the Criterion version even if the bitrate is more "robust" - whatever that means!

That's just 'Garyspeak'. I appreciate that he includes detailed specs/technical info on the disc itself (unlike this site) but navigating one of his sentences can be a bewildering experience. Thankfully he typically includes a Time Out review, which are usually far more concise!

[CrockettandTubbs]

Re - Vivre Sa Vie:

Going by the extra features comparison on dvdcompare.net -

apart from the 45 minute interview with film scholar Jean Narboni, conducted by historian Noël Simsolo (and the 42 pg booklet) on the Criterion, if you're not multi-region (like me), the BFI looks like the better package.

The three short films look like the clincher for me

[sjconstable]

Originally Posted by lyris

even if the bitrate is more "robust" - whatever that means!

:d

[Funktion]

Thanks for the comments, Lyris and MichaelB.
Always great to hear a little bit about the decisions behind these releases.

[nitin]

Originally Posted by Lyris

There shouldn't be a visible difference between this and the Criterion version even if the bitrate is more "robust" - whatever that means!

lol robust = higher bitrate.

There is ample proof of this in gary's 'reviews'.

btw, are you doing the fox noirs for BFI? Also did you see my PM re Possession?

[hustlermane]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

What did you think was so great about it? It depends on the level of baggage you bring with you I suppose.

I caught it at the Melbourne Film Festival btw.

Right, I wasn't sure if you'd seen it or not from your previous comment.

I dunno - I approached it as a Pasolini fan more than a Ferrara fan (who I haven't seen much from). I just found it such a poetic, beautiful way to condense a really multi-faceted life, and Dafoe's embodiment is amazing. It has a texture and a flow to it that I found intoxicating - if anything, it feels so short! But even among Pasolini fans I know, response was mixed.

[Vakulinchuk]

So, Criterion will publish the Apu Trilogy in region A territories... How about the UK? Any clue who might option it?

[rapta]

Originally Posted by Vakulinchuk

So, Criterion will publish the Apu Trilogy in region A territories... How about the UK? Any clue who might option it?

I brought it up on the Eureka thread just the other day. I'd love for Eureka or the BFI to release it (or perhaps Arrow), but it depends on whether Artificial Eye continued their license for it...they were the last ones to release it on DVD here, but that was back in 2003.

[Eureka Entertainment]

Originally Posted by rapta

I brought it up on the Eureka thread just the other day. I'd love for Eureka or the BFI to release it (or perhaps Arrow), but it depends on whether Artificial Eye continued their license for it...they were the last ones to release it on DVD here, but that was back in 2003.

I doubt they'd let such a lucrative trilogy lapse.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by Eureka Entertainment

I doubt they'd let such a lucrative trilogy lapse.

True, and they did release those other five Ray titles on Blu-ray a couple of years ago.

[Vakulinchuk]

Originally Posted by rapta

True, and they did release those other five Ray titles on Blu-ray a couple of years ago.

Which weren't half bad in terms of PQ / compression etc. Crossing fingers, then.

[nitin]

Originally Posted by nitin

lol robust = higher bitrate.

There is ample proof of this in gary's 'reviews'.

btw, are you doing the fox noirs for BFI? Also did you see my PM re Possession?

And this time straight from the horse's mouth :

The AE transfer is adept - shade more technically robust than the German Kinowelt (higher bitrate)

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-r...ts_blu-ray.htm

[insomniac013]

Why are BFI releasing Nosferatu? I thought Eureka owned that! (There's also little you can do to improve upon it)

[rapta]

Back to The Apu Trilogy, which has been brought up on a few threads, it says here that the BFI leant some materials for the restoration, so unless another label has the rights already (like Artificial Eye, who released the trilogy on DVD in the past), could the BFI be releasing this in the new year? I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I do hope it comes out in the UK too and isn't just something Criterion have held for ransom.

[Yami]

It's just that there were materials in the BFI National Archive, so I really doubt they'll have any rights to it. This can be the case even for restorations that they actually perform (the Hitchcock 9). Pretty certain it will come from someone though - it's probably the most famous trilogy in world cinema

[Killer Meteor]

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

The movie itself is public domain. The BFI hold a print and having released a well regarded and healthy selling DVD of it about 10 years ago they've chosen to do a HD restoration for Blu-ray.

BFI will claim the copyright for this particular restoration, technically meaning no one else can release it, and will also hold the copyright for the music score.

Since this, and Birth of a Nation, are Photoplay restorations, I wonder if the BFI could do a BD release of Photoplay's version of The Cat and the Canary?

[nitin]

Originally Posted by rapta

Back to The Apu Trilogy, which has been brought up on a few threads, it says here that the BFI leant some materials for the restoration, so unless another label has the rights already (like Artificial Eye, who released the trilogy on DVD in the past), could the BFI be releasing this in the new year? I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I do hope it comes out in the UK too and isn't just something Criterion have held for ransom.

how would Criterion hold the UK rights ransom? If you mean their transfers, well they paid to exclusively do them so it's only fair that if someone else wants to use them, they pay them for it and Criterion gets to set the price.

[mattyl149]

Not only has my copy of Eyes Without A Face finally shipped from Amazon (after the numerous delays), but it's also going to be delivered today

I can't wait to receive it