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

[Penton-Man]

Well, I think everyone here is familiar with RAH, paidgeek (with helmet on) and myself.
For those who are unaware of Grover’s track record………..it has to be mighty fine in order to qualify and become chairman of the Digital Preservation and Archiving subcommittee….
http://www.theasc.com/clubhouse/committee_tech.html#

[Living Near Shamu]

Penton,

Any updates on Toshiba making blu-ray players and did we ever find out who that Amir character really was?

[badboi]

Originally Posted by Living Near Shamu

Penton,

Any updates on Toshiba making blu-ray players and did we ever find out who that Amir character really was?

[SquidPuppet]

ouch

[Jeff Kleist]

Toshiba won't make Blu-ray players for at least another year

And yes, today's Netplayer announcement was hilarious. The impression I get from everywhere is that most of the people who actually need their jobs want to make Blu players over there. Those with Golden Parachutes carry the grudge

Amir is Amir, that's his real name, at one time a fairly well respected software engineer, now a shill without a country

Edit- Is that picture Kevin Mitnick? It looks like him

[badboi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Edit- Is that picture Kevin Mitnick? It looks like him

Not sure who it is actually, but whenever I hear Amir or Lee Stewart mentioned, those are the type of images that pop through my mind (along with a box of Depends next to Lee).

[cjamescook]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Well, I just hope that they show some interest in the chat with Schawn and George, et. al. because I’m telling you people, the ‘classics’ just aint selling that well, no matter what the quality of the Blu-ray product is or what studio it comes out of.

Which is a real shame ...

What are the long term sales figures for classic catalog items versus new releases?

A BD release of a new 2008/2009 feature may have an initial flash of sales, then die.

A classic catalog release may also have a (smaller) initial flash of sales, but then slow to a long low, steady level of sales.

Why? Because the new feature is a flash in the pan, while folks interested in classics slowly buy into BD players and then slowly buy up a collection over time.

Does anyone have any data that supports or refutes this sales model theory?

Just trying to be helpful,
-Jim

[horseflesh]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

That may appear to be true in some cases but, that’s not quite accurate…………at least, in regards to SPHE – where everything in the Sony Pictures library that needs to be remastered for HD, will eventually be done with the same care and effort ($), just from an asset management perspective…… regardless of potential home media revenues.

Potential sales drive how quickly the work will be done and how soon people will eventually see the titles on Blu-ray.

That's reassuring to hear, thanks.

As for the TdF in HD; I'm nearly sure Eurosport (a European, and non-subscription, sports channel in case the name didn't give it away )
show the Tour every year. They also have HD channel (where I watched most of the Olympics last year), so if it'll be anywhere it'll be there.

[cjamescook]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

...
You see, since George Feltenstein (WB), Rich Marty (Sony) and other industry folks regularly read this thread, I’m using you guys as a sounding board for them ^.

Well, that's different!

I'll point one thing out and ask one question.

First, for the folks asking about better marketing of classic titles, consider Casablanca. There is a fully-restored classic title. This cost money. So, if you are a marketing type, how do you market it? Well, one way is enhanced extras like better packaging, more features, collectable lobby cards, etc.

Is this working? I don't know. Some of us would prefer the discs and all their extra features but not the booklets, lobby cards, package, etc. I'm guessing that this reaction will lead to some head-scratching over what people want.

BTW, note that this packaging job may be better to attact interest than execute the previous suggestion of a limited re-release only in high-end theatres. Everyone can see and buy the packaging vs. limited markets for the theatres (better bang for the marketing buck?).


Okay, now to the question:
We've now seen several different experiments:

1. BD released a week or two ahead of DVD for a new 2008/09 title.
2. BD released a week or two behind the DVD for a new title (this may have been a hang-up in logistics).
3. Dual-disc releases (both DVD and BD in one package).

Have the sales numbers for these experiments taught us anything?

[cjamescook]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

BTW Penton, when i was a paper boy and the bill was $2, they would never give me a tip. $2 months SUCKED because I actually made less money due to lack of tip, because it was always easier to give me $2 period, and I'd get a 40 cent tip, which amounted to an extra $10-12 in my pocket

Glad I delivered Newsday in the 1960s for 60 cents per week. They almost always gave you three quarters and told you keep the change!

-Jim the old timer

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by cjamescook

Have the sales numbers for these experiments taught us anything?

I'm sure these numbers have taught the studios/distributors some things, but not likely the sort of things they'd be ready to publicly talk about.

[GabrielB]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

That may appear to be true in some cases but, that’s not quite accurate…………at least, in regards to SPHE – where everything in the Sony Pictures library that needs to be remastered for HD, will eventually be done with the same care and effort ($), just from an asset management perspective…… regardless of potential home media revenues.

Ah-ha!!

What about other studios?
And possibly foreign studios and/or distributors?

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Money made on titles are neither loose nor tight.

http://loseloose.com/

/educating the internet, one geek at a time

Ah... Peter
And it won't be my last mistake. (it wount bee me lassed missteak)
Primerus languagus frenchius.

edit: if you were being condescending then loose up the arrogance a bit

[cjamescook]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

And for those motoheads out there……..or just smart and observant non-motorcycle folks, why is paidgeek runnin that ugly grey plastic on his motor-sickle?

Obviously, to protect his secret identity!

By day, he's Clark Geek, mild-mannered executive to a major metropolitan conglomerate.
But when there's dangerous work to do, he's Racer-X, shadowy older brother of Speed Racer.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Money made on titles is neither loose nor tight.

Fixed.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Fixed.

He he he. Busted.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

He he he. Busted.

Nope, money past tense

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Nope, money past tense

You'd written "are", not "was".

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Nope, money past tense

Huh? I was reading that (Doc's correction) as singular vs plural. Past, present, future would be moot, no?

[PeterTHX]

Depends on what the definition of "is" was at the time it was written, hence the "when".

Are we clear yet?

[Torsten Kaiser TLE]

Originally Posted by Bullseye

just watching the 1932 film Vampyr and it just occured to me that the movements of the people on screen seem faster than normal. This is also the case with some of the early Charley Chaplin films. Is this to do with the number of frames per second?

Originally Posted by wallendo

I believe that some of the very old films were filmed at frame rates slower than 24 fps. Unfortunately, today these films are frequently played back at 24 fps. IMDB does not list the frame rate for Vampyr, but, interestingly, it was filmed with an aspect ratio of 1.19:1

Portions of Carl Theodor Dreyer's VAMPYR were filmed with a "silent film" camera, which in the early days of cinema did not have any motors to transport the film stock with consistent speed. All the cameraman could rely on was his hand and arm. Evidently the cameraman who shot the silent footage transported these portions filmed (by hand) slower than the (motor transported) sound footage that make up the lion share of the film. These segments were then spliced into the regular footage of the film's negative. VAMPYR itself is a sound film running at 24 frames per second, with the track itself covering a large portion of the left side of the frame, a format also known as Movietone (after the news reels by the same name that used the same process). That is why the aspect ratio is 1.19:1; so almost square. Other famous films that were made in that format are Fritz Lang's "M", along with THE TESTAMENT OF DR MABUSE and also Murnau's SUNRISE.

With the early "Silent Film" cameras the cameraman's hand and arm were exclusively powering the mechanism; and some did their craft with enormous accuracy. Billy Bitzer, long-time DoP for D.W. Griffith, was perhaps one of the most accurate handlers of such cameras when it came to consistency of speed. Considering the fact that he had to concentrate on focus, the action and motion that highly accurate speed all by hand is nothing short of astonishing even (or perhaps especially) today.

In the silent era there was actually no fixed speed at which the picture would be filmed or projected. Films were made at a certain speed and the projectionist often was then given the speed at which to project. In the early days to the late teens, the actual speeds varied mostly between 18 and 22 Frames per second; however, later, toward the end of the 1920s, most films were made at speeds more closely to 24 or 25 frames a second. Virtually all of the silent comedies of the teens and early 20s were presented at the wrong (way too fast) speed back in the 50s and 60s and on TV later; it was not before the 1980s that new masters were made for TV and Laserdisc, largely due to people like David Shephard, at the correct speed intended.