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

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by sharkshark

(and, naturally, =in motion=, not just sceen cap worship... Hi, Penton! )

Hi

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by sharkshark

...And no, to be absolutely explicit, I -ain't- talking about Penton. While I can only assume Penton makes -some- money from his studio, I'm also assuming they're not paying him explicitly to write to us nutbars....

I wish they would but, alas it’s all charity work and my primary motivation is to help people learn about various aspects of filmmaking, how they translate into the Blu-ray experience and also provide cutting edge news (when I’m at liberty to do so) and accurate technical information. As soon as I find myself in a situation where I just don’t have the time to contribute or I feel unappreciated by the membership here, I will disappear as fast as you can say shaaa-zam.

I figure if one tells the truth and is spot-on with their technical information, one has nothing to worry about because if the "nutbars" don’t get it immediately, eventually over time what I say or have posted will be proven correct.

Plus, as a sidebar to the discussion you’re having with Bill and Jeff, I personally know of no “shills’ for Blu-ray or any of the studios that post online or did so during the format war. The closest thing I can think of as a “paid lobbyist” blogging for Blu-ray was/is Scott Hettrick and I believe he openly stated his intents and purposes pursuant to that point when he initially set up his online website.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Bobby Henderson

Is there is a run down of what shots in The International were filmed on 65mm?

I haven’t seen that material for months now (since before the theatrical presentation) and I don’t have total recall like some people apparently do with some motion pictures who post online.

Unless, Tom enumerated the scenes during the Q & A at the film festival that Oliver K attended in Germany, I think not.

Off the top of my head, I would say the 65mm. capture mostly consisted of (but not exclusively) the wide panoramic shots and the first and last scenes for quick reference, if memory serves.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Well, if you’re in L.A. at the end of July, you should check this out as you may find something that tickles your fancy and pick it up on the cheap. I know they’ve got Batman stuff as well as a lot of chandeliers from Titanic (Bill, you may want to nab one for Sarah)……….

http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_1....dailynews.com

After 40 years, thats sad.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

On the other hand, the Blu-ray "Insiders" told things which, time and again, proved to be something you could take to the bank.........

I think that they only incorrect cutting edge news or technical information that I have posted online since during or after the format war was that I mentioned a significant announcement would be forthcoming from Wal*Mart imminently (in a day or so) and for some reasons beyond my control, the press release was delayed about 3 weeks or so.

Also, I mentioned an ultimately incorrect release date for Ghostbusters which actually was “correct” at the time, as it had been planned that way all along and even publicly alluded to at Comic Con to some members of the press but, alas the video game development/rights pushed back the release date to coincide with its 25th Anniversary.

The only online mistake that paidgeek made was in regards to some obscure technical detail only found in an annex book that he later had to dig out at home and admit his error and also an incidence where he misspoke and stated that a DI title starts its life with a scan of the IP, shortly after which he conceded that was not correct.

Otherwise, I would say that our records are spotless, and that includes everything I’ve posted about film (digital) masters, video masters, dnr, ee and grain – of which there is so much bullsh*t posted by others online, that it has almost become a subculture of faux science for evaluating motion pictures or Blu-rays.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

On the other hand, the Blu-ray "Insiders" told things which, time and again, proved to be something you could take to the bank, and aside from an instance where Max lost his temper (understandble as it was), and a brief instance in the Insider's thread involving Penton-Man and a Blu-ray leather jacket......

The *winner* of said jacket (probably retailing for close to $200) promised (more than once) to post a pic for all members of this forum, wearing said jacket……….then, out of the blue, the promise was broken.

Heck, I think people would have been happy (including me) just with a shot of the individual wearing the dang jacket walking down Ocean Drive in South Beach...... just to confirm that the recipient actually received the jacket!

Poor form.

[Jeff Kleist]

...we are so very close to agreement... My point is that just because Bill Gates says something about the future of computing, being a Mac guy/Jobs acolyte doesn't mean you should knee-jerk ignore what he has to say. Being suspect of paid employees for whatever organization and the utopian desire for them to remain objective and honest is one thing, calling one side "lobbyists" and the other "valued insiders" is simply disengenuous in my opinion.

Here's the difference. Penton has made it very clear that he works for a studio, and everyone else doing insider duty here has made it very clear where their motivations lie.

If you look at the article I'm referencing, there is no list of affiliations, there is no nothing that can provide reference of motivation to the average reader who isn't going to go research the author and their bought motivations. He has something to hide, because if he did say where he was coming from, the people who tend to read Bloomberg would know where his bread is buttered. They're counting on the simple truth that 90% of people will take it at face value, and the mere fact that they're in print makes them trustworthy.

I don't think this is going to go anywhere, so I'm just going to leave it at that. If you don't agree, no skin off my nose,

Well, if you’re in L.A. at the end of July, you should check this out as you may find something that tickles your fancy and pick it up on the cheap. I know they’ve got Batman stuff as well as a lot of chandeliers from Titanic (Bill, you may want to nab one for Sarah)……….

Nope, I'm there from July 1-8. I saw that last night, and I wish I could go see what i can get. I have zero luck at auctions, even Ebay I get sniped all the time, and I doubt I'd be able to outbid the bigwigs anyway

True story, a guy I'm acquainted with was going to pay his college tuition back in 1978 and passed the Universal garage sale. He ended up with enough Battlestar Galactica props and costumes (including several cylons) to revive the series and no semester of college. Unfortunately he had to sell a lot of it recently thanks to a money crunch (and none of it to me, I can't afford the prices he was asking )

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

I disagreed with MULTIPLE decisions made by MULTIPLE message boards I've been associated with in my time.... but the only message board I've ever seen do as you say above was AVSForum's HD Media section during the format war... as it was INCREDIBLY tough to be a Blu-ray fan on that board for a period of time.

~Alan

It still is…..at least in their Blu-ray software forum.

I posted some technical information about video masters in their *I love grain thread* a few weeks ago answering a question posed by a member that was confused about theatrical presentations and it was abruptly deleted in a few hours……..despite the fact that the only people I’m aware of on that forum who have actually seen a non-duped video master is Stacey Spears and possibly Ben W.

Additionally, I’m told that a thread (purely scientific) that I started on AVS sometime in ’07 regarding a new HD master of The Guns of Navarone was resurrected just a few days ago by someone that had seen the HD broadcast of TGoN, with one or more? posters’ comments which followed.

Well, the next morning, apparently the new posts were deleted, the thread was locked and it *disappeared* off the current Blu-ray software page of the day to somewhere in cyberspace.

Nothing’s changed over there.

[Jeff Kleist]

Also, I mentioned an ultimately incorrect release date for Ghostbusters which actually was “correct” at the time, as it had been planned that way all along and even publicly alluded to at Comic Con to some members of the press but, alas the video game development/rights pushed back the release date to coincide with its 25th Anniversary.

There was even an ad in the Comic-Con booklet and it was being pimped at the Sony booth there, they had footage running on screens. This is probably a better time for it anyway, and the game is certainly by all reports better for the extra development time.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Hey, Penton... I'm waiting for your 'all clear' to gab about the race.

Not yet.
I’m not caught up on my motorsports, give me at least a couple days.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

My prediction was correct. 106 all around. A real season is upon us.

SQUID!
Don't ruin it for me.

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I think that they only incorrect cutting edge news or technical information that I have posted online since during or after the format war was that I mentioned a significant announcement would be forthcoming from Wal*Mart imminently (in a day or so) and for some reasons beyond my control, the press release was delayed about 3 weeks or so.

Also, I mentioned an ultimately incorrect release date for Ghostbusters which actually was “correct” at the time, as it had been planned that way all along and even publicly alluded to at Comic Con to some members of the press but, alas the video game development/rights pushed back the release date to coincide with its 25th Anniversary.

I don't think anybody will judge you on delays. They happen, and in the case of "Ghostbusters", it WAS announced before it was delayed... so the information was proved to be correct.

Some people have claimed that Amir (and HD DVD fans with "inside information") WERE telling the truth when this or that was promised, and things happened that proved them wrong. This could be true, BUT the Blu-ray insiders had enough sense the majority of time to either wait until things were less fluid, and more solid... thereby giving the ability to be right the majority of time, or are simply VERY LUCKY PEOPLE!

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

The only online mistake that paidgeek made was in regards to some obscure technical detail only found in an annex book that he later had to dig out at home and admit his error and also an incidence where he misspoke and stated that a DI title starts its life with a scan of the IP, shortly after which he conceded that was not correct.

That I was not aware of, but even still, that information had very little to do with the "format war" itself.

~Alan

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

SQUID!
Don't ruin it for me.

Damnit. SORRY. I thought you didnt watch the asphalt stuff. Sorry again.

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Poor form.

Wasn't disagreeing with that in any way, just simply saying that I found myself "blushing" on more than one occasion during that time period.

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Nothing’s changed over there.

Sad, as I didn't know. I stopped posting in that area years ago. I still frequent their local HDTV threads, as well as the occasional hardware thread, but I stay clear of the HD Media sections. Of course, being honest, I try and stay clear of the HD Media section here as well... unless I'm bored as it can get pretty scary reading people's thoughts on quality regarding some titles. I mainly try and stick to the Insider's Discussion threads and the deals forum threads... and that probably won't be changing any time soon as I finally managed to replace my old HTiB speakers with newer, better quality speakers (Polk Audio Monitor 60s floorstanding speakers, Polk Audio CS20 center speaker) and get an AVR (Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K) which allows me to get "lossless" audio from my PS3. Sure, I still need to replace the two Pioneer speaks I use for my 6.1/7.1 speakers, as well as replacing my sub-woofer, but for now, I'm going to be in Blu-ray watching mood for a while.

~Alan

[Jeff Kleist]

Some people have claimed that Amir (and HD DVD fans with "inside information") WERE telling the truth when this or that was promised, and things happened that proved them wrong. This could be true, BUT the Blu-ray insiders had enough sense the majority of time to either wait until things were less fluid, and more solid... thereby giving the ability to be right the majority of time, or are simply VERY LUCKY PEOPLE!

That's definately not the case. Their side was very organized and nothing went out unscreened. Lies are very useful things. The trick is to accuse your opponent of what you yourself are guilty of, that way they're too busy defending themselves while you're on to the next thing. By the time they've managed to address the lies you told, they're 4 generations old.

You're right that the HD DVD people didn't wait to throw anything out there. They had a bunch of people they would throw stuff to, knowing they'd blab it all over the place, even information they gleaned from the other side. Had people on the Blu-ray side lacked their professionalism, there would be several books worth of dirt floating around the public sphere about all the shennanigans. At the end, there was also a lot of counter-espionage going on as well that really made them look like fools

[Oliver K]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Unless, Tom enumerated the scenes during the Q & A at the film festival that Oliver K attended in Germany, I think not.

Off the top of my head, I would say the 65mm. capture mostly consisted of (but not exclusively) the wide panoramic shots and the first and last scenes for quick reference, if memory serves.

Tom and the man from ARRI said that about 7 minutes of 65mm made it into the movie and that it was indeed used for establishing shots which in many cases also were panoramic shots.

Tom also made special mention of architecture being filmed in 65.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Bill, it still happens to this day, just using different wording……
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...&postcount=431

^ Here we have Stacey being referred to as an “alleged expert” and you being essentially characterized as a gullible idiot by implication.

See what I'm saying? There's the nature of public conversation in the Internet age. The 70/30 rule.

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Oliver K

Tom also made special mention of architecture being filmed in 65.

Which are jaw-dropping!

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

No, there is nothing wrong with "toeing the company line," but you tell enough propaganda, and it becomes harder to believe you when you're telling the truth...

exactly. This is the issue, the only way to know something is BS or propaganda is to know the facts before the person says or writes it. Once you notice someone either has an agenda or does not care everything becomes suspect. If you know the facts then you don't need that persons input and if you don't know the facts but look to learn from thgem how can you be sure what they say is right (intentional or not).

I disagreed with MULTIPLE decisions made by MULTIPLE message boards I've been associated with in my time.... but the only message board I've ever seen do as you say above was AVSForum's HD Media section during the format war... as it was INCREDIBLY tough to be a Blu-ray fan on that board for a period of time.

agree, it was not necessarily about being a fan but the way it was moded it made it incredibly hard to get good info. BS was allowed to reign rampant, yes sometimes it can be hard, do you have the info needed to judge what is BS or not and what is being "policy" or not, but AVS just became so bad that especially in the HDM section most was just noise and propaganda (but not only limited to those forums).

[sharkshark]

OK, you dragged me back in...

First of all, as per post above, I completely agree with you regarding the economic article, that the "hidden" affiilation to the thinktank is completely suspect. That being said....

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

That's definately not the case. Their side was very organized and nothing went out unscreened. Lies are very useful things. The trick is to accuse your opponent of what you yourself are guilty of, that way they're too busy defending themselves while you're on to the next thing. By the time they've managed to address the lies you told, they're 4 generations old.

You're right that the HD DVD people didn't wait to throw anything out there. They had a bunch of people they would throw stuff to, knowing they'd blab it all over the place, even information they gleaned from the other side. Had people on the Blu-ray side lacked their professionalism, there would be several books worth of dirt floating around the public sphere about all the shennanigans. At the end, there was also a lot of counter-espionage going on as well that really made them look like fools

...this screams of hyperbole and vindictiveness, the type of "we do no wrong and the enemy is evil" rhetoric that often clouds any discourse. There aren't "HD DVD" people, or "Red Ants", there are those that supported (or at least co-supported) a competing format. I neither believe without clear evidence that things are as nefarious as you describe , nor do I believe that if this =is= the case it was unique to one side over another. I'd certainly not see you as an objective, dispasionate arbiter about what their motivations were given this type of claim.

Look, I've got no idea what misinformation was spread, and if some of it was, and was done malicioiusly, then I understand your frustration (and even share it). But this type of name calling ("Liars!", "Fools!") is counterproductive, and comes across, respecfully, as petty.

I didn't want to dredge up all this crap, was making a larger point about being careful about such things, one that I think my novel above made better than anything I'd be able to repeat.

So, skimmy McGee/Penton, a direct question: You a Fatburger or In-And-Out guy? I may be alone, and while me loves the I/O (especially given the connection to Lebowski), I had a most religious burger experience at the Studio City Fatburger just before going into Universal, a burger that hearkened back to one from a childhood haunt that's been closed for decades, a taste that I thought had long ago past... Maybe it's the genius of putting the cheese on the bottom, who knows.


Man, makes me want to fly to Vegas and go grab one on the strip...