Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Yeah, it's a little tough to know what's going on. You hang out in Penton's thread and always find him laughing aloud at the very notion that our headless-chicken neighbors' less-erudite bleatings have anyone's ear at all and then Bill goes and posts the suggestion that they're actually slowing the catalog release rate.

Got me stumped.

don't forget in the end it is sales that matter. If older catalogue titles have a small market to begin with and then the BS flies and a few of the people that might have bought it, don't, then the sales drop and studios think people are not interested so why sell them. There is a difference between believing in the garbage posted by some and how it affects the bottom line. Why do you think all theses crusades against popular titles happen?

[Jeff Kleist]

The problem, which many at the studios I think are finally coming to realize, is that when Xylon and company post their crap, while maybe AVS might cost them 200 sales, the trickle down effect to other sites and the eroding of confidence from the big picture may cost them many thousands.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Director fidelity matters not when he's making a movie out of a book.

WHA?!

Does author fidelity matter when one is making a book out of a news story?

Does journalist fidelity matter when one is making a news story out of a real event?

Where do you draw the line, Jeff? Why does provenance of source material have any bearing on directorial authority? Mr. Lynch made a film; he didn't re-write the book.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

[B]I want to make sure everyone reads our feature by LOTR DVD producer Michael Pellerin on the new Blus and the films in general.

It's a good piece, Jeff. Thanks!

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

If older catalogue titles have a small market to begin with and then the BS flies and a few of the people that might have bought it, don't, then the sales drop and studios think people are not interested so why sell them.

Good point.

[Jeff Kleist]

Where do you draw the line, Jeff? Why does provenance of source material have any bearing on directorial authority? Mr. Lynch made a film; he didn't re-write the book.

He sure did. sound guns,baron boils. Lots of unnecessary changes.

Of course real events should be reported accurately. This is a fictional book. If stuff is being added back in to make it more accurate to the book (as is done in the Smithee version) then it it entirely permissable

No one should be allowed to change a single name, plot point or event in any adaptation of anything. If you want to be creative, go be creative. If you want to play in someone else's sandbox, follow the rules.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

No one should be allowed to change a single name, plot point or event in any adaptation of anything. If you want to be creative, go be creative. If you want to play in someone else's sandbox, follow the rules

So, why make a movie in the first place? And, for that matter, how on Earth do you make a movie without making any creative decisions?!

[Jeff Kleist]

So, why make a movie in the first place? And, for that matter, how on Earth do you make a movie without making any creative decisions?!

Author already made them for you. Your job is to transpose what he wrote to the screen while retaining as much as humanly possible to make the story work in the format. This does not involve inventing scenes, characters or dialog without them literally sitting next to you and signing off. If the author is dead, then you're just SOL

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Annoyed, yes. Frothing at the mouth like some people here and other message boards? Hardly.

I reserve my anger for things that matter. Gladiator being subpar doesn't physically hurt anyone, or affect my life. $10 out of my pocket. I'll live.



Does Paramount make it a habit? No. Everyone makes mistakes. Are YOU perfect?

Of course I am not perfect. But when I make a mistake, I promptly admit it and make good on my word. The fact that more than one Industry Pofessional went public with pleas to Paramout to fix it, and Paramount said nothing, was kinda weak IMO. I am not saying Paramount should have jumped through hoops to immediately make a new Blu-ray and get it out to consumers for free. I simply believe that they should have publicly acknowledged and addressed it. Ignoring it, not commenting on it, sweeping it under the rug is a poor business practice.

I am not angry, nor am I frothing at the mouth. I have never "wanted someone fired for this". I am simply sharing an opinion.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Author already made them for you.

The author made the decisions necessary to craft a book. A movie is an entirely different animal with very different needs and decisions required.

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Your job is to transpose what he wrote to the screen while retaining as much as humanly possible to make the story work in the format.

Well, "work" is the operative term, isn't it? And who decides what "works", besides, ultimately, the audience? That would be whoever is making the creative decisions behind the movie.

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

This does not involve inventing scenes, characters or dialog without them literally sitting next to you and signing off. If the author is dead, then you're just SOL

And what does the author, during the movie's production, know about anything? Dune, the book, wasn't written in the '80's- it'd been a pretty long time. How is Frank Herbert of the '80's being imposed upon the Dune movie necessarily any less dangerous than George Lucas of the '90's making revisions to Star Wars?

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

And I didn't mean to imply that he is; only that the steps necessary to create a Blu-ray release are likely solely incumbent upon him and I'm not sure whether he would feel motivated to do so with any particular quickness. An 'ROI vs. his own personal aesthetic interests' question rather than an affordability question.

Here's to hoping.

Meanwhile, I'm wearing through my sole, tapping my foot with impatience for Blue Velvet.

I dont think I could survive Eraserhead's audio in Lossless surround.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Drop 30 grand a year to Nielsen like they do

a bit here. So fox keeps track of their numbers, but HBO doesnt, at all? They must monitor sales.

[Jeff Kleist]

The author made the decisions necessary to craft a book. A movie is an entirely different animal with very different needs and decisions required.

Your point? A movie does not have to change the plot, characters or events to tell the same story. You can compress things, edit things, but this is the usual lame excuse that results in "re-imaginings"

Well, "work" is the operative term, isn't it? And who decides what "works", besides, ultimately, the audience? That would be whoever is making the creative decisions behind the movie.

If it ain't in the book, it ain't on screen. Easy rule to follow

And what does the author, during the movie's production, know about anything? Dune, the book, wasn't written in the '80's- it'd been a pretty long time. How is Frank Herbert of the '80's being imposed upon the Dune movie necessarily any less dangerous than George Lucas of the '90's making revisions to Star Wars?

Considering he wrote it, he knows everything. THe author is god of the universe he created.

George Lucas is god of Star Wars. Anything he decides to do, which you are free to disagree with and call him a moron over, is by default correct.

a bit here. So fox keeps track of their numbers, but HBO doesnt, at all? They must monitor sales.

AC Nielsen tracks retail activity just like they track TV ratings. So just like they can provide overnights on shows, they can provide overnights on unit sales (except for Wal-Mart who refuses to participate). Everyone uses them for such things, otherwise all they'll have is shipped numbers and data from however many they decided to make phone calls to. Nielsen gets reports from all the majors (sans WM) every day. The reports are proprietary, and only certain amounts of them (like you see in Home Media) are made public. The numbers come out on Wednesday for subscribers and Friday some of it is made public. During the war you would see the HD DVD crowd leak those numbers when it was to their advantage, much to Nielsen's chagrin

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

AC Nielsen tracks retail activity just like they track TV ratings. So just like they can provide overnights on shows, they can provide overnights on unit sales (except for Wal-Mart who refuses to participate). Everyone uses them for such things, otherwise all they'll have is shipped numbers and data from however many they decided to make phone calls to. Nielsen gets reports from all the majors (sans WM) every day. The reports are proprietary, and only certain amounts of them (like you see in Home Media) are made public. The numbers come out on Wednesday for subscribers and Friday some of it is made public. During the war you would see the HD DVD crowd leak those numbers when it was to their advantage, much to Nielsen's chagrin

Thank you. Now I have a better picture. But I have a new question. How does a studio that does not subscribe to Nielsens for the hard and fast numbers, determine how well a product has moved? Like you said, they know how many they have shipped, but how many actually left the shelves?

I ask because you have stated that sales numbers for a current show (Rome as an example) could have an impact on the decision to release, or not release more shows. How the heck will they know how well its selling? Only if they receive orders for more?.....that seems rather primitve. So how do they make a decision on potential new releases?

[Jeff Kleist]

HBO is owned by WB who has a nielsen subscription

They can poll their retailers. I often got calls from small record companies asking how many we moved. Anyone small enough to not carry a Nielsen subscription probably is on more of a "slow and steady wins the race" model anyway.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

HBO is owned by WB who has a nielsen subscription

They can poll their retailers. I often got calls from small record companies asking how many we moved. Anyone small enough to not carry a Nielsen subscription probably is on more of a "slow and steady wins the race" model anyway.

Thank you again.

So....Is there anyone you know at WB/HBO who could enlighten you about Romes sales performance?

[Jeff Kleist]

My friend's Mom worked for HBO when we were kids, and I've got some awesome swag because of it. Unfortunately that was a long time ago.

Even if I burned a favor to ask for them, I still wouldn't be allowed to share them. I expect the BBC is probably far more in control of the series future, as it was always more popular there

[Ataneruo]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Considering he wrote it, he knows everything. THe author is god of the universe he created.

George Lucas is god of Star Wars. Anything he decides to do, which you are free to disagree with and call him a moron over, is by default correct.

I don't think "correct" is the right term. He is "free", certainly, to change whatever he likes. However, his changes may involve changing character actions, inserting incongruous events or otherwise manipulating the original vision which he presented in a way which makes both the story and the movie worse, or weaker, than it was originally presented. Of course he is free to do that. But just because he does it, the fact that the author himself changed his creation, does not mean he made it "better" or even "okay". In order for that to happen he would need to have made a better change.

In short: "the author's original intent" does not equal "the best version of the story".

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

My friend's Mom worked for HBO when we were kids, and I've got some awesome swag because of it. Unfortunately that was a long time ago.

Even if I burned a favor to ask for them, I still wouldn't be allowed to share them. I expect the BBC is probably far more in control of the series future, as it was always more popular there

Oh, Jeff, sorry for the confusion. I wasnt looking for actual numbers. My reason for asking is, I hope it sold well as to encourage them to put Deadwood on Blu-ray.

[Jeff Kleist]

Rome and Deadwood don't share audience profiles, it's not something that would enter into that decision making process

I don't think "correct" is the right term. He is "free", certainly, to change whatever he likes. However, his changes may involve changing character actions, inserting incongruous events or otherwise manipulating the original vision which he presented in a way which makes both the story and the movie worse, or weaker, than it was originally presented. Of course he is free to do that. But just because he does it, the fact that the author himself changed his creation, does not mean he made it "better" or even "okay". In order for that to happen he would need to have made a better change.

In short: "the author's original intent" does not equal "the best version of the story".

Quality is not the issue, author's intent is. There's also the case like with Battlestar Galactica where people assume that because they found the original cheesy, that it cannot be retrofitted into something that captures the original while still remaing appealing. IN other words, "re-imagination" is usually far more synonmous with "failure of imagination" and "ego boosting". The second someone uses the term "make it my own", they shouldbe fired.

It's your right to choose whether or not to patronize versions you find offensive. Just don't be dissapointed that he doesn't make available versions of the story he finds unsatisfactory either

If people would notice actually, there hasn't been a single Wizard of Oz remake live action movie in the 70+ years it's been around. Ever wonder why? Because if you deviate from it (and the movie itself is a deviation from the text), the entire world will notice and burn you in effigy. So anything from Barney to Citizen Kane should be given the same respect.