AGFA/Something Weird Video Discussion Thread

[spawningblue]

Originally Posted by jmilo61

Just to clarify a bit, the presentation of SCCtM with the intermission included is the "roadshow" version.

The thing that's previews and drive in snipes is the advertised "Santa Claus Conquers the Drive In" bonus feature.

The watermark wasn't something added by AGFA, it's inherent to the SWV master tapes. As this is a SWV release, presenting those old tapes as-is is kinda the point, and for better or worse that watermark was a part of them. Anyone curious can see it here in this vhs transfer of an old SWV tape on archive.org.

https://archive.org/details/RetroChr...deoCompilation

Yes, you are correct. I have updated post accordingly.

And fair enough about the logo. I guess if you grew up with those tapes then this may make you nostalgic, but as someone who didn’t, it was a little distracting and not something I’ve seen on official releases before.

Still, I’m not disappointed in the release. It will sit proudly next to the Kino release on my shelf. And although that will probably my go to version when I just want to watch the film, this is definitely a fun watch to mix it up every once in a while.

I still hope we one day get an ultimate release scanned and remastered from the original print (If it even still exists) but for now these will do.

[Eidolon]

Originally Posted by jmilo61

The watermark wasn't something added by AGFA, it's inherent to the SWV master tapes.

What on earth possessed SWV to deface videos by doing this? It pretty ruined a number of things I have on DVD, and played a part in putting me off buying thier products. Which was a shame, as they had quite a lot that interested me.

[jmilo61]

Originally Posted by spawningblue

Yes, you are correct. I have updated post accordingly.

And fair enough about the logo. I guess if you grew up with those tapes then this may make you nostalgic, but as someone who didn’t, it was a little distracting and not something I’ve seen on official releases before.

Still, I’m not disappointed in the release. It will sit proudly next to the Kino release on my shelf. And although that will probably my go to version when I just want to watch the film, this is definitely a fun watch to mix it up every once in a while.

I still hope we one day get an ultimate release scanned and remastered from the original print (If it even still exists) but for now these will do.

Yeah, I can see it understandably being a bit disappointing if you're not familiar with Something Weird's history and were going in expecting a definitive presentation of everything.

Originally Posted by Eidolon

What on earth possessed SWV to deface videos by doing this? It pretty ruined a number of things I have on DVD, and played a part in putting me off buying thier products. Which was a shame, as they had quite a lot that interested me.

I have no idea. Just saw someone in the VS thread (also responding to spawningblue's post there) speculate it may have been an attempt to protect against others copying and selling the SWV transfers since most of what they released was public domain. Which probably makes the most sense, and back in the VHS days a perfect presentation wasn't as a big of a concern as it is now.

I do think there's some charm and home video history worth preserving in those tapes, even if it isn't a perfect presentation of the material. Certainly get that not everyone is going to get that out of it and want that though.

[FromVHStoBDR]

Stupid question - are AGFA titles region free? Saw an ebay seller saying a title of theirs was Region B only and I can't help but think that that can't be right.

[guccipunkstar]

Oh no a transparent trademark that takes up 3% of the screen me precious video quality !
The new santa claus disc is a treasure trove and absolutely stacked, i’m digging through it right now and I think it’s a great release, maybe my favorite Agfa has done

[defile959]

Originally Posted by FromVHStoBDR

Stupid question - are AGFA titles region free? Saw an ebay seller saying a title of theirs was Region B only and I can't help but think that that can't be right.

Most if not all of the AGFA discs released in the US are region-free -- however, they have recently partnered with a UK label (I think it was 101 Films) to release titles in the UK. Perhaps the listing in question was for a UK release of one of the movies?

[FromVHStoBDR]

Originally Posted by defile959

Most if not all of the AGFA discs released in the US are region-free -- however, they have recently partnered with a UK label (I think it was 101 Films) to release titles in the UK. Perhaps the listing in question was for a UK release of one of the movies?

Ahhh, that seems to be the case with this listing. It's a 101 Films release. Bummer.

[Eidolon]

Originally Posted by guccipunkstar

Oh no a transparent trademark that takes up 3% of the screen me precious video quality !

Wow. Infantile sarcasm.

Some people, myself included, just happen to find the SWV graphic extremely distracting. There's literally no need for it.
It's the type of thing that basement dwellers do when they upload a bit of old TV they've found into YouTube, as it makes them feel important somehow.

[defile959]

Originally Posted by FromVHStoBDR

Ahhh, that seems to be the case with this listing. It's a 101 Films release. Bummer.

I don't know for certain whether the 101 Films releases are actually region locked. That info doesn't seem to be listed on their website. It could be that the seller is assuming the disc is locked to Region B since it's a UK release. Perhaps someone else in the thread (or if there is a 101 / AGFA thread in the UK section of this site) could let you know more.

[chriszilla]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

Some people, myself included, just happen to find it extremely distracting. There's literally no need for it.

Back when the VHS format was going strong in the 1990's, Something Weird Video was a godsend for movie fanatics that wanted stuff out of the mainstream. Sexploitation films, classroom/religious scare films, soundies, burlesque films, and on and on. Something Weird took the time, money and effort to present these films in the best possible presentations. The importance of what they did for cult movie fans can't be overstated.

If you weren't around back then, you may not know of the proliferation of hundreds of small video companies selling gray market/bootleg stuff via advertisements in most movie-related magazines and fanzines. For SWV, that watermark was an absolute necessity, in order to protect them from having most of their stuff pirated by others looking to make a quick buck off of their efforts. And incredibly, even that didn't stop a few of them: they'd just put their own watermark over the SWV one! Several other companies utilized these watermarks, as well, not just SWV.

Though it isn't unreasonable to wish they weren't there now, on a Blu-ray release, this material is coming from old S-VHS masters from SWV's vault, not from a remaster of the original film materials. So it's either the watermark, or nothing. I'd much rather have the material available now as a bonus, than to not have it at all.

[Damonstein]

Yeah the watermark isn't too bad, but it's unfortunate that those wishman movies that only survive from old swv tapes can just only exist with a watermark over them now. Most of the included shorts exist in actual HD in other places which does cut down the value a bit for me.

[FromVHStoBDR]

Got my hands on the Santa Claus Conquers release. Very excited to see how it looks!

[Eidolon]

Originally Posted by Damonstein

it's unfortunate that those wishman movies that only survive from old swv tapes can just only exist with a watermark over them now.

This is exactly why doing these watermarks are so bad. It's not exactly an isolated case. If SWV hadn't felt the need to do this nonsense, that damage wouldn't be there now after all.

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by Damonstein

Yeah the watermark isn't too bad, but it's unfortunate that those wishman movies that only survive from old swv tapes can just only exist with a watermark over them now. Most of the included shorts exist in actual HD in other places which does cut down the value a bit for me.

Surely they could've spent time erasing the watermark etc.

[jmilo61]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

This is exactly why doing these watermarks are so bad. It's not exactly an isolated case. If SWV hadn't felt the need to do this nonsense, that damage wouldn't be there now after all.

On the other hand, SWV may not have found it worthwhile to do some of the transfers at all without some way of protecting the investment, and the movies might just be completely lost now if they hadn't.

I don't think anyone is going to argue watermarking is a good thing now, but this was decades ago - different time, different home video market. It's hard to criticize it too harshly as if they did it today. It's not something they still do.

[bigshot]

Only an amateur would transfer a film and not archive a raw transfer for the future.

[chriszilla]

Originally Posted by bigshot

Only an amateur would transfer a film and not archive a raw transfer for the future.

Are you familiar with Something Weird Video's VHS era catalogue? The idea that they would have saved masters for thousands of different films and video compilations, for a company that existed hand to mouth, is completely unrealistic. Not to mention that they probably never imagined that they would still be in business decades later. They were living in the here and now.

Sorry, but all of the complaining here about SWV's watermark shows a complete lack of understanding about the realities of the 1990's video market. I understand it from a contemporary viewpoint, but most of SWV's archives would have been lost to time had they not made the effort to release it back then. With anything, it helps to know your history...

[jmilo61]

I'm 100% certain every single person on this forum feels exactly the same way about adding a watermark over video content on a disc. And not one single label is doing that these days.

No one needs to keep making the case that watermarks are a terrible thing. We all agree that it is.

For whatever reason 30 or so years ago SWV did put a watermark on some of their tapes. If that ruins the presentation for you, that's perfectly fine and understandable. I'm not going to try and convince you that you should feel otherwise.

There's plenty of people who appreciate the history of SWV and/or have nostalgia for those tapes though. They're plenty worth preserving as is and releasing on disc again, even if they're not for everyone.

Santa Claus Conquers the Drive-In might become a yearly December watch for me. I think it's more interesting than the true main feature on the disc. I'm certainly glad it's not lost to old VHS tapes and amateur transfers on YouTube.

[bigshot]

Maintaining a 3/4 inch master of the original transfer wouldn’t be difficult. They certainly had one when they started. They must have erased them and reused them just to save $50.

[fuzzymctiger]

Originally Posted by bigshot

Only an amateur would transfer a film and not archive a raw transfer for the future.

With absolutely no disparagement to Mike Vraney, Something Weird absolutely was an amateur operation in the tape days.

Vraney was a projectionist who just wanted to get as many of the films and shorts he was seeing on film out onto tape for other people to see.

There was a questionable element to the legitimacy of some of the stuff he put out, and he often found out who the actual owner of a title was by just putting it out and waiting to see.