Over the summer I decided to learn what it took to author a DVD. I'd found the end of Nero's abilities when their tech support answered my question: the reason I couldn't find the widescreen menu option is that it wasn't there, and there were no plans to include such a thing in the future. Then I discovered, with much pain, that I was limited to only ONE audio track....
I'll state at the outset that I wasn't out to produce original content, but to gather together all I could on the "Star Wars Holiday Special" and create the best disc I possibly could.
So I started looking around, and settled on DVD Lab Pro. I gathered together all the pieces I could find: the KCCI broadcast, which _may_ be from Rikter's disc but I'm not sure; a Google video of the broadcast with commercials; the historical clips from SKot's excellent site; the MMM audio commentary (which was actually the genesis of the project); and a poor-quality download of Harrison Ford's Holiday Special surprise on Conan O'Brien. And I got working on authoring a disc containing all the pieces.
Sadly, the summer ended, my car's clutch failed
, and so at the end of the month-long trial period I had to let the project rest. Ultimately I gave it the designation "0.9," since it was only a good shadow of what I hoped to accomplish and, given time, would love to bring to completion. I did bring the disc to a close, along with an acknowledgment that it wasn't all I had hoped it could be --- especially in the commercials' quality (which included an audio glitch, since they were added in the final days) and the Conan clip.Since then I bought a RapidShare account, and in the near future I'll be downloading Rikter's KCCI disc to see how it differs from the somewhat spare version I acquired a while ago. And I've wondered whether the materials I used over the summer are available elsewhere in better quality. I'm sure they _must_ be.
But even as I've grown more aware of what _is_ out there in terms of preservations and years-old content, and as I've marveled at what people have put together, there's seems to be a dearth (aside from the KCCI disc mentioned above) of SWHS.
Only sharing my mutterings. But I'd love to see this program collected in the best possible form. Italicized are portions where I really didn't get there or they just don't exist:
KCCI broadcast, with selectable audio commentary
A second, more technical and historical commentary [nonexistent, but would be welcome]
Text commentary [nonexistent, but possibly a simpler solution than an audio commentary]
The TVLand and Fox News clips
The Conan O'Brien clip [where the only download I've found was ghastly]
The commercials from the original broadcast, selectable and indexed
Scene selections of course are a must [and, in the end, I think I did a pretty good job]
Song selections are another section of which I'm proud
And a history of Kashyyyk: its appearances, references, and origins.
I've wondered for a long time when the Ralph McQuarrie's painting of the wookiee house was made: I'm _assuming_ that it was the inspiration for all things Kashyyyk-related, but I don't have any evidence aside from the fact that everything post-SWHS has echoed a similar style.
So these are my ramblings. Hope someday to complete the project ... or, with bitterness, see someone else's ultimate disc that puts mine to shame.