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generalfrevious said:

Get out of this Frink, you're not adding anything to this discussion

Stop making Dawson cry.

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generalfrevious said:

I definitely think that Lucas is repressing history and that he should be opposed. The problem here is that no else here realizes that we as a whole are nothing more than a fringe group, thrown into the dustbin of history. Few people are willing to side with us because we are perceived as radicals, and most people consider it insanity to side with us. I don't like what GL is doing to SW as much as anyone on this site. But it is like fighting an atom bomb with a slingshot. We have more in common with Cuban exiles than with mainstream society. In the end our voices will be silenced and no one will give a fuck. So if you are angry at what I am saying, deal with it.

 That's just your uncle talking.

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adywan said:

I used a hi res screenshot of the chamber background and upscaled the emperor from a 97 SE SD TV broadscast then rotoscoped the original emperor, adding it to the HD background.

Finally an answer to the question I asked like two years ago in the AVCHD thread, thank you :-)

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In re-creating that shot the blinking lights in the wall behind the hologram went missing, just a very small thing on a beautifully done shot.

We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions. 

Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com

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generalfrevious said:

I definitely think that Lucas is repressing history and that he should be opposed. The problem here is that no else here realizes that we as a whole are nothing more than a fringe group, thrown into the dustbin of history.

George won't live forever.  Our job is to continue to raise awareness so that the issue isn't forgotten, so that when that day comes that George is no longer the one in control, real change can happen.

"Close the blast doors!"
Puggo’s website | Rescuing Star Wars

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Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

George won't live forever.  Our job is to continue to raise awareness so that the issue isn't forgotten, so that when that day comes that George is no longer the one in control, real change can happen.

Indeed .....let's just hope something like this doesn't put a hydrospanner in the works!

 

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steb74 said:

 

Indeed .....let's just hope something like this doesn't put a hydrospanner in the works!

I'm not sure that "Whatever you do don't release certain profitable company holdings to the public for purchase" would be legally binding.

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Got Making of ESB from the library and have been flipping through it. Good stuff, but I'm disappointed that a lot of the "final shot" examples are obviously from the blue 2004 transfer. The worst case I've found so far, however, is the shot they use when they talk about how R2's panels were painted black while in space to prevent the blue from being transparent. The problem is that they don't use a shot from filming or the original versions. Without comment is picture from the 2004 transfer where they fixed his panels to be blue again!

Lazy Lucasfilm Archives, was Lazy? There are other examples that do use an older print, so they had some, so come on!

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It's probably an honest mistake if they used original shots in most other areas. I mean, the editorial team at Lucasbooks probably isn't as sharp on this stuff as people like us...for that matter, pretty much no one is.

Speaking of which, I should probably get to updating the SE Changes page with all your shots.

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The more I looked, I think they're all from 2004. Every matte painting example had the 2004 final, including the Executor bridge one, where the 2004 has no color and is modified to soften the seam line!

I'm sure it was more Rinzler sending off the rough draft with notes to "put final frame here", then some lackey or someone goes to the "final" version and just grabbed the shots.

I'll never understand how the Falcon matte from RotJ got it's own two-page spread and the "final" frame is of the obviously full-size Falcon on set with Chewie standing on it...

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Yeah, they did that with the Falcon in the Art of ESB book. It's been like that since 1980! I guess they keep using that book as a reference guide so it keeps popping up again; I believe the same error appeared in The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives too.

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Yeah, it's really sad and very sloppy on an otherwise excellent book, especially when they had time to go over these things when the book was postponed several times. You would think someone should have gone through this more carefully when the same thing happened in the first book, but they're probably not even aware of it. And most regular folks will not even notice the differences or even care, but in a way that's why revisionism is possible in the first place.

It's nothing major, far from it but when you don't have any access to experience the original films properly, it's hard to not be bothered by it when you even can't escape the 1997/2004 alterations in these books that are supposed to be the definitive true documents of the making of the original films. It's not very likely, but I do hope they fix these minor flaws in any future reprints.

Zombie, I just wanted to point out one minor thing in your "Can't even get the SE right" article. The screen-caps you have in example 2) Erased Starfields have a recomped starfield in the SE shot, I pointed this out in doubleofive's thread on page 1 http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Complete-Comparison-of-Special-Edition-Visual-Changes/topic/11927/ You can see that the starfield doesn't match up with the original shot if you look close enough, it's more noticeable in the '97SE. So I would recommend using another starfield shot for that particular demonstration.

We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions. 

Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com

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Zombie84 when will you have more news and editoral updates to the website?

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Possibly tonight, as I now have copies of Lucas' statements before Congress from 1988 thanks to a trusty gopher in NYC who did some snooping for me.

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Wouldn't Lucas have been sworn in for a hearing like that? Is this the final truth? ;-)

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Reading his statements is actually pretty scary. Scary because:

1) he predicted the precise problem in the situations we now face

2) it's amazing how much George Lucas 1988 feels the same about cinematic preservation as I do, but most importantly

3) he predicted every type of digital alteration that he would eventually put to use in the SE as a threat.

Listen to this:

"My name is George Lucas. I am a writer, director, and producer of motion pictures and Chairman of the Board of Lucasfilm Ltd., a multi-faceted entertainment corporation.

I am not here today as a writer-director, or as a producer, or as the chairman of a corporation. I've come as a citizen of what I believe to be a great society that is in need of a moral anchor to help define and protect its intellectual and cultural heritage. It is not being protected.

The destruction of our film heritage, which is the focus of concern today, is only the tip of the iceberg. American law does not protect our painters, sculptors, recording artists, authors, or filmmakers from having their lifework distorted, and their reputation ruined. If something is not done now to clearly state the moral rights of artists, current and future technologies will alter, mutilate, and destroy for future generations the subtle human truths and highest human feeling that talented individuals within our society have created.

A copyright is held in trust by its owner until it ultimately reverts to public domain. American works of art belong to the American public; they are part of our cultural history.

[snip]

People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society. The preservation of our cultural heritage may not seem to be as politically sensitive an issue as "when life begins" or "when it should be appropriately terminated," but it is important because it goes to the heart of what sets mankind apart. Creative expression is at the core of our humanness. Art is a distinctly human endeavir. We must have respect for it if we are to have any respect for the human race.

These current defacements are just the beginning. Today, engineers with thier computers can add color to black-and-white movies,

change the soundtrack,

 

speed up the pace, and add or subtract material to the philosophical tastes of the copyright holder.

 

 Tommorrow, more advanced technology will be able to replace actors with "fresher faces."

 It will soon be possible to create a new "original" negative with whatever changes or alterations the copyright holder of the moment desires.

The copyright holders, so far, have not been completely dilligent in preserving the original negatives of films they control.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten."

That's George Lucas, I just have to remind again. That's only about 40% of his full letter, but it's representative of the whole thing. What the fuck happened to this guy? He sounds like was pretty cool.

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 (Edited)

Oh, it gets better. Lucas actually makes a lot of sense here. He even emphasizes that FILMS BELONG TO THE PUBLIC ABOVE ALL ELSE, and that the only reason that copyrights exist is to give their owners financial compensation during their lifetimes (after which the works become public domain and not owned by anyone). And he also nails down the point: there is no American law in place to protect them from being distorted, either during copyright term or after its expiration. I wrote a whole article on the legal and ethical side of this in August--I should have just let Lucas write the fucking thing! Brilliant.

"There is nothing to stop American films, records, books, and paintings from being sold to a foreign entity or egotistical gangsters and having them change our cultural heritage to suit their personal taste.

I accuse the companies and groups, who say that American law is sufficient, of misleading the Congress and the People for their own economic self-interest. The law is not sufficient.

I accuse the Motion Picture Association of seeking to save one billion dollars in film piracy, without acknowledging the moral rights of the artists who created these films as required by the Berne Treaty.

I accuse the corporations, who oppose the moral rights of the artist, of being dishonest and insensitive to American cultural heritage and of being interested only in their quarterly bottom line, and not in the long-term interest of the Nation.

The public's interest is ultimately dominant over all other interests. And the proof of that is that even a copyright law only permits the creators and their estate a limited amount of time to enjoy the economic fruits of that work.

There are those who say American law is sufficient. That's an outrage! It's not sufficient! If it were sufficient, why would I be here? Why would John Houston have been so studiously ignored when he protested the colorization of "The Maltese Falcon?" Why are films cut up and butchered?"

Tell 'em, George! Can we get a time machine and bring this guy back here to bitchsmack his future self?

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The greatest speech against the Special Editions was written by George Lucas.

We need to print out a thousand copies and send them to the Ranch. This is great!

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zombie84 said:

Tell 'em, George! Can we get a time machine and bring this guy back here to bitchsmack his future self?

I'm convinced that Lucas died somewhere around 1990 and was replaced by a brain damaged clone. Can we trade new Lucas in for dead Lucas? And while we're at it, can we trade the guys from Nickleback in for the Ramones?

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I wish we had an audio recording of this. It would make an excellent basis for a video coupled with footage of the SE.

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Tobar said:


I wish we had an audio recording of this. It would make an excellent basis for a video coupled with footage of the SE.
Maybe we can find someone to impersonate Lucas and recreate it.

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doubleofive said:

 

Tobar said:


I wish we had an audio recording of this. It would make an excellent basis for a video coupled with footage of the SE.
Maybe we can find someone to impersonate Lucas and recreate it.

 

Anybody know who did his voice on the Clerks animated episode he was in? That would be great... too funny for the cause, but great.

Ray’s Lounge
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