The IP/IN that was used for the THX LD's (GOUT) is a copy of the original negative and IP's and IN's are used in the process to make theatrical prints, so obviously it doesn't include more frames than what is normal. Hopefully it includes the fully edited film. What happens when theatrical prints are starting to lose frames at the reel changes over a theatrical run is another thing.
That said on the first film the NTSC Bonus Feature is missing about one single frame, so at this time I think it's quite unnecessary moving the goalposts. Such an edit can also easily be done by yourself if the missing frames are restored to whatever project.
hairy_hen said:
I'm actually fairly certain the GOUT does have more frames than might normally have been seen. The reason I say this is that if you listen extremely closely, you can actually hear small jump-cuts in the soundtracks where the audio has been looped, in order to extend it in length. Such a thing would only have been done if the video ended up being slightly longer than the audio, for the sake of maintaining synch.
Without fail, edits of this type occur each time there is a reel change. Since it happens about every ten to eleven minutes, these would correspond to the shorter reel lengths of a negative or interpositive, rather than the double length of a theatrical print. These are the same spots where different video transfers go out of synch with each other.
Most of this had to have been done for the Definitive Collection laserdiscs themselves back in 1993, but the GOUT also has a few additional edits of this nature that the laserdisc tracks do not, though for what reason I'm not sure. Since there can be so much discrepancy in frame counts between versions, even ones derived from the same master, picking one convenient reference and sticking to it—namely, the NTSC version of the GOUT—is the best way to ensure that audio synch issues are eliminated. I don't especially like the idea of dropping any frames either, but in practice the differences are small enough not to be noticed when watching, and it is still more complete than a typical 35mm print (ie, the -1 version) would have been.
The audio is about the last step in the chain, IP's or IN's do not come with a soundtrack. That the audio tracks have small jump-cuts and have the audio looped at certain points to match the video master could be for many various reasons, a few audible edits might even be present on the master tapes and on the print master.
Danfun128 said:
So, out of curiosity, what release has the most intact frames? The Def Collection? Faces? Gout?
I believe it's Faces. Technidisc SWE comes close but IIRC it's missing a field at a side break.