You should really inform Schorman that his 1983 Japanese LD’s don’t really exist and his 1985/6 US LD’s must have been made later.
What they probably did was use the existing master. I lost count of how many early DVD’s were made from the LD master tapes. No reason to expect that was a new thing. Knowing a bit about corporate mentality, there would also be no reason to tell the engineers.
For the benefit of the rest of us who are unaware, what was incorrect?
Star Wars/A New Hope was never released with just a stereo soundtrack. They used the Dolby Stereo mix which is a 4 channel matrixed surround encoded into 2 channels. I have done a test of the earliest LD archives tracks and have been able to extract the 4 channels from it. I held this misconception until just a few months ago. It seems that Lucasfilm gave them the 6 track audio and CBS/Fox did their own surround mix of it for the 1985 release. He was no longer there when they did the DE, but I would guess that the process was probably the same. I love the description of the transfer process and that they did the surround encoding of the 1985 version form the 6 track audio (it kind of explains why the 1985 ANH audio is identical to the 1977 except for the one line that was added where the 1993 audio has many pieces taken from the mono-mix but omits that line, not to mention the different dynamic of the 3 different audio versions).
He makes a distinction between the recordable video disc format and LaserDiscs. I have no doubt the early recordable video discs were made of glass.
He also seems unaware that the the earliest LD releases were before ROTJ came out and that all of the OT was released with the original theatrical stereo tracks (meaning Dolby Stereo encoded surround sound) had been released before he ever started there.
I usually take all such interviews at face value that they are providing terrific first hand knowledge of their experience, but when they speak of their second hand information they may not be the best source.
- Speculation/Details about Black R2-D2 (It’s not black because of the blue-screen process, they actually used a black-painted R2 to specifically avoid problems with the blue-screen process), 2. Laserdiscs aren’t acutally glass, can’t remember anything else right now.
Just to clarify though, everything in there this is fascinating to hear about. Details about the transfer equipment, politics of the releases, etc. Thanks again for posting.
Thanks for the responses. I agree, it is a very fascinating interview with details that are engrossing not just for SW fans but people who are interested in the processes of how film studios perform home video transfers.
I was surprised by the comments about LD picture quality failing to surpass that of Betamax. Surely he was thinking of CED rather than LD?
“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”
- As much as I applaud fan efforts to preserve the pre-SE audio tracks via the laserdisc, they pail in comparison to the cassette recording my dad did while at CBS\FOX. I appreciate any and all offers to transfer the cassette we have to a digital format for later use. After talking with my dad, even though he did the recording for me (something that he could hand down) and I could do with it what I want, he made it conditional because it was meant only for me. But, we decided to purchase our own metal tape deck and plan on digitizing the track that way.
Make sure you get a high quality deck with an unworn playback head, and then have it serviced and its heads aligned by a respected tech knowledgeable in vintage tape equipment. Just having a “metal” setting doesn’t mean much - a lot of cheap decks had that and sounded like crap. Also, test the deck on some less valuable tapes before running your tape through it. You wouldn’t want it to eat the tape, or have the pinch roller deposit a bunch of junk on it.
"Close the blast doors!"
Puggo’s website | Rescuing Star Wars
You should really inform Schorman that his 1983 Japanese LD’s don’t really exist and his 1985/6 US LD’s must have been made later.
What they probably did was use the existing master. I lost count of how many early DVD’s were made from the LD master tapes. No reason to expect that was a new thing. Knowing a bit about corporate mentality, there would also be no reason to tell the engineers.
I said North American release. Obviously, the Japanese do their own thing (and probably had their own license). Heck, they were one of the few countries to get LDs of Episode 1 because it was still popular at the time.
As for the 85/86 release, in all honesty, some of my statements were coming from the fact that my dad was stressed this weekend (let alone dogmatic 24/7), making me stressed, and I probably could have said things a little better. If Schorman owns a US 84 LD, fine. On one side, I got my dad who says he knows better and no LD of any of the three movies existed during his tenure between 83 and 86. On the other, I got fans who say they own LDs from 1984 as well as various sources on the web (LDDB, Woodieepedia, etc.) confirming LDs were released. I’m just tired of being stuck between a rock and a hard place while trying to defend my dad. (I wonder if this is how George felt when he got fed up and retired.)
I’m just tired of being stuck between a rock and a hard place while trying to defend my dad. (I wonder if this is how George felt when he got fed up and retired.)
Poor George got $4 billion AND “his” movies that he stole from the rest of us…forgive me if I don’t shed a tear.
- No Laserdisc was made up to 1986 when my dad was laid off…period.
That’s not the case. There were several, in fact. (http://www.swonvideo.com/laserdisc/ldforside.htm)
I haven’t listened to the interview myself, so I’m assuming he work primarily with VHS? Basically, I don’t want to discredit anything he said.
I don’t doubt your dad’s memory, just that he may not have been privy to everything. That fist pan and scan LD release in the US may have used the master he created for video tape. We’d have to compare them. My old tapes were water damaged and got thrown out so I don’t have any way to compare them myself. Bit there are preservations out there of both tape and LD releases. All the various LD audio tracks were wonderfully archived and shared by Schorman with notations as to weather the original was analog or digital.
As much as I applaud fan efforts to preserve the pre-SE audio tracks via the laserdisc, they pail in comparison to the cassette recording my dad did while at CBS\FOX. I appreciate any and all offers to transfer the cassette we have to a digital format for later use. After talking with my dad, even though he did the recording for me (something that he could hand down) and I could do with it what I want, he made it conditional because it was meant only for me. But, we decided to purchase our own metal tape deck and plan on digitizing the track that way. I’ll figure out how to make it available after that. As far as which version it is, it’s before the SE. So, what does it matter? But, if you need a date, call it the CBS\FOX 1984 version of ESB.
I was inquiring as to how this project is coming out.
As much as I applaud fan efforts to preserve the pre-SE audio tracks via the laserdisc, they pail in comparison to the cassette recording my dad did while at CBS\FOX. I appreciate any and all offers to transfer the cassette we have to a digital format for later use. After talking with my dad, even though he did the recording for me (something that he could hand down) and I could do with it what I want, he made it conditional because it was meant only for me. But, we decided to purchase our own metal tape deck and plan on digitizing the track that way. I’ll figure out how to make it available after that. As far as which version it is, it’s before the SE. So, what does it matter? But, if you need a date, call it the CBS\FOX 1984 version of ESB.
I was inquiring as to how this project is coming out.
We have the cassette deck to play back the metallic cassette. However, I still need to work with him on getting it transferred to WAV or FLIC. The only reason why it stalled was because he randomly decided that he wanted us to get a dog. So, we’ve been getting her cleared by the vet and settled in. I’ll drop him a note again about getting all this together to get it done.