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CertifiedTHX

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Join date
19-Nov-2004
Last activity
25-Mar-2013
Posts
7

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Post
#330338
Topic
ADigitalMan's Guide to MPEG2/AC3 Editing
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/330338/action/topic#330338
Time

Great guide, ADM.

I'm new to the world of fan edits, and I'm attempting one, but I've hit what seems to be a major snag.

I used DVD Decrypter to extract a movie to the hard drive. I used Womble MPEG Video Wizard to make my edits. And then I used NeroVision Express to author a new disc. The finished product would have been great but for one thing:

The video is choppy. Not horribly so, but enough that you might get a headache watching it. Looks as if a frame is skipped every second. What should be fluid motion turns into an effect that looks like the camera is moving around jerkily.

This is disheartening because I've seen customized movies that have no problem whatsoever. Yet I can't seem to get mine to work right. I've tried TMPGenc for the re-encoding phase, but to no avail. Only thing that helped was reducing the maximum bitrate, but even that didn't result in a perfectly clean copy.

What am I missing? Why am I getting jerky video? What are other editors doing that I'm not?

--THX

Post
#112058
Topic
"Hoooow is that possible..."
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/112058/action/topic#112058
Time
Quote
Originally posted by: skyjedi2005

The new empire footage between vader and palpatine ruins the original ending of empire, because it is revealed earlier in the movie that vader is luke's father, so it wrecks the dark revelation "I AM YOUR FATHER!".


If you ignore the PT, it is never established that Darth Vader is, in fact, Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan finally explains that truth to Luke when Luke returns to Dagobah in ROTJ. And the new dialog between Vader and Palpatine never reveals specifically that the rebel who destroyed the Death Star is, in fact, Vader's son. So up to the moment that Vader utters those words in TESB, he has no relationship to Anakin as far as the viewer is aware.

--THX
Post
#109895
Topic
Should Lucas replace Guiness with an aged McGregor?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109895/action/topic#109895
Time
Note: This post assumes that the reader has seen ROTS, and does contain spoilers.

I would not support replacing any actor in the OT with an actor from the PT or anyone else. Such an act would be sacrilegious. But after seeing ROTS, I would definitely support lots of other changes in the OT, mostly in ANH. Yes, that would mean modifying the OT more still, but that doesn't matter to me anymore. I want the Classic Trilogy on DVD, sure, but it doesn't seem we're ever going to get it. So be it. That being the case, we might as well have all six films as closely matched as they can be.

I put in ANH after coming back from ROTS--just to see the episode immediately following--and to be honest, I couldn't help but be rather bored by it. Those dazzling visuals Lucas has used for the prequels have spoiled me. The storytelling, performances, and chemistry may be superior in the OT, but even with the changes Lucas made for the SE's, the look and feel is still very dated. Still very late '70s/early '80s. Even some of the music could use a little reworking. When you watch the episodes in chronological order, and you go from ROTS to ANH, there are big changes that actually don't sit well with me.

There are a few things that I think would go a long way. Replacing all models--Rebel fighters, Imperial fighters and ground walkers, Star Destroyers, the Millennium Falcon, etc--with CGI. Reshooting the Battle of Yavin. (When fighters crash into the Death Star, show the fighter itself impacting on the surface rather than just the explosion.) Reshooting the AT-AT assault on Hoth. You get the idea.

One addition I would love to see is a more dramatic introduction to the Death Star. In the final scenes of ROTS Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine stand together and look on as construction of the Death Star begins. The next time we see it is in ANH. The scene shifts to an approaching Star Destroyer, then cuts to a two-shot of the Star Destroyer moving in on the Death Star. I feel like something of the Death Star's importance should be unveiled, not simply shown. There's no shot in ANH that does that. First time we see it is for a couple seconds in a static image.

Those are the kinds of things I would change. Just make the OT more visually stunning, as close to the level of the PT as possible. Now as for Obi-Wan's comment that Luke's father wanted him to have his lightsaber when Luke was old enough, and other such obvious inconsistencies with the PT, I have no idea. There are probably many of those present in the OT now.

And yes, I'm sure I'm in the minority with these ideas. Changes keep coming, and these are the changes that I would love to see. Leave the original actors and their performances intact, but spruce up everything else. The human spirit of the OT is kept alive, while the look of the PT continues, and you don't feel like you've gone backward in time as opposed to 20 years beyond the last prequel. Just my thoughts.

--THX
Post
#85460
Topic
DVD Packaging
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/85460/action/topic#85460
Time
Quote
Originally posted by: Bossk

Now what I would have liked to see for SW would have been slim line individual snap cases.


I must disagree. The Friday the 13th box set was released as a series of slim line snap cases, but one of the reviews I read about the set discussed the poor quality of those cases. The slim design is too thin, and the discs have trouble staying secured inside. Gave me the impression that the slim cases are a cheap, low-quality alternative to the standard Amaray cases, so I'm grateful they went with the latter.

That said, I'm not altogether pleased with the packaging for the Star Wars Trilogy, either. I love Digipak, but that really wouldn't have been appropriate in keeping with the design of the prequel releases. But there are Amaray cases that feel good and solid, and then there are those that somehow feel cheaper, like the plastic is thinner or something. The prequels have the solid kind, but unfortunately, they gave the OT the cheaper. Oh well.

As for the cover art, I have no problem with it. As noted by DAVY, it's consistent with the prequel movies, and I'm fine with those, too. I've certainly seen worse.

Given that the OT has been released in silver (widescreen) and gold (full screen) editions, and the prequels have thus far been released in gold (widescreen) and blue (full screen) editions, I wonder about the edition colors for ROTS. If they follow established trends, it will be in the prequel colors, and then the box set of all six will probably be silver and gold.
Post
#82824
Topic
It isnt so bad...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/82824/action/topic#82824
Time
I'm having a similar experience as SerVente. I got the DVD set on release day in September, but I saved them for Christmas. I'm just now starting to actually watch them. I've gone through ANH, and I have no real complaints. The color is beautiful, the new little bits of dialogue (the Sandcrawler stops at Owen's farm; C-3PO: "We've stopped!") mix right in, and the new sounds (Obi Wan scares away the Sandpeople) are fine. Different, but certainly not bad at all. The new visual effects enhance things nicely, and are mostly seamless. Even the shootout between Han and Greedo works now. Only thing that feels a little out of place is the approach into Mos Eisley. The little droid taunting the bigger one as the landspeeder goes by in the background is rather embarrassing, but whatever. Doesn't have to be perfect. I suppose there were silly droid antics in the original, too.

Han's confrontation with Jabba in Docking Bay 94 doesn't really work, though. Jabba looks fine, and I have no problem with the brief appearance by Boba Fett. Sure, it's an obvious wink to the fans, but so what? Doesn't detract from anything. But there are reasons why certain scenes are cut. Directors are always talking about scenes that were good, but even though they loved them, they still chose to remove them because they weren't essential, and repeated information that was given somewhere else. It's already been pointed out how Han's line about being "boarded sometimes" during the Greedo scene was lifted directly from the Jabba scene. Exactly the same recording. Plus, as another pointed out, that whole sequence diminishes the impact of the initial unveiling of the Millennium Falcon when Luke, Obi Wan, and the droids arrive.

I remember people talking about the strange shifts in audio during the scene where Tarkin destroys Alderaan. I heard them, too, but I attribute those possibly to original on-stage recordings vs. in-studio re-recordings. That's one thing they have yet to master, it would seem--making the two sound the same. I can usually tell when there's a change between original audio and re-recorded audio. The two are often distinct. There were other, similar shifts in audio clarity. Perhaps they were just more noticeable in that particular scene because there was only minor musical accompaniment and little else. I'm not saying that's what the problem is; I'm just saying it could be.

Obi Wan's lightsaber still had lighting issues. The color changes don't really bother me. What gets me more is how you could still see the terribly fake-looking saber during the duel with Vader. There's a moment toward the end when his saber clashes relatively calmly against Vader's twice; the motion almost looks desperate on his part. Right then you can see what appears to be the prop Alec Guiness used. Originally, there were no lightsaber effects added. Now there is a blue glow, but it doesn't hide the prop. (See the images below.) I'm surprised they didn't do a more effective job. For some reason I was expecting the lightsaber sound effects to be as powerful as those of the prequels. Guess I thought they were going to re-record them or something. That was a bit of a letdown, but oh well.





All things considered, I was actually surprised by how close this release of ANH was to the way I remember it growing up. I'm noticing that certain changes identified by message board posters aren't even there, which is interesting. Overall, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope looks and sounds great.

TESB is next, and I'm looking forward to it.
Post
#78697
Topic
R2 doesn't taste very good
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/78697/action/topic#78697
Time
ric, have you been uncomfortable with that line all along? Or do you feel that way now when you compare it to the new line? I'm just curious. Not arguing the point. Though I do disagree with your reasoning. I think I WOULD be inclined to seek a little levity in a situation like that, if for no other reason than to just counter the seeming hopelessness of it. But that's me.
Post
#78638
Topic
R2 doesn't taste very good
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/78638/action/topic#78638
Time
"You're lucky you don't taste very good."

"You're lucky you got out of there."

I read somewhere that both lines were used in different versions of TESB prior to the Special Edition, so if true, I don't know which was used during the original theatrical run. The only way I ever heard it before the Special Edition was "don't taste very good."

This isn't necessarily an argument for original vs. modified; it's just my personal preference. And obviously, my personal preference does not jive with that of Lucas. R2 not tasting very good always worked for me. Never occurred to me that Luke was joking at R2's expense. Never occurred to me that there was anything wrong with it whatsoever, so I don't know why Lucas believed a change was needed. It was an effective line delivered well. "Got out of there" feels flat by comparison. Regardless of which line was originally intended, "don't taste very good" just works better. In my opinion.