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ChainsawAsh

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31-Jul-2004
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24-Dec-2020
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Post
#345908
Topic
STAR WARS: EP V &quot;REVISITED EDITION&quot;<strong>ADYWAN</strong> - <strong>12GB 1080p MP4 VERSION AVAILABLE NOW</strong>
Time

That does indeed look much, much better Ady.

My only suggestion would be, if at all possible, to improve the lighting on the actors in the shot(s) in question.  In the one at the top of the page, for instance, the lighting on Lando is indicative of the indoors setting in the OTV.  The SE change, however, should have more light coming from outside than there was inside - that is to say, his side closest to the railing/outdoors should be lit more than his other side, instead of it being uniform (and rather dark).

I am aware of the limitations of digital manipulation, however - changing the lighting in a convincing way may not be possible, and if that's the case I have no problem leaving it the way it is.  It already looks lightyears better than ILM's rushed job.

Post
#345895
Topic
The Last Man on Earth (Released)
Time

The first one's much, much better - the second one has no grain whatsoever, which is terrible in itself; on top of that, it's got pretty bad edge enhancement going on and loss of detail from the grain removal (look at his hair!).  The only flaw in the first one is that there's still a slight amount of edge enhancement, but it's nowhere near as bad as on the second image.

Finally, and I don't think I should even need to mention this, the bottom image is severely cropped.  I don't know if that's your doing or the DVD itself, but I figured I'd mention it anyway.

Post
#345847
Topic
BSG
Time

From my understanding of the episode, here's how it worked:

1) Humans on Kobol make skinjob-style Cylons.  My guess here is that the Cylons revolted, which caused the exodus of the 13 tribes (the 13th tribe being the Cylons, who leave for Earth)

2) On Earth, the Cylons figure out how to make themselves as human-like as possible, to the point where they can reproduce.

3) The Cylons on Earth create Centurion-style Cylons, who revolt and, in a simultaneous attack from either side, wipe out everything on the planet, Cylon and Centurion alike.

4) Five Cylons develop (or rediscover) the technology of resurrection, thanks to Tyrol.  As the bombs fall, they resurrect to a ship above Earth.  They set out for the Colonies to warn them not to create Cylons, as it will end in their destruction ("All this has happened before ... ").  Unfortunately, they don't have an FTL drive, so they travel to the Colonies at near-lightspeed.  This causes them to travel at a relativistic speed - i.e., time outside the ship lasts 2,000 years(ish), but it only feels like 5 or so to them onboard.

5) They reach the Colonies, only to discover that humanity is already at war with the Cylons.  They meet with the Centurions and discover that they are experimenting with creating "skinjobs," their only semi-successful experiment being the first Hybrid.  The Five offer to give them resurrection and help them create "skinjobs," if they call off the war.  They agree, and the 40-year armistice happens.

6) The Five help create eight humanoid Cylons.  The Number Ones (Cavil), however, hate that they have been made so "imperfect," and hate that Ellen has become so attached to Number Seven (Daniel).  The Cavils revolt, destroying the genetic material from which the Sevens are made, and destroying the other models (hence, no Number Sevens exist anymore).  They wipe the memories of the Final Five, give them false ones, and implant them among the Colonies.

7) The rest of the armistice years are spent with Cavil making changes to the programming of the rest of the Eight (now Seven) Cylons, blocking them from knowing who the Five are.  In an attempt to stifle a potential revolt, the Cavils plant inhibitor chips in the Centurions.

8) Adama's mission crosses the armistice line, giving the Cavils an excuse to mount the attack on the Colonies.  He does so, manipulating things so that the Five remain alive and can see how awful humans are so that when they finally rejoin the rest of the Cylons, they'll feel remorse for designing them in the way they did.

Post
#345375
Topic
STAR WARS Movies Animated
Time
TheBoost said:

RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT TURNING TO THE DARK SIDE:

Since eventually Anakin has to do it, here are two non-Star Wars movies that I think contain excellent looks at positive characters that, for very real seeming reasons, become the villain. 

 

THE PRESTIGE: If you've seen the film, there's a truly great moment where the Scarlet Johansen character says to the Hugh Jackman character that, "Learning his secret won't bring your wife back." and the Jackman character responds, "I don't care about my wife, I care about his secret." After he says it, Jackman takes a moment, and the look in his eyes as he realizes that what he said was true is chilling. THAT is what turning to the dark side could be like, when you realize that whatever high ideals you once thought movitvated you are not true anylonger.

TO KILL A KING: Great film about the English Civil War with Tim Roth as Oliver Cromwell. The relationship between Cromwell and Fairfax (Dougray Scott) is a study of falling to the Darkside. THroughout the film Fairfax is horrified as Cromwell betrays the ideals he thought they shared in a ruthless effort to consolidate power, all for the 'greater good' in Cromwell's point of view. 

Just tossing out ideas. I don't know about you guys, but for all the talk about 'the power of the dark side,' Anakin entering a Faustian bargain with Palpy struck me as a little anticlimactic. I thought when he iced the sandpeople village, that was a major character point, but in the end it didn't factor into his 'turn.' Nailing Anakin's fall thematicallly will be pivotal.

Or the granddaddy of them all, Michael Corleone in The Godfather/The Godfather Part II.

Post
#345368
Topic
Help Wanted: Original Scores - Resquest for the RSO SW &amp; ESB 2-LP VYNIL SETS audio form for remastering work (completed in March 2009)
Time

The LP transfers I have were A) from clean records with new/lightly used needles, and B) had a minor amount of hiss reduction and manual pop removal done.  There is still a small amount of hiss, but I prefer it - it's not in the least bit distracting (some catalog CD releases have more hiss than my LP transfers *cough*AbbeyRoad*cough*) and makes the music sound "richer" the way LPs do (I also own a direct-drive turntable).

Post
#345307
Topic
Help Wanted: Original Scores - Resquest for the RSO SW &amp; ESB 2-LP VYNIL SETS audio form for remastering work (completed in March 2009)
Time

I would LOVE a vinyl "rip" of these, be it 96/24 or standard CD-quality 48/16.  I have several Who records on my iPod transferred this way, and my entire Beatles collection (minus recent releases like Anthology, LIB...Naked, and Love) is composed of Dr. Ebbetts vinyl transfers.  This would be absolutely fantastic.

Post
#345222
Topic
Info &amp; Ideas: ESB and ROTJ Wishlist
Time

I don't think it's ridiculous to assume that two random droids coming to a gangster's palace with a message from someone who's a friend of a current prisoner would be commandeered and put to work.  I don't have a problem with the lack of the message - the point of the message was to A) communicate to the audience that Luke is now a Jedi, and b) remind the audience that Solo is imprisoned.  In our theoretical edit, both of these things have already been clearly communicated through Boussh's delivery of Chewie, where Jabba shows off Solo, and through Luke's conversation with dying Yoda.  In this edit, the message is redundant, but we still need the droids there for the sail barge part.

Post
#345220
Topic
Info &amp; Ideas: ESB and ROTJ Wishlist
Time
SomethingStarWarsRelated said:

- Emperor arrives on Death Star

*Obi's last line "...but they could be made to serve the emperor" works well with *this* scene being next.

Ah, that's a very good thought - I was just thinking we needed to get the Jabba shit out of the way before we went back to the Emperor, since the second and third acts of the movie are about the rebels vs. the Empire as opposed to rescuing Han (first act), with Vader arriving behaving like a "cold open"/"teaser."

Post
#345210
Topic
Info &amp; Ideas: ESB and ROTJ Wishlist
Time

Yes, Boussh's and Jabba's lines are all subtitled.  At the end, you have the "I like Captain Solo where he is" shot, but instead of that the subtitles read "Now I have the complete collection" or something to that effect, then wipe to next scene.

The pacing problem with opening on Yoda's scene is the incredible amount of honestly boring exhibition you get with that scene, which is fine if you're already engaged in the story, but to start it off like that is asking a little much of the audience.

This way, we start off the way the movie has always started (not to mention we keep the Star Destroyer opening, albeit replaced with the Executor), then a scene where stuff actually happens.  You're admittedly kind of thrown into it, but that's fine since that's how ANH started.  THEN we get to the expositionary Yoda scene, and since it's Luke's first scene, we assume that he's been there for a long time finishing his training.

Post
#345202
Topic
Star Wars: The Trilogy **PROJECT STALLED DUE TO HARD DRIVE FAILURE**
Time

I have Adobe's CS4 Master Collection for OS X, and Avid Media Composer.  Both are available for Windows.  I'd rather shoot myself than to try to work with either one on a Windows machine - they're so unstable compared to their Mac counterparts.

Anyway, I'll check out the contracting thing - I wasn't aware of that tool.  Thanks.

Post
#345201
Topic
Info &amp; Ideas: ESB and ROTJ Wishlist
Time
Bingowings said:
Ripplin said:

I likes! :D

I would like to ask, though, since I may have missed it; what is the thinking/rationale behind Luke talking to Obi-Wan in his Tatooine home rather than on Dagobah?

The idea came from people wishing to have the film start on Dagobah, with Yoda's death (to create the impression that Luke has been finishing his training).

Then comes the Darth at the Death Star scene.

Then Luke returns to Tatooine sending the droids to Jabba. I thought it would be a nice bookend to Luke getting his father's lightsabre and getting the first half of the story about his dad in Ben's hut if he built his new lightsabre and got the full story about his dad in the same place.

He is about to save Han but has doubts because of losing Yoda and finding out about his father.

So Ben returns to his home to give Luke a bit of a lift before the battle to come, besides I was never happy with Ben wandering around in the swamp like that it just seemed a bit weird (more like he's retired and planting cabbages than actually being a ghost).

It's a good excuse for why all of Ben's stuff is still around (the Sandpeople and the Jawas won't go near the place because it's literally a haunted house).

Then comes the droids on route to the palace.

Chewie is delivered by Boushh etc and Luke rescues them.

Having Leia's relationship to Luke revealed on Tatooine give him and us a bit of a break between revelations (hopefully making them easier to swallow) and keeps up the suspence about who the other is for a bit longer too.

Sort of - this progression causes pacing issues, unfortunately.

What works better is:

- Start off with Vader visiting the Death Star
- Boushh delivers Chewie (paint out Threepio, since he's not there yet)
- Luke on Dagobah, Yoda dies
- Leia rescues Han, is captured (again, paint out Threepio)
- Han talks with Chewie
- Luke lands on Tatooine, after getting out of X-Wing says "I can't do it R2" then hears Obi-Wan from inside the hut, goes inside and has conversation with Obi-Wan (could also start inside hut)
- Droids go to Jabba's palace, get captured ("message" is never delivered)
- Luke arrives at the palace, Rancor, Sarlacc Pit
- Emperor arrives on Death Star
- Luke arrives at the meeting (greeting part goes first), then briefing commences, ending with a nervous pause after "General Solo, is your srike team assembled?"

The rest of the movie would pretty much play out without more drastic structuring changes, but obviously with toned-down kiddie B.S.

Post
#345060
Topic
THX-1138 (HD Transfer - 720p) (Released)
Time

You could be right about KOTCS, it was cut on film but they could have conformed it digitally.  It surprises me that they only did it at 2K though - I dunno if that's accurate.

The CGI in Phantom Menace was probably rendered at 2K, and if I'm not mistaken the digital camera used for AOTC was 1080p and the ROTS one was 2K.  I could easily be wrong about that though.

Printing a digital image to film can result in some artifacting since you're effectively upconverting the resolution (not exactly accurate, but similar concept), but if it was shot on film, you won't have that problem (usually).  You should always see a film in the format it was shot in - for AOTC/ROTS, that's digital.

American "standard" widescreen is 1.85:1, European 1.66:1.  "Scope" films are 2.39:1 (was 2.35:1 until 1970), though most films shown in "scope" format were shot on Super 35 instead of anamorphically (which sucks).

I thought TDK was mixed very well - sure the loud parts were loud, but that's just because the quiet parts were well-mixed at the appropriate difference of volume, meaning in order for those parts to sound natural the volume would be up loud enough to make the loud parts REALLY seem loud.