Jonno

The quick shots from 2:11 to 2:13, and then 3:25 are just different views of what we’re already looking at (or about to look at), and they don’t vary in size or angle enough to create a sense of space and continuity. Intercutting with more shots of Brett might work, but I’d suggest dropping those 5-frame snippets of jelly-covered jaws - it’s like we’ve suddenly slipped into stop motion!

I have to say I do like the cut at 2:18 as it’s terrifically matched, though counter to the editing rhythm of the rest of the film (Scott and Rawlings were far too restrained for such flamboyance!)

Glad to see this up and running again. You’ve made some great editing choices in the Brett scene, but it does suffer from the ‘more is less’ issue - some of the shots are just plain clunky because they’re coverage for moments that were ultimately presented in different ways. They clearly aren’t intended to be used adjacently (perhaps reordering the shots might help here?)

DestronTC said:

Does anyone know anything about the odd little music cue that plays on the alternate audio track from the 1999 DVD when Dallas opens the mother door after the breakfast scene?

Wow, that really is strange isn’t it? Sounds like a mistake, or a leftover from some temp music. I’m pretty sure it isn’t part of the Goldsmith score, but it’s too brief to be sure.

The intermission cards are great but, as others have said, don’t really belong in the film. Perhaps they could be released as extras at some point.

Jan diagnosed the problem with Encore four years ago 😃

Jan said:

On x264bluray.com they say that Adobe Encore CS5 has issues with BD compatible streams if --open-gop is enabled, which it is in this case. I don’t know if this applies to all versions of the software or if they fixed it, but as we’re talking about Adobe here, the issue is probably still present.

It sounds likely that a more compatible stream could be encoded with different x264 settings, but aside from that the aforementioned bait ‘n’ switch method should do the trick.

IV-VII don’t just start in space; more specifically they all start with Star Destroyers. It’s an interesting choice to start each story focusing on the bad guys’ activities.

Looks like the BD master to me.

Granted, this clearly isn’t the thread for subtleties, but there’s a difference between female characters who are portrayed by their creators as helpless and decorative (Leia and Padme at various times) being depicted as such by other artists, and those who are purposefully designed to be progressive still being mentally undressed by sweaty fanboys.

And what constitutes a ‘radical’ feminist anyway?

Lord Haseo said:

I find your post mostly very depressing. It’s just a picture lol

A picture which seeks to undo much of the hard work the film’s makers put into the character; forget progress and breaking of genre stereotypes, a young female character simply must be SEXXXY.

The artist clearly has some skill, but doesn’t appear to understand (or perhaps care about) the subject matter at all. Yeah, that’s depressing.

Sky’s latest Star Wars Channel ident is nicely animated:

http://www.sky.com/tv/channel/skymovies/video/sky-movies-star-wars-trailer

Great to hear you’re moving forwards with The Black Hole, DJ - a decent transfer paired with the original Dolby Stereo will be quite a treat. Which video source(s) did you opt for?

Are you having trouble working out what kind of arsehole you want to be?

Ronster said:

@Jonno - Earl Twiss just replaced the scenes that were not in the film so they are not the original trailers! 😃

Strictly speaking, none of these are the original trailers - just various attempts to recreate them. Earl Twirss made the decision to maintain a consistent quality, rather than frankensteining shots from varied sources; it might not be strictly accurate, but without that distraction it’s arguably more successful as a trailer. IMO of course.

Ronster said:

Bear in mind also that this version only seems to be available in a cropped version. I can not seem to find an un-cropped version of this trailer anywhere in a proper widescreen ratio. And I am a bit gutted that it does not seem to exist.

A scope trailer wasn’t necessarily made at all. This is hypothetical, but seems consistent with the trailers I’ve seen: Most trailer reels would have been shown flat, avoiding the necessity to change the projector lens during the pre-show. Scope trailers were more likely to be found tagged onto scope features, once the main show had started, and were generally high-profile releases. A rerelease, as in the case of that ESB trailer, probably wouldn’t warrant such fanfare.

I don’t have any evidence as such, but I’ve been watching this film fairly regularly since 1996 (theatrical, VHS, DVD and Blu-ray) and it has always ended with the cut to black. I can’t imagine the effect you describe looking anything other than cheap (no offense to your subconscious!)

You’ve clearly worked hard on these - with some good results - but I really ought to point out that this project has already been done by an associate (if not member) of these boards.

Have a quick look at the Earl Twirss channel on Youtube - he’s done most of the main trailers from the trilogy (though one or two appear to be missing at the moment, including his heroic effort on the production art-based ESB teaser).

Not saying this to be a dick, by the way - this is a worthwhile pursuit but it’s probably more worth your time to tackle some trailers still unavailable in HD, as opposed to reinventing the wheel.

DCP = Digital Cinema Package, i.e. the format supplied to theatres to screen (usually on a hard drive).

While it’s theoretically very difficult indeed to use a DCP outside of a cinema, it’s quite possible to make one - one of the Negative1 35mm releases was derived from a DCP they had made. Supposedly.

The video in the link is a perfectly lovely transfer of a 35mm trailer. What is it you’re planning on doing, again?

Yeah, I’ve looked at a couple more write-ups (and videos) on the subject, and it seems that the higher-spec projectors have an inbuilt v-stretch mode that fills the 16:9 image with the 2.35:1 source, so it’s all ready for an anamorphic lens to restore the full width. No need to mess with re-encodes in that case.

clutchins said:

In VLC, you can crop the 16:9 video into a 2.35:1 ratio, thereby removing the black bars.

That would still project letterboxed through a 4:3 or 16:9 LCD/DLP, and Bobajett is looking for a fully anamorphic source.

I guess the ideal here (while staying within the bounds of HD) is a 4:3 projector displaying 1440x1080, fitted with an anamorphic lens - this would sort-of approximate the behaviour of a film projector. Then it would be a case of recreating scope anamorphosis in the video source: crop off the black bars, and resize to 1440x1080 with a 2:1 pixel aspect ratio.

Since you’re more likely to be using a 16:9 projector, the maths are a little different - your projector (and therefore source) will be at 1920x1080, so the PAR for anamorphic scope would be more like 1.5:1. Which of course means that the anamorphic lens needs to be that ratio too, but it seems there’s already a market for this:

http://www.panamorph.com/home-theater-projector-lens/

Indeed, it’s supposedly possible to make your own:

http://www.zuggsoft.com/theater/prism.htm

Disclaimer: I’m definitely not an expert on this - I put up with letterboxed projections myself - but hopefully that’s a little closer to answering the question.

Darth Lars said:

Dak Ralter’s line “Right now I feel I can take on the whole Empire myself.” bugs me a bit. It is too upbeat and enthusiastic. As if they are kids about to go to an amusement park, not pilots going out to war.

The point of this exchange is that Dak is as young and reckless as Luke was in the first film, whereas Luke is already old enough and wise enough not to feel quite the same. It’s a lovely bit of character shorthand.

Yeah, because in pretty much every other respect it was right on the money.

DavidMerrick said:

Escapist as Star Wars might be, it is as influenced by ideology as any other work of fiction. The Lord of the Rings has a very concrete environmental message. Die Hard is saying there is a specific way police should use force and handle terrorist scenarios. Batman is about a super-rich white man using his endless funds to make his city a better place (and/or beat up the mentally ill). You can’t tell a story without including some measure of ideology in it. Star Wars is no different.

Yep. Joe Campbell would argue that mythic narratives aren’t about escapism at all, but more about dealing with real hopes and fears in a safe, cathartic space (I guess literally in the case of Star Wars). Films with such a huge audience have an opportunity to offer support and identity to those who may be struggling to find it - playing it safe results in shallow entertainment and even shallower resonance for all (see the PT).

DominicCobb said:

I’m all for it. Honestly I can’t think of an argument against it that isn’t homophobic.

Indeed. The Star Wars films have always been romantic, in every sense. No reason at all why modern episodes shouldn’t adopt a more enlightened interpretation, unless the bigot dollar is one that Disney are especially anxious about.

Nope, not me! I just put this guide together from bits and pieces I’d found - like you, I’ve found the lack of documentation frustrating, but it’s a terrific little program when you get a handle on it.

Glad you got the subtitles sorted, not something I ever had cause to look into myself. Your comments will make for a useful reference in future.

I can see RotJ Grindhouse (if that’s what you’re calling it) might warrant its own thread before long, but for now…

Before it was GOUT synced, did the print/scan include anything else of interest? MPAA/BBFC/Dolby logos?

I assume you were referring to the use of surviving film prints to retrieve the original edits - (fully) the last resort, if you will.