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Zion

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Join date
23-Sep-2004
Last activity
21-Jun-2025
Posts
1,995

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Post
#79357
Topic
Censorship of the original films
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/79357/action/topic#79357
Time
That's a very interesting question skeg. Let's think about this for a moment. If I show these kids the SE's, I could say, "this is Star Wars circa 1997." If I show them the official DVD's, I could say, "this is Lucas' definitive version of Star Wars." If I show them a bootleg transfer, I could say, "this is Star Wars circa 1993 and though it is the closest thing to the original theatrical version there are so many minute changes to both the video and the audio that you can't really call them the originals. By the way, I'm sorry I'm denying you kids a chance to witness film history because these movies have been changed every single time they've been released. I made these DVD's by transfering them from laserdisc, and back then I decided to fix a few frames of- Hey, are you kids listening? Hey! Wake up!"

Honestly, a kid viewing Star Wars for the first time isn't going to give a crap about film history. And if they are, then they should be able to understand why there are so many versions of Star Wars.

Zion:

Your augment is mute. You are asking Lucas to release his work unaltered....This, Zion, is more-or-less what you are doing with the star wars trilogy. You're expecting Lucas to do something you will not do.


Get your facts straight. I haven't asked Lucas to do anything. I haven't signed the petition. As a matter of fact, I'm not even going to "release" my version of the films. Sure, they are going to make their way to people's DVD players via torrent sites and the inevitability of them ending up on Ebay. But it's not like I'm going to be selling them out of the back of my car, or "marketing" them as George Lucas' originals. In fact, I will be noting any changes I have made on the dvd itself. I'm even going to add a subtitle track that describes the differences between the original and my version.

Again, I'm sorry if smoothing out a couple of lightsaber shots offends you, but you really have no business at all telling me what to do with my own work. A few years from now, my dvd's will be just one of many transfers done by many different people. Hell, an official realease may even be out by then. But don't assume for a second that I'm going to make people believe that my transfer of ANH is unaltered.
Post
#79304
Topic
Censorship of the original films
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/79304/action/topic#79304
Time
Originally posted by: DanielB
Firstly, all were made from original material. None of the material was digitally tampered with. The one exception to this is the title crawl on ANH which was replaced with something new. However since it was replaced BEFORE the entire trilogy was complete and shown theatrically I'm willing to forgive this.
The only reason the material wasn't digitally altered was because at the time it wasn't economical to do so. Had today's digital technology been as cheap and available to do back then, there is no doubt it would have been done that way. To go even further, had today's digital technology been available back in the 80's, we wouldn't even be talking about this since Original Trilogy preservation and digital transfering wouldn't even be an issue. This web site wouldn't even exist.
Zion, here it is. If you're saying I can't ask you to release your restoration unaltered - then it is hypercritical of you to ask Lucas to do so. I don't care what you say. If Lucas owned a Picasso (yes, I'm going to keep using Picasso) and refused to release prints of it - how do you think the art community would react to you and MebeJedi editing your prints of the painting and then distributing it?

I do not have an original, and prints aren't exactly hard to come by now are they? I am creating something for myself, it's only by chance that you people on this web site get to read about my progress anyway. And besides you, it doesn't look like the community has much of a problem with what I am doing.

Now if I WAS in posession of an original celluloid print of these films, do you honestly think I would release only an altered version of it? Well maybe you do, but the answer would be no. Having something of such prominence would demand it be preserved in an unaltered state. I clearly am not in such a position.
Please see sense.
Post
#79214
Topic
Censorship of the original films
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/79214/action/topic#79214
Time
Originally posted by: DanielB
Well, I for one do not want to see it YOUR way MeBeJedi. And I don't want to see it YOUR way either Zion. And I don't want to see it YOUR way Mverta. And if you're going to make your own version with fresh digital effects Laserman, well then I don't want to see it your way either.

In fact I don't want to see it Jay's way, I don't want to see it Spider's way, I don't want to see it Rikter's way, I don't want to see it Dr_Gonzo's way - and I don't want to see it My way either.

Disregarding the fact that that doesn't make any sense, I suggest you invest in your own LD player if you're not willing to appreciate the work others have done FOR THEMSELVES and happily distributed FREELY to anyone interested.

You make a valid point Daniel. You want the unedited original Star Wars Trilogy in a DVD format, right? Well the good news for you is that it's already available. Go download a classic transfer of it by TR47, Dr. Gonzo, or ISOMIX. But that's not the only thing you want, is it? You want the rest of us major transferers to see things your way. You want us to suddenly open our eyes and say "hey, that Daniel guy is right! I don't want to be a selfish corporate censor anymore! I better stop this restoration nonsense and bow to the wishes of other people." You want us to forget our own personal goals - the very thing that drives us to do these transfers in the first place.

I am mostly like you. I want the original versions preserved so that I can enjoy them in a digital format. What I don't understand is what exactly you're trying to accomplish. Let's take a look at your own reasoning for a second:
"Episode IV: A New Hope" is not a MAJOR concern for two main reasons. The first is that it was released theatrically in that form before the entire trilogy was completed, and the second is that Lucas did honestly intended it that way from the beginning.

You know what? Lucas did honestly intend for the lightsaber shots to look the way they do in the Special Edition from the beginning. But when Fox tells you you don't have time to finish your effects shots and you're way over budget, things like this don't get fixed.

As much as you may not like what we are doing, it's not like we're going to edit the dance number into Jedi or make Greedo shoot first. All MeBe and I are going to do is fix a couple of those saber shots in ANH, which were not intended to look the way they do. The one thing you are not seeing Daniel is that we aren't doing these transfers for you. We aren't doing them for other people. We're doing them for ourselves first and foremost. If you can't find it in your heart to download my DVD's for FREE and enjoy the time and money I put into them because I fixed a couple of poor lightsaber shots, then more power to you.

Just don't cry about it because I don't see things your way.


Post
#78827
Topic
***The MeBeJedi feedback thread ***
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/78827/action/topic#78827
Time
This site has a petetion for an unaltered release of the classic trilogy. How on earth do you further your cause for that by creating edited trilogies? If that's what you give yourself, well of course that's what Lucas is going to give you. He can't give you something you clearly don't really want anyway.

Well for one thing, I never signed the petition. But that's another story and I won't get into it here.

I have no problem with you losing interest in our transfers. But to say that we're "censoring" these films is just ludicrous. I really wouldn't call fixing a couple crappy saber shots "censoring," but if that's what you want to call it be my guest.
Post
#78599
Topic
.: Moth3r's PAL DVD project :.
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/78599/action/topic#78599
Time
I would just like to point out that my NTSC screenshot was the result of multiple filters, including dot crawl and spatial noise reduction. Also, I feel that I captured with slightly oversaturated color settings which resulted in excessive color bleed. Unfortunately the raw capture file doesn't exist anymore, or I would post a screencap for you.

Good luck with your project.
Post
#78484
Topic
.: The Zion DVD Project :. (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/78484/action/topic#78484
Time
update: I just ordered a new video card, an XFX nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT. Looks like my Ti4600 is just about shot, as I can't even play a simple video file without my system crashing on me. I'm borrowing a friend's old 7500 in the mean time, though I may not get much work done on my capturing until the new card arrives.


Looks like it's time to work on the menu a bit more....
Post
#78323
Topic
.: The Zion DVD Project :. (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/78323/action/topic#78323
Time
There's no question that the Japanese version looks better. However, adjusting the black levels is quite easy to do in the color correction process with Premiere. I've done it with my last set of screencaps, though I think I went a little too dark once again.


After thinking about what happened to my system last night, it might not be my new capture card that's causing the problem. It was acting up before I installed it, and now still doing it after taking the card out again. Basically what's been happening is my computer will freeze momentarily then reset itself (the equivalent to the Blue Screen of Death on 95/98/Me) anytime I'm trying to switch between an open video window and another program. I thought initially that this was just happening with VirtualVCR and my PVR software, but it has happened a few times while trying to watch my newly downloaded MST3K episodes in Media Player Classic. I have a feeling the problem is my semi-over-the-hill video card. (GeForce4 TI-4600)
Post
#78065
Topic
***The MeBeJedi feedback thread ***
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/78065/action/topic#78065
Time
You CAN tell the difference in the shots if you know what you're looking for. And if you're one that knows what you're looking for, you will appreciate the difference.

Besides, there's something to be said for preservists like MeBe and myself. We're the ones going through these films frame-by-frame. If we see something that we can fix so that we can better appreciate the finished product, then that's good enough reason to do it.

I don't know about MeBe, but I will be fixing the white saber shots in my version.