silverwheel

THX11384EB said:

So poita said in his last post, from 2019, that he was doing “a bit of cleaning on a few scenes of THX-1138” as he is “handing that project to another long-time OT’er that is going to finish it up.”

So this supposedly happened back in 2019, and we obviously never heard from him or this person he handed it off to. Just curious as to why there were people who were/are in communication with him, even though he isn’t active here, and are not informing us of this project’s status.

If it is a matter of time or money, then someone else should helm this project. Money has been spent and we have nothing to show for it. How is this acceptable?

And a concern of mine, are they still holding on to the print, intending to finish scanning in the future? Because I’m not okay with people sitting on a print this important for such a long time with nothing to show for it. That print could be in the hands of someone who might actually finish the project! If that’s not the case, and the raw scans are done and the print has moved on, very well and I apologize. But that could also have been told to anyone at any time. Back when this project started, we got detailed info about the condition of the print because it had the beginnings of vinegar syndrome. “A better print emerged” and we were told that wasn’t an issue anymore, but contact mostly stopped from them at that point.

I know I want my money back from this project.

Another year goes by with nothing. I know this wasn’t a scam, but it sure feels like one at this point. Have any sample frames of the better print been shared? I don’t want to be mean, but I am upset at this point. Timetable is part of the reason why I donated. I wouldn’t have donated to a “maybe we’ll have something in a decade” kind of project. I know real people have real lives, but I don’t think it’s okay to be ghosting the donors about what’s going on. It’s been 7 1/2 years at this point - coupled with no communication, it’s really hard to feel good about my donation.

timemeddler said:

silverwheel said:

SpacemanDoug said:

silverwheel said:

AdmiralWasabi10191 said:

SpacemanDoug said:

AdmiralWasabi10191 said:

timemeddler said:

interesting, there’s a 480p transfer on the spleen claiming to be the 1973 version, is that from this print? Perhaps it could be used as the source to created a despecialized version of American Graffiti.

The Spleen can go suck a fuck.
35mm print would be best. 1080p or 4K scan. Would it ever happen? That’d be neat.

The one on myspleen is a 35mm scan, it’s just 480p

That’s fucking hilariously stupid that it’s 480p, not 1080p or 4K.

Considering that the scan was made almost 40 years ago, I’m not sure what more you’d expect. Certainly don’t know why you feel so committed to shittalking it.

How do you know it’s a 40 year old scan?

There are some optical issues that simply would not happen on a remotely contemporary scan. It looks like a very old telecine with damage of its own rather than issues from an old film print (the print itself looks pretty good - all the visual issues aside from dirt and grain seem to be the fault of the scan being in poor condition). And the print is almost certainly pre-1978 because it has the same advertising tags that were on the original poster.

Could it have been transferred using sub-par homemade equipment?

That was my first assumption, that it was someone’s quick and dirty homemade scan, but watching it pretty much blew away that idea. The print is (was) in terrific shape and I’m 97% certain that it was a fresh theater print at the time it was scanned. All the damage and dropped frames looks like the fault of a telecine that’s long past its prime.

SpacemanDoug said:

silverwheel said:

AdmiralWasabi10191 said:

SpacemanDoug said:

AdmiralWasabi10191 said:

timemeddler said:

interesting, there’s a 480p transfer on the spleen claiming to be the 1973 version, is that from this print? Perhaps it could be used as the source to created a despecialized version of American Graffiti.

The Spleen can go suck a fuck.
35mm print would be best. 1080p or 4K scan. Would it ever happen? That’d be neat.

The one on myspleen is a 35mm scan, it’s just 480p

That’s fucking hilariously stupid that it’s 480p, not 1080p or 4K.

Considering that the scan was made almost 40 years ago, I’m not sure what more you’d expect. Certainly don’t know why you feel so committed to shittalking it.

How do you know it’s a 40 year old scan?

There are some optical issues that simply would not happen on a remotely contemporary scan. It looks like a very old telecine with damage of its own rather than issues from an old film print (the print itself looks pretty good - all the visual issues aside from dirt and grain seem to be the fault of the scan being in poor condition). And the print is almost certainly pre-1978 because it has the same advertising tags that were on the original poster.

AdmiralWasabi10191 said:

SpacemanDoug said:

AdmiralWasabi10191 said:

timemeddler said:

interesting, there’s a 480p transfer on the spleen claiming to be the 1973 version, is that from this print? Perhaps it could be used as the source to created a despecialized version of American Graffiti.

The Spleen can go suck a fuck.
35mm print would be best. 1080p or 4K scan. Would it ever happen? That’d be neat.

The one on myspleen is a 35mm scan, it’s just 480p

That’s fucking hilariously stupid that it’s 480p, not 1080p or 4K.

Considering that the scan was made almost 40 years ago, I’m not sure what more you’d expect. Certainly don’t know why you feel so committed to shittalking it.

timemeddler said:

interesting, there’s a 480p transfer on the spleen claiming to be the 1973 version, is that from this print? Perhaps it could be used as the source to created a despecialized version of American Graffiti.

It’s a bit too beat up for that, with some dropped frames and some…interesting optical borks. It definitely looks like it was made in the mid 70’s, though for what purpose is anyone’s guess. It’s definitely the original edit - it’s even got the same tag for the Universal Studios Tour that’s on all of the original posters. My best guess is that it was a quick and dirty scan made for tv broadcast with the cropping left up to whoever was showing it.

For all its problems I frankly love it - the movie looks so much better with a high grain count and colors that don’t pop off the screen. It’s almost Michael Mann-esque in the way it’s fascinated with how a certain city looks at night.

THX11384EB said:

The lack of communication(updates) has been really unfortunate, especially for those of us who donated money to this project.

I was about to post the same thing. I know there have been lots of real-world things in people’s lives that have affected this project. But it’s been six years at this point and the donors have nothing to show for their support. At the very least, there needs to be some kind of communication happening.

THX11384EB said:

Any updates would be appreciated, even if the project is on hold.

GOUT

not the one we all know and hate, but the actual gout, the illness. I got it! a flare in my hip, so I can barely move around at the moment. It is in fact less fun than attempting to enjoy the GOUT dvd’s.

THX11384EB said:

THX11384EB said:

Would it be possible to get a status update, maybe some notes on the progress, etc. Not complaining or anything, just curious where we are at with it.

Viva Silverwook and Anchorhead! Viva Quebec!

Mackey256 said:

Has there been any discussion about using Patreon? It would be a good incentive to get people to donate if they get special content just via Patreon. I’m not sure what that content would be but it’s an idea.

Donating now.

How on earth would a basic forum like this generate “extra content?” Move up a tier to unlock the project update threads? Who’s going to make that content? The mods?

The other big problem with The French Connection’s surround mix is that the sounds effects, especially gunfire, are extremely loud compared to the music and dialogue. Thank heaven they had the good sense to include the mono (and to redo the color timing with Owen Roizman for the second Blu-ray release).

ChainsawAsh said:

Yeah, I’m not sure if it’s actually too desaturated or the black level and/or contrast is too low - I actually turned my TV’s brightness down a ton and it looked significantly better with no crushed blacks (the letterboxing was still the blackest part of any given frame by far), and it seemed to bring out the color a little more. For 4K77, I didn’t have to change any settings at all on my TV, though I was occasionally tempted to turn the brightness up, the exact opposite of how I felt with 4K83.

I’m really looking forward to a shot-by-shot CC with reel change markers painted out.

You just need to un-calibrate your monitor.

LordZerome1080 said:

Same with the Blu Ray and the dvd.

Yes, we’re all well aware of that, since that’s pretty much why this site exists in the first place. Thanks for the clarification.

yoda-sama said:

I just hope I get home in time to clear off space and start the download before he gets spiteful on us… His abuse really needs to be dealt with.

Message an admin directly and state your complaints. I did earlier today, and if a number of people do the same we might get a good result.

towne32 said:

It’s so funny. “I have nothing to do with this.” “Also, I’ll have it taken down”. “Also, Rogue 1 is negative 1” “Also, rogue 1 has nothing to do with this account” “also, I’m someone you’ve never heard of who isn’t involved but has final say but isn’t negative 1 but somehow I’m on his personal account”. It’s self parody at this point.

It’s truly hilarious - I’ve been complaining that he’s been abusing the takedown requests because he’s not involved anymore, and in his “rebuttal” he admitted that he’s not involved anymore, and that he’ll request to have it taken down out of spite if anyone complains. I hope the spleen admins ban him for this shit.

Poita, you da man. That sample is downright inspiring. I am so happy that we all came together and made this thing happen!

" … THX was delivered to Warner Bros. Coppola came by the Mill Valley house on the evening before he was to take the film down to Burbank. Murch showed him a reel, and all Coppola murmured was ‘Strange, strange.’ "

I wonder if Coppola was thinking something like “why oh why did I decide that this was going to be Zoetrope’s first project?”

I sympathize with GL a bit on this one since I would probably have a similar reaction. I write songs and I could totally see myself bitching up a storm if a song I wrote (and that I was really happy with) got tinkered with by my producer or for a radio edit, just because I tend to get really attached to the structure and build-up that I put down. Finding the right momentum and build is like the song telling me that this was the way it was always meant to be, so I totally sympathize with GL reacting in horror to someone fussing with that.

What I really don’t understand is that in the Maker of Films interview GL is acting like they changed the tone of the movie, taking out the humor and the romance. It’s so weird because those qualities are absolutely NOT present in the film. Oh, it does have bits of subtle humor, like the robot cop walking into the wall, or the chase being called off because of budget concerns, but it is absolutely not a warm, romantic movie by any definition. It’s about a world that’s entirely numb and cold, told in a very detached, European fashion. If he really thought those qualities were there…I don’t even know what to say to that, except that it would affirm that, on his own, he has no idea how to make a rousing, romantic, funny, audience-pleasing movie.

thxita said:

“So the scene of THX being messed with by the doctors and convulsing is not in the 35mm but is in the home releases?”

I’m sure it’s in the second part where he gets “jailed” for good. Check my TV broadcast version, they are probably in the same order. I remember subtitling that scene.

As for Lucas, all his THX story comes from the 2004 DVD. Enough said.

He does complain about it in the Maker of Films interview from shortly after the film’s release. There he’s largely bitching about how they disrupted the feel of the movie, how he was editing by feel and how their re-ordering ruined that. I think he was just being hypersensitive about it, though understandably pissed that the studio felt compelled to pointlessly fuck around with it. Even then, however, he makes it seem like it was brutalized beyond recognition, when the changes were (most likely) very minor and didn’t change the tone nearly to the degree that he suggests.

Wow! This looks great. I can’t wait for the results!

Educate me, poita. What is channel registration?

Info doesn’t have anything listed right now - it just says “coming soon” in the fanedits section.

I’m looking for full-size copy of Kerr’s Dark Force Rising Episode III fanedit. Do you have that one Frink? There’s a compressed version on spleen, but I would much prefer a dvd-sized copy.