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zombie84

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Join date
21-Nov-2005
Last activity
12-Jan-2024
Posts
3,557

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Post
#219314
Topic
1977 70mm soundtrack recording (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/219314/action/topic#219314
Time
You are the guy that owns these right? Good job man, i can't believe someone did this! Props to you.

Think maybe you could send us the raw left and right tracks? I'm sure someone here would be willing to fix them up and properly synch them to create a high quality track. Yes, i am greedy!

Whatever the case thanks for taking the time to encode and post them.
Post
#219227
Topic
Moving in from the Basher's Sanctuary (TF.n)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/219227/action/topic#219227
Time
I sent this message to an administrator:

"I would like to bring to your attention an incident that occurred a few days ago in the Classic Trilogy forum. In the discussion thread “**Official Thread** The unaltered Original Trilogy to be released on DVD,” forum moderator TwilekJedi made a number of bans, including myself LordHelmet1 and Harlock. Not only were these completely unwarranted and unnecessary, they reflected a person bias of said moderator.
At various points in the discussion, the conversation naturally turned to how the originals films were and are perceived by the general public, a perception which is changing and is often forgotten. It was this that first revealed the personal prejudice of TwilekJedi, who aggressively called my observation “ridiculous,” among other things, and had previously made statements such as “you people are getting what you deserve,” etc. in regards to OOT fans who have been understandably disappointed with the lacklustre treatment in the upcoming release. As more and more anti-OOT posters spoke their minds, the website originaltrilogy.com and its poster was inevitably ridiculed, calling them “crazy” and “ungrateful.” These remarks were allowed by TwilekJedi, who shared their sentiment. When I then explained that much of the site represents a slanted view of the OOT since a lot of the older fans have left, I was banned, as was like-minded fans such as Harlock.

The full text of my post was as follows:

“I agree.

And i also think that TF.N represents a severely slanted view of Star Wars fandom. That may be hard to realise or fathom if this is the only place you view or post, but the dissatisfaction of the SE and PT is very strong just about everywhere else--and this is ignoring the fact that to the majority of the world Star Wars is simply the first film, or at most the OOT. They saw it, they loved, they moved on--95% of the people who plunked down a combined $307 million in 1977 don't post here, or on the internet at all. The fact that all dissenters here have been basically squashed and forced out is very disheartening--they were marginalised to the point where the only place they could post their voice was the insultingly-named "Bashers" Sanctuary and now that is gone. I myself never made one post there but i am pointing all this out so that people realise that the OOT is far, far, far more important than the majority of posters here realise.”

I messaged Twilek to find out what the basis was for such harsh treatment, and his reply was as follows:

“This ban is for completely derailing the OOT-DVD thread by discussing fans not
too long after a mod-warning, coupled with the fact that you were edited (at
least twice) for that sort of thing before.
Ban is for 24 hours. –TLJ”

But this is completely false, misleading and inappropriate. Not only was I NOT steering the conversation, I had never once been addressed by Twilek, either privately or publicly, and NONE of my posts had been edited and/or deleted (after I replied to his message, of course some were). My actual post on how “the OOT is more important to the rest of society” itself was a response to OTHERS who were de-railing the conversation by saying how unimportant it was (personally, I think this issue is completely relevant in the first place but I digress). I have also been the most constructive and informative poster in that thread, since I have been making custom screen-captures to compare various versions of the saga, digging out 1977 screener photographs and dissecting the release process of 35mm film, since I work in the cinematography department of the motion picture industry. My comments have never been personal, inflammatory, irresponsible or unreasonable, and I have always prided myself as one of the more constructive contributors to this site.

But this is ridiculous. In my seven years on these forums I have never once been banned, nor have any of my posts ever been edited or deleted by moderators. Twilekjedi, I later found out, was also the one who closed down the Bashers Sanctuary, and has also banned many OOT fans since then. There is a personal prejudice at work here, and not only is it pushing away many intelligent posters, it will soon turn these forums into “happy,” ignorant Lucas-lands, which many dissenters I have encountered elsewhere already feel—prejudice like this is ruining TFN’s reputation.

And I consider this a case of personal harassment.

What’s worse, I am not even some OOT anti-Lucas “fanatic”—I actually PREFER the SE for the most part, and I am a PT fan. But now even moderates like myself are being pushed around and festering grudges.

This has to stop. There is a reason why the Classic Trilogy forum is filled with people who think A New Hope is “meh,” and it is because all of those that have disagreed have been forced out. I think its great that we have fans that have both viewpoints on the situation and that we can argue about silly stuff like this, but unfortunately the fascistic abuse certain higher-ups are wielding is turning this place into something I no longer feel like I want to be a part of.

I didn’t know who I could turn this complaint to, and seeing as you are labelled “administrator” it seems you would be most appropriate. I would like this behaviour brought up with other mods, and perhaps even some disciplinary action involved because it really has gotten ridiculous as of late. I have been here for seven years (eight actually) and never had a single problem with the otherwise-great people who maintain this place, and have always received a great deal of respect for my insight, but I have been personally harassed and insulted and I feel that this should issue should not just fade away. This is a major problem.

Thanks for listening to my lengthy complaint.

Sincerely,

Mike Kaminski"


Hopefully something will come of it.
Post
#219210
Topic
1977 70mm soundtrack recording (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/219210/action/topic#219210
Time
Wow: http://members.aol.com/morgands1/closeup/text/SWaudio.htm

DOWNLOAD THE 1977 70MM SOUNDTRACK.

Amazing. Only drawback--64kbs MP3 files. Erk. Still, an amazing find. Maybe if enough people bug this guy he can give us the raw left-right files so we can do our own mix. With news of people having recordings of the original mono soundtrack as well i find it incredible how dedicated early fans were--and thank god.

Listen to the sound of the blockade runner and star destroyer coming over head--you can feel the power through the tinny, scratchy audio. Sounds mighty impressive--imagine a 70mm image accompanying it!
Post
#219137
Topic
Lucasfilm to sell Physical Effects Unit
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/219137/action/topic#219137
Time
This seems really illogical from a business point of view.

Models are used now more than ever.

There are more models used in a single prequels film than in all three original movies combined. Literally hundreds, some of them spanning many, many yards, such as the massive Geonosis arena model.

So, this still all is fine, ILM will just be outsourcing all model work to the new company--but if you can do it in-house, then why not?? Wouldn't this be easier, faster and much, much cheaper? I really don't get this.
Perhaps now that the prequels are finished they are finding that most films don't have any, or have very little, model work? This is the only conclusion i can draw, which is actually quite true, but still. Dumb IMO.
Post
#219135
Topic
Info & Help: Looking for... Raiders Of The Lost Ark - on HDTV
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/219135/action/topic#219135
Time
Most people have the idea of "bloopers" being people flubbing their line or falling down because of stuff like Worlds Funniest Bloopers. A blooper is really just a mistake. When actors make bloopers they usually forget lines and burst out laughing and stuff, and when technitions do it its usually less-entertaining stufff like boom mics in the shot and safety wires visible.
Post
#219133
Topic
Moving in from the Basher's Sanctuary (TF.n)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/219133/action/topic#219133
Time
Well its obvious that there is a prejudice there that no longer can be ignored. Before it was simply a prejudice but now its become harrasement. I will be bringing it up to people higher in the chain of command, if only to make them aware that people are noticing and not liking it, and not just "radicals" or OOT "fanatics". Its sad when people can say there "originaltrilogy.com people are crazy," "you guys are ungrateful," "you guys are getting what you deserve," "most people like the SE anyway," including nearly all of these also said by a mod, and then my response "no, you see this site is somewhat slanted in its views, which are much more pessimistic elsewhere, and the majority of the people who paid $307 million in 1977 dont even post here" gets me banned. That is simply absurd, especially when my previous comments were by far the most informative and constructive in that thread. This has really irked me in a very personal way. I'm considering not even going back there but i know if i abandon that place only worse things will happen there. Fight the evil empire!
Post
#218982
Topic
The Official Lucasfilm Response
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/218982/action/topic#218982
Time
Using a release print would be fine except they are all somewhat dinged up and faded, and of course the main reason is that the negative is absolute highest quality available.

Really if Lucas' technicolor print is so immaculate they should just make a new negative based off that. But theres no reason to--the o-neg is there it just needs to be re-constructed. Hell, I'll do it for them in a day.
Post
#218969
Topic
The Official Lucasfilm Response
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/218969/action/topic#218969
Time
Here is what appears to be a fairly accurate post from hometheaterforum:

"At first, the intention was simply a re-release of ANH only, using new elements struck from the o-neg. But when they had a look at it, they discovered that much of it had "gone pink". Much of the film had been shot on a new Eastman stock that, as it turned out, was unstable (I recall reading that the Jaws negative also suffers from this).

This shows that when the film was originally conformed, original camera negative was cut, and not dupe negative as is sometimes done instead.

Before any other tricks were done, the negative was meticulously cleaned and treated at YCM labs: removing dirt by hand, fixing splices, etc. The pink portions were then duped and fixed photochemically--as far as I've been able to determine, shots that were not being further enhanced with new effects were not scanned and color-corrected digitally (but anything's possible).

A few bits of negative were too far gone and had to be replaced using new neg struck from existing postive(s). One such source was a three-strip Technicolor (yes!) print Lucas had had made back in the day for his personal archive. I know that sounds unlikely as late as 1977 but that's what I came across in my research.

While they were at it, they replaced all the wipes and dissolves: when opticals are made, at least two generations are lost as the shots are duped and rephotographed, so it was determined that redoing them with 1996 duping technology would yield better results, and it did. (This would indicate that the oneg trims of this footage still existed, which is amazing.)

New negatives of these shots were then cut into the negative, replacing the deteriorated portions.

This process inspired Lucas to let ILM warm up for the prequels by creating new material for the re-release. So all the necessary shots (not the entire movie) were scanned in at 2K, the new CG elements added, and were then shot back out to film and cut into the negative. A few 1976/7 special effects shots were scanned in for the sole purpose of cleaning them of printed-in dirt and whatnot; I have b-roll of an ILMer clone-stamping out dirt blobs from Luke training with the lightsaber aboard the Millennium Falcon, a shot that was not plastered with new CG elements.

You see what's happening to the negative all this time? It's being subsumed by new material, bit by bit. Some of it avoidable, some not. Somewhere I have a sound bite of Lucas saying the negative now contains something like 250 (I don't remember the exact number but it's in the 200s) pieces of new negative. This is the reason Lucas has said the original "doesn't exist anymore", because from the perspective of original elements as the ideal, it doesn't. The fact that one could always go back to existing positive elements is of course what made the statement truthful only from a certain point of view."
Post
#218777
Topic
The Official Lucasfilm Response
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/218777/action/topic#218777
Time
Originally posted by: Mielr
Originally posted by: zombie84
Wasn't the technicolor print used to restore the OOT? Shouldn't it have frames missing?


No, I don't think they actually cut up the Technicolor print, they used it as a guide as to what the color saturation should be, etc. Even if it was directly used, I imagine the frames would have been scanned, rather than physically cut.


No, if it was used it would have been cut, not scanned and copied. Hmm. I had also heard that the 85 interpositive was used to fill in the rotting section. But then someone told me it was the technicolor print. I wonder which one it really was now (both? neither?)
Post
#218672
Topic
Info & Help: Looking for... Raiders Of The Lost Ark - on HDTV
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/218672/action/topic#218672
Time
Originally posted by: TheCassidy
First off, here's the olive branch DFNYC. I was too harsh on you, so let's just leave it at that.

I'm not sure exactly what I have in these 4 discs of the 1080 'Raiders...'

I'm willing to come clean on something - I spent the better part of 3 hours analyzing footage looking for the following, which were "corrected" for the DVD release:

-The cobra reflection.
-The boulder guide track.
-Matte line removal.

I couldn't find a huge difference in the screenshots I took. The colour is a little less red in the HD version - I know that these have to be different than the DVD because the dirt and emulsion scratches are still present, which aren't as bad on the DVD.

So, at the end of the day, what do I have on my hard drive? A nice looking copy of 'Raiders' with the swearing cut for TV? I sure would like someone with a better eye for details than me to look at this thing...

I was really excited to have a kick ass version of the film without the digital alterations made, which apparently only matters to me, so I'll shut up about it now...


The cobra reflection is fairly obvious and easy to spot. Seeing as the video has more scratches, I'm going to say that it should be there (the superficial alterations were almost certainly done to the film AFTER the Lowry cleanup).

Post
#218668
Topic
Judging by ESB & ROTJ original box office gross, here is why Lucas started to change
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/218668/action/topic#218668
Time
This is an excellent analysis.

ESB is unique in its production for so many reasons. Lucas' initial conception of the sequels was that the series was to be a bit like James Bond, that each episode would follow different characters, different eras (including the "young Obi Wan" days, as he described it in 1977) and have different tones. Every few years a new director would have a go in the galaxy, putting his own stamp on the film, and Lucas would essentially step back after setting up the basic story. In this, Kershner was pretty much the only person who was allowed to play in Lucas' world, given free creative reign and little opposition; Lucas only visited the set three times. And look how it turned out! But after Lucas hired Kershner, things began to change--first, in the story itself. When the story conferences started in late 1977 it was to be like a James Bond series, but by the final draft it had changed to a 9-part dramatic narrative where Darth Vader was Luke's father (this particular change occured in April of 1978). And then the fiasco of ESB went into production--the film went massively behind schedule and over budget (it DOUBLED!) and the stuff Lucas saw in dailies was completely opposite to his style, and Kershner and Kurtz refused to bow to Lucas' will.
Then the film was released--it did okay, pretty darn good actually, hitting just over the $200 million mark. But it had some criticism and its gross was a whole $100 million less than the first film and kids were not as enamored with the content.

Then Raiders happens. Raiders was essentially the replacement Star Wars sequel--while ESB had progressed to a more epic, Dune-like "saga", Raiders picked up where Star Wars left off, a brainless, swashbuckling saturday matinee serial, devoid of anything particularly profound and told at a breakneck pace with constant action and flash. And without any built-in audience at all it made a whole $50 million MORE than ESB.

Do the math.

The Star Wars sequels primary purpose was to fund the $20 million Skywalker Ranch, as he admitted multiple times back then--although Lucas obviously cared about the quality of the content of the films, it was only to a certain point. If kids were getting bored and profits were dropping then a different route had to be taken. He hired a puppet director (i have a quote from the 1983 issue of American Cinematographer where Kazanjian says something to the effect of "George wanted a younger director that wasnt so well established and wouldn't be as imposing of his own ideas on the film" lol) whose style was closer to his own; Lucas was on set every single day, directed actors and second unit and was for all-intents and purposes, a co-director. And it shows--ROTJ feels very much like a Lucas-film.
Want to reach the kiddies? ESB had only one grumpy, Buddhist-philospher puppet--now he gave them a whole palace of them! Plus a whole planet of teddy bears! No wonder kids loved this film--and its box office gross reflected it, surpassing both ESB and Raiders. Hurray for $$! Too bad Marcia Lucas took most of it a month later!
Post
#218640
Topic
Moving in from the Basher's Sanctuary (TF.n)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/218640/action/topic#218640
Time
Originally posted by: Harlock415
Zombie banned? Fuckin A, man. I can't believe you got banned. So did I actually.


I know! I always considered myself one of the more civil and constructive contributors to that place but i guess theres not even room for sane people like you and me. I'm going to be calling this behavior to the attention of other mods once I come back to try and see if we can relent this ridiculous intellectual oppression. I know the majority of them are in favour of the PT/SE but theres also a few that actually are level headed and have respect for people like us. I'm also planning on starting an "OOT Defense Force" over there, as someone pointed out that there is an identical such discussion for the PT. I don't much care for the actual ideal, i just like the idea of evening the odds.

Post
#218598
Topic
King Kong: The Spence Edit (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/218598/action/topic#218598
Time
This sounds EXCELLENT! 3 hours for fucking King Kong? Jackson let ROTK's success go to his head. I would argue that a 2 hour version would be best but the way the film was written thats not really possible editorially. I'm very interested in this edit.

(Kong shaking Anne for 30 minutes bugged the hell outta me--uh, okay we got the point twenty seconds ago, lets move on here)
Post
#218574
Topic
Remember when everyone hated Return of the Jedi?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/218574/action/topic#218574
Time
It all fairness theres not much logic to Star Wars. I mean the four heroes run around the Death Star killing stormtroopers for god knows how long and no one notices? So much for security. The difference is that the film is a goofy swashbuckler, whereas the PT are (supposedly) more realistic "dramas", so the suspension of disbelief is much less forgiving. Plus, the downright lovable charm of Star Wars not only distracted you from such petty matters, it made you not care if you noticed.

A very telling anecdote: they are filming the scene where Han and Luke and Leia are getting out of the trash compacter and taking off their stormtrooper outfits. Hamill suddenly ponders, "hey wait a minute, this doesn't make sense, how come my hair is all neat and everything?" and Ford simply replied "Hey kid, it aint that kind of movie."

I think that sums it up nicely.