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The economics of DVD

Yeah its really amazing. Monsters Inc DVD sales killed the movie run in total $$ in one week on dvd release

capt
 
Let's hope this encourages companies to release good TV series which got cancelled after a season or less (Crusade, Brimstone, American Gothic are all good examples) on DVD!
 
I've definitely been getting the feeling for a while now that filmmakers have been thinking about the DVDs while they're shooting the film.

For action movies, it turns the whole thing into a video game, what with the extra stuff and all.

And DVD sales/rentals will keep taking revenue away from theaters. Due to its high quality, I don't mind missing a film in the theater because, hey, I can always just rent the DVD.
 
Wow, old Mighty is reviving a very old thread. :)

I must confess: I am finding the same is true for me. Why drive about 40 miles or so to see a movie in a noisy theater where there may often be many noisy kids tearing up the place (I tended to go to the cheaper shows, such on Friday afternoons or other weekday early afternoons when we had a holiday).

But with the convenience of just renting and watching it at home, I'm much more inclined to wait until the DVD comes out. But then again, I've never been impressed with the "big screen experience", either.

As long as the DVD is widescreen, I don't feel I'm missing anything just waiting to rent.
 
The Bourne Identity did as much in rentals as it did at the cinema, it was the number one rental in the US last year. Add on that sales... and Mr Damon did well. :)
 
As long as the DVD is widescreen, I don't feel I'm missing anything just waiting to rent.

That's often true (indeed, much more often than not), but it really can depend on the movie. For example, the opening sequence of the orginal Star Wars is a *completely* different experiance in a theater than on home video (especially back during the first viewing in 1977). That, in turn, ends up altering the mind set of the audiance for the entire picture. Of course, it's a different question if you have a wall-sized home theater TV.

Of course, I would be *much* pickier about what I bothered to see in theaters if I had to drive 40 miles to the nearest one. Counting "art houses", cheap second run theaters, etc. there are 6 (2 mega-plexes, an artier place with about 8 screens, an art house with 2 screens, a second run place with 4 screens, and a non-profit event theater with 2 screens) within 10 or 15 miles of my condo. I wouldn't have any idea haw many are within 40 miles.
 
Did I revive this thread? Funny, I swear I just saw it when I clicked on the forum. Oh well.
Um, enjoy. :)
 
Did I revive this thread? Funny, I swear I just saw it when I clicked on the forum. Oh well.
Um, enjoy. :)
Wow, this was from 2002. How the hell did it even come up on your list?
 
Antony,
Speaking of "The Bourne Identity,"I just got the original on DVD -- The one with Richard Chamberland and Jaclyn Smith. While it didn't have all the modern flash-bangs of Matt Damon's version, IMO the acting, directing and storyline made Damon's version look like a video game. I'd recommend the first version to one and all.
 
I'd like to see a menu path that would allow me to integrate the "deleted scenes" seamlessly back into the film.

I also tend to wait for the dvd to come out, rather than fighting crowds of people in uncomfortable theaters. Although the point about the opening scene of SW:ANH is well taken.
 
I've seen half of the original, I didn't like it much.

To me the new one isn't about flash bangs.. it's about the characters. But I preferred, for example, the fact that Franke Potente's character (don't ask me why, but the name has gone...) went willingly and wasn't kidnapped.
 
I'd like to see a menu path that would allow me to integrate the "deleted scenes" seamlessly back into the film.

That's been done on a few films, using the "seemless branching" ability specified in the original DVD spec. But this is only possible for the minority of films where (a) the scenes were cut at the very last minute, after scoring and post production, (b) where the studio is willing to spend a considerable amount of money to complete F/X, sound, ADR and music for scenes that were removed earlier and (c) where the original film and other elements still exist. You can't just drop raw footage shot "on the day" into the middle of a completed, scored and color-timed movie.

An enormous amount of work goes into taking five and ten minute snippets of film shot on different physical film rolls at different times (often hours, days or weeks apart) and cutting them all into a single scene that looks and sounds like a real event happening before our eyes. And once it is all finally cut togther, the color and contrast balanced the film is "locked" and the composer can write a score timed to the on-screen images, while the Foley artists create virtually every sound except the dialogue that you hear in each scene the the actors come back in to "loop" or rerecord dialogue that was spoiled by noise (most outdoors shots) or other problems.

If scenes were deleted before all of the work mentioned above you either have to do the work or leave them out of the movie and put them in the supplements. Some deleted scenes don't even exist on film by the time the DVD is prepared. Most films are now edited on digital editing systems before any physical film is cut. Once the digital edit is finalized the original negative is cut and assembled into reels that match the digital version. The rest of the negative may well be discarded. In that case the only version of a cut scene that survives will be the lo-res AVID or other digital editing file, obviously without sound F/X, etc. and looking worse than a worn VHS. These are frequently included in DVD supplements to illustrate the contents of scenes, but obviously could never be used to restore those scenes to a longer cut of the film.

Finally, of the minority of films that are candidates for seemless branching, some aren't done that way on DVD because the director and/or producer decided not to do it that way. :)

Regards,

Joe
 
Turner Classic Movies shows a sort of restored version of the film "A Star is Born" with Judy Garland and James Mason. They don't even have live footage for some of it, just still photos and some surviving sound recordings.

They place the scenes they have restored in the movie where the scenes would have been. It's a little weird to watch at first, but it is nice to see where these cut out scenes would have gone in the whole flow of the picture.
 
I've watched a handful of DVD's that will show a symbol in the top left corner of your tv to let you know that there are different angles of how the scene was shot and a symbol for deleted scenes. At least my DVD player does some of those things. They aren't too bad but if I'm really into the movie, I'm totally oblivious to them.
 
Joe:

I knew, intellectually, that such an idea would be both expensive and labor-intensive. But a guy can dream, can’t he?

Hypatia:

I bought a DVD copy of the “restored” version of Metropolis, which was reconstructed in much the same manner as the film you mentioned. It was very interesting to see the film as the director originally intended it to be seen. (Jade Jaguar posted an informative thread several months ago describing the process.)
 
Ooo, something to add to my wish list at amazon.com.

I have not seen the restored Metropolis yet. In fact, one of the last vhs tapes I bought before getting my dvd player was Metropolis, IIRC. I'd love to see the restored version.

I have no problems with restoring a movie like that. What bugged me about Star Wars is a little hard for me to put my finger on. In the case of George Lucas, going back and editing the original SW movie just seemed cheap somehow.

But I adore Metropolis and would love to see how the director originally saw the film.

It is a bit melodramatic, Metropolis, I know. But it's amazing how a strong, interesting, female character is a major part of the story. And a religious leader and a political leader to boot. :cool:

All done before films even had sound. :cool: :cool:
 
I remember how shocked I was when I learned that all the sounds were created seperately. I had just assumed they used the sounds on the set.
 
2 things:

1) I just recently got around to listening to JMS' commentary track for In the Shadow of Z'ha'Dum. I found it interesting that he talked about how the sounds of slaps and such are generally dubbed in later, but that Andrea Thompson had been so into the scene that she had really hauled off and whacked BB and that for that particular case the sound that we heard *was* the actual sound. JMS also commented that, since they used the first take, Sheridan's shocked / stunned facial reaction wasn't acting. It was BB's real reaction, because he wasn't expecting to really get hit.


2) Have you seen / heard the sound documentary and demo on the extended edition DVD of The Two Towers? That's some really interesting stuff. That subject matter also comes up in some of the stunt work and fighting discussions in other parts of the extras. They have some footage in those areas with the "as it was shot" sound still on it. It sounds nothing like the final movie. They also comment on how, dispite all of the prosthetic orc makeup, everyone always knew where the one female stunt performer was during all of the battle scenes. Her battle cries / yells just didn't sound like anyone else's (nor like anything that is heard in the final film).
 
Thats what I love about DVD's; all the extra stuff. When I purchase a DVD I will check to see if they will re-release it later with more extra stuff (i.e. Spiderman that is going to be re-released sometime before Spiderman II) and will wait until then to buy it. The next movie on my wish list is the original Planet of the Apes 35th anniversay edition that was released on the 3rd of Feb. I was going to buy a copy on Ebay but happened to look on Amazon first and saw this 35th anniv. was going to come out in Feb so now I'm glad I waited.
 

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