Random questions

[briguy33]

hey guys.. i think this might be newsworthy..
madewith.com/2005/09/02/laika-the-next-pixar

it is an article about top animation studio Vinton Studios/LAIKA (Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, Monkeybone, and Tank Girl) and their upcoming short Moongirl (link to H264 teaser) plus how they are positioning them selfs to be the next Pixar.. check it out

brian

[Ben]

That's a bit cheeky.

Nightmare and James/Peach were made for Disney, by an assembled team. Much - but not all - of those crews went on to work for Henry Selick on MonkeyBone, though again as an independent team working for Fox.

Selick joined Vinton/LAIKA a year or so ago, and since then has built up his own team. Funny, though, that Corpse Bride was already well into shooting before he arrived.

Moon Girl is their first real production, though it again uses a lot of crew who WORKED on those other films, but Vinton did not make them.

Note how it says "Vinton’s director’s work includes..." - which is Henry Selick, pre-joining the company.


GREAT SITE THOUGH, and check out "Joe Blow" for some naughty fun!

[Wonderlicious]

...do you actually notice PAL speedup? I am aware of the slight pitch differences, yet I really don't notice anything unless I've listened to the non speeded up version a lot, and I rarely do that. And I'll almost never say that it destroys the movie experience. Is this mainly due to the fact that I have grown up with the moderately faster versions, so I'll notice it less?

[Ben]

Yes, yes, and yes.

As an editor, I always feel that non-native PAL versions are that little bit faster and more rushed, while the tone of voices and the musical pitch can seem offputting.

Not that it's a great example, but "Dave" was on TV the other night, and I'd never seen it. Not a classic, but I wanted to take a look and I can tell you that the whole speed of the film just rushed by and I thought the music was too high. That was with a first time viewing of what was, for me, a new film.

It's especially noticable on CD soundtracks, recorded at the original film (and therefore NTSC) speed. Being musically minded, I pick up on the key, only to have it ruined when I catch the movie on TV and have the music seem fast and pitched up.

I import all of my LaserDiscs and DVDs in NTSC format - out of the hundreds (surely I'm into a thousand or so, but am scared to count 'em) of DVDs I own, only 20-30 or so are PAL format, mainly due to titles not being issued in the US.

I also don't like how PAL images get processed to look like bright, clean spotless video. I prefer the NTSC film look, especially on my projection screen (as you can see, I'm a fairly rabid film fan).

If you're unaware of the problem, then you won't need a solution, but there are those who can notice it, and unfortunately I'm one of 'em!

[PatrickvD]

I rarely notice it. Only sometimes, but not up to a point where it annoys me. So, no big deal for me

[Wonderlicious]

Not that it's a great example, but "Dave" was on TV the other night, and I'd never seen it. Not a classic, but I wanted to take a look and I can tell you that the whole speed of the film just rushed by and I thought the music was too high. That was with a first time viewing of what was, for me, a new film.

So, are films/shows shown on UK TV sped up slightly as well? I am sure that I read that they weren't...

[Ben]

Anything that is transferred from film/24fps or NTSC/30fps is transferred to PAL in one of two ways:

The first, especially for TV, is a Standard's Conversion, which drops frames and merges others to create a new PAL master. This is why American TV shows can sometimes look "murky". In this case, speed/pitch is often preserved, but sometimes the speed up is still there.

The other, especially with film, is to slightly run the print "faster", from 24fps to PAL's 25fps. Many films used to be standard converted across to PAL, but there were many complaints with Fox's Star Wars trilogy VHS releases in the late 80s/early 90s which caused an industry-wide reappraisal of this technique. The most favourable way to do it now is the speed up, which results in one frame of film being equal to one frame of PAL video, but does introduce the speed up and pitch shift issue, also sometimes called a "native frame transfer".

Though technology exists for them to then take the soundtrack and at least pitch it back down the one musical key it needs (even though keeping the faster speed), this is usually never done, mainly because distributors don't think that the majority of people notice it.

So...if it's cheap US TV (like a sitcom), then chances are it's an NTSC/PAL conversion. If it's high-end drama (24, Lost, ER, Smallville, OC, etc) that is shot on film and posted in HD, then chances are it's a native PAL speed-up job. Anything on film, like features, nowadays are sure to be sped-up native PAL tranfers.

Rubbish, I know, but that's the gist of it, and hope that info is of help.

[Wonderlicious]

Ah, I'm getting the whole thing now. Thanks.

By the way, being the nosey nerd that I am, what are some of the PAL discs that you do actually own and why for?

[Ben]

Out of the hundreds (surely I'm into a thousand or so, but am scared to count 'em) of DVDs I own, only 20-30 or so are PAL format, mainly due to titles not being issued in the US.

Mainly titles not issued in the US, and mostly TV shows that were originated in PAL.

[Wonderlicious]

Hey, I was just wondering this; where exactly would be a good starting point to hear about film festivals and events? What websites would be good for finding out, do you think? I know such things do actually happen in the North West of England, but do you hear about them? No...

[James]

AWN has a database of festivals at http://aidb.com/?ltype=list&cat=btype&btype=013.

[Meg]

Hey, I was wondering if anyone knows where to find good images of Pete (the one who bugs Mickey Mouse). I'd really like them to be old school, like he was in Steamboat Willie (sp?). I need them by Saturday.

Thanks!

[Josh]

Here are a couple of good ones:

http://www.toonopedia.com/pete.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pete ... ey1928.jpg

And here is the history of the character, just in case you need it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Pete

In your search for pics, keep in mind that Pete has obtained a number of names in the past: Pegleg Pete, Black Pete, Big Bad Pete, Sneaky Pete, or just plain Pete.

[Meg]

I like the second one. Thanks a bunch!

[Meg]

I like the second one. Thanks a bunch!