The Ballad of Blu-ray and Scratchy Old Film

[blessingx]

I suppose it's well known, but I like that someone is pointing out the films lost with every expensive new video delivery format. Hopefully, online distribution will shift in the opposite direction.

The Ballad of Blu-ray - A Cinephile Takes Stock - NYTimes.com

[tkam]

Seems like a worthless rant to me, any movie that more than a few people would ever want is very likely out on dvd. DVD's should last for a very long time if they are handled properly.

The real problem with getting older and smaller films onto new formats isn't the new formats its the piss poor quality and lack of availability of the original source material. Before the rise of dvd there really wasn't much financial incentive to keep source material in good quality as the studios figured they'd never make anymore money once the theater runs ended. So often times the originals were tossed in some warehouse to be lost forever.

With dvd and now blu-ray and digital distribution the studios actually have financial incentive to keep their originals in good quality (or likely in some digital format backed-up in several locations). So while not much can be done about films of the past, it's a very good sign for the films of today.

Edited January 4, 2010 by tkam

[blessingx]

Seems like a worthless rant to me, any movie that more than a few people would ever want is very likely out on dvd.

Sorry, you're just plain wrong on this. There are a ton of films, often discussed and referenced, making festivals and the like, even with famous stars or known directors, that have just hit finally DVD in the last year or two. There are way more that haven't. Hell, Ozu's inspiration for Tokyo Story (often sited as top ten of all time), the well know Leo McCarey film Make Way for Tomorrow, will finally appear on DVD next month. As the article said there are whole periods missing. See how many commonly sited silent films you can get for instance (most people probably think there were only slapsticks made). I don't know how you can dismiss this as a rant unless you argue keeping a vid off the shelve long enough makes the audience forget, thus no demand.

You can say it's simple economics , though that doesn't deny the displacement of the previous format. Of course I have to bring up LP (even low quality recordings) collectors and the affect of CDs introduction. That title loss is a much bigger deal than audio quality sacrificed in my book.

I think image quality (including deterioration) is certainly a part of it, but that isn't they whole displacement picture, and it is addressed in the article, no? He's still optimistic about Blu-ray, just nervous about the marketplace effect on title availability.

Edited January 4, 2010 by blessingx

[Beefy]

You can say it's simple economics , though that doesn't deny the displacement of the previous format.

But it seems pretty tenous to say that if DVD hadn't happened, these 'lost' films would currently be available......

[manaox2]

I'm still thankful for those who take the time to make otherwise near impossible films to find available in digital through the wonders of the internet.

I would have never known about such films had I not been introduced through the hands of others and before recently, I'm not sure you could have convinced me to sit through something like a polish silent film (which I enjoyed greatly).

[grawk]

bluray isn't what is keeping those movies from getting transferred, just like dvd wasn't. Given that bluray players play dvds, there's still nothing keeping anyone from doing the somewhat easier transfer to dvd, or playing old dvds. The argument is logically flawed.

[blessingx]

But it seems pretty tenous to say that if DVD hadn't happened, these 'lost' films would currently be available......

bluray isn't what is keeping those movies from getting transferred, just like dvd wasn't. Given that bluray players play dvds, there's still nothing keeping anyone from doing the somewhat easier transfer to dvd, or playing old dvds. The argument is logically flawed.

Maybe. True it's difficult to know the reason for changes. New formats spawn new growth, but that growth directs focus. You can obviously make much more reissuing currently available established titles in new formats than take a chance on new titles to the home market. Will there be less titles coming to market on DVD, because the format itself is being replaced? How many have already stopped buying DVDs because they only want Blu-rays now (we have several here)? There's such a rich collection that came in the last two years (including in some of the programs now killed, but listed in the article - I have spent nearly $1K in several decade old titles just now getting to DVD), and I suspect many would make the same comments about "everything on DVD" two years ago, I wonder what would have come out in the next two, that now won't? It's impossible to know, but I'd like to see the LP issuance numbers and how they changed when CDs really gained traction (assuming, maybe incorrectly, most early adopters had turntables too). Then there's the LP titles that never made it on CD and now impossible to find on LP.

But maybe online is the bigger threat to any optical media, and possible solution to the title issue.