Zeitgeist Films

[Cronenfly]

Beaver review of Draughtsman up. The more muted colours (despite occasional over-brightness in some of the day caps) look better to my eyes on the Zeitgeist, but with the caveats that it's interlaced, and in a 1.72:1 ratio instead of 1.66:1. The altered ratio doesn't seem to be that big an issue going by the caps, though, and Gary suggests that the combing isn't that bad (why is there combing if it's been converted properly from PAL to NTSC, though? Did they use the alchemist encoding method?). Shame about the BFI menus not being carried over; the Zeitgeist's look okay, but not nearly as good as the BFI's (which I'm sure look even better in motion). I was hoping that this release and Zed would be relatively problem free, but I think I can live with the defects.

[miless]

I really enjoy the cover art for these two new Greenaway releases... they fit very well with the early films set they released a while ago.

[Cronenfly]

I have a certain amount of affection for both the BFI and Zeitgeist covers, though the continuity in the Zeitgeists is definitely a nice touch.

[MichaelB]

It's probably worth noting that (as far as I'm aware) the BFI transfer of The Draughtsman's Contract is the only one of the three that's specifically director-approved, so any comments about the accuracy or otherwise of the colours should be set against that fact.

[Cronenfly]

It's probably worth noting that (as far as I'm aware) the BFI transfer of The Draughtsman's Contract is the only one of the three that's specifically director-approved, so any comments about the accuracy or otherwise of the colours should be set against that fact.

Good point; even besides the director approval, the BFI is probably the safest bet for accuracy given that it isn't interlaced and is in the right ratio. I don't find either transfer (from the caps) to be too radically different (regardless of my own personal preference, director-approved or not, for Zeitgeist's seemingly less saturated colours), so I'm not too worried about the manipulations on Zeitgeist's part being too far against Greenaway's wishes (certainly not enough to avoid the Zeitgeist release).

[Tribe]

why is there combing if it's been converted properly from PAL to NTSC, though? Did they use the alchemist encoding method?

Several Zeitgiest releases suffer from some combing, unfortunately.

But aside from that, their releases tend to look more than passably good. However, if these (the "new" Greenaway titles) are ports of the BFI releases, should we be concerned about how the transfers look? I had just taken for granted for granted that they'd be more than merely acceptable.

Tribe

[Cronenfly]

The transfer on Draughtsman certainly looks more than acceptable; I was just hoping for a completely defect-free transfer, especially as, according to miless, the reason for the delay on the two Greenaways was an NTSC-PAL transfer difficulty, which suggests that Zeitgeist didn't want to settle for less on the transfers. Nevertheless, I'm happy that these are being made available in R1 in decent editions; one could argue the necessity of their being released, but, as someone who only recently went region free, I'll be glad to have them at a lower price than I could get the R2 editions for.

[Tribe]

Just got the new Greenaways...a tad disappointed with Draughtsman...the colors indeed appear somewhat muted and the image just doesn't appear to be crisp. Maybe that's a result of the AR issues that Cronenfly noted above?

I'm glad to finally have an anamorphic transfer though and with the nice package of extras I can overlook the relatively minor image issues...and I'm not certainly not one to quibble about that stuff.

Zed, on the other hand, looks much sharper with more vivid colors...and perhaps it was Greenaway's intent that the colors in Zed be slightly brighter than the way they were used in Draughtsman.

Tribe

[miless]

Zed, on the other hand, looks much sharper with more vivid colors...and perhaps it was Greenaway's intent that the colors in Zed be slightly brighter than the way they were used in Draughtsman.

well, ZOO was Greenaway's first collaboration with Sacha Vierny... so it looks more like later Greenaway films where Draughtsman's Contract looks like his pre-vierny works (The Falls, etc.)... DC was also shot in 16mm.

[Zazou dans le Metro]

Zed, on the other hand, looks much sharper with more vivid colors...and perhaps it was Greenaway's intent that the colors in Zed be slightly brighter than the way they were used in Draughtsman.

well, ZOO was Greenaway's first collaboration with Sacha Vierny... so it looks more like later Greenaway films where Draughtsman's Contract looks like his pre-vierny works (The Falls, etc.)... DC was also shot in 16mm.

To be absolutely pernickety it was Super 16mm.

[Tommaso]

Just got the new Greenaways...a tad disappointed with Druaghtsman...the colors indeed appear somewhat muted and the image just doesn't appear to be crisp.

This was also my initial feeling when I first watched the BFI disc of the film, simply because I was used to see it with much stronger colours on previous VHS versions. However, the transfer is expressedly approved of by Greenaway, so I guess that's how it's supposed to look. And after all, much of the time the weather is cloudy in the film, which would also explain the somewhat muted colours, supposing Greenaway at that time couldn't put too much extra effort in additional lighting/post-production etc.

[Cronenfly]

Just got the new Greenaways...a tad disappointed with Druaghtsman...the colors indeed appear somewhat muted and the image just doesn't appear to be crisp.

This was also my initial feeling when I first watched the BFI disc of the film, simply because I was used to see it with much stronger colours on previous VHS versions. However, the transfer is expressedly approved of by Greenaway, so I guess that's how it's supposed to look. And after all, much of the time the weather is cloudy in the film, which would also explain the somewhat muted colours, supposing Greenaway at that time couldn't put too much extra effort in additional lighting/post-production etc.

Zeitgeist's recent touring prints of Draughtsman (or at least the one I saw) also had the desaturated look to them. When you look at the Beaver caps (I'm still waiting on my Zeitgeist disc, so I can't say firsthand), the Zeitgeist looks like it has drained the colors even more than the BFI; look at the flowers in the first cap to see what I mean. In some cases the desaturating helps (the skin tones appear more correct/less reddish, most noticeably), but, at least going by the caps, I'm not so sure about the Zeitgeist transfer being the superior one anymore. It's just nitpicking though, as both transfers look good and (seemingly) aren't too drastically different from one another.

[Tribe]

Zeitgeist's recent touring prints of Draughtsman (or at least the one I saw) also had the desaturated look to them. When you look at the Beaver caps (I'm still waiting on my Zeitgeist disc, so I can't say firsthand), the Zeitgeist looks like it has drained the colors even more than the BFI; look at the flowers in the first cap to see what I mean.

That first scene was filmed in candlelight, wasn't it? Could that explain the washed out look there?

Tribe

[Cronenfly]

Zeitgeist's recent touring prints of Draughtsman (or at least the one I saw) also had the desaturated look to them. When you look at the Beaver caps (I'm still waiting on my Zeitgeist disc, so I can't say firsthand), the Zeitgeist looks like it has drained the colors even more than the BFI; look at the flowers in the first cap to see what I mean.

That first scene was filmed in candlelight, wasn't it? Could that explain the washed out look there?

The Zeitgeist looks washed out compared to the BFI; the flowers in the aforementioned first cap are a good deal more colorful in the BFI than the Zeitgeist. The filming conditions could account for the washed out look, but given that the (seemingly) more vibrant (though not by a whole lot) BFI release is Greenaway approved, then I suppose that's the benchmark.

[Buttery Jeb]

Not to take away from the Greenaway films, but has anyone heard anything regarding the upcoming Derek Jarmen set supposedly in the works?

-BJ

[Matt]

has anyone heard anything regarding the upcoming Derek Jarmen set supposedly in the works?

I don't see anything for a set, but Blue, Caravaggio, and Wittgenstein are up on their "Coming Soon" page.

[MichaelB]

has anyone heard anything regarding the upcoming Derek Jarmen set supposedly in the works?

I don't see anything for a set, but Blue, Caravaggio, and Wittgenstein are up on their "Coming Soon" page.

All three are already available in excellent R2 editions from Artificial Eye (Blue, double-billed with Glitterbug) and the BFI (the others).

The Times ran a big piece on Jarman today - it's available here.

[Buttery Jeb]

Never mind Matt. I just found this on their site:

BLUE will be released on DVD for the first time in the U.S. on May 26, 2008. It will be part of a Derek Jarman box set which will include THE ANGELIC CONVERSATION (1985), CARAVAGGIO (1986), WITTGENSTEIN (1992) and GLITTERBUG (1994). More details to come.

-BJ

[Tommaso]

I've been wondering all the time why noone seems to want to release Jarman's "War Requiem" outside of Japan. Any rights issues with the Pears/Britten recording perhaps?

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

YES! May is just the right time for that Jarman box. I've only seen Blue so this will be a treat. I don't know how I'll like Angelic Conversation, though. I hope the supplements are good.

[MichaelB]

I hope the supplements are good.

Here are reviews of the R2 discs - Blue, Caravaggio, The Angelic Conversation, Wittgenstein - for you to see what Zeitgeist might have licensed.

Whether or not they did remains to be seen (though they do have a track record of licensing BFI extras as well as main features).

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Yeah, I thought they'd port the BFI. I really hope they get those Caravaggio extras, though. The commentary sounds terribly exciting, but interviews with Hobbs and Swinton are real gems as far I'm concerned. I'm glad you posted those links because I may go BFI if Zeitgeist can't sweeten the deal in R1.

[Tribe]

Wow...that Jarman box set looks very, very impressive. I think it's safe to say that Zeitgeist will port all those extras from BFI, won't they? Jarman's films can be annoying at times, but they are never boring. I'm looking forward to this.

Tribe

[Cosmic Bus]

Coming 6/24 now.

Glitterbox: Derek Jarman X 4



Caravaggio special features:
• Restored anamorphic transfer, created from Hi-Def elements
• Video interviews with actress Tilda Swinton, actor Nigel Terry and production designer Christopher Hobbs
• Audio commentary by cinematographer Gabriel Beristain
• Rare audio and video interviews with Derek Jarman
• Storyboard, notebook, production photo and design sketch galleries)

Wittgenstein special features:
• Restored anamorphic transfer, created from Hi-Def elements
• Video interviews with actress Tilda Swinton (Chronicles of Narnia), actor Karl Johnson and producer Tariq Ali
• Extensive behind-the-scenes footage
• Video introduction by film historian Ian Christie
• The Clearing (Alex Bistikas, 1994), a short film featuring Derek Jarman)

The Angelic Conversation special features:
• Restored transfer
• Video interviews with producer James Mackay and production designer Christopher Hobbs
• Derek Jarman in conversation with Simon Field (1989)

Blue special features:
• Glitterbug (1994), 54-minute film collage posthumously assembled by the filmmaker's friends and featuring original music by Brian Eno

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Glitterbox? Sheesh. Otherwise - SUPERB! Blue on DVD at last. A good set with great extras, too! Where can I pre-order this?