Mondo Vision

[David M.]

Mondo Vision gave me the answer to this.

The bottom line is that it's a typo on the sheet, there's not any music missing.

Are you sure the guitar riff isn't an excerpt of a longer track?

[Mathew2468]

Pretty sure, I've gone through it a bunch of times. It's the 'Holy Mary' theme with a guitar in place of the woman's voice.

I've looked at other releases of the soundtrack but they have less tracks than this one.

[David M.]

Mondo Vision gave me the OK to publish a little behind the scenes look at the packaging refinement process.

The sticky notes all over the boxes are directions to the printer. It might be hard to see in this small image, but those finely produced velvet boxes have arrows and other directions drawn all over them. It's enough to make any collector cross their legs!

[McCrutchy]

David, since it's looking more and more like this will on Blu-ray as well, is it possible that the LE could have a Blu-ray option? I really want this on Blu-ray, but I want the LE packaging just as badly. It would really be a shame if all 2,000 came out with DVDs only. Maybe this time they could do 1,500 DVD and 500 Blu-ray?

[Adam X]

Mondo Vision gave me the OK to publish a little behind the scenes look at the packaging refinement process.

David, have Mondo added the title Director of Anticipation to you're job description?!
That Ltd Possession case looks really nice - in colour too.

[David M.]

David, since it's looking more and more like this will on Blu-ray as well, is it possible that the LE could have a Blu-ray option? I really want this on Blu-ray, but I want the LE packaging just as badly. It would really be a shame if all 2,000 came out with DVDs only. Maybe this time they could do 1,500 DVD and 500 Blu-ray?

Sorry, same old line: I can't make any announcements for Mondo Vision, beyond what they let me show.

If *any* distributor were to release on two formats, I'd be surprised if they limited the packaging options in the way you describe. Has it ever happened that way?

[towda]

If this happens with a bluray and a limited release, I hope my wife understands why I'm going to be $40 short in a few months (:

Very exciting stuff, I hope this title sells real well and helps them to release more.

[McCrutchy]

If *any* distributor were to release on two formats, I'd be surprised if they limited the packaging options in the way you describe. Has it ever happened that way?

I was only making a suggestion based on the financial issues I assume it would cause, however, to be fair, I suppose they would have to release 2,000 on DVD (to match the other releases) and then whatever number (maybe another 2,000?) on Blu-ray.

I don't really care how many of what edition they put out, as long as I don't have to buy a non-Blu-ray version to get that packaging.

[Adam X]

There's also the dual-format option, should this come to be. I've never been sure what this means in terms of expense for the producer though.

[vsski]

I'd be surprised if they did two separate limited editions given the cost involved. My bet would be on a dual format limited 2000 edition that may be $5 or even $10 more than their previous limited editions and a separate DVD only regular edition (and maybe even a regular BD only edition, although that seems rather a costly proposition).

[R0lf]

The second in from the right on the top row looks like the regular packaging but in bluray size.

[MichaelB]

There's also the dual-format option, should this come to be. I've never been sure what this means in terms of expense for the producer though.

A dual-format edition should almost invariably be cheaper than two separate single-format editions - not only do you only have to create one set of packaging, but you also only have one edition to distribute and market.

[Adam X]

Which makes sense. Thanks Michael.

[Iode]

Hey do you guys think Mondo Vision could use something like Kickstarter to help them release the Zulawski catalog?

If I'm not mistaken the work on On the Silver Globe is pretty much done but they pushed the release back because of financial difficulties.

Or is there not enough of us around to make it work?

[Mathew2468]

I'm wondering if they've almost finished the other non-Possession DVDs and that those will be released soon after and we won't have to wait any more years between individual releases... :-k

[Iode]

Just went over to Second Sight's Facebook page to see if they had any news about their release of Possession. They have an image comparison showing their colour-correction process. They seem to indicate that the image without the blue tint is the one they are going for, yet when David posted a sample of the work he was doing on Possession (page 15), he seemed to indicate that the image with the blue tint was the correct one. I'm confused.

David, can you shed any light on this?

[EddieLarkin]

Specifically, they had this to say about it:

Our recent post about the colour-correction of POSSESSION has prompted a lot of interesting discussion here and elsewhere. Our post facility have been working with director Andrzej Zulawski on a shot-by-shot basis, so here's some more detail;

'The source for Possession was the OCN (original camera negative). When transferring the OCN to HD video, it's not as simple as just running it through a machine and then "leaving it alone". Colour correction is an essential part of the process, so that shots match up and so that the film looks the way it was supposed to. During the film's original production, variations in brightness and colour between different takes and scenes are adjusted out by making an optical copy of the OCN and applying tinting effects during that copying process. This is how colour timing was done pre-digital. One reason we don't transfer that copy for Blu-ray is because it's lacking in sharpness (since it's an optical copy).

The purest and sharpest possible "master source" is the original camera negative, the actual film that ran through the camera back in the early 80s. Because this is a stage before the original 1980s optical colour timing, we have to recreate those decisions on the digital transfer and balance the colours and brightness levels to meet the filmmakers' goals.

In the scene shown, the blue tone present in some transfers of the film (and in the "before" image which was adjusted to show those same colours) is specific to the transfer itself. It was not present in the original film.

[Adam X]

Personally, I don't think they necessarily state the case for either still as being the end result.
In the last paragraph that should give clarification, they appear to contradict themselves by calling the still with the "blue tone" the before image. First it's stated that the OCN doesn't naturally look like the final product, then they state that the blueish look is from the transfer, not the original film - if they stated that the "blue toned" image were the after image, then perhaps it might make sense, in relation to what's been stated here.

Wow, now I see their problem, that got pretty tongue-twisty.

[jsteffe]

It seems fairly straightforward - Second Sight is stating that they are scanning the OCN and doing color correction under the supervision of Żuławski rather than using an intermediate film element with optical color correction already applied.

They are also pointing out that some older video transfers had a bluish tint, but that the new transfer will fix that problem through color correction. Where it gets confusing perhaps is that their "before" is not actually an image from an older transfer, but a recreation using a screenshot from the newer scan to suggest what the older transfers tended to look like. The comparison is a little artificial perhaps, but they get their point across.

The "after" is apparently what their new transfer will look like after color correction has been applied.

[Adam X]

Any 'confusion' for me comes more from the language used in that last paragraph - "transfer" = scan from source (OCN) & "original film" = OCN, so unless I'm reading that wrong, I guess it's just a language problem on their part. It could be interesting after all to see if there's any difference between MV's and Second Sight's releases.

[EddieLarkin]

I was wondering if there is any update on Possession, or any of the other Zulawski films? Second Sight's Blu-ray is up for pre-order and streets in just over a month. Since David M. and Daniel Bird are involved with the supplements on that release, and Zulawski was involved with the transfer, I presume it will basically be the same as Mondo's version. And yet, we still don't have confirmation from Mondo that their version will even be on Blu-ray, let alone confirmation of a similarly timed release date. I don't know if I should be worried or not...

[Mathew2468]

So they won't be regionless?

[EddieLarkin]

So they won't be regionless?

Not necessarily. I'd think David M./Mondo would prefer their release to be region free, like the DVDs were. Second Sight seem to strive for region free Blu-rays when they can, so presumably they won't have a problem either. The only scenario I can think of that would lead to region coding enforcement is if Second Sight fear Mondo's Limited Edition cutting in on their UK sales (which in my case at least, it will, presuming Mondo actually put their version out within a reasonable time!)

[John Doe]

Regarding Blu-ray of the Possession...http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=222071" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Mathew2468]

I had an email exchange with Mondo Vision, and here is what I learned.

Good news:

Possession is definitely coming to Blu.

There will be 4.5 hours of extras

Bad news:

Blu-ray was initially planned for July/August release, however they have some problems with manifacturing, so now they are waiting for the manifacturer to give them a status update.

I will wait for the Mondo so as to support a smallass company aaand for that soundtrack.