Digital Bits interviews Buena Vista's Senior VP of Worldwide DVD Production (1 Viewer)

[Nick Graham]

I think we are officially losing now.............
I'll let you guys do the reading and editorialize....I'm just gonna sigh.....next week they will be interviewing a Buena Vista marketing guy. Looks like from what this guy says (though no specific titles are mentioned) that Ernest Goes To Pan and Scan. Oh, and can somebody fix my typo on "Senor"?

 

[DustinDavis]

It's interesting that the inverviewee mentions in more than one place "viewers didn't understand" or "consumers were confused".

There is an easy way to fix this if studios would simply lift a finger--educate them.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Oh, and can somebody fix my typo on "Senor"?

Done!

 

[GlennH]

I said it before and I'll say it again. If Disney or any other studio just stuck to their guns and explain why the black bars are there the problem would go away soon enough. And they would not lose sales. People would either want DVD with OAR or not, and my guess is they would accept OAR before abandoning DVD.

 

[Douglas R]

Words almost fail me... I found the comments by Chris Carey utterly pathetic. So Disney are worried that putting full frame on one side of a disc and widescreen on the other means that they can't give us any disc art, or that little Johnnie won't know which side is which!! This is Senior Vice President of Technical Operations yet, in replying to a question asking for assurance that they will continue to issue widescreen versions of major titles, confirms that that is the case and gives examples of Beauty and the Beast, coming later this year and Snow White which came out last year!! Sorry Chris, but for your information, Snow White was not made in widescreen and of course was issued correctly in full frame only.

We are told that almost everyone wants full frame with no evidence to say where and how these comments are being received. I am afraid that this interview inspires no confidence whatsoever in Disney's management or understanding of the widescreen market and makes one fear the worst.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

It is still insulting to hear they're considering "full-frame"-only on "Kids" titles- for one thing, it assumes ALL children don't appreciate seeing films presented properly, and another, who's to say which movies are for "kids" only? I was mad that the Elmo movie was put out only in pan and scan because I would have wanted to see it! Based on the titles Mala Vista has already chosen for pan and scan, they're already making the wrong assumptions about the movie's target audiences- why put out "Muppet Treasure Island" in pan and scan when the laserdisc was widescreen?

The only way they're going to please everyone is give them a CHOICE- if that means giving up disc art for a 2-sided disc, TOO BAD! DVD is a 2-SIDED medium, USE it! They should follow what MGM has been doing with their newest releases.

 

[Jodee]

I'd like to ask them why they don't try using "pan & scanon the fly". That way people could select "4:3" on their set and never have to look at black bars.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

One more thing- where are the people who were in charge of the LASERDISC releases NOW?? Since DVD has replaced laserdisc, that means all the laserdisc customers like myself are now buying DVD. Do we not matter anymore??

 

[Jesse Skeen]

And yet another thing- what about "Families" that have 16x9 TVs? What the heck are they supposed to do with pan-and-scan DVDs, watch them with black bars on the sides or zoom it in so the movie is cropped on all FOUR sides???

 

[Jeff Kleist]

What he means is that they got a lot of returns from people buying the wrong version, whatever that may be for them. That cost Disney money

I agree it's not their fault that people are stupid, but the one question that WASN'T answered is why they can't just do a center zoom. Certainly people who just want their screens filled can survive with losing a little more picture.

 

[Ryan Spaight]

It's interesting that the inverviewee mentions in more than one place "viewers didn't understand" or "consumers were confused".

There is an easy way to fix this if studios would simply lift a finger--educate them.

While I certainly agree that is the ideal solution, if there's one thing I've learned whenever I deal with the general public, it's that they don't want to be educated. And you *never* tell customers that they don't understand what they want.

It's not that they're willfully stupid, it's just that they know what they think is right and they get very belligerent when they're told that they're wrong. The first rule of customer service is that "the customer is always right" (gag!), so they'll get what they want whether it's "correct" or not. Yes, it's stupid, but you don't argue with the guy who wants to give you money.

The truth is that many people are "confused" and "don't understand" and aren't interested in being "educated." Maybe it's "elitist" to say that, but so be it, that's the way it is. Wishing for some people to suddenly get reasonable, logical and enlightened is like wishing for the sun to turn blue.

Ryan

 

[DustinDavis]

Ryan makes a very good point, but I do not expect the result of the education would be agreement or advocacy of OAR, only understanding. I think simply overcoming the ignorance would be a huge step.

 

[SteveK]

A few years ago, I wouldn't have worried about a few P&S only titles being released. Widescreen titles were clearly the rule rather than the exception, and the few P&S titles released mostly gathered dust on the store shelves. But now more and more newcomers to DVD are DEMANDING P&S titles, and I'm more and more afraid that P&S only will become the rule, not the exception. So far it seems to be primarily for "family" titles, but how long will it be before some studio decides that the widescreen crowd can be safely ignored?

We can certainly blame a good part of this problem on the studios. They have failed to even attempt to educate the consumer as to why widescreen exists. And they continue to bow to pressures to release P&S rather than saying "Buy VHS if you want P&S, DVD will be widescreen only."

This trend has to stop...NOW.

SteveK.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Again, another lost chance to get Disney to fix those censored DVD's.

 

[Lyle_JP]

And yet another thing- what about "Families" that have 16x9 TVs? What the heck are they supposed to do with pan-and-scan DVDs, watch them with black bars on the sides or zoom it in so the movie is cropped on all FOUR sides???

I was just about to make this very salient point when I realized to my delight that another HTF Member beat me to the punch! Thanks, Jesse (a.k.a. Mr. Smithee).

-Lyle J.P.

 

[LukeB]

So...disc artwork is an issue. And the spiel about not doing DVD-9 or DVD-10 to include both versions is a lot of B.S. Because these DVDs Disney is putting out of catalogue titles are just pushing the limits of DVD capacity with all the extras?!
Put both versions on a DVD-9, there's artwork and movies look just fine on one layer. And I like the way the "small percentage" is neither small nor only affecting family titles!

 

[Luis Cruz]

This sucks! That's the best way to sum that up. I say if it comes down to it, take out the extras and put both the OAR and the disgusting Pan and Scan on the disc. I would much rather have OAR than extras as I only watch the extras 1 or 2 times and the movie far more than that. If it is a big release then release the extras on another disc making it a 2-disc release.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

ATTENTION PLEASE

Disney called me two days ago.
Guess they were working the circuit
in order to gain some support from websites.
Essentially, they wanted me to do an
interview with the same guy Bill Hunt
(The Digital Bits) is interviewing.
I steered away from it.
I explained very politely that such an
interview that would be ultimately Disney
defending their PAN & SCAN policy would only
make matters worse.
I told Disney that this forum's membership
will never accept PAN & SCAN from any studio
and that there is no way they can be convinced
otherwise.
By the time our call was done, the Disney
representative knew that an interview was
not in our best interests.
Though I made it clear that I personally
felt Disney had made many major strides in
the past two years, that their PAN & SCAN
decision was a bad one.
I wish Bill Hunt would cancel the interview.
It seems like this is only a promotional
tool for Disney. There is absolutely no logic
in releasing pan & scan only titles during an
era where we are turning to 16x9 television.
Let me also bring this up here....
HTF is making a lot of noise.
I did 2 magazine interviews over the past
few weeks about studios releasing Pan & Scan
titles. I am very angry over this.
Next week, we take this anger one step
further with an article that will be posted
on our forum directly aimed towards those
studios that have ruined this format by
catering to false threats and demands by
retailers.
This is ludicrious that studios are saturating
the market with P&S titles. Columbia, Warner,
Fox and now Disney should be ashamed of themselves
for starting a trend that has resulted in the
public NEVER accepting widescreen.
They have taken the digital age of television
and DVD and brought us back 20 years to the
mindset of analog VHS.
Watch for the article next week, and PLEASE,
help us fight one of the biggest threats we
face in this format.

 

[Wil_J]

This trend has to stop...NOW.

Agreed. I used to be ignorant about OAR. But now I won't buy anything else. If this really does become a trend, I'll go crazy finding a medium that presents a widescreen presentation.........Wil

 

[Jesse Skeen]

WAY TO GO RON!!!
OK, gotta add something again- Mala Vista is being stupid if they're expecting to just come in, explain things, and then leave- what they need to do is directly ANSWER QUESTIONS such as the ones I've posted previously in this thread!!