A Few Words About A few words about...™ My Fair Lady (Take Two) -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

I'm watching it and enjoying but finding it not as stunning as Spartacus. It's lovely but not what I expected- the baskets in Wouldn't It Be Love'rly look washed out. And the audio isn't as good as Spartacus either IMHO which is older by 4 years. I'm a little perplexed. And no 50th commentary?
But it's still better than the previous but perhaps the year of waiting and the hype has made my expectations too high.
Spartacus on the other hand was mind-blowing compared to previous releases.

I'll try answering this, but don't want a conversation.

MFL and Spart are totally different films, photographed on very different stocks, in different gauges, with different processing, different cameras and totally different sets of optics.

The MFL stock yields a superior image, with better mid-tones, richer blacks and better shadow detail.

Because of the way that the elements were handled, and the needs of each restoration, Spartacus may appear sharper, or more highly resolved, but it is not. It merely has accentuated contrast, which is the source of perceived, not actual, sharpness.

This look is further accentuated by daylight cinematography vs studio lighting and filtration.

MFL has more detail.

As to color and densities, they are as they should be, and will reproduce best via projection, plasma or OLED. Less so via LCD.

Thr Loverly sequence is full night, plays dark, and if anything appears dull or washed out, the problem will probably be found in an elevated brightness setting.

As to audio, year of production is irrelevant. Spart is oriented toward louder sounds, metal clanging, and far more low frequency instrumentation in the score. Far more brass.

MFL has more high frequency information, and is an overall much cleaner representation of the original tracks, which are actually what are being heard at 96k.

The Spart tracks are a couple of generations down.

What is your playback mechanism, and when was it last calibrated for audio reproduction and imagery?

How many watts are you running per channel, and how large are your speakers?

 

[Will Krupp]

The correct shot according to the message I just got from RAH. Spoiler tagged for your protection.

Spoiler

It starts at 53 minutes, 53 seconds and is a shot of Higgins with Eliza's Dad.
The dad splatters spit on Higgins while talking and Higgins wipes off his face
with a handkerchief.

Well Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn Damn!!


I guessed wrong


Thanks for the answer, Wayne!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

This might be a dumb question so apologies if I've just missed the answer - that one shot in MFL that RAH wasn't completely pleased with, I'm just curious what damage or problem resulted in it being not completely fixable.

I'm just curious and don't mean to criticize or diminish in any way the incredible restoration work performed. I've truly enjoyed reading every bit of the behind the scenes stories and technical explanations on this restoration. It's riveting, page turning stuff to me.

 

[Charles Smith]

I just read the spoiler, above, and can say this:


As I've watched that moment twice (actually, more than that) this past week, I've been so taken by the, um, perfection of what transpires there among the actors, that I might not have noticed if you'd actually played the damned thing in black and white. That, and a similar moment, are beyond priceless.


(I'll study the shot tomorrow!)

 

[Noel Aguirre]

I'll try answering this, but don't want a conversation.

MFL and Spart are totally different films, photographed on very different stocks, in different gauges, with different processing, different cameras and totally different sets of optics.

The MFL stock yields a superior image, with better mid-tones, richer blacks and better shadow detail.

Because of the way that the elements were handled, and the needs of each restoration, Spartacus may appear sharper, or more highly resolved, but it is not. It merely has accentuated contrast, which is the source of perceived, not actual, sharpness.

This look is further accentuated by daylight cinematography vs studio lighting and filtration.

MFL has more detail.

As to color and densities, they are as they should be, and will reproduce best via projection, plasma or OLED. Less so via LCD.

Thr Loverly sequence is full night, plays dark, and if anything appears dull or washed out, the problem will probably be found in an elevated brightness setting.

As to audio, year of production is irrelevant. Spart is oriented toward louder sounds, metal clanging, and far more low frequency instrumentation in the score. Far more brass.

MFL has more high frequency information, and is an overall much cleaner representation of the original tracks, which are actually what are being heard at 96k.

The Spart tracks are a couple of generations down.

What is your playback mechanism, and when was it last calibrated for audio reproduction and imagery?

How many watts are you running per channel, and how large are your speakers?

The cut where Eliza takes off in the cart at the end of the number appears correct to mine eyes but prior shots do not- especially where she stands with the baskets. There is an obvious change in the look of the film. My calibration is correct as the entire film looks fine other than this.
As to the sound why would Spartacus have a fuller sound than a musical. Was it recorded better- especially the underscoring? And is the sound better placed?

 

[Robert Harris]

This might be a dumb question so apologies if I've just missed the answer - that one shot in MFL that RAH wasn't completely pleased with, I'm just curious what damage or problem resulted in it being not completely fixable.
I'm just curious and don't mean to criticize or diminish in any way the incredible restoration work performed. I've truly enjoyed reading every bit of the behind the scenes stories and technical explanations on this restoration. It's riveting, page turning stuff to me.

My guess, is the way the b/w masters were processed on that particular day. The image is a touch too hard, and lowering the black level was not helpful. It can be seen most readily in the gentleman's suit.

 

[Robert Harris]

The cut where Eliza takes off in the cart at the end of the number appears correct to mine eyes but prior shots do not- especially where she stands with the baskets. There is an obvious change in the look of the film. My calibration is correct as the entire film looks fine other than this.
As to the sound why would Spartacus have a fuller sound than a musical. Was it recorded better- especially the underscoring? And is the sound better placed?

Different. Spart bigger and louder than either Rex or Marni.

 

[Charles Smith]

These are completely different sounds and styles and orchestrations and purpose/intent of music.

 

[dvdclon]

Forgive me if this has been asked already, but of these two recent releases of My Fair Lady and Spartacus, which restoration was done first? Or were they done contemporaneously?

 

[haineshisway]

Mr. Harris was absolutely correct in not wanting to have a conversation. People have whatever expectations they have and if those expectations are not met they're not met and there's no changing that scenario - Mr. Harris said what he needed to say and that should be the end of that. And yet...

 

[Mike Frezon]

And yet...this is a discussion forum. Give-and-take is expected.


If RAH doesn't want to reply, he knows he doesn't have to. Yet he chooses to.

 

[Robert Crawford]

And yet...this is a discussion forum. Give-and-take is expected.


If RAH doesn't want to reply, he knows he doesn't have to. Yet he chooses to.

Correct just because somebody isn't as happy as most around here, it doesn't mean we can't have some discussion about their issues. Also, as you stated it's RAH's choice to continue the conversation if he wants to or not.

 

[Stephen PI]

Just finished watching the film today - a magnificent job - thank you.

 

[Mark-P]

This reminds me of a panel at Comicon the year that the Ben-Hur Blu-ray came out. George Feltenstein was talking about the restoration and said that he defied anyone to find fault with it. Then a representative from another studio (it may have been 20th Century Fox?) said it doesn't matter how perfect the disc is, people on the Internet are going to find fault with it!

 

[Robert Crawford]

This reminds me of a panel at Comicon the year that the Ben-Hur Blu-ray came out. George Feltenstein was talking about the restoration and said that he defied anyone to find fault with it. Then a representative from another studio (it may have been 20th Century Fox?) said it doesn't matter how perfect the disc is, people on the Internet are going to find fault with it!

Yup! It's just the way it is.

 

[Robert Harris]

Forgive me if this has been asked already, but of these two recent releases of My Fair Lady and Spartacus, which restoration was done first? Or were they done contemporaneously?

MFL from late 2013 through Summer of 2014. S late 2014 through Summer of 2015.

 

[benbess]

Looking forward to seeing MFL in the theater this Sunday!

 

[Allansfirebird]

Just got my shipping notice early this morning, so I should have this before me this weekend, along with the bluray of Oklahoma.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Add me the chorus of thrilled recipients of the new 50th Anniversary bluray. Decades ago, when I started collecting laserdiscs, I never dreamed that I would have my own personal copy of any film looking and sounding this amazingly good, much less one with as much need of restoration as this one.

 

[Charles Smith]

I was out yesterday evening while my precious was being delivered, so I checked out the discs upon arriving home. A "normal" person might wonder if I'd had enough My Fair Lady over the past week. And that would be a waste of their thought process.

How fascinating to see and hear this restoration in a variety of setups and showings over the course of several days, all of them good but different in various ways. My own panel and speakers were given a wonderful treat, and the speakers especially were given quite the workout. This audio is nothing short of miraculous.

Huge thanks to RAH for some of the most stupendous work ever, and many many thanks to everyone at CBS for having the faith in the project, and the pride, to produce this extraordinary package.