A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - Extended Edition -- in Blu-ray (5 Viewers)

[Jay G.]

Interesting to look back and see what I was right and wrong about about UHD Blu-ray.

I found this blog post from Costa Botes that states his footage was SD, but doesn't specify the format:
https://costabotes.com/making-of-lord-of-the-rings/

It appears that despite the golden packaging, none of the supplementary material is presented in Blu-Ray format. No point really, as it was all shot Standard Definition. It was also partly shot in the silly ‘fool frame’ 4×3 format at the studio’s request. I can admit now that I got to a point where I could not stand it any longer, and began shooting 16×9. Just as well, because (a) it looks a lot better, and (b) eventually New Line changed their minds and asked for 16×9 anyway.

Michael Pellerin did the bulk of the LOTR appendices work, although they used footage Costa Botes shot. I found some long interview is video/podcast format, but I haven't listened to it all:

http://geekleagueofamerica.com/2015/12/09/21324/

 

[Brent Reid]

It's pretty obvious just from watching the documentaries but that's what years of watching British TV will do to you. Also the company that produced and assembled them is based out of LA.

Brian already took the words out of my mouth, so instead I'll say while I don't doubt your eye, I've been watching British telly all my life, and PAL videos and DVDs for as long as they've been around. Still, I'm buggered if I could tell the difference as easily as that. Also, the extras in question were produced over a 15-year period, so the methodology, while similar, perhaps varied slightly from project to project.

Thanks for posting, Jay. I've searched for the answer on and off over the past few years and came across that video a few months ago. Skimmed quite a chunk of it, hoping they might get on the subject, but no such luck.

I was really hoping somone might have some specific info to share. LotR and PJ fans/obsessives are hardly thin on the ground, yet this important question (to those who really care about A/V quality, like us!) doesn't seem to have been answered anywhere.

 

[Jay G.]

So I listened to this hour-long podcast interview with Michael Pellerin :
http://geekleagueofamerica.com/2015/12/09/leaguecast-bonchael-pellerin/

At about the 54:45 mark they briefly talk about how the LOTR footage was shot, but unfortunately they don't go into any more detail than that it's SD.


Going into a tangent about PJ's other films, for King Kong, the original production diary downloads I have are 15p, which lead me to suspect the footage was originally 30p or 60i, and the framerate cut in half to reduce file size. You can still download the post-production diaries here:
http://www.kongisking.net/kong2005/proddiary/

One of the King Kong production diaries "Day 129 - Andy's Revenge on the DVD Team" has a lot of shots of the cameras and crew on the behind-the-scenes team, although I can't really tell anything about the cameras other than the HDV and DVCAM logos:
https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/19186/king-kong-peter-jacksons-production-diaries/


For The Hobbit Production diaries, the download I have is 23.976p, so they were likely shot at that, in HD. In the podcast interview Michael Pellerin mentions that they even shot some 3D behind-the-scenes footage, which got nixed from the final edit due to the fall in 3D content sales.


I think it makes sense that Michael Pellerin would've, at the time, shot in NTSC, while Costa Botes likely shot in PAL, but I can't find any actual statements by anyone

 

[Lord Dalek]

Probably the best way to figure this out would be to look at a R2 copy of the Extended Editions. The extra discs are the exact same in all releases so the possibility of a "double conversion" is rather high.

 

[Dave H]

I would love to see these on UHD BD. It seems studios often look for a theatrical release tie-in to release catalog titles; is there anything coming out in the next year that LOTR would tie-in to or being released with Peter Jackson's name?

 

[Jay G.]

I would love to see these on UHD BD. It seems studios often look for a theatrical release tie-in to release catalog titles; is there anything coming out in the next year that LOTR would tie-in to or being released with Peter Jackson's name?

Peter Jackson co-wrote and produced the upcoming film Mortal Engines, due out December 14, 2018 .

 

[Dave H]

Peter Jackson co-wrote and produced the upcoming film Mortal Engines, due out December 14, 2018 .

Excellent! That date seems almost like the perfect opportunity for Warner to release the trilogy on UHD BD.

 

[Brent Reid]

Cheers for the sleuthing Jay; that's the sort of thing I've done every now and then but with no clear resolution in sight. Michael Pellerin would obviously be the best person to ask, but unless you can find a contact for him I guess we've hit a dead end.

Probably the best way to figure this out would be to look at a R2 copy of the Extended Editions. The extra discs are the exact same in all releases so the possibility of a "double conversion" is rather high.

I must admit Joel, I've read and re-read your post but don't quite follow. What's to be ascertained by looking at R2 Extended Edition DVDs?

 

[Lord Dalek]

I must admit Joel, I've read and re-read your post but don't quite follow. What's to be ascertained by looking at R2 Extended Edition DVDs?

PAL and NTSC run at a different scanning rate and a different resolution. There should be some easily discernible visual differences between the R1 and R2 dvds like with film clips and such (PAL famously does not work with 24 FPS at all for instance).