Lyle_JP
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2000
- Messages
- 1,009
An open letter to The Criterion Collection
To Whom it May Concern,
First of all I'd like to compliment the Criterion Collection on the fantastic work you've done in the home video industry over the years. Your company invented the Special Edition, and I have collected many Criterion laserdiscs and DVDs over the past 11 years. Your work has, for the most part, been exemplary.
This is why I hope you will use the perfectionism your company is famous for to fix a major flaw in your recent DVD release of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". While this disc is chock full of fantastic supplements and perhaps the coolest package design ever, the new 5.1 mixes (both the Dolby and DTS) have a major audio flaw. It would seem that the foley track (or one of the other sound effects tracks) is completely missing from the center channel. Sound effects which should eminate from the center channel in many scenes have disappeared entirely from the mix, and it's quite jarring when watching the film.
I'll list the three worst examples here. To hear what should be there, just listen to the 2.0 track, which has all sound effects intact.
* 1:07:34 Depp bangs violently on the phone booth door while talking to Dr. Gonzo, yet the only thing you can hear in the 5.1 mix is the dialog, the banging is silent.
* 1:42:00 A man is being beaten by three cops in front of a coffee shop. Although you can hear the whoops and grunts of those involved on the 5.1 tracks, you cannot hear the sound of any of the batons hitting the man (although you can see it) or other sounds of the scuffle. Again, on the 2.0 mix, all the sound effects are present.
* 1:51:02 The camera pans over Depp's head as he is typing and narrating, but you cannot hear the clicking of the typewriter in the 5.1 mix. Interestingly enough, just before 1:51:00, you can hear the typewriter clicking in the right channel while he is off-screan, but as soon as he comes into view the sound disappears.[/list]
Mind you, these are the three best examples of the problem. The problem is actually widespread through the whole disc and it's truly difficult to find a scene that doesn't have some sound effects missing from the center channel in comparison to the 2.0 track.
I hope that The Criterion Collection can address this problem soon, and make the DVD of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" truly the best it can be.
Sincerely,
Lyle Petersen
To Whom it May Concern,
First of all I'd like to compliment the Criterion Collection on the fantastic work you've done in the home video industry over the years. Your company invented the Special Edition, and I have collected many Criterion laserdiscs and DVDs over the past 11 years. Your work has, for the most part, been exemplary.
This is why I hope you will use the perfectionism your company is famous for to fix a major flaw in your recent DVD release of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". While this disc is chock full of fantastic supplements and perhaps the coolest package design ever, the new 5.1 mixes (both the Dolby and DTS) have a major audio flaw. It would seem that the foley track (or one of the other sound effects tracks) is completely missing from the center channel. Sound effects which should eminate from the center channel in many scenes have disappeared entirely from the mix, and it's quite jarring when watching the film.
I'll list the three worst examples here. To hear what should be there, just listen to the 2.0 track, which has all sound effects intact.
* 1:07:34 Depp bangs violently on the phone booth door while talking to Dr. Gonzo, yet the only thing you can hear in the 5.1 mix is the dialog, the banging is silent.
* 1:42:00 A man is being beaten by three cops in front of a coffee shop. Although you can hear the whoops and grunts of those involved on the 5.1 tracks, you cannot hear the sound of any of the batons hitting the man (although you can see it) or other sounds of the scuffle. Again, on the 2.0 mix, all the sound effects are present.
* 1:51:02 The camera pans over Depp's head as he is typing and narrating, but you cannot hear the clicking of the typewriter in the 5.1 mix. Interestingly enough, just before 1:51:00, you can hear the typewriter clicking in the right channel while he is off-screan, but as soon as he comes into view the sound disappears.[/list]
Mind you, these are the three best examples of the problem. The problem is actually widespread through the whole disc and it's truly difficult to find a scene that doesn't have some sound effects missing from the center channel in comparison to the 2.0 track.
I hope that The Criterion Collection can address this problem soon, and make the DVD of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" truly the best it can be.
Sincerely,
Lyle Petersen
