3D Gog (1953) (1 Viewer)

[Mike Ballew]

All the more reason to thank Fox for allowing Inferno to be released region free.

All the more reason to thank Fox for making Inferno themselves, not buying it from an independent producer, and for consequently holding all worldwide rights to it, such that they are legally well within their rights to release it in any region they wish. Thank you, Fox! Thank you!

One of you good folks in Europe should do some probing detective work and find out once and for all who holds the rights to Gog over there. Then maybe suitable arrangements could be made for a Region "B" release. Where is the Bob Furmanek of Europe, I ask you? Oh, for several more like him!

 

[Matt Hough]

Where is the Bob Furmanek of Europe, I ask you? Oh, for several more like him!

Amen to that!

 

[Johnny Angell]

All the more reason to thank Fox for allowing Inferno to be released region free.

when was this? I thought the release of Inferno was region locked.

 

[Mike Ballew]

when was this? I thought the release of Inferno was region locked.

I could not tell you exactly when, but Panamint soon followed up their Region "B" release with an All-Region release that also has improved sound. Check their website to learn more.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

The initial release was region-locked. A few months later, Panamint was given the go-ahead to release a region free version.

 

[StephenDH]

Stephen, there seems to be a question as to who holds the rights to Gog in Europe. Those who hold the rights in North America appear legally bound from releasing a non-region "A" edition of the film.

In all sincerity, I am profoundly sympathetic to your situation. I hope that someday very soon circumstances permit you to see Gog in 3-D, as I feel very sure you will enjoy it.

It's definitely a minefield. The music rights kept shows like "China Beach" and "Wiseguy" in limbo. Although both finally appeared on DVD, some of "Wiseguy"'s music still had to be replaced.
The ownership of "Moontrap" was so complex, it seemed that a legal DVD release was impossible but eventually it was cleared up.
Never say never.

 

[RJ992]

Stephen, there seems to be a question as to who holds the rights to Gog in Europe. Those who hold the rights in North America appear legally bound from releasing a non-region "A" edition of the film.

In all sincerity, I am profoundly sympathetic to your situation. I hope that someday very soon circumstances permit you to see Gog in 3-D, as I feel very sure you will enjoy it.

Don't feel too bad...some of us in the U.S. might end up facing the same dilemma when the region-locked IT CAME FROM
OUTER SPACE comes out.

 

[Mike Ballew]

Bob, Greg, and everyone else,

Here's a curious observation and a question for all of you.

For years, I've been reading that the interaxial for Natural Vision was 3 1/2 inches. But every time I've seen that figure, it's been in secondhand sources-- Lenny Lipton, Ray Zone, and others. I personally have not obtained or seen primary source documentation on the technical specs for Natural Vision, but I've had very little reason to doubt the reports I've heard from these knowledgeable authorities.

Recently, I ran across a vintage photograph of one of the Natural Vision units without its outer "blimp" housing. Someone has helpfully left a tape measure extended across the front of the device. Just for giggles, I superimposed a section of this ruler over the mirror pair and (will ya look at that) it looks to me like the separation is more like three inches.

Would any of you happen to know for sure, from the Gunzburgs for from Lothrop Worth or anyone else, what the exact I/A was for Natural Vision? Is this photograph (and my visual tinkering) to be trusted?

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Great shot, Mike. I've not seen that one before.

I have a few articles. I'll dig them out and see if the IA is listed.

 

[aPhil]

David Ballew:
The tape measure in the lower left foreground is closer to us than the circled interoccular (or interaxial?) portion of the photo.

Unless the tape measure (slightly in foreground) was originally photographed on the same plane (or focus point?) as the interoccular (slightly in the background), then copying/cloning of the tape measure and putting it up to the interoccular will not give a completely accurate measurement of that area.

 

[Mike Ballew]

David Ballew:
The tape measure in the lower left foreground is closer to us than the circled interoccular (or interaxial?) portion of the photo.

Unless the tape measure (slightly in foreground) was originally photographed on the same plane (or focus point?) as the interoccular (slightly in the background), then copying/cloning of the tape measure and putting it up to the interoccular will not give a completely accurate measurement of that area.

How helpful of you to point this out, Phil! I had no idea! LOL, in the friendliest way! ;-)

Of course, my apprehension is that shifting the tape measure backward less than a foot from its apparent position to a position directly in front of the mirrors will surely not result in a half-inch disparity.

This newly found image made me question the received wisdom concerning the I/A of Natural Vision, which is why I am now hoping to hear direct confirmation from original documents, if possible.

 

[aPhil]

I recall discussion of some figure for the interoccular distance when I worked on the Earl Owensby 3D things in the early to mid 1980s, and I remember something about a few of us taking a ruler and measuring the central distance from our own eyes. I would have to gather with DP Irl Dixon and Rodger Painter (who assisted on some of the 3D shows) to recall all that information. Of the 6 Owensby 3D films, "Tales of the Third Dimension" was the one I liked best. I operated most of the show and Irl Dixon (the Director of Photography) and I got to play a bit more with the depth and out-of-screen than before. By that time we had pretty much tossed Lenny Lipton's charts (as we found them way to conservative and we felt they limited the effect), and I wish that someone would get access to that film and restore it.

 

[Mike Ballew]

I wish that someone would get access to that film and restore it.

Hear, hear, Phil! You may recall that I am from South Carolina, and even in our state Earl Owensby was spoken of like a figure of legend. I only ever got to see Rottweiler once in 3-D, many years after its initial release, and I'm afraid the projection was sadly bungled. As a 3-D fanatic and a casual fan of those Owensby films I have seen, I would really, really love to see his 3-D movies make it to Blu-Ray, starting with Tales of the Third Dimension.

It's funny you mention about Lipton's charts being conservative. He was in attendance at the Rottweiler screening (back in 2010, I believe), and he remarked that back in those days (1981) he was very, very concerned about preventing eyestrain in the audience, and therefore the parallax values in the film are (mostly) very tight.

It seems to me that by the time you and your colleagues made Tales, you probably had as much or more practical experience with 3-D than just about anybody, and were certainly in a good position to step outside the narrowly established parameters initially set before you.

Where do we go to start a petition to unlock the Owensby vaults?

 

[aPhil]

Where do we go to start a petition to unlock the Owensby vaults?

I think that Worth Keeter might be able to direct you to the best possible path -- One of Earl's sons is very knowledgeable about film and video, and Worth stays in touch with him.

 

[marcuslaw]

Great shot, Mike. I've not seen that one before.

I have a few articles. I'll dig them out and see if the IA is listed.

Bob, I just wanted to let you know that we just watched the Restoration Demo and my wife and I thought you looked fantastic in 3-D!

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Why, thank you!

That was done literally at the 11th hour with no time for either script or preparation. If he made me look halfway decent, that's Greg Kintz at work!

 

[Bob Furmanek]

We are honored to announce the big screen world premiere of GOG in 3-D at the TCM Festival on April 30, 2016! http://filmfestival.tcm.com/programs/films/gog/

 

[marcuslaw]

We are honored to announce the big screen world premiere of GOG in 3-D at the TCM Festival on April 30, 2016! http://filmfestival.tcm.com/programs/films/gog/

If there's an award Gog could possibly receive, it should be the hands down winner. The restoration was even better than I anticipated. BTW. Did TCM really have to include the statement in the description for GOG that:

But the film is also very much a product of the ‘50s, filled with male chauvinism and anti-Communist paranoia.

Seriously?

 

[revgen]

For those wondering, GOG will be a midnight screening at Chinese Multiplex Theater 1.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Here's an interview about our restoration of GOG:

https://sinaphile.wordpress.com/2016/04/25/3drestorationofgogtcmff2016/