Gone With the Wind, LaserDiscs and Star Wars, all in the same thread? IT CAN BE DONE! (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Reynolds]

I had a rather productive LaserDisc-viewing weekend.

Yesterday, I watched The Making of a Legend: Gone With The Wind, and this morning I watched the 1998 Dolby Digital LD of Gone With The Wind.

Well, my mind is abuzz with questions and impressions.

First, a few questions for all those GWTW afficionados out there:

1) does anyone have a listing of what scenes/shots come from the 70mm re-release (and are therefore cropped on all sides) in the 1998 semi-restoration?

2) did previous LDs have these same shots/scenes cropped?

3) how are previous LDs of GWTW? The fake-ized DD track (and the associated PCM stereo track) on the 1998 LD sounds truly awful -- hollow, fake, and occassionally like you're hearing sound through the hose of a vacuum cleaner. Are there any half-decent previous LDs with the original mono mix?

I seem to recall a CAV set with an elaborate cover from Turner/MGM in the early 90s...any good?

Second, the Star Wars thing:

Watching the documentary The Making of a Legend, I was surprised to realize that Lucas' recent technique of only building minimal amounts of set and then completing the image with a digital creation is by no means a new idea. I mean, I knew that the original Star Wars trilogy had a number of matte paintings (notably Obi-Wan disabling the tractor beam over that massive chasm), but I hadn't realized how widespread the technique was in films like GWTW. For instance, during numerous shots of the interiors of buildings, the sets did not have ceilings, or even walls past about seven feet! I knew that the mansion exteriors were matte paintings, but the interiors...wow! It just gave me a new level of appreciation for GWTW, and showed me that once again, George Lucas is smartly applying new technology to a tried and tested technique.

I feel very weird comparing Attack of the Clones and GWTW in this way, but I suppose that George Lucas has a really strong knowledge of film history and past filmmaking techniques. It has always seemed like that to me from interviews.

 

[Chad R]

Most soundstage sets do not have ceilings, this enables lights and other equipment to be hung above. This technique was not new to GWTW.

The 50th Anniversary disc is nice on LD, it has the original mono track and was the previos restoration before '98 (although Robert Harris will tell you it's never been properly restored, I'd love for him to get his hands on it).

But, isn't the original mono still on the '98 laserdisc on the unused analog track? The DVD has it and I thought the LD did too.

 

[Patrick McCart]

http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/special/gwtw.htm

Oh yeah.... not only is the 1.33:1 image turned into 2.20:1, the color is METROCOLOR.

 

[KyleK]

Yikes.

 

[Josh Lowe]

Oh yeah.... not only is the 1.33:1 image turned into 2.20:1, the color is METROCOLOR.

Who the hell framed that shot for widescreen? They cut off the soldiers in the background right across their EYES in order to show as much of her clasped hands as possible.. nice way to make the entire audience squirmingly uncomfortable.

Someone needs to go back to film school.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Most soundstage sets do not have ceilings, this enables lights and other equipment to be hung above. This technique was not new to GWTW.

And take note that Citizen Kane went quite against this rule which is just one of many reasons it is so highly regarded.

When you watch that film you see ceilings on the sets all over the place. However, these are a cloth-like material that actually hide microphones and even lights above them. By casting the right light onto them you keep anything from showing from the other side (like 1-way mirrors/glass for example). It's no accident that Toland shot upward in many scenes as showing the ceilings was a big deal.


HOWEVER, the rest of the film is loaded with matte paintings.

Watch the scene where Kane is giving his political speech (the famous moment with the giant banner with his face on it behind him). Not only are the far away shots mostly mattes, but in the audience section of the mattes they left little holes that you could shine light through. By moving these lights behind the matte you get the illusion of movement from a painted picture.

Kane has as just about as many effects shots as Star Wars, seriously.

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

But, isn't the original mono still on the '98 laserdisc on the unused analog track? The DVD has it and I thought the LD did too.

Y'know, I hadn't listened to the mono analog track, figuring it'd just be a mixdown of the new mix (just like the THX DD Godfather I & II LDs). Maybe I'll give it a spin.
As for Citizen Kane, it was the first Criterion CAV LD set I owned, and so I've been backwards and forwards through the supplements about a bazillion times.