277 My Own Private Idaho

[Donald Brown]

The blu-ray seems too cold, and I recall the image being warmer in the theater.

[hearthesilence]

Usually when this happens, it's because they went back to the original camera negative rather than the interpositive (i.e. a fine-grain dupe of the original camera negative). The latter may be less sharp, but it will have most, if not all, of the color-timing done on it, and assuming it hasn't faded or degraded too much, will look very much like the original theatrical release. However, if this is Criterion, you'd expect them to go the extra mile and look at other sources with that timing and time their transfer accordingly - but it's possible they decided not to do this because they had the director or DP there, and the assumption is that they'd know what's right even though this is something they did decades ago and probably don't remember exactly what they asked for back in the day. Regardless it may not be intentional revisionism.

[movielocke]

DVD Beaver on the bluray. Huge differences from the DVD in terms of color.

Why do so many older DVDs have that yellow hue to them?

Wow, that's a big difference!

As for the yellow, a variety of reasons, chief among them the film scanner probably not being set to the same color temperature as the projection bulb used in color timing. If you're timed for 6500 and you scan at 5600 or vice versa you get an across the board color shift.

[Gregory]

It surprises me that Eric Edwards approved this, and I have to wonder if it looked different than this to him on Criterion's telecine equipment, or if all failed to take into account some of the factors mentioned already. That sunset at the Piazza del Popolo looks awfully blue-gray to me, with virtually no yellow/orange except for the car.

For what it's worth, the old Criterion DVD's transfer doesn't look quite as bright orange on my equipment as those Beaver caps do, and that's based on a side-by side comparison. For example. Phoenix's skin tones in the first comparison, Reeves in the funeral scene, etc. There isn't quite that amount of bright orange/red bias, so I'm not sure why the caps look different.

[djproject]

It should also be noted that Gus supervised the transfer for the DVD (though he didn't have the telecine supervisor credit with Lee Kline) whereas it looks like it is both Gus and Edwards (and probably Edwards directly supervised) for the Blu-ray.

There was no indication about at what resolution the scan of the interpositive was done but I would assume it was a high-def one, as oppose to a 4k scan and restoration of the original for the Blu-ray.

Finally, I understand if none of these facts have a direct bearing on the look for the Blu-ray. I am just presenting facts =].

[hearthesilence]

I don't own these, but does it say interpolative for the DVD source and the original camera negative for the Blu-Ray? Because that could very well explain 99% of it. (see my previous post)

[CSM126]

Weirdly enough, back when the DVD came out I seem to remember a number of people saying the DVD was excessively golden, and that they remembered a much cooler color palette for this film.

[manicsounds]

DVD was made from a 35mm interpositive (as credited in the booklet).

Also disappointing that the 2 hour audio conversation on the DVD was cut down to less than 1 hour on the Blu-ray.

[djproject]

So the new BD 4K looks completely "neutral" this time around and I will refrain from other comment until I see it in motion. One thing the original has (and I recall the DVD has too but I have not checked) is the slightly different format and masking for the Italian sequences which looked like they were further hard matted and "letterboxed" slightly inside a 1.85 overall mask in something like 1.66. If the new BD doesn't have this I think there may be some more "stuff" going on behind the scenes which is not necessarily a good thing.

I'm glad I was not the only one who noticed that little detail =]

It's hard to tell from the only available screen capture of the Italian sequence but that additional matting might *not* be there.

[movielocke]

Also worth remembering the dvd would have been colored on a calibrated 4x3 monitor about 19 inches diagonal. Client monitors and colorist monitors are now 16x9 and the client monitor is the size of most commercial Tvs or a projector. Also, every color bay I've been in the last few years has been carefully painted with neutral tones and lighting, used to be passion on those details didn't count as much, now it's de rigeur. But I do think they may have overcompensated the original dvd because of the small monitor making it feel like they needed the image to pop more out of it.

[domino harvey]

Also disappointing that the 2 hour audio conversation on the DVD was cut down to less than 1 hour on the Blu-ray.

Hadn't heard about this-- if this is true, does anyone know why it was edited? Shouldn't a Blu-ray afford them all the space they want with regards to audio extras anyways?

[manicsounds]

Well, I'm going by the DVDCompare (and my DVD copy) that the Van Sant/Haynes conversation is 124:28, while DVDBeaver lists the Blu-ray conversation at 53:16

[hearthesilence]

Be wary of this example because trailers have been known to have different color timings too, but the trailer (in a clip presumably taken from the Criterion DVD) has the neutral, unfiltered palette too.

[FrauBlucher]

Bluray.com

[Costa]

Just saw this is being released in Germany!

Hope it has a better encoding than Criterion.
I don't care for extras.
https://www.amazon.de/My-Own-Private-Id ... B073CPP31M" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[goblinfootballs]

Saw a 35mm print that matches the Blu-Ray version in terms of color timing.

[hearthesilence]

Metrograph is playing a 35mm print on Friday, June 29 at 7pm. I won't be able to make it, but if someone goes, can they report back on the color? I'm curious as to how it'll look given that Criterion's old DVD and the new BD have very different color timings. (The most egregious is a shot in Rome, which has a very warm look on the old DVD but for some reason is completely undone on the new Blu-Ray.

[Donald Brown]

The theatrical print I saw on the film's original release was much closer to the DVD in color.

[hearthesilence]

DVD was made from a 35mm interpositive (as credited in the booklet).

And just to answer the other half of my question, the Blu-ray liner notes say:

"Approved by director Gus Van Sant and director of photography Eric Alan Edwards, this new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner from the original camera negative at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging in Burbank, California."

Roxy Cinema is screening this in 35mm early next year. I'm not sure I can make it, but I wish I could just pop in for the first few minutes just to see how yellow/warm the opening looks.

[Matt]

Janus Films just posted a picture of River Phoenix in this film on their Instagram. Theatrical re-release and 4K UHD incoming?

[colinr0380]

If it is up for a reissue at some point, I wonder how Criterion will handle the JT Leroy piece (which was the surprising highlight of that set on its first release, as an audio discussion running almost the length of the film), given that so much has happened in relation to that figure in the years since 2005.

[CSM126]

If it is up for a reissue at some point, I wonder how Criterion will handle the JT Leroy piece (which was the surprising highlight of that set on its first release, as an audio discussion running almost the length of the film), given that so much has happened in relation to that figure in the years since 2005.

LOL they’ll straight port the old Blu Ray and just add a 4K disc. This is Criterion.

[cdnchris]

I was still surprised they included it in the Blu-ray as that all came out well before it was released. So yeah, they don't seem too concerned.