Charlie: We can't do that!
Rose: How do you know? You never tried it.
Charlie: Well, yeah, but I never tried shooting myself in the head neither.
The African Queen is the last of the AFI Top 100 Films not to have been officially released on DVD. So it was, perhaps, the perfect opener to the Film Classic's panel at Blu-Con 2010. The other film clips shown were from the newly restored Blu-ray versions of Bridge on the River Kwai, The Sound of Music, and The Exorcist (all currently available on Blu-ray Disc).
The extent of Hollywood's back catalog is perhaps not fully realized by most people. Even with over 100,000 DVDs available, this barely scratches the surface of the total number of films hidden in vaults around L.A. and the world.
Sadly, many of these films are decomposing. Most studios are in the process of digitizing these old films so there will be a slightly more permanent version. The panelists at Blu-Con's panel, "Film Classics: New Opportunities for Blu-ray Catalog" were some of those in charge of these libraries. For this discussion we had:
The first question, posed by moderator Bill Hunt, the Editor of The Digital Bits, was one about how the back catalog business was going. Rita and Jeff felt that seeing these old films restored on Blu-ray was a way to give consumers a reason to buy, the enhanced quality being the biggest reason. Dave felt the Blu-ray business was akin to the gaming industry, in that there is a learning curve. As people get better (in this case, at transfers) the content gets better.
Bill then asked how each company chose what films to release on Blu-ray. Jeff said that the first consideration was the commercial viability of the film/Blu-ray. Next is the condition of the film element. When possible, the director is brought in to supervise. Rita agreed, and said that in some cases the film element can be a real problem. Dave added that if the film has artistic or technical merit, it is also considered.
Jeff was asked directly about the huge Blade Runner box set, a film that was definitely not commercially successful. He answered that cult and sci-fi films do really well on disc, regardless of the performance in the theater.
Next up was a discussion on mastering. Turns out that many of the new masters used to create DVDs aren't good enough to use for the Blu-ray. Rita said that even though Sony had been transferring films in HD for 15 years, many of the older transfers aren't good enough. In this case, they go back to the original negative for better color, resolution and grain. For African Queen, Bob said that the film was "unreleasable" in its current shape. So the Technicolor 3-strip was painstakingly restored from borrowed originals.
There are often high expectations with a classic released on Blu-ray. Each panelist was asked about managing expectations from the awaiting audience. Dave felt that you had to ignore the expectations, as old films are often viewed with "rose colored glasses." Bob had a similar answer, saying that you would never please everyone. Deferring to the director, so the transfer is true to the source, alleviates much of the potential criticism. He cited as an example the rather dark Blu-ray of The Godfather. That was how Coppola wanted it, so...
Jeff from Warner followed this up by saying that directors love to help, it's like visiting their children. Rita explained that when the director isn't available, they go back to archival prints and studio notes from the era.
Paramount, Bob said, showed Jack Cardiff a print of African Queen and recorded his thoughts, nearly 60 years after he shot it. They used these notes during the restoration process.
One new development each of the panelists seemed interested in either expanding or studying more is the idea of manufacturing on demand. Jeff said that even though MoD sales are slow, the cost is so low that the break-even point is often only a few hundred units. MoD proves consumer interest in classic titles, Rita opined. All hoped that MoD for Blu-ray would happen soon.
The discussion was wrapped up by a talk about the potential for 3D conversion of older titles. Jeff felt there was little chance of it in the short term, given the expense. Bob hedged bets by saying that studios were interested in all formats. Dave felt there was certainly interest, and Rita felt things were moving in that direction.
Closing
It was great to see such interest and even reverence of classic films on the part of the studio reps present at Blu-Con 2010. This of course makes sense, given the profit potential of re-selling older films. While there is a cost involved in restoring, remastering and re-transferring older films, each studio representative felt that a quality transfer and quality disc, and the entirely new experience that would create, was the most surefire way to get consumers to buy movies all over again.
I know I'm guilty. Raise your hand if you've already looked up one of the films mentioned here on Amazon before you even got to this sentence. Or were you just waiting for the inevitable links to follow?
Where to Buy or Pre-order:
