Film upgrades

[Dannorama]

If you haven't seen the recent Queen Rock Montreal movie, you owe it to yourself to experience it. It's wild how good it looks and sounds, even after all these years. Makes me wonder... Which AC film would you like to see the same process used? My vote goes to the 1973 concert(s) they filmed and used in "Good to See You Again..." I have to believe that they could make a giant improvement on its appearance.

[Si]

If you haven't seen the recent Queen Rock Montreal movie, you owe it to yourself to experience it. It's wild how good it looks and sounds, even after all these years. Makes me wonder... Which AC film would you like to see the same process used? My vote goes to the 1973 concert(s) they filmed and used in "Good to See You Again..." I have to believe that they could make a giant improvement on its appearance.

I would suggest that while there could be some improvement, it would be very limited due to the format and way that footage was originally filmed.It wasn't exactly hi fidelity! When the DVD was released the footage had been cleaned up to the best of their ability but it's still not compatible to things filmed a decade later.

Many years ago (obviously) I think Brian Nelson mentioned he had all the original footage film reels in his archive - so I suppose there would be the possibility to completely redo the film with a completely new edit and maybe upgrade it while it's done. But that would likely cost more then they would ever get back through sales.

But then again give it another few years and AI will probably be able to do a far better job then any human can now. So just wait

[jacknifejohnny]

There was a brilliant version played on the big screen at the B$B’s re-release party at The Texas Theater. Sound was extraordinary.

[VinceLeeRose]

If you haven't seen the recent Queen Rock Montreal movie, you owe it to yourself to experience it. It's wild how good it looks and sounds, even after all these years. Makes me wonder... Which AC film would you like to see the same process used? My vote goes to the 1973 concert(s) they filmed and used in "Good to See You Again..." I have to believe that they could make a giant improvement on its appearance.

I would suggest that while there could be some improvement, it would be very limited due to the format and way that footage was originally filmed.It wasn't exactly hi fidelity! When the DVD was released the footage had been cleaned up to the best of their ability but it's still not compatible to things filmed a decade later.

Many years ago (obviously) I think Brian Nelson mentioned he had all the original footage film reels in his archive - so I suppose there would be the possibility to completely redo the film with a completely new edit and maybe upgrade it while it's done. But that would likely cost more then they would ever get back through sales.

But then again give it another few years and AI will probably be able to do a far better job then any human can now. So just wait

Film actually has a much higher resolution than HD, but it all depends on how it was shot. The footage for "Good to See You Again" was pretty murky to begin with due to the low lighting conditions, and you have to factor in if the original camera negatives even exist somewhere. "Welcome to my Nightmare" deserves a new scan of the film elements. I saw a 35mm print of it years ago in LA and it was faded pretty bad, but whatever element they used for the 1999 DVD would look a lot better if given a new high resolution scan. The same goes for Trashes the World, as that was also shot on film.

[Si]

Film actually has a much higher resolution than HD, but it all depends on how it was shot. The footage for "Good to See You Again" was pretty murky to begin with due to the low lighting conditions, and you have to factor in if the original camera negatives even exist somewhere. "Welcome to my Nightmare" deserves a new scan of the film elements. I saw a 35mm print of it years ago in LA and it was faded pretty bad, but whatever element they used for the 1999 DVD would look a lot better if given a new high resolution scan. The same goes for Trashes the World, as that was also shot on film.

It was was shot on 16mm and then blown up to 35mm which partially explains why it is looks so dark.

[VinceLeeRose]

Film actually has a much higher resolution than HD, but it all depends on how it was shot. The footage for "Good to See You Again" was pretty murky to begin with due to the low lighting conditions, and you have to factor in if the original camera negatives even exist somewhere. "Welcome to my Nightmare" deserves a new scan of the film elements. I saw a 35mm print of it years ago in LA and it was faded pretty bad, but whatever element they used for the 1999 DVD would look a lot better if given a new high resolution scan. The same goes for Trashes the World, as that was also shot on film.

It was was shot on 16mm and then blown up to 35mm which partially explains why it is looks so dark.

Oh yeah, that's right. What a treat it would be if those original 16mm film elements could be located and/or still existed

[mestreech]

As the children of Alice have gotten the Brian archive I think there are zero chances this ever will happen.
Let's hope for AI in the future.

[Si]

As the children of Alice have gotten the Brian archive I think there are zero chances this ever will happen.

This is not correct. Alice/Shep have Brian's archive.

[mestreech]

Ok, I thought it was given to the children.
Doesn't change anything because they (Alice and Shep) are not lovers of the archives.

[Si]

Ok, I thought it was given to the children.
Doesn't change anything because they (Alice and Shep) are not lovers of the archives.

Just because they physically have something doesn't mean they can legally release it. They likely don't own GTSYA,AC so even if they still have the original reels, they can`t do anything with the content of them without permission (and likely payment) of the copyright holders. And the profit margins for a lot of stuff we would love to see are simply not there to cover the costs of release them.

If someone went to Shep with a plan, and had secured the rights to release something it's very unlikely he would say no. But they can't afford to lose money, so it would take a third party taking the risk for it to happen.

[del]

Unfortunately, I think you’re right. There is no obvious scale to the core fanbase that would make it an easy decision to invest here. Sure, Alice does a great job of keeping the name and catalogue alive through the tours but that is where the money is now. Are one or two hundred thousand folk really going to invest in a dvd of a group from over fifty years ago or will a streaming service chip in the cash for what is a niche act nowadays? You would need some form of major resurgence of interest in the ACG to start to make this a viable option for an investor.

[Si]

Are one or two hundred thousand folk really going to invest in a dvd of a group from over fifty years ago

I think that number is wildly optimistic. One or two thousand may be closer to the mark (apologies if I misunderstand what you wrote).
There is no way there are "one or two hundred thousand folk" interested in this stuff. If there were it would be an easy decision to release almost anything! That would be a HUGE market in this day and age when many new albums struggle to reach 10-20 thousand total!

[del]

Sorry Si, that’s what I’m getting at, there aren’t enough people there to support a positive decision on this. Should probably have said “are there REALLY…”

If it’s one or two thousand then it’s a complete non-starter based on the time, effort and costs, unless you are going to charge a fortune for it.

[Si]

If it’s one or two thousand then it’s a complete non-starter based on the time, effort and costs, unless you are going to charge a fortune for it.

Exactly. Just look at how many copies physical albums sell nowadays! Any archive release would be a fraction of that.

And when they DO charge a fortune to get something done we all complain and many don't buy. It's catch 22.

[Type-O]

If you haven't seen the recent Queen Rock Montreal movie, you owe it to yourself to experience it. It's wild how good it looks and sounds, even after all these years. Makes me wonder... Which AC film would you like to see the same process used? My vote goes to the 1973 concert(s) they filmed and used in "Good to See You Again..." I have to believe that they could make a giant improvement on its appearance.

I would suggest that while there could be some improvement, it would be very limited due to the format and way that footage was originally filmed.It wasn't exactly hi fidelity! When the DVD was released the footage had been cleaned up to the best of their ability but it's still not compatible to things filmed a decade later.

Many years ago (obviously) I think Brian Nelson mentioned he had all the original footage film reels in his archive - so I suppose there would be the possibility to completely redo the film with a completely new edit and maybe upgrade it while it's done. But that would likely cost more then they would ever get back through sales.

But then again give it another few years and AI will probably be able to do a far better job then any human can now. So just wait

I would say that the tools available today are far superior to those during the dvd days. It's not even that expensive. Look at the stuff Peter Jackson and crew did with the old WW1 footage and that was released in 2018. So much has happened since and add the introduction of ai to that. I'm sure much could be done even with a very limited budget.

[Si]

I would say that the tools available today are far superior to those during the dvd days. It's not even that expensive. Look at the stuff Peter Jackson and crew did with the old WW1 footage and that was released in 2018. So much has happened since and add the introduction of ai to that. I'm sure much could be done even with a very limited budget.

All true, but there still needs to be enough of a market to make any cost worthwhile. And you also need to be very careful when using AI on this sort of stuff. It isn't the ultimate solution for everything, at least not yet. It's just a sign of what we could be able to do in the future.