ATTN GEORGE, JMS: the monkey, the nut, and the jar
B5JMS Poster
b5jms-owner at shekel.mcl.cs.columbia.edu
Wed Apr 16 06:06:28 EDT 1997
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From: "Clay Johanson" <clayj at microsoft.com>
Date: 4 Apr 1997 12:16:39 -0500
Lines: 58
Hello George!
I know in the past it has been mentioned that Babylon 5 may eventually be
released, not on videotape, but on DVD. I've recently obtained a Pioneer
DVL-700 combination LD and DVD player, and I've found that the picture
quality of DVD is superior to that of LD (and waaaaay beyond videotape).
Anyway, I have a few questions concerning B5 and DVD:
1. Warner Brothers appears to be the biggest proponent of DVD to date; they
are releasing quite a few movies on DVD (including Blade Runner, my
favorite), and seem to be far ahead of the pack with regards to future DVD
plans. Given that this is the case, can you give an estimate of the
likelihood of B5 being released at some point on DVD? (Don't worry, I won't
hold you to the estimate... just some kind of idea is all I'm looking for.)
2. If B5 is released on DVD, will it be released in widescreen (16x9)
format? Will it still be encoded in Dolby Digital/Surround? (These are both
musts, in my opinion.)
3. Typically, a single-layer, single-side DVD can hold about 133 minutes of
material. Since two episodes of B5, less commercials, is only about 84
minutes (I believe), would it be possible to do any of the following to
fill out the rest of the disc?:
- Include extra footage originally cut from the episodes due to time
constraints (sort of a Producer's Cut type deal)
- Include footage of JMS discussing cool stuff in the episode
- Include multiple languages (English obviously, but also French, Spanish,
German, etc.) or multiple subtitles
- Include cast information (like they do on the Blade Runner DVD) and easy
chapter search (also on the BR DVD)
- Use the dual-layer process to lessen the amount of compression used in
the video (this would help to increase picture quality even more, wouldn't
it?)
- Put a second Audio track in (like they do on some laserdiscs) where JMS,
Doug Netter, Mr. Copeland, and yourself could discuss the process of
creating the episode, cool trivia, etc.
- Include the trailers for upcoming episodes
B5 fans are well-known gadget junkies, so there's a strong likelihood that
WB would rake in the bucks if they released the entire B5 series on DVD.
Assuming 5 seasons @ 22 episodes per season, plus a 2 "episode" pilot, that
would be 112 episodes, or 56 DVDs. At $20-$25 each, a complete set of B5
would cost $1120-$1400... that may seem like a lot of money, but I know
that I would definitely spend it to receive the entire series. If 100,000
B5 fans purchased the entire series, that would equate to $112-$140
*million* dollars in sales for WB... and I believe that even more sets than
that would actually be sold.
Anyway, I thank you for your time, and for any response!
Clay Johanson
NOTE: The opinions in this post are mine and do not necessarily represent
those of Microsoft Corporation.
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From: cmarie at max.tiac.net (Claudia Marie )
Date: 9 Apr 1997 14:57:03 -0400
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raven at solaria.sol.net (Raven (J. Singleton)) writes:
>Debora Offer (daoffer at ccwf.cc.utexas.edu) wrote:
>| Clay]
>| Also, if you put 4 eps on each disc, you
>| run the risk of breaking up two-parters like A Voice in the Wilderness or
>| War Without End.
>| Claudia]
>| I don't follow this at all. 2 eps per disc runs the same risk of this.
>| In fact, if they're in original broadcast order, both two-parters so far
>| have been (even-numbered episode, odd-numbered episode), whereas they'd
>| be packaged two episodes per disc as (odd, even), so to keep them together
>| they'd have to play around with the episode order.
>[snipped]
>Depends on whether they package the pilot separately or with the first
>regular series episode, doesn't it? Counting the pilot as #0 (separate)
>or as #1 (together) would change the odd/even count, and thus the pairing
>on disc, of all subsequent episodes.
Well, I suppose, but I don't know why they would count the pilot as a
single episode when it's the same length as *two* regular episodes.
I figured it would get its own disk in the two-per scheme.
Claudia
--
"Mathematicians are like Frenchmen: whatever you say to them they
translate into their own language and forthwith it is something
entirely different."
-- Goethe
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From: "Clay Johanson" <clayj at microsoft.com>
Date: 10 Apr 1997 17:45:24 -0400
Lines: 50
Claudia Marie <cmarie at max.tiac.net> wrote in article
<cmarie.860612141 at max.tiac.net>...
> raven at solaria.sol.net (Raven (J. Singleton)) writes:
> >Debora Offer (daoffer at ccwf.cc.utexas.edu) wrote:
> >| Clay]
> >| Also, if you put 4 eps on each disc, you
> >| run the risk of breaking up two-parters like A Voice in the Wilderness
or
> >| War Without End.
> >| Claudia]
> >| I don't follow this at all. 2 eps per disc runs the same risk of
this.
> >| In fact, if they're in original broadcast order, both two-parters so
far
> >| have been (even-numbered episode, odd-numbered episode), whereas
they'd
> >| be packaged two episodes per disc as (odd, even), so to keep them
together
> >| they'd have to play around with the episode order.
> >[snipped]
>
> >Depends on whether they package the pilot separately or with the first
> >regular series episode, doesn't it? Counting the pilot as #0 (separate)
> >or as #1 (together) would change the odd/even count, and thus the
pairing
> >on disc, of all subsequent episodes.
>
> Well, I suppose, but I don't know why they would count the pilot as a
> single episode when it's the same length as *two* regular episodes.
> I figured it would get its own disk in the two-per scheme.
>
> Claudia
> --
I guess what I really meant to say is that at 4 eps per disc, a season of
22 eps would take 5.5 discs... so there would be some overlap from one
season to the next on a single disc, possibly, or an inconsistent number of
eps per disc (not cool).
Instead of trying to cram as much stuff as possible on one disc (like 4
eps), I would prefer that they put 2 eps on each disc, plus some
supplemental material. That way there would be no splittage from one season
to the next, and the video compression on each disc could be kept as low as
possible (resulting in better picture quality).
Still haven't heard George Johnsen's take on this, though... where are you,
George? :-)
Clay Johanson
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From: George Johnsen <ndeiprod at earthlink.net>
Date: 12 Apr 1997 00:14:06 -0400
Lines: 20
Clay, Jay, Claudia, and other DVD interested folks:
The discussions we have had concerning DVD with Warners have all been
based on 2 episodes per disk, with supplimental material, and full use
of DVD's capability.
4 episodes per disc hits the compression scheme pretty hard, and I don't
like the way it looks, so we will stick with two per, IF this were to
become a product.
(Big IF by the way, for reasons we have already discussed in this forum)
And, btw, ehat do you mean where are you, George? I've been here
working my behind off getting these episodes out! :-)
George Johnsen
CoProducer, B5
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From: hennebry at plains.nodak.edu (Michael J. Hennebry)
Date: 15 Apr 1997 13:26:57 -0400
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In article <334E99A9.6E07 at earthlink.net>,
George Johnsen <ndeiprod at earthlink.net> wrote:
>4 episodes per disc hits the compression scheme pretty hard, and I don't
>like the way it looks, so we will stick with two per, IF this were to
>become a product.
>
>(Big IF by the way, for reasons we have already discussed in this forum)
>
>And, btw, ehat do you mean where are you, George? I've been here
>working my behind off getting these episodes out! :-)
Thanks much.
Do you enjoy it enough to want to do it again?
Can B5 episodes be re-rendered well enough for theater sized screens?
Not only would it be nice to see B5 on a really big screen "TV",
if fans flock to theaters to see B5 episodes, WB's mind-set might allow
it to issue video tapes.
Does B5 have press kits that it gives to reporters?
If so, would WB allow tapes of "And Now for a Word" and "The Illusion
of Truth" to go into the press kits?
B5 might get more requests for press kits than there are reporters.
JMS would report this sad situation to WB with the suggestion that he
start charging most folks (non-reporters) for press kits.
Even IF this works, it wouldn't directly affect other episodes, but
perhaps it would affect WB's perception of what belongs on home video.
>From what JMS has written previously, the sales of press kits wouldn't
have any influence (it's a pride thing), but the responses of reporters might.
To sell "The Coming of Shadows" as a promotional item, would JMS have
to talk to the same monkey (Warner Home Video?) that has its hand around
the nut in the jar?
--
Mike hennebry at plains.NoDak.edu
"and it is strange that so few young women are
interrested in launching cars with mideval seige weapons" -- Bryan Chu
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From: George Johnsen <ndeiprod at earthlink.net>
Date: 15 Apr 1997 19:54:57 -0400
Lines: 40
> Do you enjoy it enough to want to do it again?
> Can B5 episodes be re-rendered well enough for theater sized screens?
Yes and Yes. The resolution of the renders we are doing now allow for
the highest rez digital video storage currently available in NTSC. For
theatrical release, all we need do is flip this little chromium switch
here.......and out comes a ready to transfer film frame render.
> Not only would it be nice to see B5 on a really big screen "TV",
> if fans flock to theaters to see B5 episodes, WB's mind-set might allow
> it to issue video tapes.
I'm not really sure if this is a plausible strategy. Someone at
Warner's would need to book the theatres, and that would be the same
folks who think home video wouldn't fly.
> Does B5 have press kits that it gives to reporters?
> If so, would WB allow tapes of "And Now for a Word" and "The Illusion
> of Truth" to go into the press kits?
> B5 might get more requests for press kits than there are reporters.
> JMS would report this sad situation to WB with the suggestion that he
> start charging most folks (non-reporters) for press kits.
Creative thinking, but......
> To sell "The Coming of Shadows" as a promotional item, would JMS have
> to talk to the same monkey (Warner Home Video?) that has its hand around
> the nut in the jar?
Yup. The home video issue is truly Warner's to deal with. We can hope
that it will eventually be dealt with, but i sure wouldn't guess when or
in what format.
George Johnsen
CoProducer, B5
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