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The 'Toy Story' You Remember

animationobsessive.substack.com

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Re: The 'Toy Story' You Remember

#341

Post by schlauerfox »

phantasmish wrote: post #283
thaumasiotes wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently watched the despecialized edition. During the lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, there are moments where Obi-Wan's lightsaber has no glow and looks more like a very thick metal antenna, or like he's play-dueling with a short curtain rod. I can't figure out how to determine if that's intentional.

The ignited sabers used spinning sticks with reflective tape covering them, and some rotoscoping applied in post to get the final effect. There are spots in the un-retouched Star Wars where the effect is missed, or something, and you can indeed see the raw stick. Something similar's also behind that one weird shot where Obi Wan's saber seems to almost fizzle out (the tip is pointed too much toward the camera, and mes…

The glow was done in-camera with a prism, the reflective tape was retroreflective so the light source would go into the prism, bounce off the quartz reflector material and into the camera lens, hence the dust coming off the sticks and the lack of glow in that spot where you see it end-on. The 'roto' was for color I think.

Re: The 'Toy Story' You Remember

#342

Post by vanderZwan »

jorvi wrote: post #337
vanderZwan wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Vinyl literally cannot be brickwalled because the needle can't handle it. Interesting, I did not know this! I'm not doubting you, but I'm a little confused and curious about how the physics of that works out. Wouldn't being brickwalled mean the volume stays pretty constant, meaning there's less work for the needle? Or is there some kind of limit to how many overlapping waveforms a needle can pick up at once?

Bit of a lesson incoming, skip to the vinyl bit if you don't care for that: "Dynamic range compression" is a bit of a misleading term because it sounds like you're taking an audio signal and and squeezing it. What you're really doing is two things: reducing (compressing) the difference between the quiet (valleys) and loudest (peaks) parts, and then pushing the volume of the peaks up to or past 0dB. Technically, that…

Thank you for the in-depth answers!

Re: The 'Toy Story' You Remember

#343

Post by deanCommie »

phantasmish wrote: post #284
pornel wrote: post #193

It's even worse with The Matrix where nobody is even sure any more how it was supposed to look, except definitely not as green as the DVD release. Noodle made a charming video about going mad researching this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPU-kXEhSgk

The original DVD was way, way less green than later releases, which were changed to match the more-extreme greens used in the sequels. IDK if it was as subtle as in the theater (I did see it there, but most of my watches were the first-run DVD) but it was far subtler than later DVD printings, and all but IIRC one fairly recent blu-ray that finally dialed it back to something less eye-searing and at least close-ish to…

Doesn't the fact that they made it super-green in Matrix 4 proves that it should never have been blue? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR0YBqhMtcg

Re: The 'Toy Story' You Remember

#344

Post by deanCommie »

yCombLinks wrote: post #4

The texture of the film grain makes Mulan and Aladdin really look better. The large simple filled sections look like they have so much more to them.

I agree with you, but "better" is subjective, and this change was ON PURPOSE because most consumers would disagree with us.

It's why they all have "motion smoothing" turned on all their TV's too. Yes, it's animation, but the Blu-rays look "higher resolution", and look "smoother" and less "noisy".

All the artistic benefits you and I see are lost on most watchers.

Re: The 'Toy Story' You Remember

#345

Post by tomcam »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #182
tomcam wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you dust bust it? Wipe it by hand with a microfiber cloth or something?

In optics & film usually blowing air is employed, as wiping runs the risk of further scratches in the case of an abrasive particle (e.g. sand) There are handheld tools (google hand blower bulb), but I would imagine film scanning uses something less manual

Agreed. That was just a starting point for the convo. Seems like any reasonably fast method would either result in damage from particles or would be incredibly slow. Sometimes a blower doesn't do a complete job.

Re: The 'Toy Story' You Remember

#346

Post by gtukmanov »

Fascinating dive into how subtle production and post-production choices shape the final media experience. This really highlights the complexity behind seemingly simple outputs, reminding us how much thought and iteration goes into achieving the intended effect, whether in film, music, or even software product UI.

Re: The 'Toy Story' You Remember

#347

Post by kodt »

wmeredith wrote: post #247
kodt wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Matrix is an interesting one because it really caught on with the DVD release. So that was most peoples first exposure to it, not the theatrical release. Even if incorrect, if that was the first way you saw it, it is likely how you consider it "should" look.

It's a bit disingenuous to imply The Matrix did not catch on until DVD release. The Matrix broke several (minor) box office records, was critically hailed, and an awards darling for the below the line technical awards. Having said all that. One of the most interesting aspects of conversations around the true version of films and such is that just because of the way time works the vast majority of people's first exper…

I didn't meant to say no-one saw it theatrically but I probably did undersell it there.

The DVD was such a huge seller and coincided with the format really catching on. The Matrix was the "must have" DVD to show off the format and for many was likely one of the first DVDs they ever purchased.

It was also the go-to movie to show off DivX rips.

The popularity of The Matrix is closely linked with a surge in DVD popularity. IIRC DVD player prices became more affordable right around 2000 which opened it up to more people.

Re: The 'Toy Story' You Remember

#348

Post by chrisweekly »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #301
chrisweekly wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, English has so many quirks. As a software dev, the "enum" type cane to mind, making this one easier to spot. (shrug)

> Yeah, English has so many quirks. Arguably true in general, but in this specific case everything I said was already true in Latin.

Relevance? I'd say it's inarguable -- and the words being discussed are English.
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