{"id":7873,"date":"2012-02-06T01:13:03","date_gmt":"2012-02-06T06:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mondomark.com\/wordpress\/?p=2862"},"modified":"2012-02-06T01:13:03","modified_gmt":"2012-02-06T06:13:03","slug":"mysterious-island-1961-twilight-times-nick-redman-and-readjusting-the-concept-of-mods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=7873","title":{"rendered":"Mysterious Island (1961), Twilight Time’s Nick Redman, and readjusting the concept of MODs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>PART I: \u00a0Mysterious Island on Blu, and Twilight Time Turns One<\/strong><\/p>\n

In less than a month, indie home video label Twilight Time will celebrate its 1 year anniversary, and I\u2019m pretty sure its founders, employees and contributors will look back with pride at what was accomplished.<\/p>\n

This could apply to any label that aspires to essentially fill a void that\u2019s kept niche fans hungry for ages. I use the term niche deliberately, and with some regret, because that\u2019s what seems to happen as a generation of film fans (or film music fans) age, and titles that were once cherished just doesn\u2019t impact people the way they used to.<\/p>\n

I also bring up film music because Nick Redman\u2019s been involved in both camps for more than two decades, which is why fans from both film and film music camps know his name is a sign of quality. This isn\u2019t fawning adulation; I\u2019ve been collecting soundtracks since I was 14 (great, thirty Goddamn years just wooshed<\/em> through my chest), and there are certain names that have remained constant with the running of certain pioneering companies, the restoration of certain soundtracks, the engineering of certain recordings, and doing good work that literally ensures studio assets that have remained dusty and ignored not only see the light of day, but are given a small nudge into the commercial realm \u2013 sometimes for the very first time.<\/p>\n

He was a key member of the Bay Cities team before that memorable soundtrack label passed away; and has maintained an ongoing relationship with Fox\u2019s music and home video departments, which is why rare soundtracks emerged on the ephemeral Fox Music label during the 1990s, and more recently we\u2019ve started to see certain Fox films either premiere on DVD, or finally make their way to Region 1 land after being widely available in Europe.<\/p>\n

Now, at this stage I\u2019d suggest jumping to the interview <\/a>[M<\/a>] with Nick Redman, and then check out the review of Twilight Time\u2019s Mysterious Island<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] (yes, the 1961 Ray Harryhausen classic!) Blu-ray, and a review of the original Bernard Herrmann soundtrack recording<\/a> [M<\/a>] from Cloud Nine Records, because what follows next could be misconstrued as a bit of a rant; it\u2019s still tied to the above paragraphs, but it (er, I<\/em>) digress<\/em>(es), and it may contain some spoilers.<\/p>\n

So, after you’ve read the above interview & reviews, 1) grab a coffee and (preferably) something loaded with sugar; 2) read the last two paragraphs again; and 3) move to:<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

PART II: MOD – Selling an Illusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now then. Welcome back!<\/em><\/p>\n

In our lengthy Q&A, we discussed these issues because they\u2019re affected the kind of films you like to watch but aren\u2019t seeing very much of on physical media, and what\u2019s striking are similarities between what happened to the soundtrack market that was at one time almost exclusively dominated by major labels prior to indies such as Varese Sarabande<\/a> and Citadel reissuing Decca titles and acetate recordings of music long forgotten.<\/p>\n

There is a constant battle with fans to maintain a work\u2019s relevance, and it seems to become more urgent as one ages, but I wonder if Tony Thomas\u2019 efforts to rescue acetate recordings by Max Steiner and Hans J. Salter on LP 40 years ago are any different than La-La Land rescuing 1980s orchestral \/ electronic fusion scores by Jerry Goldsmith that were released in truncated 35-40 mins. albums (such as First Night<\/a> <\/strong>[M<\/a>], or Sleeping with the Enemy<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>]).<\/p>\n

I think they are, and it\u2019s because of the radical changes in the way media \u2013 the physical delivery unit of music and films \u2013 has lost a chunk of its relevancy. If several generations have mitigated the shift towards digital media, then it\u2019s logical older generations will do the same because it\u2019s simple the way things are going; no one wants to have boxes of heavy videotapes (I still have a locker of them), painfully heavy laserdiscs (I curbed those I couldn\u2019t sell), or racks of CDs hogging valuable wall and floor space. The fact so much can fit onto something so small digitally makes the need to hold onto anything chunky and heavy absurd.<\/p>\n

And yet four of the colleagues at work \u2013 all twentysomethings \u2013 own record players. One\u2019s rabidly buying old and new vinyl, while the other\u2019s plugged her turntable into her TV until she gets a pre-amp. Yes, they are a minority, but they\u2019re not stubborn holdouts or fad followers. I\u2019m still buying a select amount of CDs, because after spinning MP3 and FLAC files, there are specific albums I want in their highest quality format, which I then pipe through a 40 year old Marantz (which by the way, looks and sounds Holy<\/em>).<\/p>\n

The digression here is deliberate: I\u2019m a minority as much as the aging classic film fans wanting favourite movies on DVD and Blu, because there are simply less people buying these titles on disc. The slide has been ongoing for several years, and the question is whether it\u2019ll bottom out and settle into a niche market like vinyl, or die out.<\/p>\n

The home video industry\u2019s survival has depended on shared relationships between consumers, distributors, broadcasters, manufacturers, and that thing once called rental shops, of which there are fewer and fewer each year. If several of these key members steps away from the marriage within a short time span, there\u2019s a mess of instability that ripples from one to the other, which is one reason why fewer sales of classic films has resulted in a concentration by studio labels on new and best-selling titles in physical and digital formats that appear to have sustainability.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s also why we have crazy single-title offerings like 3DBD + BD + DVD + Digital Copy, which frankly can\u2019t last because the manufacturing cost on these monster sets are high, and the returns months later must be brutal. It\u2019s literally the equivalent of issuing an album on CD, USB, cassette tape, LP, and micro-SD, plus a time-limited cloud account.<\/p>\n

I know back when I was snapping up LPs in high school at Peter Dunn\u2019s Vinyl Museum (do a Google search<\/a>), I found many useless mono pressings no one wanted because during the late 50s through to the late-late 60s, the labels felt there was a need to cater to the mono-crowd because stereo was still regarded as upscale and faddish (or, conversely, labels knew<\/em> they good make an extra buck per item by selling the soon-to-be-stereo-standard at a premium, much in the way it\u2019s taken 4-odd years for Blu-ray prices to level towards something logical).<\/p>\n

There are familiar patterns when one examines history, and they help in discerning what\u2019s rational, what\u2019s a hasty decision, and what\u2019s stupid (er, the protracted HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray battle), but certainly one issue is whether nostalgia can exist and be fed and nurtured without blanket abandonment, and the signs, for now, seem to suggest indie video labels are not lonely keeping catalogue films alive, but rescuing many others from oblivion. They may not remain in print for a decade or be manufactured in large numbers, but as we know, things are changing and shrinking and shifting<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s a new quandary which should familiar if you\u2019ve read this far: how much longer can studios sell on-demand [MOD] titles \u2013 digitally or physically as DVD-Rs \u2013 for $20?<\/p>\n

I doubt they understand the difficulty in explaining to a less than tech-savvy film fan (of which there are legions) how a non-returnable purple DVD-R is not only different from an off-the shelf silver disc, but why studios are adopting this weird trend.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s Warner, Universal, Sony, Disney, or MGM, MOD is in a state of utter absurdity: it\u2019s brilliant in terms of making niche titles available to a niche market, but absurd in the way the product is being exploited as prestige \u201climited\u201d products.<\/p>\n

MOD = on-demand. <\/strong>I.e.: you ask for it, they make it. There\u2019s no vault or limited run that mandates that, after some hidden figure is reached, titles like MGM\u2019s The Satan Bug<\/strong> is gone forever. (It\u2019s not; and it was released in Italy on a nice DVD.)<\/p>\n

Some MOD titles \u2013 like Warner Archives\u2019 The Night Digger<\/strong> \u2013 were remastered. Now, if a film on a lesser format with an unknown lifespan is remastered, it means it can come out again<\/em>, which in theory should make it cheaper<\/em>, since the nature of reissues and remastered titles on a lesser format is sell-through<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Casablanca<\/a><\/strong> is poised to be reissued in a gorgeous new HD transfer on Blu from Warner Home Video, and yet those wanting a budget version of the film can still select between two prior 2-disc special editions on DVD \u2013 you know, the lesser format that has a better documented longer lifespan and history of sustaining physical abuse. If you drop a DVD-R and the edge makes contact with a hard surface, it splits<\/em>, and your imported $36 CAD Warner Archive is a coaster.<\/p>\n

While prior MOD titles have generally focused on previously unavailable films, TV series, and TV movies, we\u2019re now seeing former catalogue titles going MOD. Case in point: Akira Kurosawa\u2019s Dreams<\/strong>, which was released in 2003 on DVD in a snapper case and sold in-store for around $15, and now out of print \/ deleted, but has been brought back in 2011 as a MOD title for $15 + shipping via Warner Archives\u2019 site (shipped to U.S. destinations only); $20 + shipping at Oldies.com, and at TCM Shop; and $25 on Amazon.com + shipping.<\/p>\n

There is no premium value one can associate with a DVD-R housed in an alpha case with a soft-focus, colour laserprint of scanned DVD box art. Collectors will track down old stock of the DVD release (which still exists, albeit now at collector prices pushing past $30), or perhaps rent the DVD \u2013 which happens to be a classic foreign film by a filmmaking giant whose works are taught in schools and exhibited in cinematheques \u2013 and rip it, or download it.<\/p>\n

At $10, a Kurosawa MOD is a bargain, but at $20-30 (when shipping & taxes are taken into account), you\u2019re insulting your target niche audience by gouging them, and convincing a specific generation comfortable with \u2018getting things for free\u2019 to ignore a legal alternative, and partake in the illegal activities the MOD program in theory <\/em>should be reducing through widespread<\/em> availability, economical<\/em> pricing, and easy<\/em> vendor accessibility.<\/p>\n

The indie labels that exist \u2013 and there are many of them \u2013 may not be vital to any single studio\u2019s survival, but they keep the catalogue titles relevant; it\u2019s a synergistic relationship (yes, that word is vintage 1992), but while indie labels treat their versions as the Citizen Kanes of silent film, blaxploitation, slashers, eighties nostalgia, or Euro-sleaze, the MOD program is playing the same old game: it\u2019s a new format, a new system, and there\u2019s a premium attached to it.<\/p>\n

TCM\u2019s Greatest [insert genre \/ actor \/ actress \/ franchise here] collections essentially repackage 4 movies for $20-30 \u2013 movies that if bought separately would cost $30-50.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the moment MGM via Fox started reissuing select, best-selling catalogue titles like It\u2019s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] or the new Spellbound<\/strong> (streeting this week) on Blu-ray for under $17, it broke the glass barrier that once mandated all Blu-rays be above $20 because it\u2019s a \u2018new\u2019 premium format.<\/p>\n

If Blu-ray is the norm (it is), and if HD transfers are mandatory for their success with consumers owning HD sets, and if catalogue material still has life being mass-produced <\/em>for $17 by the studios, there\u2019s no justification for the MOD program to exist if its price point is rooted the delusional tactic of making something seem special by making it pricey.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a burn made by a guy named Gus who sits on an office chair and presses a few buttons to re-route a file from a hard drive to a DVD burner, or more than likely, a mass-produced run of 5,000-10,000 copies that sit in a smaller warehouse, ready to be shipped, and when stock runs low, based on pre-orders, another run is made with adjustments, taking into account noticeable increases \/ decreases in orders from the last two quarters.<\/p>\n

You can make a lot by offering very little for $20, but you could make more if you charged less and made your product available internationally through the wonders of online mail order using existing replication and fulfillment houses.<\/p>\n

As I raised near the end of the Q&A, a studio-branded release still has the stamp of quality, and even with a lower price point, it works. Remember all those bare bones, single layer DVDs MGM dumped in Walmarts and made a fortune? MOD has the potential to become a modest windfall if key barriers are dropped.<\/p>\n

Which label is willing to take the initiative?<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark R. Hasan<\/strong>, Editor
\nKQEK.com <\/strong>( Main Site<\/a> \/ Mobile Site<\/a> )<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just uploaded is a lengthy interview with Twilight Time co-founder Nick Redman, and related reviews of Twilight Time’s swanky Blu-ray of Ray Harryhausen’s Mysterious Island (1961), plus a review of Bernard Herrmann’s original soundtrack recording. Also packed into the Editor’s Blog – a lengthy editorial on the illusion of value that’s being sold with existing MOD programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[6,4,5,11],"tags":[97,1082,978,1076,209,709],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-22Z","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7873"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7873\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}