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Topic: Koyaanisqatsi (1983)
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Tao Yue
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 209
From: Princeton, NJ
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 02-27-2004 11:50 AM
Fresh prints struck in May 2003. Yay!
- Distribution company: MGM/UA
- FLAT 1.66:1 (suggested, see below)
- Dolby A
- 4 reels
- Kodak 2383 Vision print stock (ESTAR)
- Arrives ReelEZ from Academy Film and Storage, Sun Valley, CA, at least this "archive print" (heads and tails still uncut) did.
Note on aspect ratio: since most of the film is found footage, originally photographed in Academy, we're showing it in 1.66 for extra height. This is consistent with how we'd treat ET or a later Kubrick, but most theaters would probably show it in 1.85.
Some fan(atic)s of the film are currently very upset with MGM for releasing a 16:9 DVD. The producers have stated very definitively that in no case should it be seen in 1.37, but they haven't spoken out about 1.85/1.66.
Original heads and tails, except for an area in the soundtrack which is marked 2/27/02. Still marked "STEREO" in the same font as early-80s Dolby releases. A listening test shows that it's very clearly Dolby A (the first 200 feet of reel 3 shows the difference pretty clearly). One wonders how many theaters before us played it in SR.
[ 02-27-2004, 08:37 PM: Message edited by: Tao Yue ]
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Dave Callaghan
Film Handler
Posts: 60
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 06-22-2008 11:12 PM
The print I projected had a date in the leader of 11 / 29 / 95.
The opening title - in case the original release was different - is Francis Ford Coppola presents.
For information, the production company IRE is an acronym that stands for Institute for Regional Education (scribed into the leaders and tails).
Having revised and run the print I can say it looks "right" to me when projected in 1.85.
For example, the "portrait" shots in the subway are composed with the usual clearance above the heads that is commonplace in 1.85 composed prints.
I have taken a look at the link The QATSI Trilogy where the aspect ratio is discussed.
Much is made of the various video releases.
None of this video information is much help to determine the correct 35 mm print ratio.
The comments of Joe Beirne, the producer of Naqoyqatsi regarding the correct choice for film projection given that the print looks to be 1.37 would appear to be definitive -
quote:
There is absolutely nothing "missing" from the MGM DVDs. The format of the LaserDisk, old VHS copies, and the IRE DVD is a valid format (4x3), one that was well considered when the films were shot. It is however not the only (or the preferred) format that the director and the cinematographer wished the public to see. The film was projected in 1: 1.85 format. This was the authorized intention of Godfrey Reggio and Ron Fricke who made the film (in the case of KOYAANISQATSI). I have confirmed this fact in direct conversation with both gentlemen in the past two weeks. By chance I also had an opportunity to speak recently to the projectionist who screened the film at its New York premiere at Radio City Music Hall in 1983. He assured me that the film was projected as instructed, at 1: 1.85.
It is true that there are "things" in the image that you can see in the 4x3 version that you can't see in the 1.85 version. This is true of any film shot for 1:1.85 extraction. It does not necessarily follow that the author's intention was that those things always be visible when the film was presented. Anyone may decide the shot composition is better or worse in either format: that is an inevitable consequence of having two versions of any film. The decision was made to make the current DVD in the theatrical aspect ratio. That decision was made in conference with Godfrey Reggo and reflects his wishes.
Joe Beirne, Producer NAQOYQATSI
And more from Joe Beirne -
quote:
There is absolutely no ambiguity about this matter. Godfrey Reggio (the director) and Ron Fricke (the cinematographer) who actually created this work have both
reviewed the MGM DVD of KOYAANISQATSI. They have seen that the DVD is letter-boxed to 1:1.85. They have confirmed that this reflects their original intention for the presentation of the film, which has been presented in 1.85 theatrically since the its first public screening. (If it ever has ever been projected in any other format, which of course is not impossible, it was an error - or possibly an accommodation to some technical limitation of the venue). I have this confirmation - directly - from both of them.
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