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Emerging Pictures has Hitchcock films available
posted by
Michael Zoldessy
on
February 13, 2009 at 7:40 am
Emerging Pictures is pleased to announce that we have arranged with Universal Pictures to open up their vault and make available their classic library of films for the first time in high definition on the big screen. The first group of films will be the Hitchcock titles, which will be available starting in mid-February. These films can be booked individually, as a series, or as a festival. Please note that these titles are still available on 35mm directly from Universal, assuming there is a print available.
We are in discussions with Universal about which titles to encode next. If there are films in their library that are of particular interest, or that you have found in the past do better than average at the box office do let us know and we’ll do our best to secure them for your community.
Emerging Pictures 245 West 55th Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10019 (212) 245-6767 www.emergingpictures.com
Comments (21)
I’d go to that if it were in a closer theatre than Memphis.
I hope the Hitchcock films will be presented in their original, intended aspect ratios?
I much prefer 35mm film prints not big screen tv.
So this isn’t 2k or 4K? (what they show in some 1st run movie theaters)
We are going to show the new HITCH —HI DEF IN OUR THEATER.We have a very high end projector for these but it is not 2k or 4k.
Ken is obsessed with the word big screen tv .(He uses it in most post about new technology)
The pictures is amazing and clear.This series will bring HITCH back to the big screen for people who would never get the chance to see it.
Ken is right, it IS big screen TV. The resolution won’t come close to 35mm film.
On the other hand, it’s probably comparable to running 16mm.
Hitchcock’s films were meant to be seen in 35mm so I’d vote against any process that doesn’t have that much resolution. That would appear to be this process, too. See the films in your living room in less resolution. See them in theaters in 35mm or digital 2k or 4k if those provide high resolution similiar to film.
Who’d care about seeing Vertigo in HI DEF TV? I can do that at home..almost. :) It was recently restored and shown in glorious 70mm DTS. I vividly remember seeing it at the Uptown, in Washington DC, several years back. The picture was magnificent as if it were something shot recently and not 50 or so years ago. I wonder if the other Hitch films were also restored. Not sure but I thought there was an ongoing project to clean up and rerelease the films.
Haven’t all those titles been shown on HDNet? I would also take newly struck 35mm prints over old HD transfers.
I dont know who can see a hi def on a 30,40 or 50 ft screen at home in stereo….Most have never seen EMERGINGS HI def on the big screen.
Universal is not making new 35mm prints on most of the old movies anymore.
Quite the opposite is true. Since the fire, they have been VERY active in striking new 35mm prints of many films from the library.
Since the fire the decided not to strike as many prints.I will look for the news article and post………The plan was to strike new prints and months later they decided against it.
View link
This one says for years to come ……a later story says many will not be redone……..still looking
Many may not know that Universal also owns approximately 750 pre-1950 Paramount titles and prints of many of these films were also destroyed.
What is most worrisome for venues like the Wexner Center or the Cleveland Cinematheque is that lost prints may not be replaced. It sounds like no negatives were destroyed in the fire so most prints could be replaced (if negatives still exist). But will they? The vast majority of films in the catalog are only booked once or twice every few years. Will the studio pay the thousands of dollars it will require to replace prints of films with limited commercial appeal? The cost per print when creating thousands of prints for a new release like The Incredible Hulk is relatively low. The cost to strike one or two prints, however, is relatively high and considering that most films will take years (if not decades) to recoup the cost it took to strike them one has to wonder how many prints will in fact be replaced.
And sadly many labs today do NOT know how to print B&W properly.
These were never intended to “replace” the 35 mm option. Note, again, that 35s are still available directly from Universal and we encourage those who’d care to book them to please do so. But as an alternative to limited or dubious quality prints -or std def DVDs – we do believe you’d be very happy with the quality and convenience these can provide. Our goal is facilitate the best possible presentation of these classic films – ones with proven audiences that can generate returns to both venues and distributors. The response, to date, has been very encouraging. For programmers and venues that have ceased booking these films for all the reasons we know and get upset about, they now see a way to return classic films to classic venues in a high quality yet very cost effective & pragmatic way.
These were never intended to “replace” the 35 mm option. Note, again, that 35s are still available directly from Universal and we encourage those who’d care to book them to please do so. But as an alternative to limited or dubious quality prints -or std def DVDs – we do believe you’d be very happy with the quality and convenience these can provide. Our goal is facilitate the best possible presentation of these classic films – ones with proven audiences that can generate returns to both venues and distributors. The response, to date, has been very encouraging. For programmers and venues that have ceased booking these films for all the reasons we know and get upset about, they now see a way to return classic films to classic venues in a high quality yet very cost effective & pragmatic way.
“Haven’t all those titles been shown on HDNet? I would also take newly struck 35mm prints over old HD transfers.
posted by Kram Sacul on Feb 13, 2009 pm28 4:00pm"
yes they were, but why do you think they are ‘old’ HD transfers?
These master were not sourced from HDNet. They are newly made from restored materials own and controlled by Universal, directly.
Universal made the HD transfers shown last year on the various Voom HD channels. How would these transfers compare to the Emerging Pictures transfers?
Most of your moviegoers today would not waste money on Hitchcock so why even book them in a theatre unless it was a 100 seat cinema at the 30 plex!!