There are a few sequences in Chaplin’s “The Pawnshop” (1916) where Charlie and co-worker John Rand engage in slapstick hitting fights. It’s almost a running theme throughout the film, and they’re executed with precision by two clowns who really know… Read More »Exploring the Speed of Silent Comedy Film – test #3
One of the gags I’ve seen in silent comedies many times that’s really something you’d typically see in an animated cartoon. The trick is in creating the illusion of someone weighing a fraction of what they actually do. Usually one… Read More »Exploring the Speed of Silent Comedy Film – test #2
One of my fascinations with silent film is with how it is that it is shown faster than the speed at which it was shot, but doesn’t look it. Once I figured out that the secret is in adjusting the… Read More »Exploring the Speed of Silent Comedy Film – test #1
I discovered this little nugget about film projection speed in a January 1916 issue of Moving Picture World, a trade magazine published throughout the silent film era. It’s rare to find mentions of a film’s running speed in the trades,… Read More »“Her Painted Hero”, Shot Through a Projector
The possibility of releasing on Blu-ray without the required huge costs and the risks of unsold discs that come with pressed product will be here in 2021. What does that mean for me? And what does that mean for you?… Read More »To Blu or Not To Blu – Some Final Thoughts
In July 2018, one year after I released the restoration of When Knighthood Was in Flower on Blu-ray and DVD, I received an email from CreateSpace, Amazon’s manufacture-on-demand outfit for books, DVDs and CDs. Its subject line read “Important announcement… Read More »Physical Media: “I’m Not Dead Yet”
The advent of Blu-ray wasn’t the sea-change that CDs were for vinyl or that DVDs were for VHS. Similarly there isn’t a one-size fits all scenario as far as consumers’ opinions and uses of the format. This is part of… Read More »For Some Fans, the Step Up to Blu-ray Means Replacing the Fridge
Selling pressed or replicated product comes with additional steps and mental labor. Depending on your level of patience or available time, it may be worth the trip. When you have no choice in the matter and have to go with… Read More »The Blu-ray Difference is Green
In my last post I mentioned some of the basic technological differences between pressed and burned product, replicated and duplicated. With DVDs the choice between the two isn’t as large a financial outlay as it is with Blu-ray. But the… Read More »Being The Warehouse
In my previous post about my 3-year journey with a Blu-ray release, I mentioned two kinds of discs — pressed and burned. You may not be aware of these two kinds of discs and may not even know whether you’re… Read More »Pressed DVDs vs. Burned