<nospam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:jfv551dg5ni6lbirq4il29upa5qe3m7dtd@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> In short, Fox were experimenting with what works while mastering and
>> delivering Ally. If they hadn't been so damn lazy they'd have cut
>> the DVDs / videos from the original 16:9 post production version
>> and, regardless of what was broadcast at the time, all the DVDs and
>> videos would have been in 16:9.
>
> Hello,
Good afternoon (feel free to substitute "morning", "evening" or "night"
depending on when you read this).
> Thanks for the replies to my questions,
You're more than welcome.
> sorry for the delay in replying
No need to apologise, but I appreciate the gesture. Please accept my
apology for the delay in replying now. Every so often real life gets in
the
way and I can't swing by as often as I might like.
> but I do not visit the internet every day.
I do, and it has still taken me a few days (plus!) to reply.
> I thought I would make new threads about the various
> topics in case anyone is lurking or archiving the posts.
It is just good to be able to take part in threads which are on topic and
interesting. Keep asking in whatever manner and style is to your liking.
> The 4:3 frame for season 4 is out of place between the widescreen
> seasons 3 and 5. The only explanation can be that they were lazy when
> making the dvd.
As I mentioned earlier, all of Ally was mastered in widescreen. Some lazy
so-and-so at Fox probably used the broadcast master (which would have been
4:3 for season 4 IIRC) rather than the post-production master.
Normally, it wouldn't matter as they'd both be the same, but with Fox's
experiments in the States, they weren't and we're left with the mess we
have.
> The menus for s4 are widescreen and yet the "feature" is not. Why not
> put 4:3 menus on the discs as well, so you do not have to change
> aspects when starting an episode?
Same reason. Laziness. Why don't you e-mail Fox and ask them? Contact
details are on their web-site.
> I am watching s4 at the moment and the "previously on..." beginnings,
> which I think are unnecessary seem to begin "ly on Ally McBeal"; the
> first few syllables are cut! This all suggests sloppy preparation,
> that said, I have not noticed any layer changes, so they must have
> taken some care after all in making the dvds.
The "Previously on..." is another throwback to the States. Over here,
we're
used to the concept that once a series starts, it will be shown each week
until it has finished, whereupon we eagerly await the showing of the next
season some time later.
In case you're not aware, things don't work like that the other side of
the
pond. If we take the first season of Ally, episode #1 was shown on the
8th
September 1997. It was then shown weekly up until episode #4 which was
shown on 29th September.
Episode #5 didn't air until 20th October and then again, episodes were
shown
weekly until episode #9 which aired on the 17th November when there was a
break until the 1st December when episode #10 was first aired.
Episode #11 - 15th December, Episode #12 - 5th January 1998, Episode #13
-
19th January, Episode #14 - 2nd February.
Episode #15 reintroduced a weekly run from its first showing on 23rd Feb
to
episode #18 showing on 16th March.
#19 didn't come along until 6th April and then from episode #20 to the end
of the season, Ally was shown weekly from 27th April through 18th May.
So you see, whilst not needed on a DVD, they were most certainly needed on
the master from which the DVD was cut so Fox couldn't easily take them
off,
even if they wanted to.
> I see there are new dvds out, where all six dvds per
> season are in one box.
Really? I hadn't noticed that.
> Is this just the same old discs in new packaging (which I suspect
> and hope) or are they new remastered discs with better features?
I have absolutely no idea, but if you ask Fox, I'm sure they'd tell you.
Regards
Gandalf
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