I'd be interested in reading Bikey's comments about source materials for this DVD.[/quote]
Film Fan Sea,
Apologies for the tardiness of the reply. I've not been around for a few days.
I don't know whether our source material was the same master that Kino used for their release. Though I am loath to make any comparisons with anyone else's release the master that we received did appear to be in a better state than any other release of the film I have seen. We worked closely with our production facility to do the best restoration job that our budget would allow. We would love to be able to spend months restoring every film we release to pristine quality but that just doesn't make economic sense for us. We are a tiny concern working in a niche market operating on limited means who are always having to weigh up how much we can spend on a project compared to the quality of the source while factoring in what we think it will sell with how badly we want to release the film (you should see the graphs in my office....).
The last thing we want to do is to release something that doesn't come up to a certain standard and leaves you guys feeling that we are just 'bunging things out'. For a label such as us that is trying to develop a long term business that kind of attitude would be disastrous. That's not what we are about and I hope that our affection for the films we release comes over in everything we are trying to do.
Mother Joan of the Angels was a prime example. We had to make a choice between doing the restoration we could afford and releasing a version that, in the light of the state of the source, was far from perfect but is, at the moment, the only decent version available out there. Or we could have decided not to bother at all as we couldn't deliver a pristine version (it's unlikely that anyone will given the state of the source). We chose the former as we think that it is a wonderful film that we adore and one that should be available for people to see.
(I saw Mother Joan again at our screening last week and I never fail to find something new in it ever time I watch it. This time it was just
how sexually charged the flagellation is. Crikey.)
If we do release films that we feel are compromised in any way we will always note it on the sleeve so that the consumer can decide for themselves whether to spend their money with us. Personally I really don't believe that we needed to do this with The Red & the White. The image may be a
little soft in places but I think it looks pretty good for a 40 year old film.
I hope this is a satisfactory response. Let me know your thoughts.
Bikey.
Oh and if anyone does have any friends or family members who are sitting on a large nest egg that they would like to donate to a fledgling DVD label's restoration fund then please put them in touch with me.
