Well, dear readers, part one of the Nudie Adventure is done. The hi-def picture part of the transfer has been laid to digital tape. My only slight disappointment at this point are the end credits, but we were at least able to fix the worst part of them by freeze-framing on one card. Whoever did this hatchet job should be ashamed of themselves, and I finally realized that this redone title thing was spliced onto every print, save for my own personal print, and that one is so faded that no color can be gotten out of it and hence cannot be used. So, I’m hoping that when we get to part three of the Nudie Adventure, the cleanup, that they’ll be able to work some magic. So, next Thursday begins and ends part two – the audio. We have four hours booked. The first thirty minutes will be spent in getting a good EQ on the overall track. Then they begin the transfer and we will stop twice to fix loose lip-synching problems (we fixed them on the DVD, so it’s pretty simple). Once the layback is complete, then they have to go on the DVD and transfer the sound for the trailer. I had a negative but picture only, so the trailer is in hi-def but we now need the sound. It should all get done within the four hours, I should think, since it’s only a ninety-four minute film, which leaves us a little under two-and-a-half hours to do any futzing.
Then after that part three begins – the cleanup. We have ten hours budgeted and we will use them as best we can. The first thing we’ll attend to is removing the cue marks – once that’s done, then we’ll go back to the top and do as much cleanup as we can – mostly just the little light scratches from reels one and two, and the occasional white or black blips that come up – those are, apparently, very easy to fix without applying overall DNR – every transfer worth anything always goes through this stage and the software used doesn’t introduce anomalies like what people on those silly boards complain about all the time – edge enhancement, haloes, jaggy lines – I never see any of that stuff because, you know, I’m a real human being and I don’t sit with my nose on the TV screen looking for stuff. We’re not going to do anything about the grain – that’s always been there and should remain, even though it would be nice to have a little less of it, that is where you introduce artifacts and lose detail. My guess is that when it comes out some wag or other will complain about haloes and edge enhancement and DNR and then it will be my extreme pleasure to set them straight once and for all – they will not be able to argue because I will know exactly what I’m talking about and will prove to them once and for all that they don’t know what they’re talking about. That will be fun. Once we finish part three, save for any last minute stuff, we will be done with this part of the process and everything will then go to the company who’ll be authoring and pressing the disc.
After the session, I came home and did a four-mile jog, then answered e-mails, made telephonic calls, and then went to Gelson’s, where I got a nice halibut filet. I picked up two count them two packages and then came back home and baked the halibut – it was yummilicious and only about four hundred calories, which I’d already burned. Then Mr. Piano Tuner arrived and tuned the piano, which now sounds lovelier than lovely. After that, I worked out some stuff for episode six of the web series – I’d gotten a really funny idea whilst jogging and so I fleshed it out. Then I proofed booklets, listened to a potential upcoming Kritzerland release, then had a little nosh with Doug Haverty, where we discussed the packaging for the Blu and Ray of Nudie Musical. I’ve seen about eight designs, none of which I’ve cared for. We’ve been trying to use the Jimmy Pearsall girl line art that was the second release’s ad image. It’s great for ads and is fine on a solid color background (like the Varese soundtrack LP), but it just doesn’t look good on a Blu-Ray package and I’ve seen it with all sorts of colors and little patterns behind it. So, I’ve asked Doug to just go in a whole other direction to see what he comes up with. We can use the girl somewhere else on the packaging. I’m not real articulate about what I want – I just know it when I see it. The DVD cover wasn’t that great and I don’t want it to look anything like that. Whilst having that meeting, I had a bowl of matzo ball soup (450 calories), and that was a perfect nosh and my total calorie intake for the day, with a handful of chocolate raisins, was about 1000 (but remember, I burned 400 of that). I never felt hungry during the day, but did later, which is why I did the soup.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because as much as I need to get a great night’s beauty sleep, I have to be up at eight again, so maybe tomorrow I can sleep in a bit.
Today, I shall be up at eight and then helper and CDs arrive and we’ll ship everything out. After that, I’ll jog (hopefully four miles), then the rest of the day is fairly light, save for giving packaging fixes, prepping our new release announcement, and writing the final two first season episodes of the web series. Then at four, Juliana comes over to rehearse her three songs.
Tomorrow, we have our second Gardenia rehearsal, after which I’ll go have a nice dinner. The weekend will be filled with relaxing and writing and announcing our new Kritzerland title.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, ship CDs, jog, give fixes, prep, write, eat something light but amusing and then have a short rehearsal. Today’s topic of discussion: What’s your favorite nosh – especially your favorite late-night snack? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I’m quite certain I shall dream of the Nudie Adventure.