Snek
Premium Member
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- Feb 1, 2018
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This has annoyed me for a while and I'm sharing my thoughts here to find out if anyone else feels my pain :laughing: .
The editing on the 30th Anniversary Concert video that was broadcast has some baffling editing decisions that have annoyed me ever since I watched the full amateur footage of both nights. I have never wanted to re-edit something myself so badly in my life, and I have zero experience in that field. The footage we received in the professionally shot TV special omits live vocals, chops up good sections of performances, cuts to crowd shots like a overly-excited toddler (or a Live in Bucharest editor ), and even messes with the appearance of certain figures on the show. Here's a quick rundown of the issues I have and what I would change for the final product.
(Not So) Live Vocals
Here's perhaps the most egregious edit of the whole TV special. Parts of the shows were sang live by Michael and then were later dubbed. Particularly, the entire Jacksons section of the show was sang completely live and is heavily dubbed in the special. Obviously Micheal (and the brothers?) was/were involved with this decison, as the dubbed vocals are freshly recorded for this concert video. But it is something that I cannot understand. The vocals were decent on the second show, at least in my opinion.
Side note: yes, the performance on the first night was a little bit all over the place. Even the most ardent MJ defender would have a hard time disputing that fact. Which is why I believe this show in pro footage should be represented 100% in September 10th footage except from Dancing Machine, which was only performed on September 7th.
Bizarrely, only Dancing Machine and I'll Be There retain Michael's original vocals 100%. The rest of the songs have live snippets scattered about in them.
Also on this night, Michael sings a near-flawless live version of his blues-y TWYMMF intro that is almost all cut out of the final product. Why! The rest of the songs seem pretty faithful to the original shows.
The Frankenstein's Monster That Is Billie Jean
Where to start. This definitely appears to be the song that was messed with the most. Basically, both nights of this show had a totally different vibe and presentation. The first night is more spontaneous and the second night is more traditional. The dance breakdown of the first night is longer and appears to be entirely improvised. The second night's dance breakdown is much more reminiscent of a HIStory Tour concert. The edit that we got seems adamant to mash the two together in the worst possible ways. Judge for yourself:
I would rather just see a professionally shot version of one singular night, flaws and all. In this case I'd still take the performance from the 10th.
So Many Crowd Shots
This show has maybe the most cringe-inducing crowd shots of any MJ concert. Overly-excited bowl cut lady, dancing fat man, drunk bowl cut lady, the drunk singing trio, confused lady. Some of these are so bad I have to physically look away when they come up. The only redeeming crowd shots are the cameos from fans that you can spot at other previous concerts. Honestly, if you're gonna cut a show together like this, please have some discipline :rofl:.
Digital Alteration of Appearances
This show was infamous at the time of airing for smoothing out the appearance of Whitney Houston's chest and neck. The consensus at the time, however true it may be, is that it was done to cover up her thinness. Less discussed, however, is that the exact same effect was applied to Michael Jackson's cheeks in the final video. This effect is especially obvious in the upscaled footage and will only become more obvious as time goes on. This effect needs to go, it's not even necessary. He may have been having issues at this time but there is no need to mask this as if he has something to hide.
https://imgbb.com/
VS
Just looks silly to me.
TL;DR
Anyway, I hope someone with the power to make these changes gets to see this. I anticipate one day we'll see an anniversary re-release of these concerts (perhaps on their 30th anniversary? :lmao and I would be sincerely sad if these things were left unchanged. The presentation of these concerts could be so much better.
The editing on the 30th Anniversary Concert video that was broadcast has some baffling editing decisions that have annoyed me ever since I watched the full amateur footage of both nights. I have never wanted to re-edit something myself so badly in my life, and I have zero experience in that field. The footage we received in the professionally shot TV special omits live vocals, chops up good sections of performances, cuts to crowd shots like a overly-excited toddler (or a Live in Bucharest editor ), and even messes with the appearance of certain figures on the show. Here's a quick rundown of the issues I have and what I would change for the final product.
(Not So) Live Vocals
Here's perhaps the most egregious edit of the whole TV special. Parts of the shows were sang live by Michael and then were later dubbed. Particularly, the entire Jacksons section of the show was sang completely live and is heavily dubbed in the special. Obviously Micheal (and the brothers?) was/were involved with this decison, as the dubbed vocals are freshly recorded for this concert video. But it is something that I cannot understand. The vocals were decent on the second show, at least in my opinion.
Side note: yes, the performance on the first night was a little bit all over the place. Even the most ardent MJ defender would have a hard time disputing that fact. Which is why I believe this show in pro footage should be represented 100% in September 10th footage except from Dancing Machine, which was only performed on September 7th.
Bizarrely, only Dancing Machine and I'll Be There retain Michael's original vocals 100%. The rest of the songs have live snippets scattered about in them.
Also on this night, Michael sings a near-flawless live version of his blues-y TWYMMF intro that is almost all cut out of the final product. Why! The rest of the songs seem pretty faithful to the original shows.
The Frankenstein's Monster That Is Billie Jean
Where to start. This definitely appears to be the song that was messed with the most. Basically, both nights of this show had a totally different vibe and presentation. The first night is more spontaneous and the second night is more traditional. The dance breakdown of the first night is longer and appears to be entirely improvised. The second night's dance breakdown is much more reminiscent of a HIStory Tour concert. The edit that we got seems adamant to mash the two together in the worst possible ways. Judge for yourself:
I would rather just see a professionally shot version of one singular night, flaws and all. In this case I'd still take the performance from the 10th.
So Many Crowd Shots
This show has maybe the most cringe-inducing crowd shots of any MJ concert. Overly-excited bowl cut lady, dancing fat man, drunk bowl cut lady, the drunk singing trio, confused lady. Some of these are so bad I have to physically look away when they come up. The only redeeming crowd shots are the cameos from fans that you can spot at other previous concerts. Honestly, if you're gonna cut a show together like this, please have some discipline :rofl:.
Digital Alteration of Appearances
This show was infamous at the time of airing for smoothing out the appearance of Whitney Houston's chest and neck. The consensus at the time, however true it may be, is that it was done to cover up her thinness. Less discussed, however, is that the exact same effect was applied to Michael Jackson's cheeks in the final video. This effect is especially obvious in the upscaled footage and will only become more obvious as time goes on. This effect needs to go, it's not even necessary. He may have been having issues at this time but there is no need to mask this as if he has something to hide.
https://imgbb.com/
VS
Just looks silly to me.
TL;DR
Anyway, I hope someone with the power to make these changes gets to see this. I anticipate one day we'll see an anniversary re-release of these concerts (perhaps on their 30th anniversary? :lmao and I would be sincerely sad if these things were left unchanged. The presentation of these concerts could be so much better.
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