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Petition / Michael Jackson's Work on Blu-ray

Lil Ced

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This petition asks that the MJ Estate and Sony Music preserve Mj's body of work and release them in the highest quality. In the video, there is a great point made that if Shakespeare's work were to be kept in some attic somewhere rotting, people would have an outcry. So why shouldn't Michael's work be treated the same?




Release Michael Jackson's Work on Blu-ray

Here is the link for the petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/release-michael-jackson-s-work-on-blu-ray
Here is the link for the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta9PZ6nx9wk

Please sign and share both links!
 
Signed. It would be amazing to see concerts(Bad Tour most importantly) and short films on Blu-Ray. All film material can be released in HD. Moonwalker Blu-Ray has some great snippets:

 
his tours are record breaking, noteworthy of there charitable funds. and HIStoric, Michael is considered as the greatest live entertainer who ever walked this planet. and you can see that by the wide selection of concerts available in vhs to low dvd quality. it deserves to be seen in 1080p, the film reels DO exist. no question about that, they should NOT be lazy and just release vhs's and low quality umatic edits of these high resolution negatives.
 
8 minute video? They should trim the fat on that.
But yes, they should go back and work with the original directors (if need be) to re-edit the majority of his videos from the original film reels (as most videos were shot on film, but transferred and edited on tape).
 
i signed and shared but no way should it just be short films.



this performance was shot on film. as shown in the one documentary back in 2003.

 
Lil Ced said:
if Shakespeare's work were to be kept in some attic somewhere rotting, people would have an outcry. So why shouldn't Michael's work be treated the same?
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The thing is though, Michael's material isn't being kept in an attic somewhere rotting, his video material is widely available in an absurd number of collections... HIStory on Film (Part I, Part 2), Number Ones, The One, VISION... along with the easy accessibility of YouTube/Vevo as well as music video channels.

I definitely get what you're saying, it's just not that good of a comparison since Michael's material, like Shakesperes, is very easily and widely available. Michael's is just not in the greatest of quality... yet.

Zakk said:
his tours are record breaking, noteworthy of there charitable funds. and HIStoric, Michael is considered as the greatest live entertainer who ever walked this planet.
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LOL I was skimming through this thread half-awake when I saw this and thought you were addressing me for a second, so I was like "Huh?! When did I post in here?" :p

Regardless of the petition though, I'm almost certain we'll get a Blu-ray collection of his short films (and maybe a few performances) within the next few years. I read somewhere that the Estate was digitalising everything of Michaels starting a year or so ago (maybe earlier). If that's the case, they'll be scanning the original negatives for his short films too and you can bet they'll rerelease all his videos in another collection within the next few years. Normally, I'd be against it (We already have 5 collections of his videos) but if it was Blu-ray exclusive or something, I'd be fine because we've barely seen his content in HD.

I'm honestly fine with waiting another few years to be honest. There is a lot of material they have to scan (and perhaps even touch up as some of the film may have deteriorated over the years) and I'd rather have it released in 2017 and be perfect, than have it released in 2014 and be rushed and worser off.

Oh and also, the video (along with it's intro) reaaaaallly needs to be cut down. I'm an MJ fan who wants this to happen but even I turned it off pretty quickly.
 
HIStoric said:
The thing is though, Michael's material isn't being kept in an attic somewhere rotting, his video material is widely available in an absurd number of collections... HIStory on Film (Part I, Part 2), Number Ones, The One, VISION... along with the easy accessibility of YouTube/Vevo as well as music video channels.
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Yes but the original film reels could be rotting somewhere in warehouses. I hope that is not the case and they are really digitalising everything in the best possible quality. I would do anything to see Michael's short films and Bad Tour in HD. :)

Here is great short documentary about scanning and restoring film:
 
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AtlasAir said:
8 minute video? They should trim the fat on that.
But yes, they should go back and work with the original directors (if need be) to re-edit the majority of his videos from the original film reels (as most videos were shot on film, but transferred and edited on tape).
Click to expand...

How do you know this ? Is there anything online about how they edited Michael's films ? I'm just curious because I've always wanted to know how they edited his short films ^_^

Galactus123 said:
Yes but the original film reels could be rotting somewhere in warehouses. I hope that is not the case and they are really digitalising everything in the best possible quality. I would do anything to see Michael's short films and Bad Tour in HD. :)

Here is great short documentary about scanning and restoring film:
Click to expand...

Well if the digitalising thing is true, it certainly wouldn't be rotting away in a warehouse anymore. I have a good feeling that the raw footage from the vast majority of his films have been archived properly regardless of the digitalising thing. They had a lot of the raw, unedited footage of Leave Me Alone for Bad 25 as well. Alternative angles in great quality for TWYMMF etc etc. If they have all those, it's likely they have the actual footage used in the short films archived properly.

Here's two other short videos about restoring some old classics - it's a very interesting process :)
Dracula (1931)
Jaws (1975)

To be honest, when it comes to Michael's short films, I think it's more of a question of 'when' than 'if'. When they do release his short films in HD, I hope they release a small documentary (~10-15 minutes) just showing how they restored his films and stuff. No doubt some of the film has probably deteriorated slightly, so they could show comparisons between the uncleaned and cleaned up footage. At least a small section about it in a booklet. It's nice when you buy a Blu-ray of an older film and there's a short snippet in the booklet (or extra on the disc) that tells you the studio was able to rescan and remaster the film you are about to watch.

Hell, because they'd be going through raw footage again, they might even be able to show us small deleted scenes (they showed us a few in Bad 25 for Bad).
 
HIStoric said:
How do you know this ? Is there anything online about how they edited Michael's films ? I'm just curious because I've always wanted to know how they edited his short films ^_^



Well if the digitalising thing is true, it certainly wouldn't be rotting away in a warehouse anymore. I have a good feeling that the raw footage from the vast majority of his films have been archived properly regardless of the digitalising thing. They had a lot of the raw, unedited footage of Leave Me Alone for Bad 25 as well. Alternative angles in great quality for TWYMMF etc etc. If they have all those, it's likely they have the actual footage used in the short films archived properly.

Here's two other short videos about restoring some old classics - it's a very interesting process :)
Dracula (1931)
Jaws (1975)

To be honest, when it comes to Michael's short films, I think it's more of a question of 'when' than 'if'. When they do release his short films in HD, I hope they release a small documentary (~10-15 minutes) just showing how they restored his films and stuff. No doubt some of the film has probably deteriorated slightly, so they could show comparisons between the uncleaned and cleaned up footage. At least a small section about it in a booklet. It's nice when you buy a Blu-ray of an older film and there's a short snippet in the booklet (or extra on the disc) that tells you the studio was able to rescan and remaster the film you are about to watch.

Hell, because they'd be going through raw footage again, they might even be able to show us small deleted scenes (they showed us a few in Bad 25 for Bad).
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there are 3 confirmed 1988 BAD Tour shows in the estate's archive shot on 16-35mm film, confirmed by two people who worked on the tour. i am expecting a bad tour second leg blu ray in the future, no way should they leave us with the worst quality dvd ever released.
 
Zakk said:
there are 3 confirmed 1988 BAD Tour shows in the estate's archive shot on 16-35mm film, confirmed by two people who worked on the tour. i am expecting a bad tour second leg blu ray in the future, no way should they leave us with the worst quality dvd ever released.
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Well there's a difference there, Zakk. They worked as (I'm assuming) cameramen, not archivists. While that footage may have been shot, it doesn't necessarily mean it's still archived to this day - nor would the cameramen know if it is. I imagine multiple angles of a single two hour show is an absolute shit load of film, let alone multiple nights. It would be expensive to maintain and store over all these years.

So while I'm not doubting that they were filmed in the first place, we still can't be sure as to whether the Estate still has access to all this film, or if something has happened to it in the quarter of a century since it was originally shot. If the Estate, or someone who archives for them at the moment, confirms it's existence, then we can be positive of not only the fact it exists, but that it will also be released in the quality MJ deserves at some point in the future.
 
HIStoric said:
Well there's a difference there, Zakk. They worked as (I'm assuming) cameramen, not archivists. While that footage may have been shot, it doesn't necessarily mean it's still archived to this day - nor would the cameramen know if it is. I imagine multiple angles of a single two hour show is an absolute shit load of film, let alone multiple nights. It would be expensive to maintain and store over all these years.

So while I'm not doubting that they were filmed in the first place, we still can't be sure as to whether the Estate still has access to all this film, or if something has happened to it in the quarter of a century since it was originally shot. If the Estate, or someone who archives for them at the moment, confirms it's existence, then we can be positive of not only the fact it exists, but that it will also be released in the quality MJ deserves at some point in the future.
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dave powell spoke with patrick kelley's assistant and she told him that the original footage shot by pk has been in Michael's archive since the conclusion of the tour in 1989. and that this footage was identified and catalogued as of last year..
 
Zakk said:
dave powell spoke with patrick kelley's assistant and she told him that the original footage shot by pk has been in Michael's archive since the conclusion of the tour in 1989. and that this footage was identified and catalogued as of last year..
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I'm unfamiliar with those names, but if what you say is true, then it's pretty much just a matter of waiting now :)
 
HIStoric said:
I'm unfamiliar with those names, but if what you say is true, then it's pretty much just a matter of waiting now :)
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dave powell is in the wembley dvd/cd booklet, he was the sound recording engineer on July 15th & 16th 1988. Warren Eagles was the colourist of those film reels, he edited the show from the 16/35mm film reels in 1988. Frank DiLeo visited the visions warehouse twice during there stay in england during that year. And Patrick Kelley was Michael's personal Film Director of the Tour, he had a whole team shooting film footage. Full Shows including 2 at wembley, confirmed to me by warren. I Don't think it was 15th or 16th. & as was Aintree 1988, confirmed by Dave on this forum. They are now catologued and more than likely digitally archived, i hope they also created new 35mm prints.. as universal do with there old films. Meaning they can create 4k Versions in the future when it's widely popular.
 
Zakk said:
dave powell is in the wembley dvd/cd booklet, he was the sound recording engineer on July 15th & 16th 1988. Warren Eagles was the colourist of those film reels, he edited the show from the 16/35mm film reels in 1988. Frank DiLeo visited the visions warehouse twice during there stay in england during that year. And Patrick Kelley was Michael's personal Film Director of the Tour, he had a whole team shooting film footage. Full Shows including 2 at wembley, confirmed to me by warren. I Don't think it was 15th or 16th. & as was Aintree 1988, confirmed by Dave on this forum. They are now catologued and more than likely digitally archived, i hope they also created new 35mm prints.. as universal do with there old films. Meaning they can create 4k Versions in the future when it's widely popular.
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Ooh very interesting. Thanks for that :D
 
HIStoric said:
Ooh very interesting. Thanks for that :D
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you're welcome, i think these are the most precious shows they have! they're raw and capture Michael at his performing peak as warren said in his article, i wouldn't be surprised if they waited until the 2030's to release it on Blu-Ray!
 
Zakk said:
you're welcome, i think these are the most precious shows they have! they're raw and capture Michael at his performing peak as warren said in his article, i wouldn't be surprised if they waited until the 2030's to release it on Blu-Ray!
Click to expand...

Why do you think they'd wait until the 2030s to release this ? In all honesty, we'll probably see it by the end of 2017 in one way or another. Oh and by 2030, it's very likely Blu-ray will have been replaced :p
 
HIStoric said:
Why do you think they'd wait until the 2030s to release this ? In all honesty, we'll probably see it by the end of 2017 in one way or another. Oh and by 2030, it's very likely Blu-ray will have been replaced :p
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because they think that the crap vhs quality is enough for people, when i can't even watch it anymore. i turned it off last time during another part of me.. i just hope they don't leave them in the archive..
 
Oh come on! The VHS quality on the Wembley DVD isn't THAT bad. Yes, it could have been better but it's not unwatchable
 
analogue said:
Oh come on! The VHS quality on the Wembley DVD isn't THAT bad. Yes, it could have been better but it's not unwatchable
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is for me after watching 5 blu rays from 1936-1985... -_-
 
It's a no brainer to me. All of his music videos, certainly the major ones, should be transferred from the film reels onto Blu-ray.

This to me is one of the most important things the Estate could do.
 
analogue said:
Oh come on! The VHS quality on the Wembley DVD isn't THAT bad. Yes, it could have been better but it's not unwatchable
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I agree. It could have been a lot better, but it's still watchable. I got used to it pretty quickly first time I watched it. If anything, it adds a bit of a... 'nostalgic' (?) factor to it I suppose ?
Zakk said:
is for me after watching 5 blu rays from 1936-1985... -_-
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Well... yeah. If you watch 5 films in glorious high-definition and then suddenly switch to a VHS-quality video (that is roughly 1/4 the size of HD), of course it's going to look worse. I watch Blu-rays from time to time but I still get used to the quality relatively quickly. Maybe try to not have a marathon of Blu-ray movies before watching it ? :p

(Oh and it doesn't really matter what year the films you mentioned come out either. The vast majority of films released on Blu-ray have been sourced from the original film negatives or similar which, depending on how well the film has been treated and the type of film it is, can be of extremely high quality. The Bad Live at Wembley DVD was sourced from a 25 year old VHS that has no doubt been played hundreds of time and as such, experienced somewhat of a loss in quality. The Umatics wouldn't be much better either (while not the only factor, their resolution is only slightly higher than that of a VHS). I mean, it's not the best but it's certainly not unwatchable in most circumstances).
 
While I agree with many here that Michael’s work should be released in the highest quality available to consumers, those in authority feel otherwise and I believe it damages Michael’s legacy.

There was only one opportunity to release Vision and any one of Michael’s Bad Tour performances in the quality standard that was befitting of Michael. Those opportunities were regretfully passed for profit that did not even seem satisfactory to those in authority anyway.

The posthumous releases have left a bitter aftertaste at least for me. As a fan, I appreciate the products however, I am disappointed each time. My monies have already been spent and I fear that is all that matters.
 
Tygger;3926010 said:
While I agree with many here that Michael’s work should be released in the highest quality available to consumers, those in authority feel otherwise and I believe it damages Michael’s legacy.

There was only one opportunity to release Vision and any one of Michael’s Bad Tour performances in the quality standard that was befitting of Michael. Those opportunities were regretfully passed for profit that did not even seem satisfactory to those in authority anyway.

The posthumous releases have left a bitter aftertaste at least for me. As a fan, I appreciate the products however, I am disappointed each time. My monies have already been spent and I fear that is all that matters.
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I dunno. Personally, I actually love the Vision boxset and I think the quality is fine. Have I seen better ? Yeah, but it's still fine to me. Normally, I'd be annoyed with them releasing another compilation of Michael's, but I'd be fine with it once-off if they did a Blu-ray exclusive collection or something. I think we have to remember that it will be a lot of work to rescan all the old film negatives again. If what AtlasAir said a number of posts ago was true, then it'll probably take even longer because they don't have a 'final cut' negative that they can just scan and digitally fix up, they'll have to re-edit every single short film. Theres over 4 hours of MJ content so no doubt that's going to take quite some time.

I'd much rather wait a few years and have a really good quality product, then have them rush it out and have it be a mediocre product. A shit product is forever shit, whereas a great product may be late, but it is forever great. It is because of that I am willing to wait, and if I ever wish to watch Michael's films, Vision will keep me happy for the meantime.
 
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HIStoric said:
I'd much rather wait a few years and have a really good quality product, then have them rush it out and have it be a mediocre product. A shit product is forever shit, whereas a great product may be late, but it is forever great. It is because of that I am willing to wait, and if I ever wish to watch Michael's films, Vision will keep me happy for the meantime.
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Agreed however, the product should not have been released until it was at the appropriate standard as there were already many short film collections available. The quality of the Wembly show was simply unforgivable and absolutely destroyed the mega-success that product should have received. The Wembly DVD (like the other posthumous releases) was successful on the strength of Michael alone. Imagine how successful it would have been with the superior quality and correct packaging and marketing.
 
Wembley was tolerable. Watchable, but still pretty bad.

The idea that they don't have multi track recordings of a concert to match a master video copy of a show is silly.
SILLY, I tell you! :D

Yes, Yokohama wasn't a good representation of the Bad Tour and it has been available online forever, it was shot and edited like a real concert special would be and was never commercially released.
I wish it would have been a 2 dvd set.
 
Tygger said:
Agreed however, the product should not have been released until it was at the appropriate standard as there were already many short film collections available. The quality of the Wembly show was simply unforgivable and absolutely destroyed the mega-success that product should have received. The Wembly DVD (like the other posthumous releases) was successful on the strength of Michael alone. Imagine how successful it would have been with the superior quality and correct packaging and marketing.
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I actually agree with you about how it destroyed the mega-success it could've been. At least in the future, when it is properly released, it'll have superior quality and HOPEFULLY good packaging and marketing. I know many people who aren't avid MJ fans like us who would be interested in seeing Michael Jackson perform on the Bad tour in what was his prime. Plus, seeing footage from the 1980s that is crystal clear high definition always make people go WOAH too, which is a plus :p
 
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