The Estate share the full Ghosts short film on VEVO

[SoCav]

^It may not be a big deal but it's true that whoever is running the official Facebook account is very sloppy. These people are paid to do this and cannot even get something basic that everyone could check on the net in 5 seconds right (they label it 'Ghost' everywhere). Can you imagine running a page that reaches 79 million people and being that sloppy? And of course the point is that it is not the first time. Remember the pic from the female impersonator that was passed off as MJ, for instance? Embarrassing.

 

[HIStory]

^It may not be a big deal but it's true that whoever is running the official Facebook account is very sloppy. These people are paid to do this and cannot even get something basic that everyone could check on the net in 5 seconds right (they label it 'Ghost' everywhere). Can you imagine running a page that reaches 79 million people and being that sloppy? And of course the point is that it is not the first time. Remember the pic from the female impersonator that was passed off as MJ, for instance? Embarrassing.

There are reasons to criticize the Estate for but when people go into a rant about every little mistake they make it makes it a bit ridiculous IMO. If you are so bothered by it then write to the Estate and Sony and ask them to fire the person whoever administers the Facebook page or the VEVO account (I can assure you it's not John Branca or John McClain, though) and to replace that person with a hard core fan who will never make such mistakes. Or if he does then fire him or her as well. I mean I have books written by hard core fans (like Chris Cadman's For The Record) who live and breathe MJ every day and even those have mistakes.

 

[SoCav]

^The rant that started this topic was not about the misspelling, and I didn't get the impression anyone here is extremely bothered by it (at least I'm not). Of course everyone can make mistakes, but I do think it is very sloppy to not even Google check very basic, easy-to-find facts. You do not have to be a hardcore Michael Jackson fan to do that. Imo it's just a sign that the FB page is not taken very seriously by the people in charge of it.

 

[OnirMJ]

You have your opinion and I have mine, and in mine, the bad far outweighs the good. Yeah, they have given a lot of songs, most of which have been ****ed up by idiots who had no right being anywhere a Michael Jackson song!

Yeah, for now the bad far outweighs the good. That is true. But I strongly disagree with your opinion about "****ed up" songs and "idiots" and especially with "who had no right being anywhere a Michael Jackson song". But like you said, you have your opinion and I have mine.

 

[OnirMJ]

:rofl:

I have to say some fans try so hard to find reasons to bash the Estate for something all the time. Michael himself sometimes misspelled lyrics of his songs, so what?

I agree. But still, they should fix the mistake.

 

[HIStory]

^The rant that started this topic was not about the misspelling, and I didn't get the impression anyone here is extremely bothered by it (at least I'm not).

This poster seems pretty much bothered: http://www.mjjcommunity.com/forum/t...n-VEVO/page3?p=4053062&viewfull=1#post4053062

Which is his right, of course, but it is such a disproportionate reaction that do not wonder if some others will make fun of it rather than taking it seriously.

If anyone is so very bothered by it why don't you guys contact the FB administrator/VEVO and correct him/her/them? Ranting here won't do anything about that. Also a polite way of correcting them may work better than ranting and cursing them out. (I'm not directing this personally to you.)

 

[SoCav]

LOL, ok, I didn't see that post.

 

[Bubs]

Things have slowed down in MJ world if this is what we have become, petty arguments over 1 letter spelling mistake? Demanding Branca' resignation over it, even though he is not even responsible such a grand mistake?

Did anyone even thought of that it was nice thing to do advertise Ghosts for 79,526,716 people who follows MJ's fb, rather than advertising the usual Thriller this time of the year?


"If anyone is so very bothered by it why don't you guys contact the FB administrator/VEVO and correct him/her/them? Ranting here won't do anything about that. Also a polite way of correcting them may work better than ranting and cursing them out."

Agree.

 

[Eric]

Can someone edit the title of this thread because it's obviously incorrect.

 

[elusive moonwalker]

Be thankful that the ghost "single" short film is even getting publicity. its pretty much an unknown gem. but nope ppl to busy moaning about nothing. like bubs said better than same ole thriller at this time of year

 

[OnirMJ]

Be thankful that the ghost "single" short film is even getting publicity. its pretty much an unknown gem. but nope ppl to busy moaning about nothing. like bubs said better than same ole thriller at this time of year

getting publicity where? It's blocked worldwide! Only US people can watch. For me that is bigger problem than wrong title. That should be changed because MJ is world artist.

 

[SmoothGangsta]

The fact that it's blocked is a bigger deal than this mistake imo. I do agree however that the fact they did misspell it shows that they don't care really. I mean they could have at least googled it like others have said but clearly that wasn't even done.

 

[elusive moonwalker]

getting publicity where? It's blocked worldwide! Only US people can watch. For me that is bigger problem than wrong title. That should be changed because MJ is world artist.

yeah it should change. im old school i have no idea what
vevo or what ever its called is. but at least its getting promo in the usa. its not surprising its been done this way given the egocentic nature of the U.S market.but the U.S is a huge market so to ask where is it getting promo like the U.S is some tiny market is abit OTT.sooner or later id expect it to be put out on dvd etc but thats prob for the future. as bubs said at least they are using this instead of thriller

 

[Tygger]

If one was at their routine 9 to 5 job and made a typo out of ignorance, their superior – provided the superior was not ignorant of the error as well – would correct them. Regardless of how the superior tells an employee there is a mistake – from rude to kind, personal or non-personal - the employee will correct it if they want to keep their job.

This is a Michael Jackson forum and many of the discussions are about his legacy. If a poster(s) states an error was made, they should. Regardless of how a poster(s) expresses frustration about that error and how minor some may feel the error is, the error should be corrected. It should not be dismissed simply because the error was made by an Estate and/or Sony employee. As they are responsible for Michael’s musical legacy, they should be held at a higher standard of accountability.

To divert U.S. attention via Facebook to the less than four minute version is futile. Where should one go to see the full version in all of its glory? It should not be either/or with Michael’s work. Thriller and Ghosts should be celebrated particularly at this time of year for some. I would not have made a Facebook entry unless it was to promote a proper DVD/CD package of these two works together. Anything else brings negative attention which is what happened.

 

[Annita]

OMG, they misspelled Ghosts?!?!?! What are we gonna do now?!?!? :bugeyed

I am sure there will be a petiton soon.

 

[HIStory]

If one was at their routine 9 to 5 job and made a typo out of ignorance, their superior – provided the superior was not ignorant of the error as well – would correct them. Regardless of how the superior tells an employee there is a mistake – from rude to kind, personal or non-personal - the employee will correct it if they want to keep their job.

This is a Michael Jackson forum and many of the discussions are about his legacy. If a poster(s) states an error was made, they should. Regardless of how a poster(s) expresses frustration about that error and how minor some may feel the error is, the error should be corrected. It should not be dismissed simply because the error was made by an Estate and/or Sony employee. As they are responsible for Michael’s musical legacy, they should be held at a higher standard of accountability.

Did you bring their attention to the error already? Like I said going on and on and on about the error here will not accomplish anything. Whoever is bothered by it should turn to those running the FB page/VEVO account.

 

[ivy]

I would not have made a Facebook entry unless it was to promote a proper DVD/CD package of these two works together. Anything else brings negative attention which is what happened.

what negative attention? are you talking about a handful members here?

I would think more than 95,000 likes and more than 10,000 shares is quite positive response. and I don't get what's wrong with getting around 100,000 people watch Ghosts video -even the short version. and honestly "they shouldn't be posting/linking to MJ's videos, they should only refer to them when they are releasing a full CD/DVD/Bluray package" seems to be very narrow sighted. Not everything needs to be a promotion to sell a product.

I can't believe on a MJ forum I'm reading statements like sharing Ghosts with millions of people was a bad thing. Am I in the twilight zone?

 

[Tygger]

Did you bring their attention to the error already?

You are aware the Estate/Sony has lurkers here? wink If you have gone to Vimeo or clicked/shared the FB link, thanks.

what negative attention? are you talking about a handful members here?

Many of that handful helped make Xscape a far superior product than previously offered however; I understand the reason for your dismissal.

As I said, I would not have posted the link. Where will those 100K, as you have stated, go to view the full film? As a pesky forward thinker, I believe if one can capture another’s attention regarding Michael’s Ghosts, it is more valuable to present the full short film instead of the less than four minute clip. You may believe otherwise and that is fine.

Since Estate/Sony cannot deliver the full short film some will be satisfied with what they receive. I know there is something better on YT.

 

[HIStory]

You are aware the Estate/Sony has lurkers here? wink If you have gone to Vimeo or clicked/shared the FB link, thanks.

Can I take your answer for a "no" then?

No, I am not aware whether there are lurkers or not here and who exactly supposedly lurks. But if something is important to me and I want the Estate to know I send them that info either through the online team or there is a thread on this forum where requests can be sent to them. I personally do not feel it that big of a problem whether it's called Ghosts or Ghost on VEVO, but if you and others do you are free to communicate that to the Estate through the relevant channels. Actually it could have been done long ago in about 2 minutes instead of the futile complaining in this thread.

 

[ivy]

Where will those 100K, as you have stated, go to view the full film? As a pesky forward thinker, I believe if one can capture another’s attention regarding Michael’s Ghosts, it is more valuable to present the full short film instead of the less than four minute clip. You may believe otherwise and that is fine.

well the answer to this is who is your target group?

If we are talking about fans, die hard fans I agree that posting the full version could have been better. However for this group not posting the full version isn't necessarily a limitation. As you pointed out that it's already available online and I'm inclined to believe people can type "ghosts full version" to youtube to find and watch it. We don't need to be spoon fed everything.

If the target group is casual fans- which I think most of the 79 million people who liked MJ FB page would be - posting the less than 4 minute version is better. No casual fan is going to spend 39 minutes watching any video.

Still this is a situation of much ado about nothing. it's close to halloween, they posted a relevant video to a general public with a minor typo. Few fans misunderstand the post and days later we are still talking about very minute details. If they posted nothing, people would have complained. If they posted thriller. people would have complained why it's not ghosts. If they only used social media accounts to promote official releases aka for sales (like you suggested), people would have complained. If they do something that doesn't fit to people's perfect expectations - wanting an full official release in this instance, people would complain. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. Perhaps some people do like all this complaining and negativity but it surely takes the joy out of anything MJ music related.

No, I am not aware whether there are lurkers or not here and who exactly supposedly lurks. But if something is important to me and I want the Estate to know I send them that info. Actually it could have been done long ago in about 2 minutes instead of the futile complaining in this thread.

tygger is right that one of the things Online Team does is to follow the fans so the speak but there's no guarantee that they read anything and everything. Most of the time they need to be alerted to a situation and thread and only after that they follow it. So you are right that "well they lurk, so they might see what we post and if they do they can correct it" doesn't seem to be the most efficient way to achieve any outcome. An email sent asking why the video isn't available every location and pointing out the typo would have been much more effective. But then again we should probably consider what is the actual goal here? Getting the typo/location limitation corrected or complain about it?

 

[OnirMJ]

An email sent asking why the video isn't available every location and pointing out the typo would have been much more effective.

That should be the goal. Making the video available everywhere. And that e-mail or tweet or whatever should be sent directly to them via direct contact. So please members he have direct contact with Online Team, please let them know about this. Typo can be mentioned also. But making the video worldwide = more views should be the main goal.

 

[Electro]

Ghosts (full short film) was released as "Video CD" in Asia. Must be the best quality available, if it wasn't shown on TV in HD somewhere?
I had that Video CD, but the quality wasn't too great. Rather compressed data. Some little artefacts when things moved too fast etc. Might have been my DVD player though.

all that time money and effort gone into such a great video and even back then it seemed like a total waste. no one really got to see it.

The full short film was on mainstream TV in Germany (with heavy promo upfront) on the day of the start of the second leg of the HIStory Tour, and i'm sure similar things happened in other countries that the tour went to. Of course thats nothing the general public remember forever, but "no one" having seen it isn't really the case. They also show it on Halloween once in a while.

I think the ~40min length is also part of the problem. Too long for a regular play in music TV (with commercials, that would be like a 1 hour MJ special), too short for regular TV which are used to show full length movies. So it always can only drop only into the special interest slots.

Another problem is that i think is that it's too much of a Disney style childrens movie... nothing as edgy, cool and something for "grown ups" as Thriller. Not a good basis to become "cult".

It was never Ghost. That was just fan speculation at the time before the release. As soon as BOTDF dropped it was titled Ghosts.

If i remember correctly there was a short promo only VHS released by Sony with just text infos and Ghosts song instrumental playing where it said "Ghost". There must have been at least one official source for the misspelling back then. Otherwise why would have fans start misspelling it in the first place.

The 1995 version you speak of is already available. The Ghosts and Is It Scary parts have slightly remixed bits of 2 Bad as the music, but no vocals, and the mayor transformation is different.

Jupp, got the file.
Does anyone know which version was shown when Michael premiered the film in Cannes? The very first premiere of the film (together with Steven Kings "Thinner" 1995 in US cinemas must have been that "too bad"-only early version.

 

[OnirMJ]

Which year was it filmed? I always thought it was 1996. But some of you are saying that there is a version from 1995 being played?

 

[Victory22]

Well since shitty Estate isn't promoting new material from XSCAPE they could promote old songs. Sometimes it's better to keep with the old work, what the people want.

More like what a few MJ Estate Haters want but the Estate won't be black mailed or bullied into kow-towing to those shitty demands. Thank God.

 

[Victory22]

John McClain is awesome, but i think Jackie Jackson should take over as the other Co-Exec.. leave Branca to the legal stuff.

The day any Jackson other than Prince, Paris and Blanket take over as Co-Exec and or Exec is the day I give up on MJ's legacy.

 

[Tygger]

Can I take your answer for a "no" then?

You can take it as a no if you like but, you would be remiss in believing there is only one method to reach Estate/Sony.

So you are right that "well they lurk, so they might see what we post and if they do they can correct it" doesn't seem to be the most efficient way to achieve any outcome.

Are you sure? I could be wrong but I would be willing to suggest the discussion on this forum regarding Vevo’s APWNN comment section saved Cirque’s APWNN comment section from disaster.

well the answer to this is who is your target group?

The question is: “where will those 100K, as you have stated, go to view the full film?” The only answer is YT and that has nothing to do with being spoon fed or target groups.

It is not the best course of action to point U.S. viewers to Vimeo when they have to go elsewhere (YT) to see the full, short film and Estate/Sony cannot benefit from that. You used similar logic to explain Motown25 footage not appearing on the Time-Life offering despite the Estate being enriched from that project. There is no enrichment in this situation with U.S. viewers going to Vimeo (and then to YT) unless of course, Sony prefers these viewers purchase the song. I asked my U.S. friend and she confirmed there is a link to Amazon/Itunes for one to purchase the song. To be enriched from the clip, Estate/Sony must renegotiate with Kingdom so this film can be released in its full glory.

No casual fan is going to spend 39 minutes watching any video.

If anyone suggested this to Michael when he started filming Ghosts, I am glad he ignored the suggestion.

If Sony is looking for attention, I believe they have learned from the APWNN Twitter disaster and are utilizing FB. I do not know how you decided the majority of Michael’s FB fans should be characterized as casual fans but, a MJ fan is a MJ fan. I believe a MJ fan, casual or not, would gladly watch 40 minutes of Michael in Ghosts if they have not already. He and his talent are mesmerizing there.

 

[Hess]

I just hope they will release this on Blu-Ray on day!

Maybe 40 minutes is to short to a stand-alone release BUT - if they add the making of and some brand new rehearsal footage and maybe something from the creative proces even before the filming that would be great.

They could also make a Halloween special fan release Blu-Ray "Thriller and Ghosts" - with Thriller and Ghosts of course - but also The making of thriller. the making of Ghosts - and hopefully a lot of new never seen before rehearsal footage. - Or any new footage with MJ really. - Maybe something from Cannes - how was it recieved etc. etc. - MJ filmed like everything in mid 90's didn't he ?? - So sure there must be A LOT of footage to release.

It really deserves a HD release. - Also it could be released on iTunes etc. MJ's art should be seen by as many as possible !

 

[krikzil]

Reruns again.

 

[ivy]

Are you sure?

well it's been 2+ days and there's still a typo. There's no way to tell if it would be corrected or even if they saw this discussion or not. You tell me if you see it as an effective method for seeking a correction. What people are trying to say if a direct approach was used - such as sending an email, it would take a minute and at least there would be confirmation that they received the email.

It is not the best course of action to point U.S. viewers to Vimeo when they have to go elsewhere (YT) to see the full, short film and Estate/Sony cannot benefit from that.

Not Vimeo, Vevo. Vevo is owned partially by Sony btw. As for "enrichment", they are getting advertising revenues from every video watched on Vevo. Also I don't get why you are focused on benefit/enrichment aspect. I personally think they just shared a scary and fitting video because it was Halloween, their action didn't have any money aspect.

I do not know how you decided the majority of Michael’s FB fans should be characterized as casual fans but, a MJ fan is a MJ fan.

Well logic and common sense. MJ FB has 79+ Million likes but the active fan community we see on MJ fan forums, twitter etc is much more smaller. So I would classify the people here as the die hard fans and the rest as not. I also have friends in real life who calls themselves fans, people liking MJ's music but the only album they own are Number ones. Those are casual fans in my opinion. I'm not saying they aren't a fan, they are fans. But I would agree that perhaps the casual fan label is way too general and there are difference in people's interest levels. Still a 40 minute video requires a person willing to dedicate a significant amount of time and for that FB group a shorter video would work better in my opinion.

They could also make a Halloween special fan release Blu-Ray "Thriller and Ghosts"

That's probably in works or eventually would happen. Branca said they are following Michael's plans and he had a plan for a Halloween special. Landis recently confirmed a 3D Thriller release so I think it's safe to say all of these old releases are being revisited or will be revisited in future. It's just that it's not getting released this year. Then this becomes a case of "I don't care what your future plans are, I know best, I want it all and I want it now" criticism.

anyway much ado about nothing...

 

[Electro]

Which year was it filmed? I always thought it was 1996. But some of you are saying that there is a version from 1995 being played?

The first filming goes back to 1993 i think. At least thats when there was supposed to be a Michael Jackson single and videoclip released for a song called "Adam's Groove" for the soundtrack of the second Addams Family film. The single was already in music distributors lists for upcoming releases, but then, when the big scandal hit, it was all cancelled.

The video must have been pretty much finished, as Michael was long away on tour by then.

Rare recently surfaced screenshots from the 93 short film:

I guess that it was much shorter film back then, no 40min.
One can only speculate how much of that original film is left in the Ghosts we know. Most probbably the whole "Too Bad" segment was not a part in it.

The 1995 40min Version is pretty much the same as the later officially released. Biggest difference was the audio track... that only included "Too Bad" in a super extended version (beats) all through the film. That was a little boring, so it makes sense that they edited the songs "Ghosts" and "Is It Scary" into it.


Man i love this topic... so many question-marks lol ...this and the unreleased 22min version of the TWYMMF short film. Mind-boggling...