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Post by magnusgreel on Feb 27, 2009 4:59:16 GMT
A friend was good enough to send a duplicate of Invasion of Time to me on DVD, and I was alarmed when I saw that it had been heavily tinted yellow, presumably to bring it into line with modern tastes. TV shows now usually have a gold or brown tint to them, as a sort of cheap shortcut to seeming more "serious".
Call me nutty, but I like my Doctor Who characters not to look jaundiced. I suspect liver damage and start obsessing on their health and lose track of the story.
Is this a general trend? I was sent Invisible Enemy too and it wasn't as yellow, but there was definitely some yellow. This is a difficult question to ask people, since there's something hypnotic about tinting. People don't notice it even when it's very strong and unmistakable one would think. It's supposed to be subliminal, it's supposed to give that impression of gravity even when the script isn't so good.
I need to decide whether to give up on DVDs or not. You'd think it wouldn't be an issue for me given my income, but I'd like to know. I will prize and take better care of my VHS if I know it's the last watchable Who I'll have for the rest of my life.
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Post by clocketpatch on Feb 27, 2009 5:08:48 GMT
it could just be your TV colour settings? sometimes you have to readjust them according to whether you're watching TV, DVD, or VHS... or at least you have to on my tv at home. Heck, on my tv at home you have to readjust between channels sometimes or else everyone is purple, but usually I'm too lazy to bother.
I have definitely noticed some yellow-gold tinting though. And for the most part I don't mind it if its used to set effect; I do get annoyed however, if it's in every scene. There needs to be SOME contrast! Blue skies outdoors scene work well for that...
More distressing to me are the shows which have really dark scenes where you can't see anything. I know it looks cheesy to film night scenes in tinted blue light, but then at least you can tell what's happening!! Though this is less of an issue to me since I figured out how to adjust the TVs brightness.
Finally, it might just be that you don't remember how the episode looks if you hadn't seen it for awhile before hand? I head... somewhere... that the outdoors scene in Invasion of Time WERE tinted, and have always been tinted, in order to make the rock quarry look more like the alien red-skied Gallifrey of canon.
bear in mind that I write all of this while very tired
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Post by IMForeman on Feb 27, 2009 7:15:37 GMT
I was alarmed when I saw that it had been heavily tinted yellow, presumably to bring it into line with modern tastes. TV shows now usually have a gold or brown tint to them, as a sort of cheap shortcut to seeming more "serious" Seriously? I've never heard that before. How do you know that? (Genuinely curious, not doubting you..) Is it possible it's an effect of the restoration process to clean it up?
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Post by magnusgreel on Feb 27, 2009 9:11:40 GMT
Cp--- I've seen these stories countless times on videotape. They're not rarities to me; if anything, the problem for me is over-exposure. So I know the original look of the stories very well. Those stories of course (on VHS) look the same way that they always have on my TV. And especially when skin-tone is involved, it's easy to tell when the picture is bizarrely yellow. My TV can't be adjusted regarding color either. My VHS tapes of Inv of Time aren't good... poor reception, but the color is exactly as I remember from countless PBS broadcasts. Anyway, it would certainly be nice if people could reassure me that all DVDs aren't like this.
The American Life On Mars has a very strong gold tint even though 70s TV had no tint, which seems odd to me.
I actually have always liked the fact that the Outer Gallifrey scenes in Invasion of Time are tinted orange-ish, to bring them into line with what Susan once said about Gallifrey. What I'm talking about is entirely separate from that. Apart from the Outer Gallifrey scenes in the quarry, the Inv Of Time scenes had natural color. In the '70s, no one tinted the screen unless it was to indicate some special situation, such as a flashback to the past.
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Post by jjpor on Feb 28, 2009 2:08:49 GMT
I can honestly say I haven't noticed this tinting in any of the Who DVDs I have seen, but then I haven't seen the DVD of Invasion of Time, so can't comment on that particular instance. It sounds like the kind of thing they might do; I mean, apparently they're releasing DVDs of Star Trek TOS with the special effects redone with modern CGI. Personally, I strongly disapprove and fail to see the point of this sort of meddling. I mean, in the Trek case, why the hell would you be shelling out cash for a DVD of a 40+ year old SF show if you were just going to make fun of the special effects?
I've noticed the inclination to use colour schemes in modern-day US TV shows, though; personally, I interpreted it as an attempt to look cinematic, aping bigtime movie directors, rather than an attempt to lend gravitas; but then I suppose they think they are lending gravitas by making it cinematic in appearance...
So, while I haven't noticed any interference of this sort in Who DVD's I've seen, I will definitely be keeping an eye out for it in future.
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Post by clocketpatch on Feb 28, 2009 4:13:24 GMT
Also, just thinking, is it possible that the process that your friend used to burn the DVD could have caused some discolourations?
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Post by magnusgreel on Feb 28, 2009 7:32:54 GMT
Also, just thinking, is it possible that the process that your friend used to burn the DVD could have caused some discolourations? Does that happen, to anyone's knowledge?
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Post by clocketpatch on Feb 28, 2009 14:05:07 GMT
Also, just thinking, is it possible that the process that your friend used to burn the DVD could have caused some discolourations? Does that happen, to anyone's knowledge? I honestly don't know
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Post by magnusgreel on Mar 18, 2009 23:43:40 GMT
The yellow was considerably less on the friend's player.
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Post by clocketpatch on Mar 19, 2009 11:13:44 GMT
I'm going to blame it on your TV/player then; it's amazing how much variation you can get between screens
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Post by primsong on Mar 19, 2009 16:42:33 GMT
I'm relieved to hear it may just be your set - I would hate to hear they were tampering in that manner, some 'recolour' efforts go well in small does, but overall I don't care to have black-n-white anything but what it was intended to be.
And now I'm curious if there is any distortion/colour changes in burning a cd... my own experience with the process is woefully scanty.
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