I picked up the Indiana Jones Trilogy today with some Christmas money, and popped in Raiders for the first time in years, when I finally got to one of the scenes I know so well for its flaw. I am referring to the “well of souls” scene, where Indiana is surrounded by snakes, but you can clearly see that there is a pane of glass between the snakes and the actors. I looked intently for it.. but I never saw the glass. I backed up and looked again.. nothing.
Spielberg and lucas had digitally removed the glass.
Likewise, when I gave Matt a copy of “The Right Of Way”, he was inclined to use rematering software to make the tracks sound better.. and I harshly disagreed, claiming that the imperfections were part of the experience, and should be preserved.. “Remake the song if you don’t like that version, but don’t change it”, I said.
But, now, I have come across an old tape of MY old songs, and I am finding myself unsatisfied with listening to them as they are, but I think I could make the old recordings better.. Likewise, I have directed two amateur movies, and I feel the first one could be watchable with just a little work.
I also have been listening to the new verion of the album “Let It Be” by the Beatles, which is the ultimate re-revisionist history, because the “fixed up” tracks Phil Spector added a year after the recording have been taken away, and the original takes have been mixed with no effects behind them.
Its confusing, I want my pane of glass back, I want my old “Right Of Way”, I want “Greedo” to not shoot first (Star Wars)… but I also want MY things to be more impressive than they really were… so maybe, just maybe.. I can fool people into thinking I really.. musically.. did know then what I know now
posh
While I share your sentiment for the first point I have to say if DaVinci were to come back today and paint a kangaroo into The Last Supper, it would be his right. It is, afterall, his painting. I guess what I’m saying is… Go ahead and remix your old songs and be happy with having them go out to the world wearing the best face they can.
Hmm…
“Giggle” – A Kangaroo in the last supper.
I can understand what you are saying. There is something to be said about keeping an original around for posterity, however, i can see the other side of the coin too. I know that with design work that i have done, i will keep a copy of the original and go back and edit and improve on designs. I think it is a natural progression. Things that we can do now that we couldn’t do, or weren’t possible to do then. I agree that you shoudl do what makes you happy. If you are happy with the form that your songs / writings / movies are in then you are the ultimate critic you have to make happy, since you will probably be the toughest one.
~Jon~
In Thinking about it..
Where is the Barnson comment.. eh?
Seriously.. I think the difference is, there are very few who have heard my earlier work and who have seen my first movie.. and I would want to touch it up so I can show it to new people and still be proud of it.
In the case of the WS albums, or the Beatles, Star Wars, or Indy.. these have been released – So, I don’t think I will be re-releasing any of my 6 CDs with updated production, even though I have all the old cakewalk files. Those each have at least 100 copies floating around, and to change the old recordings is to sort of deny the original “release”. Once released, it becomes a bit of a time capsule, and I don’t think it should be changed. yes, he would have a “Right” to add a kangaroo, but it wouldn’t make it a good choice.
Re-recording or remaking a SONG is different, I feel.. Like I said to Matt about “Right of Way”.. I love the new versions of One Man, All Over Again, and Breathless .. and I don’t love the new versions of Afterlife or Chica’s Rag. Being able to listen to the old version of those songs as they were provides a point of comparison..
The Last Supper
Speaking of The Last Supper. There was an identical debate a few years ago when restoration work began on the DaVinci masterpiece. On one side were the “purists” who believed that restoring the old painting, which is basically the same as remastering or remixing an old song, was nothing short of destroying the old art. On the other side was the camp of folks who felt restoring the art would make the experience of seeing the fresco in person available to many new generations of art lovers.
I like…
I like pie.
—
Matthew P. Barnson
hee hee
hee hee hee
pie is good.
Restoring
Well.. The difference is, I think… that restoring the old painting has the end goal (If I’m not mistaken) of making it look as close as possible to the way it might have looked when it was completed.
To remaster and “improve” a song sometimes involves changing what was origninally there to create something vastly different than than the original – sometimes it doesn’t. For instance.. I removed the tape hiss from the “Right Of Way” tracks .. and even tried to correct some of the wear from the years on the tape.. that’s like restoring a painting.. you are returnning it to its previous state.
To do what was done i.e. some (not all) remixing, and especially in movies like indy.. or how Spielberg changed the Guns in ET to walkie talkies because he now feels they will make kids distrustful of cops.. that’s revisionist history – making it seem like what you are watching or hearing is different than it originally was – now, I’m a Hypocrite, because while I want my old experiences to not change, and I remain vehemently against changing old music and movies.. I will probably retinker my Old movie because there are things I wanted to do then that I always planned to do, but realized I couldn’t do when I got into the editing studio. Same with my old tape –
– and I guess I’ll hide behind that old “Well, since so few know it anyway, maybe they’ll like it better this way.” excuse.. after all, there is a school of thought that feels that something is the posession of the artist as long as it remains private.. as it the artist’s experience alone. But as soon as you put it out there, it becomes the experience of many, and to change it takes away from that experience doesn’t it? Imagine.. “Schindler’s List – NOW IN COLOR!!” or “Monty Python and the Holy Grail – New HISTORICALLY ACCURATE version!”
revisionist history
I think it a stretch to consider the changing of a movie as revisionist history. Basically I think this is an emotional debate and not a factual one. It’s not as if one is rewriting history, just changing a movie-going experience. It’s not like removing all evidence of the holocaust because the Germans are embarassed by it or something. Spielberg’s job is to create the best illusion possible for the audience and I think if he can do that, even 20 years later, good for him. To me its not much different than adding “deleted” scenes in the DVD version of a film. I have seen that dramatically change the plot of a movie not just a couple of frames visually. But, as I say, I think this debate is strictly emotional. I think if it bugs you as an audience member that the film was altered then you have every right to express that. Likewise, those who feel that better is better regardless of timing, artistic purity, or whatever, should also be free to enjoy the “enhanced” versions as well.
I also like…
I also like the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings DVDs. With a catheter, a colostomy bag, and some intravenous caffeine, I could catch all three when the last one comes out in a few months, and only stand up six times!
OK, maybe skip the catheter & colostomy bag, if I have to get up to swap DVDs anyway, I may as well take a potty break. I’d still need some sort of caffeine drip to keep me awake through thirteen hours of movies. Not to mention four hours of extras per disc. I think I’d prefer the pie…
If you like the original of something, I say, keep that 8-track or Betamax hooked up to your mighty tidy super-boss television and stereo system. But the moment you shift the medium (8-track to .ogg, for example), well, as the artist, you’re entitled to improve it to take advantage of the superior quality of the improve media. Heck, it’s a copy anyway, right?
As far as restoring the “original” of something, that’s a question for purists. I’m the kind of guy that would duck the rope around an ancient piano just to play it.
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Yes
… Yes Pie is Good…