Can we have PROPER interviews again...?

[Monterey Jack]

I was listening to the commentary track on the recent Kino release of Happy Birthday To Me tonight, and good GOD, did it sound horrible, like the two commentators were being recorded in the midst of drowning. It's almost 2023, can we get IN-PERSON commentaries and interviews for special-edition discs again?! I'm sick of interviewees getting piped in via Zoom and sounding like this:



Years from now, I'll be watching interviews and commentaries, and think, "Yes, this was obviously done between 2020 and '22". It's maddening. To say nothing of getting scratched-to-sh!t discs from pretty much every label now, because there's only one pressing plant left in Mexico, and the workers are obviously not getting nearly enough pesos to give a crap about quality control.

[AndyDursin]

The in-person interviews? Maybe. The commentaries? Probably not. It's all a cost-savings situation but I agree, I'm tired of these interviews which -- to give an example of this Imprint Roland Joffe box -- are phone/zoom calls with no video and an endless montage of movie scenes playing out on-screen. A few minutes of this are OK but I lose interest no matter who it is.

As for the commentaries -- the issue really isn't the technology, it's that some people have lousy microphones/internet/etc.

I listen to podcasts all the time with "regular people" and they all sound like they're in the same room despite being scattered all across the country. 1 or 2 people doing a commentary track OUGHT to sound fine -- so when you hear a commentary like on Shout's KING KONG where the solo speaker sounds like he's underwater, that's ENTIRELY his technical set-up, and if someone is going to do a commentary, they should invest a few dollars in a better microphone/internet connection. It's not that hard, even if the occasional glitch might be unavoidable (even then these kinds of things could be corrected with minor editing software too).

Honestly if I were working at a label hiring these speakers, I'd ensure their set-up is such that the sound quality is doable. Too many times it's not, and the commentary isn't even worth recording, much less listening to (or paying for!).

[Paul MacLean]

Unfortunately, even some of the people who work on "technically complex" movies aren't always technically-inclined themselves, can't tell a cheap steaming app from a good one, know nothing about mic placement (or that they need to be near the mic to be understood, etc.).

I can tell you from personal experience that Walter Gotell had no idea how to use a walkie-talkie!

[Edmund Kattak]

I actually have an $11 camera light, Logitech Brio 500, and Blue Rhino microphone set to cardioid pattern outside of the field-of-view at my work desk. Not earth shattering or expensive, but I've been told by several executives that it's the best quality video and audio they've experienced from a computer and rivaled some of the commercial Polycom systems - even with my ugly voice and horrible voice.

These people just need to either better educate themselves on maximizing the experience or work with a consultant, if these gigs are a source of ongoing business for them.