Who movie

Postby **lukpac** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 11:05 pm

Don't think I've seen this mentioned here before. Murray Lerner is putting together another documentary:

My Generation: Who's Still Who is the definitive audio-visual record of the legendary British rock band, The Who. This epic document is drawn from integral themes of the band's music and lyrics, in order to capture the feel and attitude of one of The Who's greatest albums. Telling The Who's story like it's never been seen or heard before, the film also explores the development of the band today: following Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey as they record The Who's first new music in more than 20 years, and travel to the Far East for their first ever live performance in Japan.

I'll let you go to the site for more details, but he's keeping a blog with various updates. The latest update has an interesting tidbit:

Here’s one discovery you will delight in–we’ve located 16 mm film excerpts of the historic 1970 concert at Leeds University!

I'm not expecting anything revelatory (I don't know if this is it, but I've heard footage exists for the first few songs from the side of the stage), but (assuming they use it), it should be really interesting from a historical perspective.

Hopefully they do a better job on the technical side than the recent TKAA DVD. Certain aspects of that still piss me off.

Chris M · Postby **Chris M** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 11:51 pm

Speaking of Who footage film of the '69 IOW show as well as what is supposed to be a nice upgrade of the b/w Woodstock footage is supposedly doing the rounds. The Woodstock footage is apparently synced to an "upgrade" of the audio source. The IOW footage was shot from the put with a single camera and mic. I'll post a review if/when I get it..

Chris M · Postby **Chris M** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 11:53 pm

I wish Lerner would forget about getting actors to play the band and just take the same approach the compilers of the Zep DVD did.

MK · Postby MK » Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:12 am

Yeah, what about Mike Myers playing Keith Moon in that other picture (assuming it gets out of development)? Ain't buyin' it.

Not to put them down too much, I think Phoenix was still pretty good in I Walk The Line, it was a good performance, but it was like Will Smith playing Muhammad Ali. You pop in When We Were Kings or a Johnny Cash video after the movie's over, and there's no way anyone can compete with the real thing.

Rspaight · Postby **Rspaight** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:32 am

There's a (very) short preview of this on the new Tommy/Quad DVD. It's a lot of quick-cut clips, but I did notice a lot of what appeared to be Kilburn footage (everyone in the same outfits as Shepperton in TKAA, except Keith in that shiny purple/silver stars getup). It wasn't anywhere close to the video quality of the Shepperton stuff in TKAA, but watchable.

(On a side note, I'm stoked about the Quad DVD, since it's the show I saw (Dayton '96) with '97 PJ Proby stuff flown in to replace Gary Glitter, which is an understandable move. The video quality is pretty shoddy, since it's just the feed from the Jumbotron, but it's nice to have anyway.)

Ryan

Postby **lukpac** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:59 am

Rspaight wrote:(On a side note, I'm stoked about the Quad DVD, since it's the show I saw (Dayton '96) with '97 PJ Proby stuff flown in to replace Gary Glitter, which is an understandable move. The video quality is pretty shoddy, since it's just the feed from the Jumbotron, but it's nice to have anyway.)

Really? I've heard tons of bad stuff about it on O&S. Apparently the video looks horrible compared to a bootleg of the same or something.

Rspaight · Postby **Rspaight** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:48 pm

Yeah. For some reason, none of the Quad shows were professionally filmed (except the original Hyde Park thing, I guess, but apparently that was a rat's nest of technical glitches). I haven't seen any boots, but the DVD is way below the standard for a contemporary DVD -- it's the same aspect ratio as the screen at the show (very wide, at least 2.35), but non-anamorphic (!?!?!!). It's watchable and not distractingly awful (certainly better than most of what's on the 30 Years DVD), but not what you'd expect from a 2005 release. The sound is no great shakes, either -- apparently just a heavily tweaked front-of-house mix.

But I WAS THERE, so it's a neat souvenir even so. It's the first time a show I went to has been a general release live album/video.

The 1989 stuff is a straight port of the old Tommy Live VHS/LD. It wouldn't surprise me if the video was taken from the LD master. The sound seems to have been genuinely remixed into 5.1 on this, though, since there are some things that weren't there on the previous releases. (For example, before "Join Together," Roger tries to exhort the LA fatcats in the crowd to show some life by saying, "Seats were made for standin' on!", to which Pete replies, "If you're young." Pete's reply wasn't on the old version.)

The Giants Stadium stuff on disc three is more Jumbotron footage (I think we got some on the 30 Years disc, too) -- it's decayed to the point where there are noticable glitches in the picture. The song selection is tilted toward giving you tracks performed by "guest stars" on the Tommy disc -- "Pinball Wizard" and "Acid Queen," plus "Little Is Enough" for some reason. (Why not release something actually interesting and unique from that tour, wretched as it was? We did get "I'm A Man" on the box set, though it was heavily edited. How about "Hey Joe" or "Born On The Bayou"? These weren't earth-shattering performances, but at least they're not numbingly familiar.)

Ryan

Mike Hunte · Postby **Mike Hunte** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 5:06 pm

Rspaight wrote:The 1989 stuff is a straight port of the old Tommy Live VHS/LD. It wouldn't surprise me if the video was taken from the LD master. The sound seems to have been genuinely remixed into 5.1 on this, though, since there are some things that weren't there on the previous releases. (For example, before "Join Together," Roger tries to exhort the LA fatcats in the crowd to show some life by saying, "Seats were made for standin' on!", to which Pete replies, "If you're young." Pete's reply wasn't on the old version.)

Ryan

I taped this show on my old Betamax directly off the satellite feed the night it aired, along with the pre-show BS. Did the released VHS/LD offer up the complete show? Reason I ask, I seem to remember glancing at the VHS box when it came out thinking something was missing. The 'Summertime Blues' encore perhaps?

Rspaight · Postby **Rspaight** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 5:59 pm

Is that what the last song actually was? I knew it was lopped off, but I didn't remember what it was. (I never saw the PPV feed.)

The VHS/LD (like the new DVD) ended with "Who Are You." The DVD, however, doesn't have all the post-show onstage babble by Townshend that Tommy Live did.

The non-Tommy songs on the video are:

Substitute
I Can See For Miles
Baba O'Riley
Face The Face
Love Reign O'er Me
Boris The Spider
Dig
Join Together
Rough Boys
You Better You Bet
Behind Blue Eyes
Won't Get Fooled Again
Who Are You

Ryan

Mike Hunte · Postby **Mike Hunte** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 6:14 pm

Rspaight wrote:Is that what the last song actually was? I knew it was lopped off, but I didn't remember what it was. (I never saw the PPV feed.)

Yeah, it was Summertime Blues. Not exactly an inspired version as I seem to recall...considering the whole "Who On Ice" arrangement.

Postby **lukpac** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 6:27 pm

Rspaight wrote:I haven't seen any boots, but the DVD is way below the standard for a contemporary DVD -- it's the same aspect ratio as the screen at the show (very wide, at least 2.35), but non-anamorphic (!?!?!!).

That's the thing - it's my understanding that it *isn't* the same aspect ratio as the screen, and that it was originally something like 4:3.

Rspaight · Postby **Rspaight** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 9:10 pm

Nope, the screen at the show was definitely wide, unless I'm remembering the wrong show. Hang on...

I'm looking at the tour program now (yes, I bought the damn program), and it shows one shot of the stage with the screen, and it's at least 2:1, if not more (2.35 may have been an exaggeration, but it sure isn't 4:3). The image on the DVD is not significantly cropped.

Ryan

Postby **lukpac** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 12:31 am

Don't know how much of this is from this guy and how much is from the NG, but this was posted to O&S:

From: "Bruce"
To: "O&S"
Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 18:56:12 -0500
Subject: [Oddsandsods] Tommy/Quad DVD has WF lost it?

I was amazed at the great review this set got from Fang and thought maybe
they got it right. Now I'm wondering if WF has been "bought" and is now a
company man? :) Worse, have I become so jaded I can't enjoy any new Who
product anymore? :(

I bought the set yesterday as I found it cheap (Circuit City $22.99)
yesterday. I figured I wouldn't ever find a used copy much cheaper.

They used clips of PJ from another show and inserted them into Dayton. Not
cut and pasting PJ onto GG as was reported. There is at least one shot when
Idol comes onstage at the begininng of I've Had Enough that you can barely
just see GG. The insertion is done fairly seemlessly (you have to be looking
for it to notice) and is the least of the problems with the show.

I'm not good with the technical aspects so I'm borrowing heavily from a
thread on the NG. It turns out the Quad show is a "non-anamorphic,
highly-cropped, non-digital video." Apparently the show was filmed in 4X3
and has been cropped and stretched to match the filmed Jimmy parts that are
16X9. The resulting image is "dark and murky" and distorted, more so on
widescreen TVs. It probably looks fine on a 13inch TV. The larger the
screen the worse it looks. This is a rare case of the bootleg not only
looking better but a WHOLE LOT better. The bootleg is 4X3 and has very good
picture quality. I don't understand why they just didn't put it out this
way?

Other minor quibbles are there is no footage of the band while they play
the two instrumentals. There is also more filmed sequences and dialogue
than was originally shown at the shows that "get in the way".

FYI some of the Quad encore are from another show. Unless the band changed
clothes before walking back out. :) The audio is great plently of bass and
guitars.

This seques into the Tommy LA show '89. I'm pretty easy to please with
audio quality. If I can hear guitar, bass, drums, and Roger I'm happy. This
disc is missing half of that equation. First and formost there is NO lead
guitar in this show. Steve Boltz's guitar has been been competely erased.
Like most I was not a big fan of his playing and wanted it toned down. But
this is The Who it needs some (even not so good) electric guitar, right? For
all of Tommy and much of the hits part of the show there is no electric
guitar. It does get quite funny when the camera show his fingers dancing
all over the neck of his guitar and you hear nothing. :)

Worse The Ox is once again buried, he might as well not be there. This is
unforgivable, was he not a major part of the band's live sound from day one?
He must be rolling in his grave. Then again he should be used to it by
now. What did it for me was his solo at the start of Sparks. He is
obviously playing a great solo (I have the VHS and PPV) and all I hear is an
acoustic guitar.

Someone saw fit to make this PT acoustic guitar featuring 25 other
musicians in the background some of which you can hear. The acoustic
dominates every song of this show. I love his acoustic playing and Tommy
has tonnes of it. However, it overwhelmes the rest of the band. This bears
no resemblence of any of the shows I saw in '89.

To end on a good note the video quality is excellant on this disc as the
show was filmed for broadcast. So you have a show with bad audio and good
video and another with bad video and good audio. :)

Bruce

Rspaight · Postby **Rspaight** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 10:40 am

First and formost there is NO lead
guitar in this show. Steve Boltz's guitar has been been competely erased.

Worse The Ox is once again buried, he might as well not be there.

Someone saw fit to make this PT acoustic guitar featuring 25 other
musicians in the background some of which you can hear.

Bolton is alive and well on the disc, definitely not erased. Entwistle is indeed mixed too low at least part of the time relative to the LD mix (the pre-Sparks solo is a good example). It's odd -- sometimes he's more audible than on the LD, other times he's lower. I suspect the poster above has his left speaker disconnected, since Pete is mixed hard right and Bolton and Entwistle are mixed hard left, to match their stage positions.

Still, there's no question that Pete is mixed higher (both electric and acoustic) than he was on the LD.

Apparently the show was filmed in 4X3
and has been cropped and stretched to match the filmed Jimmy parts that are
16X9.

Like I said, I was there. The Jumbotron screen was wide. If the show was filmed in 4x3, then it was cropped *as it was being shown on the screen behind the band.* I don't see the problem in presenting the same thing the audience at the show saw. (In fact, if you watch the DVD, you can see shots where the screen is visible, and the shot you see and the shot on the screen match.)

I haven't noticed any obvious stretching in the pieces I've watched. I'm guessing the poster is stretching the 4x3 DVD image to fit his widescreen TV.

Other minor quibbles are there is no footage of the band while they play
the two instrumentals. There is also more filmed sequences and dialogue
than was originally shown at the shows that "get in the way".

The first is definitely annoying, but probably unavoidable if they were stuck with the Jumbtron feed (since there were no band shots on the Jumbotron during the instrumentals either). I haven't watched the whole Quad disc yet, but from what I've seen so far there's no extra material.

FYI some of the Quad encore are from another show. Unless the band changed
clothes before walking back out.

This is correct. They only played WGFA, BBE and WAY at Dayton, so Substitute and ICE are clearly from a different show. (They're good performances, wherever they're from.) I'm 90% sure WGFA is from a different show as well. BBE and WAY are almost definitely Dayton, especially WAY -- I clearly remember Roger's acoustic guitar issues before the song, the false start, and mock guitar smashing, as well as Pete's broken string at the end. (A poster on Usenet said he broke a string at Philly, too, but unless they also did the dead acoustic guitar routine at every show, I'm still saying it's Dayton.)

Ryan

Rspaight · Postby **Rspaight** » Sun Nov 27, 2005 11:11 am

It dawned on me what's going on with Entwistle's solo on the Tommy disc -- they simply didn't bring him up for it in the remix. They just left everything at the same levels and let it roll. Same thing with Bundrick and Bolton's solos, which is why they're relatively buried (but audible) -- they're at the same level they're at for the whole show. Lazy.

Watched all of Quad this morning, which brought back memories of having a raging sore throat that night and the crowd going ape for Billy Idol. Weirdness. The Proby fly-ins are really obvious. They didn't replace the whole songs -- just his parts. So you've got the Dayton performance going along, then suddenly you get a locked-off shot of Proby doing his lines, with a subtle but noticeable shift in sound. Then back to Dayton. They actually do a pretty good job of stitching it all together, but I imagine Glitter was cursed more than once during the process.

There's also a few points where they switch to what looks like bootleg footage (shaky, grainy hand-held) of the whole stage instead of the Jumbotron feed. (Since, logically, they never bothered to show a wide shot on the Jumbotron.)

Ryan