The Importance of Quality HD Source Footage

Its not always easy to find good quality source media for your remixing projects but the hunt is a critical part of the transformative process. HD footage is especially critical if you need crop or zoom the footage to isolate or focus on a particular character or element within the video frame.

To help explain the footage collecting process (and the associated headaches) I though I’d share my recent quest to find a good remixable version of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1997 film The Rainmaker - I am hoping to re-use one scene in particular for my upcoming Batman Reimagined project.

In this shot I want to focus on and highlight Danny DeVito’s character as he talks about illegal jury tampering. This means I need to to crop Matt Damon out of the frame completely since he is not a part of my transformed story. My final remix project wil be done in 720x400 SD widescreen format so I’ll need to find footage at high enough resolution to isolate DeVito without upscaling the footage which would result in ugly pixelation. 

A few problems arise right away. First the film is older and was released on home media well before even HD existed (Blu-ray Discs were introduced in 2006). Plus the movie did not do very well at the box office which means Paramount Pictures is in no rush to create a new Blu-ray Disc version.

Second the film was shot in 2.35:1 aspect ratio and released on DVD in late 1998 before  anamorphic widescreen DVDs format became the standard. This means the original DVD is not only lower resolution at 720x480 but is also presented in full screen 4:3 format with huge black bars at the top and bottom of the frame to approximate the 2.35:1 ratio.

1998 orignal DVD release in full screen:
 

Obviously there is no way to do any cropping or zooming with the footage at this low resolution so the original DVD will not work for me.

Sometimes the Bit Torrent file-sharing protocol can be helpful in getting your hands on an older or hard to find film but its of no help in this case because DVD rips are typically downscaled to a 700mb file size by uploaders. This often results in a final resolution of between 500px and 700px wide which is of course smaller then the orignal DVD. 

Occasionally entertainment companies will release a special, limited or collector’s edition media disc. In 2007 Paramount did released a special collectors edition DVD of The Rainmaker - this time in real anamorphic DVD widescreen format. While still in SD there are no black bars and the file resolution is a bit larger at 854x360 pixels. My local movie rental place only carried the original 1998 DVD though so I had to order the special edition on Amazon and wait a week for the disc to arrive. 

2007 special collector’s edition DVD in anamorphic widescreen:

This DVD edition is better but still does not give me a large enough file to crop out Damon’s character (as indicated by the yellow box above). What I really need is an HD or Blu-ray version of the film to make my remix work. 

If you happen to be remixing a popular movie produced in the past several years it’s relatively easy to find good HD versions (both online and offline). But as I mentioned above Paramount has not yet issued a Blu-ray Disc version of this title and is unlikely to do so any time soon.

There is one other final option in my source footage hunt. On rare occasions a studio will create an HD version of the film for online distribution only via iTunes, Amazon, Google Play or other services. Oddly some of these services don’t offer HD versions of films that do actually exist in physical Blu-ray disc format like The Dark Knight. Plus a great many films (especially older ones) are not in the iTunes system - all four 1990s era Batman films for example are missing in any format. Further complicating matters some of the HD films which are offered online are only available for 24 or 48 hour rental and not for purchase. 

Various iTunes movies download examples:

Luckily for me there is an HD version of The Rainmaker available via the iTunes store. As of February 2012 Apple only provided 720p movie downloads to personal computers which means the files are at 1280x720 (720p) instead of full HD at 1920x1080 (1080p).

In order to access Apple’s media service though you must have a computer capable of running their latest iTunes software, a broadband connection capable of download 3GB+ files without going over your monthly cap and of course a credit card. 

iTunes downloadable 720p HD version:

The 1280x540 file size will allow me to effectively crop out Damon (again my 720x400 project frame size is indicated in yellow). The framing is still a little awkward as 2/3rds of the frame is empty space above the table and there is still no room to zoom in on Devito’s words, movements or facial expressions. So while this version is not ideal it will work in a pinch. 

As of March 2012 iTunes is now offering a number of movie downloads in full 1080p HD resolution (via the 10.6 update) including The Rainmaker. I should note however that many movies are still only available in 720p.

New iTunes downloadable 1080p HD version:

This version is finally perfect for remixing! And I only had to buy the movie three separate times. Now I can both crop out Damon and also zoom in on DeVito (without video pixelation) as he talks about judicial interference.

Unfortunately finding a good quality file is not the end of the process for remixers. The problem with iTunes and similar services is that you can’t edit the files after you purchase them because the videos are locked down with DRM (Digital Rights Management).

So the next step is to find software tools to remove the DRM restrictions without significant degradation in the video quality. There are a number of apps for doing this but they come with their own set of headaches and frustrations. You can try either the open source Requiem (free for OSX + Windows) or Tune4mac Platinum (paid for OSX). Once that’s done you will finally have a editable video file to work with in your fair use remix!

Final 720x400 crop for my project:

Remix Video Frame Size and Resolution

Choosing appropriate frame size and aspect ratio for your remix video project can be a tricky complicated business. Since most video remixers are making their work to display primarily on the web here are a few things to consider:

1) The dimensions of the original media sources

Many remixers find themselves using footage from a wide variety of available sources including DVD rips, Blu-Ray rips, downloaded iTunes or Amazon files, downloaded AVI or MKV files, downloaded YouTube or Vimeo files and homemade screen captured video. Because all these video formats will likely have various frame sizes and aspect ratios its important to take a look for the lowest common denominator. If you are working with only one media source or if all your footage is HD via downloads or Blu-Ray rips then your remix project can easily match the source footage at 1280x720 (720p) or 1920x1080 (1080p). If you are working with ripped US DVDs in your project its a little more complicated. Your project should probably be closer to 480p and match the DVD frame size - most likely you want 854x480 (anamorphic widescreen) and 720x400* or 640x360 (widescreen) and 640x480 (fullscreen). However (since video does not typically upscale well without significant pixelation) if you are incorporating a bunch of lower resolution YouTube or web video clips into your remix you might pick smaller overall frame size to work in like 640x360 or 320x180 (windscreen) and 480x360 (fullscreen). YouTube also has some very basic suggested frame sizes.

2) Cropping the original footage to isolate a character or event

Remixers may also choose to work in a frame size significantly smaller than the majority of their original source media so as to have the option for footage cropping or zooming. This process works best with 1080p or 720p HD footage which can then be cropped down to 480p or 360p in order to focus on or isolate various elements and characters within the frame (without loosing video quality) in the final remix.

Below is an example from my current Batman Reimagined remix project where I want to focus on Batman’s words and remove the Joker from the scene entirely. 

Original 1080p footage: 

Cropping down to isolate Batman: 

Resulting 720x400 crop:

*Technically the math for 720px DVD 16:9 windscreen works out to a height of 405 which then has to be changed to an even number (either 404 or 406 depending on who you ask) BUT most video codex work best with multiples of 8 or 16 so 720x400 seems to be best for web video even if the aspect ratio is off by a few pixels.

Gotham Cities villains, or are they? Stay tuned to find out how each fits into my remixed alternative universe!

How Remixing is Like Documentary Filmmaking

My friend, and vidder extraordinaire, Laura Shapiro recently observed that my remix video making process has a lot in common with documentary filmmaking. That is, to a large extend, I have to let the source media reveal the narrative. I spend countless hours gathering and combing through available audiovisual source material trying to construct a narrative plot from all the pieces. I definitely have an idea in my head for the topics I want to cover, the points I want to hit and the general direction I want to take the project but I’m never completely sure what I will find along the way or exactly how it will all fit together in the end. I’ve never thought of my process in exactly this way before but I think Laura is absolutely right about the documentary connection.


PHOTO: Buster Keaton’s 1924 film Sherlock, Jr.

Here’s a preliminary example of the Photoshop + After Effects work for the upcoming Batman Reimagined kickstarter trailer. This is a shot from the movie Bruce Almighty starring Jim Carrey (The Riddler) where the messages on the signs have been altered to fit the new narrative. There are many similar scene transformations in the works for this project. Stay tuned, much more to come…
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Here’s a preliminary example of the Photoshop + After Effects work for the upcoming Batman Reimagined kickstarter trailer. This is a shot from the movie Bruce Almighty starring Jim Carrey (The Riddler) where the messages on the signs have been altered to fit the new narrative. There are many similar scene transformations in the works for this project. Stay tuned, much more to come…

Frank Miller is Really Gonna Hate this Remix

If you somehow didn’t already think that Frank Miller, comic-book creator of 300 and The Dark Knight Returns, was a misogynist right-wing reactionary prick here’s the proof. In a recent blog post he shows his true cryptofascist colors by ranting against Occupy Wall Street protesters and calling them pond scum, louts, thieves, and rapists. Frank writes:

“In the name of decency, go home to your parents, you losers. Go back to your mommas’ basements and play with your Lords Of Warcraft.”

Well, Frank, sentiments like that put you squarely in the villains category (along with Bruce Wayne himself) in my alternative remixed Batman universe. I might just have to find a way to include a Frank Miller cameo in the remix.

Comic-book writer Alan Moore, creator of V for Vendetta, on the other hand has a decidedly different option. He has this to say about the recent occupy-related protests and those appropriating his Guy Fawkes mask design:

“Voice of the people…I think that if the mask stands for anything, in the current context, that is what it stands for. This is the people. That mysterious entity that is evoked so often – this is the people.”

Further reading:

Organization is key to any big remix video project and keeping track of the huge number of movie sources for this remix has been challenging to say the least. So I’ve started a listal.com list divided into sub-sections for each potential character. As I work building the new narrative out of these sources I will be adding/subtracting more films to/from the list.http://www.listal.com/list/batman-reimagined-sources
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Organization is key to any big remix video project and keeping track of the huge number of movie sources for this remix has been challenging to say the least. So I’ve started a listal.com list divided into sub-sections for each potential character. As I work building the new narrative out of these sources I will be adding/subtracting more films to/from the list.

http://www.listal.com/list/batman-reimagined-sources

This is a looks at first round of media sourcing for this project. More films might follow (and a few may be dropped) depending on how the narrative is progressing but hopefully it gives you an idea of the scope and complexity of the remix I’m trying to build. You’ll notice that all the above films star either Christian Bale or an actor who once played a Batman villain.
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This is a looks at first round of media sourcing for this project. More films might follow (and a few may be dropped) depending on how the narrative is progressing but hopefully it gives you an idea of the scope and complexity of the remix I’m trying to build. You’ll notice that all the above films star either Christian Bale or an actor who once played a Batman villain.

Today a handful of global conglomerates own and control the telling of all the stories in the world. They have global marketing formulas that are imposed on creative people telling them to put in more action and cut out complicated solutions. They apply this formula because it travels well on the global market and of course the leading element of that formula is violence.
George Gerbner, founder of cultivation theory

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