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PostNouveau posted:drat. Non-goons
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Dec 27, 2014 01:34
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Some click bait for the thread. A Baltimore Reporter Is Taking Photos Of ‘The Wire’ Filming Locations Now Vs. Then: http://uproxx.com/tv/2014/12/a-baltimore-reporter-is-taking-photos-of-the-wire-filming-locations-now-vs-then/
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Dec 27, 2014 04:49
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drat this show looks great in HD. I'd dish out for a Blu-Ray set in a heartbeat.
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Dec 27, 2014 06:32
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The North Tower posted:Some click bait for the thread. A Baltimore Reporter Is Taking Photos Of ‘The Wire’ Filming Locations Now Vs. Then: Oh wow who'd have thought Baltimore still looks poor.
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Dec 27, 2014 06:41
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gently caress trophy 2k14 posted:Oh wow who'd have thought Baltimore still looks poor. Hell, I'm surprised most of those places still look as "good" as they do.
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Dec 27, 2014 07:05
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So even before HBO started doing The Wire in HD, some episodes on Amazon have been in a widescreen format. Does anyone know what that's all about? Pretty weird, definitely not a stretched display or anything but properly 16:9.
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Dec 27, 2014 09:25
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I had intended to get some poo poo done--actually productive poo poo--this Winter break before the next semester started, while I had time. Then I was reminded about this and my access to HBO Go, so now it'll be impressive if I even manage getting up to check the mail. I had been wanting to do a re-watch of the series, and though I didn't intentionally wait for the HD remaster, it is a good impetus to get back to it. Gotta say, I was excited to hear that it was getting the HD update for a variety of reasons, but I was honestly taken back a bit when I first saw it in the HD format. I mean, it isn't the most gorgeous show or whatever, but it's nice to see it looking this good, and more on-par with what most people are used to seeing from TV shows, now that HD has become the standard. It's definitely a marked improvement, and well worth the remaster/re-airing. I am happy now, bitch. Well, relatively. Edit: As for the notion that something seems lost in the HD update, I can't say I agree. I can see where you're coming from--there was a particular atmosphere added by the original 4:3 SD, which is alluded to in the link to Simon's blog and such, but as far as personal preference goes, this is fantastic. Terra-da-loo! fucked around with this message at 10:40 on Dec 27, 2014 |
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Dec 27, 2014 10:30
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Zombie Raptor posted:I had intended to get some poo poo done--actually productive poo poo--this Winter break before the next semester started, while I had time. Then I was reminded about this and my access to HBO Go, so now it'll be impressive if I even manage getting up to check the mail. I had been wanting to do a re-watch of the series, and though I didn't intentionally wait for the HD remaster, it is a good impetus to get back to it. After reading Simon's words about it, he really gives a lot of perspective on how just the format/aspect ratio impacted the entire way they strategized filming and how it's not just a simple re-edit but took months of careful review and editing to do this (they still weren't able to take all the time they wanted to perfect it), I can definitely appreciate the difference and how it was not at all filmed for 16:9 but that it's still great to re-watch it this way because of a) obviously all the details gained purely from the increase in pixels and screen space and b) the differences good and bad brought about by the change. I don't know about you guys but I never even appreciated or was even aware of the all the thought that goes into this kind of thing. I always figured they could pretty much just flip a switch so to speak and could release it in HD whenever they felt like it.
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Dec 27, 2014 11:16
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Bleh Maestro posted:After reading Simon's words about it, he really gives a lot of perspective on how just the format/aspect ratio impacted the entire way they strategized filming and how it's not just a simple re-edit but took months of careful review and editing to do this (they still weren't able to take all the time they wanted to perfect it), I can definitely appreciate the difference and how it was not at all filmed for 16:9 but that it's still great to re-watch it this way because of a) obviously all the details gained purely from the increase in pixels and screen space and b) the differences good and bad brought about by the change. Yeah, it's a pretty tiring process that takes a lot of effort, which I can attest to after spending months editing something only to hit a deadline before I got poo poo near what I wanted it to be, which I imagine is something that one commonly comes up against when working with the medium. I've never been tasked with having to do anything that requires the expertise needed to remaster something shot in 4:3 and make it 16:9, but an educated guess leads me to believe that it take a lot of attention, time, stimulants, stress and probably crying to both up the aspect ratio and sharpen the picture. A lot. That being said, it does show here and there. Mind you, I am only on S2E2 of the HD episodes, but there are some shots where you can notice a sort of wonky-looking ratio that makes it look like things were shot with a wider-angle lens than it actually was. One shot of Stringer in the season 1 finale almost seemed fisheye'd. There's also a few places where shots lose an admittedly negligible (but still present) touch to their framing and composition due to the aspect ratio change. Just minor stuff most people wouldn't even consider, though, like incredibly tight headroom (or none at all) in shots that aren't close-ups/extreme close-ups, etc.--nitpicky poo poo. And I do mean nitpicky, because in the season and two episodes I have seen, I have been consistently impressed. It may not be perfect, but it's drat near close. Close enough for me, at least. On the whole I don't feel like anything too meaningful is stylistically lost by the remaster. There was something to the 4:3, sure, but I don't think its sacrifice detracts from the show at all, and that it'd all come down to personal preference as to which of the two you want to view.
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Dec 27, 2014 11:37
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Ugh season 2 is so loving good right off the bat. loving Jimmy loving with us for the fun of it.
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Dec 27, 2014 19:06
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Is the HD version going to be available outside the US? Maybe on BluRay?
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Dec 27, 2014 22:51
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I always assumed the Pit had nothing behind it, which is why they did a really crummy looking CGI tower - why bother when there was an actual tower there? I mean yeah it's smaller but I can't imagine that detracts much from anything.gently caress trophy 2k14 posted:Oh wow who'd have thought Baltimore still looks poor. Is Baltimore actually... like the Wire? Like, an actual third-world-country surrounded by first world white people? I always sort of assumed that it was based on Simon's experiences in the 80s/early 90s and that there was no way modern America could actually be that bad. Not even the poor black neighbourhoods. Like, "Omar wandering around with a shotgun in the middle of the day" level of lawlessness. I'm Australian so I guess my comparison is an Aboriginal township in the Outback. Horrible, shameful poverty with an obvious racial cause which the rest of us guiltily avert our eyes from.
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Dec 27, 2014 22:57
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Aishan posted:Is the HD version going to be available outside the US? Maybe on BluRay? The BluRay version is supposed to come out sometime in Summer 2015.
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Dec 27, 2014 23:12
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freebooter posted:I always assumed the Pit had nothing behind it, which is why they did a really crummy looking CGI tower - why bother when there was an actual tower there? I mean yeah it's smaller but I can't imagine that detracts much from anything. I haven't been to Baltimore lately but there are definitely cities like that. Look up Camden, NJ if you want a shock.
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Dec 27, 2014 23:18
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Ithaqua posted:I haven't been to Baltimore lately but there are definitely cities like that. Look up Camden, NJ if you want a shock.
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Dec 27, 2014 23:34
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freebooter posted:I always assumed the Pit had nothing behind it, which is why they did a really crummy looking CGI tower - why bother when there was an actual tower there? I mean yeah it's smaller but I can't imagine that detracts much from anything. The murder rates they stressed about in the show were real for some time. ~300 murders a year in a city with a population of only ~600,000. For comparison New York City is averaging about 300 murders a year right now with 8 million people. Baltimore is still pretty bad I think I looked at the figures recently and it's still over 200 a year.
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Dec 27, 2014 23:46
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Gaussian posted:Detroit too. And our great nation's capitol, DC. And Chicago. And Los Angeles, and, and, and...
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Dec 28, 2014 04:02
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I'm friends with someone who lives in Camden near Rutgers law school. Yeah it's that bad.
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Dec 28, 2014 04:10
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ruddiger posted:And our great nation's capitol, DC. Camden is way, way worse. There's an awesome aquarium at the waterfront, but other than that it's the kind of city where it's terrifying to drive through even during the daytime. Huge swaths of dilapidated buildings, roads and basic infrastructure falling apart, and drug dealers everywhere. And this is the entire city, not just an isolated area within a larger, prosperous city. I know the areas on the outskirts of DC can be pretty bad, but I don't think Chicago or LA are in the same ballpark as cities like Camden. Here are some nice Google Maps spots I found by choosing random spots within the city limits and zooming in: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9339188,-75.1187989,3a,75y,274.72h,93.29t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sKJcp5_3kYkuylaHmFVDceA!2e0 https://www.google.com/maps/@39.93061,-75.1228051,3a,75y,12h,85.09t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sCdlN8pT82ugSmQLaXANUQQ!2e0 https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9307548,-75.1207913,3a,75y,21.14h,91.02t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sEfN02-MoIdcNXouvF47QmQ!2e0 https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9286071,-75.1207005,3a,75y,0.78h,86.3t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1shQCLeRpQ43hQxhOxIZJyuw!2e0 And something that it's interesting to note: Those pictures were clearly taken during daytime, yet there are literally no cars on the roads. No one goes there, no one even tries to pass through unless they're buying drugs or going directly, as fast as possible, to the waterfront. New Yorp New Yorp fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Dec 28, 2014 |
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Dec 28, 2014 04:18
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Yeah, you can google map all those places. Baltimore is really bad. It's probably been said a million times, but go pick up the book The Corner which was cowritten by Simon. I'd consider it a bucket list item.
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Dec 28, 2014 07:51
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Been watching the first few episodes tonight and it looks beautiful.
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Dec 28, 2014 07:55
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PostNouveau posted:Anyone involved in law enforcement (or hell, the drug trade) who can speak to the realism of the central plot of Season 2? The huge shipments run through the port just seem like such a big risk for a cartel to take. I can't speak to large ports like Baltimore, but every couple years the Coast Guard busts offshore fishing boats where I live carrying coke or heroin that go out into the gulf stream and meet up with boats coming up from the Caribbean or Central America. In fact the USCG account for the bulk of drug busts involving ships, including the biggest known haul, 20 tons of coke in a Panamanian cargo ship.
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Dec 29, 2014 01:06
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freebooter posted:I always assumed the Pit had nothing behind it, which is why they did a really crummy looking CGI tower - why bother when there was an actual tower there? I mean yeah it's smaller but I can't imagine that detracts much from anything. Those towers used to be there, their demolition is shown in Season 3 I think. The earlier seasons are set at a time when the towers still stood but filmed after their demolition, so they put them in with CGI. Probably an unnecessary detail but it helps lock down a period for the show, like Jimmy asking what a text message is.
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Dec 29, 2014 17:49
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I live in downtown Baltimore and yes there are huge portions of the city that I simply never go to, not because I'm afraid or anything like that, but because they are on many levels totally dead areas and there is no reason to go there. Just blocks and blocks of dilapidated row houses and boarded up business. Maybe you'll see a person or two sitting on a stoop but that's about it, no cars and no foot traffic. Its not even like you'd be afraid of getting mugged in these neighborhoods, its more that they feel like Pripyat or something. If you were somehow stuck living in one of these neighborhoods it'd be tough to even find a basic convenience store within walking distance. Its Mad Max.
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Dec 29, 2014 18:32
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Taking a Google street view tour around the areas the show was filmed in shows that it's still pretty much like it was back then. It's pretty depressing.
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Dec 29, 2014 18:44
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Rewatched the first episode, the show is so gooood and thankfully watchable now without having to get used to the lovely aspect ratio.
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Dec 29, 2014 21:32
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Was the 4:3 that much of a deal breaker? There's been a lot of whining about it the past few pages; how did any of you watch tv before like 2003? Is Citizen Kane permanently off your watch list?dreffen posted:Here read stuff that David Simon wrote about the HD re-release
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Dec 29, 2014 21:51
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It definitely feels claustrophobic if you're used to widescreen stuff. But for me it helps ground the show in its era, sort of like the X-Files.
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Dec 29, 2014 22:00
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Hard Clumping posted:Was the 4:3 that much of a deal breaker? There's been a lot of whining about it the past few pages; how did any of you watch tv before like 2003? Is Citizen Kane permanently off your watch list?
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Dec 29, 2014 22:27
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Crumbletron posted:It definitely feels claustrophobic if you're used to widescreen stuff. But for me it helps ground the show in its era, sort of like the X-Files. It's supposed to feel chlaustrophobic, though. Simon has said, here, dreffen posted:Here read stuff that David Simon wrote about the HD re-release and on other articles on that site that he deliberately strayed from a cinematic aspect ratio and kept things more gritty. The Wire's 'era' was a time when most television shows were moving to widescreen. They floated the idea of switching to 16:9 for season 3 and opted not to. 4:3 wasn't a limitation, it was an artistic choice, and they framed the show in 4:3 exceptionally well. The show being in 16:9 now is by no means worse, but neither is it inherently better. Also I meant to mention this: kaworu posted:The Wire has never been a particularly visual show. I really hope that you mean "pretty" when you say visual, because otherwise this is objectively incorrect. The Wire didn't use constant fancy dolly shots or color grading, and it didn't have a showoff DP, but to say that this show didn't utilize some absolutely meticulous visual storytelling is an insult to the amount of work put into each shot.
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Dec 29, 2014 22:38
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I didn't say the show was any worse for it, just that it's visually off-putting if you're not still used to watching SD television or whatever. It's watching movies with horizontal black bars for the first time or something. The movies are made with the bars in mind but that doesn't mean it wasn't weird the first time.
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Dec 29, 2014 22:43
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Hard Clumping posted:Was the 4:3 that much of a deal breaker? There's been a lot of whining about it the past few pages; how did any of you watch tv before like 2003? Is Citizen Kane permanently off your watch list? We all mostly had 4:3 tvs too
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Dec 29, 2014 23:09
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Hard Clumping posted:It's supposed to feel chlaustrophobic, though. Simon has said, here, It wasn't really an artistic choice, it just didn't make sense to switch formats halfway through. They made the decision it was all or nothing, so they stuck with 4:3. It's not so much claustrophobic to me, it's just that it pulls you out of the immersion. Because you notice the black bars all the time. I couldn't stand it. If I had a nice big 4:3 tv it would have been awesome and fine and not noticeable, but I don't. I also think the show IS pretty, the cinematography is absolutely amazing. The first scene of those statues, slowly panning out is really great. The rough underbelly of Baltimore against a pretty backdrop of the city is great to look at and visually appealing. The scene in front of the chicken store with the neon blue contrasting the darkness is great stuff. The orange couch in the pit with D's pastel blue chair. They set a lot of this show up to look GOOD, and it really really shows in HD. I am loving every minute of this remaster as if it were the first time I've seen it.
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Dec 29, 2014 23:45
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Yeah man it's bad enough my TV is a black frame surrounded by the various colors and junk on my entertainment system. I don't need no more plain uniform black. That's the line.
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Dec 30, 2014 00:45
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My gripe with the 16:9 thing is that they're loving with the DPs' shot compositions, and making some of them look wonky as a result. That's not cool.
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Dec 30, 2014 03:17
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Hard Clumping posted:I really hope that you mean "pretty" when you say visual, because otherwise this is objectively incorrect. The Wire didn't use constant fancy dolly shots or color grading, and it didn't have a showoff DP, but to say that this show didn't utilize some absolutely meticulous visual storytelling is an insult to the amount of work put into each shot. Posted this article a while back, but actually the show was almost nothing but dolly shots. But yeah, every bit of the visual aspect was just as composed and pored over as the writing. https://library.creativecow.net/articles/griffin_nick/hbo_the_wire.php
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Dec 30, 2014 05:19
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Relevant article- http://www.avclub.com/article/fox-making-buffy-widescreen-and-joss-whedon-isnt-h-213031 WireHD could've turned out a lot worse 
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Dec 30, 2014 05:51
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I'm doing a rewatch for the first time and finding that no wonder there were a lot of characters who seemed to come out of nowhere and suddenly become important. First episode of season 3 has Marlo coming out of his house, getting in his car and uttering a few words ("either do it or don't," with a crony pointing a gun at Johnny's head) and nothing else, no indication of why he's important. Also has Slim Charles speaking at a Barksdale meeting with no indication of where he's coming from or that he'll rival Stringer to be Avon's #2. I'm not complaining, it's just really interesting to watch this a second time and see how gradually some characters were added into the mix. Bunny Colvin is my favourite character in the series by far, but until this rewatch I didn't realise he actually appears in an episode towards the end of season 2.
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Dec 30, 2014 10:17
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Hard Clumping posted:Was the 4:3 that much of a deal breaker? There's been a lot of whining about it the past few pages; how did any of you watch tv before like 2003? Is Citizen Kane permanently off your watch list? grilldos posted:Yeah man it's bad enough my TV is a black frame surrounded by the various colors and junk on my entertainment system. I don't need no more plain uniform black. That's the line. I can see how someone with a widescreen, used to watching widescreen, would be annoyed by the old format. Even Simon acknowledges it. And on top of that you're both posting like idiots. Just shut up and deal with it.
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Dec 30, 2014 16:10
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I wish the inevitable Blu-Rays had both versions in HD. I enjoy that Wire Classic look but look forward to the widescreen just to see what it looks likeNOTinuyasha posted:I can see how someone with a widescreen, used to watching widescreen, would be annoyed by the old format. Even Simon acknowledges it. And on top of that you're both posting like idiots. Just shut up and deal with it. I don't think it's any different asking why someone picked up a full screen copy of a movie instead of widescreen in the 2000s. One is the way it's meant to be, the other isn't. It's not like Simon had been fighting FOR this for years, it's something that HBO wanted to do and Simon was able to have a hand in it. It's like Star Wars vs Ghostbusters. The original trilogy had extra crap altered that wasn't in the original versions, we all agree they suck and just wish for an updated master of the originals. Ghostbusters was recently released on new Blu-Rays with a great new master, are the effects older? Yeah, but they hold up and don't affect the original vision or story. Boywhiz88 fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Dec 30, 2014 |
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Dec 30, 2014 16:53
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