Barely ontopic - Roy Orbison in Black and White...

On a lighter note... I'm watching/listening to "Black and White
Night", a staged 'concert session' featuring Roy Orbison (about a year
before his departure) accompanied by folks like Bruce Springsteen, Tom
Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Steven Soles,
K.D. Lang, Jennifer Warnes, Bonnie Raitt...

If you are even a slight Big O fan - you *must* see/hear this concert
- it's pretty easy to find on DVD. It is a remarkable collection of
his songs, very true to the originals, yet each one has a few little
touches from the assembly of stars. The recording is excellent - it
deserves a really good stereo... and *turn it up* for the great
version of Pretty Woman at the end!

It is also interesting photographically. Shot entirely in black and
white, it has great 'presence', even down to the smoky atmosphere.
Roy's voice is astonishing and you really feel like you are back in
the 60's, watching him in his prime.

But I can't help wondering what it would have looked like if they
controlled the contrast a little better - there's an awful lot of
blown highlights..


OK, back to your normal programming.


(Yeah, she's walking back to me... Ooohh, oh ....)

In article
,
wrote:

On a lighter note... I'm watching/listening to "Black and White
Night", a staged 'concert session' featuring Roy Orbison (about a year
before his departure) accompanied by folks like Bruce Springsteen, Tom
Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Steven Soles,
K.D. Lang, Jennifer Warnes, Bonnie Raitt...

If you are even a slight Big O fan - you *must* see/hear this concert
- it's pretty easy to find on DVD. It is a remarkable collection of
his songs, very true to the originals, yet each one has a few little
touches from the assembly of stars. The recording is excellent - it
deserves a really good stereo... and *turn it up* for the great
version of Pretty Woman at the end!

It is also interesting photographically. Shot entirely in black and
white, it has great 'presence', even down to the smoky atmosphere.
Roy's voice is astonishing and you really feel like you are back in
the 60's, watching him in his prime.

But I can't help wondering what it would have looked like if they
controlled the contrast a little better - there's an awful lot of
blown highlights..


OK, back to your normal programming.


(Yeah, she's walking back to me... Ooohh, oh ....)

I totally agree that this is a superb DVD. Your obsession with blown
highlights is noted. Please seek professional help.
--
"It is the individual alone who is timeless. The individual's
hungers, anxieties, dreams, and preoccupations have remained
unchanged throughout the millennia." Eric Hoffer (1902-1983)

On Feb 22, 8:52 pm, Tully wrote:
I totally agree that this is a superb DVD. Your obsession with blown
highlights is noted. Please seek professional help.

Agreed.

But I bet you notice them next time you watch it... Sorry!

added these comments in the current discussion du jour ...

On a lighter note... I'm watching/listening to "Black and
White Night", a staged 'concert session' featuring Roy Orbison
(about a year before his departure) accompanied by folks like
Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne,
J.D. Souther, Steven Soles, K.D. Lang, Jennifer Warnes, Bonnie
Raitt...

This really is a fantastic concert, and I think the B & W makes
the show, just like it did even into the 1960s with some movies
to intentionally show drama and concentrate on the action and not
colors and special effects. I recorded the show from PBS to my
DVR's HDD then burned my own DVD after chopping out the
propaganda from public TV trying to get contributions.

If you are even a slight Big O fan - you *must* see/hear this
concert - it's pretty easy to find on DVD. It is a remarkable
collection of his songs, very true to the originals, yet each
one has a few little touches from the assembly of stars. The
recording is excellent - it deserves a really good stereo...
and *turn it up* for the great version of Pretty Woman at the
end!

It is also interesting photographically. Shot entirely in
black and white, it has great 'presence', even down to the
smoky atmosphere. Roy's voice is astonishing and you really
feel like you are back in the 60's, watching him in his prime.

Agreed, basically what I said above but you described it in more
technical terms.

But I can't help wondering what it would have looked like if
they controlled the contrast a little better - there's an
awful lot of blown highlights..

I hadn't noticed that but I'll find my DVD and take a look. If it
looks as you see it on my TV, as it likely will, do you think it
was intentional, a gaff, or maybe that the sophistication of
recording something in a relatively dark setting with a very
large dynamic range? I recall that many of the singers and band
members and much of the surroundings, e.g., the audience, was
fairly dark which would exacerbate blown out highlights as the
cameraperson, working with the lighting crew, has to make the
same decision we all do in this situation - what part(s) of the
scene do you meter from? Since this is from 1986 (I think), there
were no digitals, and maybe the TV equipment didn't have the
capability of doing multi-sampling points.

OK, back to your normal programming.

(Yeah, she's walking back to me... Ooohh, oh ....)

--
HP, aka Jerry

"Surely you jest - and don't call me Shirley!" - from the movie
"Airplane!"

wrote:

It is also interesting photographically. Shot entirely in black and
white, it has great 'presence', even down to the smoky atmosphere.
Roy's voice is astonishing and you really feel like you are back in
the 60's, watching him in his prime.

But I can't help wondering what it would have looked like if they
controlled the contrast a little better - there's an awful lot of
blown highlights..

Looks like it was made for TV so I'm guessing that means it was shot on
video not film.

On Feb 22, 11:26 am, Paul Furman wrote:
wrote:
It is also interesting photographically. Shot entirely in black and
white, it has great 'presence', even down to the smoky atmosphere.
Roy's voice is astonishing and you really feel like you are back in
the 60's, watching him in his prime.

But I can't help wondering what it would have looked like if they
controlled the contrast a little better - there's an awful lot of
blown highlights..

Looks like it was made for TV so I'm guessing that means it was shot on
video not film.

I recall seeing it on Showtime way back long before there were DVDs,
I think it was made for Showtime in the '80s.

"HEMI - Powered" wrote in message
...
I recorded the show from PBS to my
DVR's HDD then burned my own DVD after chopping out the
propaganda from public TV trying to get contributions.


OK, HP smuck, just exactly waht do you think pays for PBS.