300 will have an PiP feature comparing pre-CGI to post *for an entire movie*. 20 minutes I could do, but I just have to believe that very few people will want to watch actors in front of blue screen for that long. I do think theres gold in the IME feature, and was curious if those out there had suggestions/ideas for the IME feature for any unreleased film.

Have the actors' faces pop up every couple of minutes saying, "I think we pulled that off..."

whole movie done VH1 pop-up video style.

Dennis Franz eating a meatball sandwich.

Dennis Franz eating a meatball sandwich.

I just spit soda all over my laptop :eek: Best use of IME ever.

I'll second the VH1 popup stuff. Also, if the Star Wars series ever got released on HD DVD (somehow), a little window with George Lucas apologizing during the length of the movie for completely screwing it all up would be appreciated.

I just spit soda all over my laptop :eek: Best use of IME ever.

I'll second the VH1 popup stuff. Also, if the Star Wars series ever got released on HD DVD (somehow), a little window with George Lucas apologizing during the length of the movie for completely screwing it all up would be appreciated.


Yeah, I would love to see a release where the user could get rid of Jar-Jar from every screen

Corpse Bride has a special feature (separate from the movie) where you can see the voice actor recording their lines in one window and the finished animation in another. I think it'd be neat to have something like that as part of the IME for an animated film.

What i'd like to see is a reverse shot of scene focusing at the off stage staff/actors.

How about the whole movie with the colors inverted so its like watching a negative.

Yeah, I would love to see a release where the user could get rid of Jar-Jar from every screen
Or have the ability to replace Binks with a nekked photo of Angelina Jolie and replace his dialog with sexy talk. That might actually make that movie worth watching again. :D

Seriously though, the PiP track on Freedom Vol 1 is great. I love seeing the scenes in various stages of completion. I thought it really added to the viewing experience, so I'm really looking forward to checking out 300. I think that should be great as well. More behind the scenes aspects of the shot you're currently watching in the movie I say.

Or have the ability to replace Binks with a nekked photo of Angelina Jolie and replace his dialog with sexy talk. That might actually make that movie worth watching again. :D

Seriously though, the PiP track on Freedom Vol 1 is great. I love seeing the scenes in various stages of completion. I thought it really added to the viewing experience, so I'm really looking forward to checking out 300. I think that should be great as well. More behind the scenes aspects of the shot you're currently watching in the movie I say.


One of the greatest things I read about the Freedom release is the 7 different sizes for the PiP and the ability to swap between the main feature and the PiP like on dual tuner TVs.

One of the greatest things I read about the Freedom release is the 7 different sizes for the PiP and the ability to swap between the main feature and the PiP like on dual tuner TVs.
Being able to swap the tracks is a cool feature. Being able to view them side by side is a cool feature. Changing the size of the PiP box is pretty cool, though some of the larger sizes aren't something you'll probably use that much. And the transparency adjustment is nice, but it's also not as big a deal in actual usage. At least that was what a took from playing around with the PiP track on Freedom Vol 1.

Being able to swap the tracks is a cool feature. Being able to view them side by side is a cool feature. Changing the size of the PiP box is pretty cool, though some of the larger sizes aren't something you'll probably use that much. And the transparency adjustment is nice, but it's also not as big a deal in actual usage. At least that was what a took from playing around with the PiP track on Freedom Vol 1.

Some of the stuff I have been reading about the freedom disc has made me want to get it to test a few features out. It would be the first time I would have bought a movie just because of features. Though I have bought some crappy movies I enjoy and have blind bought a couple as well, but never just for eye candy or features. I might just have to do that with this one. To bad we can't get something like Akira or Ghost in the Shell, movies i have seen and enjoyed, and are over 20 minutes long.

I would like to see a feature that was originally planned for NUON DVD players but was never done called "Viddies" These would have been special commentaries where the director doing the commentary would fast forward to the parts they wanted to talk about and I think it was also going to use some text based stuff. There's a video blog on Youtube that talks about it but I can't find it at the moment. It would have been interesting either way.

Some of the stuff I have been reading about the freedom disc has made me want to get it to test a few features out. It would be the first time I would have bought a movie just because of features. Though I have bought some crappy movies I enjoy and have blind bought a couple as well, but never just for eye candy or features. I might just have to do that with this one. To bad we can't get something like Akira or Ghost in the Shell, movies i have seen and enjoyed, and are over 20 minutes long.


Ya, it's a tough sell for somebody who isn't really into anime. I'm a huge anime fan, and I was still a little upset that they were including one ep per disk. But after watching it, it's easily one of my favorite HD-DVDs, probably #1, and I can picture myself watching it many times over. The series will be expensive, but with the amount of replay value it will have for me, it will easily be worth it. But again I'm a big anime fan, and as cool as the PiP track, that and the Vol 2 preview are all the extras that are on the disk, without downloading anything, so I'm not sure if that's enough to warrant a purchase.

It is great demo material though, and it's a pretty funny episode as well. Bandai is coming out with several feature length movies on HD-DVD this year, and while no HDi features have been announced, hopefully they'll take what they learned from working on Freedom and put together similar or better features for those releases.

Bandai is coming out with several feature length movies on HD-DVD this year, and while no HDi features have been announced, hopefully they'll take what they learned from working on Freedom and put together similar or better features for those releases.

For U.S. release? Which ones?

/gets ta googlin'

EDIT: Here's something interesting:
Bandai Visual USA will be distributing a special coupon good towards a free copy of FREEDOM volume 1 (worth $39.99 SRP) with the purchase of any Toshiba HD DVD player for visitors to the Bandai Visual USA booth at the Anime Expo 2007 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, Calif. June 29-July 2, 2007.
http://hddvdformat.blogspot.com/
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/070622/0269994.html

EDIT: Also, from the same blog:
Anime Film 'Appleseed: Ex Machina' on HD DVD in 2008...

Warner Home Video has secured worldwide home video and television rights (excluding Japan) to the new Japanese anime film Appleseed: Ex Machina, produced by John Woo and directed by Shinji Aramaki.

According to reports provided by The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Home Video is expected to release Appleseed: Ex Machina on HD DVD in 2008.

Wow, I hadn't heard of Appleseed 2. Sounds great though. I enjoyed the first one.

As to what Bandai has announced, Patlabor 1 and 2, and Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise will have a US release. Release dates haven't been announced yet. Here's the original press release, it's all I have bookmarked:

http://www.bandaivisual.us/pdfs/PressRelease_HD.pdf

I'd like an IME for Team America where you'd get running commentary done by the the South Park characters...

I think anime could have a lot of opportunities for IME. Storyboards, rough animations/pencil tests (well, except for digital...). Voice actors in the booth (someone else already mentioned this). Designs and all sorts of other reference materials used in production, etc..

Also, looks like Warners is really getting into anime features, here's another one:

Oshii begins work on "Sky Crawlers"
Written by Mark Schilling
Thursday, 21 June 2007
Story Categories: Animation, Film, Japan, People, Warner,

TOKYO -- Toon auteur Mamoru Oshii's next pic will be futuristic gladiator tale "The Sky Crawlers," based on the eponymous sci-fi novels by Hiroshi Mori.
Toon will be co-produced by toon house Production IG -- Oshii's long-time collaborator -- and the NTV web, with Warner Bros. distribbing in Japan.
Skedded for release in 2008, "The Sky Crawlers" will center on Japanese teens stuck in perpetual adolescence and trained since birth to fight in wars that are really a form of amusement.
Settings will include Ireland and Poland -- the latter also the locale for Oshii's live-action pic "Avalon." Oshii plans to use 3-D for air combat and other scenes, a departure for the hitherto 2-D helmer.
Oshii said Wednesday the pic is "something I want to communicate to young people, while denying that it will be messagey in the usual ways."
Also, instead of the deep-think philosophizing about the future of humanity fans have become used to from such Oshii toons as "Ghost in the Shell" and "Innocence," Oshii said he wants the new pic to be a love story, adding, "I think it will be a turning point for me."
http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/1564/1/

No word yet on any 3-D basset hound air combat, but think of it, those big ears got a lot of lift. :D