Re: Ridiculousness

[WretchAwry <vickie@pilot.njin.net>]

Marcel overreacts:

> <chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (chris williams)> writes:
>  
> > Sorry, but no fucking way am I going to distribute _The Line, The
> > Cross and The Curve_...
> > This is *Kate's* film, made with her own money. We have a dubbed
> [ A couple of screenfulls deleted]
>  
> I'm sorry my one innocent remark, inspired by possible other
> people's opinions led you to have to vent so much frustration at
> once.

I might have advised Chris to lose the "no fucking way" but as he
already pointed out, he had good reason to be as forceful as he
could in his reply.  It wasn't just directed at you, it was also
sending a message to Sony, you know.

I suppose the thing I want to address is this:

> This response was slightly informative, but highly
> unnecessary.

Oh really?  To you maybe, if you didn't get the Lovehounds
Collection.  Marcel, were you so offended by that one bit that
you didn't read his whole message?  Please, it was a lot more
than "slightly" informative to those who might be unaware
of the things that Chris talks about, and I for one don't
think it was highly, or in any other way, unnecessary.

I live with the man.  I saw first-hand the time, effort and
money put into the project.  Chris has never before written
in-depth about what it took on his end to get the thing
together.  He only did it this time because he wanted to 
make people understand that it's not a simple (or cheap!)
matter, and to explain why another Collection won't be 
happening again in the *near* future.  

I understand your taking "no fucking way" personally, even
though it wasn't really meant that way, but please don't
shrug off his points about copyright violations, and please
don't shrug off the rest of his post dealing with the problems
and expense involved in making these Collections the very best
quality they can possibly be. 
  
Here's part of it again, in case you already deleted the original:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
    In order to make a tape, I have to borrow time at a couple of
different video production studios. I cannot make a tape on standard
consumer gear; it would never survive the generations needed to
get into the final viewer's hands. I make the master tapes from
NTSC VHS, NTSC U-MATIC and PAL VHS onto NTSC U-MATIC (3/4"). The
graphics are produced at home on my targa system. The studio with
the broadcast-quality PAL (British video format) to NTSC (US format)
doesn't have a S-VHS or BetaCam recorder. So I have to get time
at another studio with both of those to make the dubbing masters.
Anyone who has edited videotape from a variety of different sources
knows just how long it takes to make a 4-hour set of tapes. I managed
to make it in two (long) nights. The last night started at 5PM and
ended at 3AM. It takes a bit of weedling to let someone leave you
alone with hundered of thousands of dollars of video gear. It's
not the sort of favor I like to ask more than once or twice a year.
In order to do it, I gave them two days of my consulting time, at
$250 each. And yes, it was time that I would have otherwise been paid
for.

   So, I spent ~$125.00 on Betacam tape stock (now presumably in the
hands of Canadian Customs), ~$60.00 on 3/4" tapes, ~$90.00 on S-VHS
tape stock, ~$100.00 on mailing costs to the Austraila, the UK and the
US. And two paid days of my time. I'm not crying, and I would, and
*will* do it again, and most of the expense was due to my own insistance
on maintaining the highest quality standards. If I'm able, the next one
will be even better quality. Just not right now.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Chris *cares* Marcel.  He cared nearly 2 months rent worth!  This isn't
a flame, but please, don't tell him to piss off.  I don't think any
of the people who did get the Lovehounds Collections would want him
to piss off.  He'll do another Collection, and cost isn't important 
(I'm just using it to make a point), but you seem to have the wrong 
idea about Chris, and he deserves better.

Vickie (who is biased, 'cos she loves the guy, but still...)