The green tint revisited.

Mooseboy018

Mooseboy018

Grey Havens
I still haven't seen how the actual blu-ray version of the extended edition of FotR looks, but I've looked at various youtube videos and pictures. The extreme-ness of the tint varies from sample to sample, but they all definitely look more green and darker.

Most of the examples I've looked at were of the shire, and after watching this video in particular (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO9Nf_79X3g) I noticed something.

The new look almost reminds me of some of John Howe's work in a way.

http://fantasy-wallpapers.com/view-...ilina_rings_gandalf_hobbit_frodo-800x600.html

http://www.john-howe.com/portfolio/gallery/data/media/21/black-riders-in-the-shire.jpg

Whether the green tint was intentional, partially intentional, or not...I think it's kind of interesting.
 
They go over how there seem to be two issues that people are confused at. The first is the re-timed color, which is intentional, as Peter Jackson changed some things, and they look great. The other issue is the green overcast. This seems to be applied to whole film. Typically tints like that aren't put on an entire film, so a lot of people are thinking it was a mistake due to mechanical error. I'm in this camp. It's most noticeable in the Shire, which now looks dark and overcast. The sky is greenish, instead of a lovely blue. Gandalf's cloak appears a lovely shade of greenish gray. It's also noticeable in the scenes with true whites, like snow. Instead of the snow being white, it's a cyan/greenish color. My guess is either after the holiday season, they will offer a replacement program quietly, or just fix the problem altogether after enough complaints.

I doubt Peter Jackson has been paying much attention to the debate, as they came out when he was busy working on The Hobbit, and he probably approved the everything for the set but the green tint. Sadly, it may not change, and it will be an ugly aspect of the EE Blu-Ray's that we just have to deal with until a new set comes out. He may do another restoration, perhaps to 4K for all movies when The Hobbit is ready for home release, at least I hope so.
 
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I hardly noticed the green tint at all, and in some scenes (where it was noticeable) I actually found it to be an improvement.
 
First, I have to say that I will not purchase the set until 1) Peter Jackson directly and actively addresses the issue in an interactive format (Q&A), or 2) The Ultimate Middle Earth Collectors Set is issued after both Hobbit films have been released, and the issue is fixed.

That said, the screen captures and YouTube comparisons seem to be significantly exaggerated from the real viewing experience. A lot seems to depend on the person and their home theater configuration. I asked a friend who has the set to look at the specific scenes that are said to most dramatically reveal the issue: Hobbiton, snow, and the Rivendell fade to white. He saw little to no difference; the sky was blue, the snow was white, the fade to white was white, and that it was "nothing like" the YouTube comparison.

That doesn't mean it's not there. What it all means is that there is an unresolved issue that needs to be addressed by Peter Jackson himself instead of hearsay from those who represent Jackson, saying the color grading was as he intended. Well, obviously, yes it was, and most people agree the changes look very good. But many people also agree that there is an indiscriminate green blanket on top of the entire film that could have occurred in the final stages of production after his approval. They find it does not mesh with the other films, is unartistic, and is difficult to believe it was intentional. Still more say that if it were actually intentional, it's a sad reflection on the "tealization" of Hollywood - a fad that will become cliche and date today's films for the future.
 
FotR is a lot darker in many places. Yes, the detail is stunning, but in some places it's so dark that you can hardly see it. Now, I don't have to fool with the brightness on any of the other blu-rays that I have, so I have to assume it's the Fellowship disc with its oppressive green cast. I hope they do indeed redo this disc (quietly or otherwise). I've seen the screencaps on-line, but I'm not speaking about them, I'm speaking of what I see with my own eyes on my on TV, with the brightness turned to standard mode.
 
@Mooseboy018
As JWPlatt implied, don't rely on the screenshots and videos on the net. Many of them (not all) can only be the result of badly calibrated displays or malicious manipulation to fan the flames of this controversy. I was ready to chew my arms off in frustration with what I saw online in the days leading up to my copy arriving... but then found that my actual viewing experience was nowhere near as unpleasant as I'd feared.

@Maiarmike
We can expect the Ultimate Collection (much like death and taxes), and we can hope that the issue will be resolved, but we can't expect a 4K transfer of Fellowship. I'm pretty sure I remember reading somewhere that there isn't one.

@duats
Do you really mean you found the tint an improvement...or the new colour-grading underneath it?

I'm actually one of the dissenters. Yes, like thousands of others, I find the green tint disappointingly fashionable (if it's deliberate) and the increased contrast frustrating but I don't believe the new colour grading beneath it is an unmitigated success. Yes, Rivendell is vastly improved, as is the opening Last Alliance battle, but, to me, some of the other deliberate regrading is highly, highly questionable. Why is the main chamber in Orthanc now bathed in blue light in Fellowship when it's not in Towers? And now, following Fellowship immediately with Towers makes the latter looked completely washed-out.

I think the re-grading could have been performed more subtly (or to the entire trilogy) to avoid such irksome inconsistencies...
 
I read many of the home media sites, but I've not seen anyone who has formed an opinion yet about how this will end. There are those (like Robert Harris) who seem to feel it's a tempest in a tea-cup, but there are also a significant number of folks who really don't like what has been done to the disc. No word from PJ. No real word from Lesnie. I want some one who has paid more attention to these types of issues on other discs to let me know if a replacement (be it an admission of guilt or just the next re-issue) is likely to ever happen? I feel as if I still don't have this on bluy-ray, seriously, cause it's not right, imho.
 
These DVDs have been out for several months. If this was an error, it would have been addressed by now. Since it hasn't been brought up by PJ or WB, it's safe to assume that they don't regard it as a problem.

People keep asking PJ for answers, when really his silence on the issue is the only answer you need.
 
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People keep asking PJ for answers, when really his silence on the issue is the only answer you need.
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People keep asking forums for answers - not Peter Jackson. Treating silence as truth is not exactly informed on human and corporate behavior.
 
@duats
I've got to agree with JWPlatt; Jackson's silence on the issue is nowhere near sufficient and nowhere near conclusive. If he really is happy with how his film now looks, he should come out and say so, unambiguously. He could use his Facebook page or an official WB press-release or even this fansite. There is no justification whatsoever, either way, for silence. All it's doing is prolonging the debate.

@Patty
How will it all end? Like I've said; it won't until Jackson addresses the issue. But if, as most of us hope, there is a replacement programme in the future, you can rest assured it'll be done on the quiet in order to minimise embarrassment and keep costs down. In recent history, as far as I know, "Gladiator" and "The Matrix" both had replacement programmes but you had to be in the know; the studios involved certainly didn't blow any trumpets announcing them. If one is announced for "Fellowship", I'll certainly post its details here!
 
I don't think I'd miss this news, but I'm glad to know that if I did you would be posting it here. I just kind of don't think it'll happen. But you encourage me with your info about other discs that got "fixed". I knew that The Fifth Element was reissued, but folks were pretty universal in their condemnation of the original, and that is not the case with the blu EE of Fellowship.
 
I went to Jackson's Facebook page today to discuss various things with a few fans (mostly Tauriel, the wisdom of 3D and the look of Thorin & Kili)...to find that the Discussions link on the left has disappeared entirely. It seems Facebook, in their infinite wisdom, has decided that Discussion forums on people's Pages are no longer worthwhile.

Anyway, the reason I'm mentioning this is that my "excessive green tint" discussion (which had approaching 180 posts and was consistently in the top five or ten topics) has therefore disappeared into the ether and I now have no way to continue being a (perfectly polite) thorn in Jackson's side over the issue (if, in fact, he ever even glanced at his Discussions page!).

Oh well. Looks like WB won in the end...
 
At first I'd suspected it was Jackson / WB that had removed the option from his page deliberately as there was so much discussion going on in there (and thereby so much potential spoiler material) that it might "ruin things" for casual visitors but then, within about 2.75 seconds, I realised that was a nonsense idea.

So, I did a little reasearch myself and came across that rather oblique Facebook page you linked to. Thanks for the ZDNet link, though: it's nice to have it explained more clearly (and have some of the issues pointed out).

But, damn! Who cares about the drop is user numbers? Wasn't it still a worthwhile service? There is no way, now, for fans to discuss anything in depth and at length on any Page (films, games, books, personalities, topics).

Including the dreaded "green tint"...
 
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