CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

StuntDummy · Joined: 08 Aug 2007 Posts: 59 Location: San Francisco, CA

What movies/scenes do you show when your guests experience your theater for the first time? Why did you chose them?
I have been showing scenes from Star Wars ep 2 because I love the sound in the battle scenes and all that CG is nice and vivid. It is not HD content but what the heck. I am still waiting for SW to come out in HD-DVD, will that be soon? Wink

Person99 · Joined: 09 Mar 2006 Posts: 4899 Location: Flower Mound, TX

I only show HD unless I'm trying to show how incredibly awful SD looks compared to HD.

The exact content I show depends upon my guests. But, I like select scenes from:
- Madagascar (nice "pop" to it)
- The Incredibles (either "100 mile Dash" or the shooting down the plane scene)
- The Matrix (lobby shooting scene)
- Corpse Bride
- Star Wars (pod race in ep1, walkers in ep5, etc)
- Cars (great for the fade to blacks at the beginning)
- Sometimes Transformers (though I'm not as impressed by the video quality as others)
- Sometimes Batman Begins
- Sometimes Riddick

dbaisey · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 6:36 pm Post subject:

SD I like 'The Fifth Element' Superbit DVD. Wish they were all done that well. Doug

dropzone7 · Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 1069 Location: Charlotte, NC

I usually put on a recorded episode of "Nothing but Trailers" from HDNET or one of the other movie trailer shows that are out now. Great HD video quality, great audio and they are back to back with usually some type of break halfway through so you can either do a 15 minute block or let the whole 30 minute show play. These are usually current films however so if I want to show something on HD-DVD then I show some of the following:

-Happy Feet (the scene with the killer whales)
-Nine Inch Nails (Beside You In Time concert)
-Matrix Revolutions (meeting with the Merovingian at the club)
-Corpse Bride (the whole movie looks good)

So many others that I can't think of right now. It just depend on who is watching as to what I play.

JustGreg · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 3098 Location: Kenosha, WI

I show them all the tripping hazards first (my seat near the doors), and then where to find the removeable clip on LED light next to their seat they can take with them to find their way out for bathroom breaks (cause I ain't pausing so the ladies with thimble sized bladders can run to the bathroom every 5 damn minutes). Laughing

I like to show 360 1080i or 720p game trailers. Even people who don't like video games (women...again) are amazed at the film like quality. I also like to show the HD trailer for Terminator.

And if I get any criticism, I show them how the triple action doors work. Twisted Evil

ecrabb · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 7:27 pm Post subject:

Cars, Ratatouille on BD - Great sound and beautifully rendered graphics - excellent quality all around
Corpse Bride - Beautiful photography w/gorgeous colors and deep blacks and an awesome jazz soundtrack
Miami Vice HD DVD - Shootout sequence is awesome for surround effects
Flags of our Fathers - Surround is awesome in some of the battle sequences
Casino Royale - Opening scene and title sequence - Grainy, but awesome looking black/white opening scene, then gorgeous title sequence w/awesome Chris Cornell (from Soundgarden) theme track. One of my favorite title sequences of all time.

Those are just a few of my favorites.

SC

Heywood Jablome · Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 1548

I show them my 67" RetroData 801 upstairs and explain that thats' "my little den TV" Laughing

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

Some guys create demo discs that have clips w/ great audio and video.

Mine would have .....

The opening of Toy story 2.
The opening scene of Goldeneye
5th element: "leeloo leaps"
Dances with Wolves: Riding out to meet the tribes.
Matrix Reloaded: Fight @ the merovingian's
Matrix: I know Kung Fu
Incredibles: Volcano

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

Also.. if my guests are guys i have a sweet item on my hd tivo.

Ultra HD did a swimwear show from Miami's fashion week... Shocked

Thats great demo stuff!

PJMoore · Joined: 05 Oct 2006 Posts: 99

I always show them LOVE STORY because love means never having to say you're sorry. They can hardly believe it - especially when I tell them I only paid the local video rental store that was going out of business $15 for my copy. I know it impresses them because once I crank it up, they are always speechless. I guess the timeless classics do that to people.

Seriously though -

If there are kids here, I put in Polar Express, with the sub cranked up just a bit - especially for the train arrival scene. Then I transition over to Animusic. The kids like that one too, but it appeals to adults.

For adults only, it pretty much depends on what my guests like. Sports folks always like to see a game in HD. Other than that, I find that my guests enjoy seeing just about any good movie on a 100" screen. I actually sat through a golf match in HD once. Being a good host is sometimes painful. If they haven't seen Ratatouille, then in it goes since we are foodies and so are our friends. Add Rasinettes, Popcorn, and Junior Mints and just have a fun evening.

wallace123456 · Joined: 14 Aug 2006 Posts: 2236 Location: Northwest VA area

StuntDummy · Joined: 08 Aug 2007 Posts: 59 Location: San Francisco, CA

Some great suggestions, thanks all!

winduptoy · Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 6:35 am Post subject:

What about shorts? Most of the Pixar shorts are great. My faves are Lifted from Ratatuoille and One Man Band from Cars ( I think. The short from Happy Feet with the Albatross and the Blue Whale.

StuntDummy · Joined: 08 Aug 2007 Posts: 59 Location: San Francisco, CA

Is it possible to assemble HD content for a show reel? Can you get content off a BR disk? How would you play back the show reel, HTPC? Blu-Ray burned disk? Alien technology?

Person99 · Joined: 09 Mar 2006 Posts: 4899 Location: Flower Mound, TX

ecrabb · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 4:40 pm Post subject:

You can do it, but ranges from a decent bit of work to a HUGE amount of work. It's a lot easier if you already have HD content laying on a PC drive - for instance, stuff you captured OTA or from cable or something.

It's not too bad with a couple of commercial apps to do straight cuts editing and throw the clips on a disc that can be formatted and burned for playback in a HD DVD or BD player. You'll want the commercial tools if you don't want to die of old age trying to install and configure open source tools and make them work.

If you want to extract clips from HD or BD, that adds another layer of complexity (MPEG-4, large files).

Finally, if you want anything that looks a little more produced - like with fades or dissolves, then that's a whole other ball of wax and THAT is a LOT of work.

SC

Person99 · Joined: 09 Mar 2006 Posts: 4899 Location: Flower Mound, TX

SC, I didn't say it was a good idea, I just said many people do it. Wink

Clarence · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 5:46 pm Post subject:

ecrabb · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 6:14 pm Post subject:

In Clarence's defense, demo discs are REALLY cool. On the contrary, it's a great idea and a very cool way to show off the HT. "Best of" clips are just cooler than hell for demoing a theater.

BUT - and this is a BIG but. I have SO many things to do with my time, I rarely feel like spending the time on it.

So is it a bad idea? No. Effective use of time? Depends on how many other things you like to do with your time!!! Personally, I have a list a mile long of things I want to try, do, play with, test, etc... (it's a personal problem) and creating a demo disc is WAY down on the list.

SC

Brian Hampton · Joined: 22 Apr 2006 Posts: 1173

I typically load up cars on Blu Ray but tend to wonder if something that's not fully CG would work better.

-Brian