BLOND AMBITION remaster on youtube

[Kim]

The early 00s I think. Any piece of material is always going to be limited by the format it was shot on. Independence day and most movies up to the 90s were shot on actual film stock which is an analogue medium. When scanning that film stock to bring it to a digital medium, the max it can be scanned at using today's technology is between 4k and 6k resolution. That's between 4 thousand and 6 thousand lines of information making up the image. May even be up to 8k by now. Blu ray is limited to 1080 lines of info.

Now of course we have digital video and digital film which by it's nature is a digital medium still limited in it's resolution which hasn't reached the level of detail, richness etc found in actual 35mm film.

Blond Ambition, Giirlie Show were shot on PAL videotape with a maximum resolution of only 576 lines of info so you can see how they can never and will never be considered high def and how Truth or Dare / Virgin Tour footage shot on film will always be superior.

[karbatal]

Stupid Madonna for not envisioning HD... Instead of filming Shangay Surprise she could have developed HD!

[Kim]

She should have insisted that all her vintage stuff was shot on film instead of crappy videotaped TV specials. Then we could have glorious HD transfers. Not that WB would even bother releasing them anyway.

Queen were very forward-thinking that way. Most of their old concerts were shot on film and their back catalogue gets the respect it deserves - unlike Madge's.

[ryan]

shame about the audio

[karbatal]

She should have insisted that all her vintage stuff was shot on film instead of crappy videotaped TV specials. Then we could have glorious HD transfers. Not that WB would even bother releasing them anyway.

Queen were very forward-thinking that way. Most of their old concerts were shot on film and their back catalogue gets the respect it deserves - unlike Madge's.

Well, for a singer that didn't release her best tour, it's a wonder that anything has been filmed. I can see Madonna going down to the vaults and making a big fire to make everything disappear.

[Jamesy]

Personally I live for finding new Blond Ambition content.

Most likely EVERY NIGHT of the tour in NTSC SD pro-shot format is in Madonna's possession. I have been trying to find out what (if any) of those are elsewhere, with little luck. It appears the record company have next to none of it.

The company who filmed each night of the tour, work for all the big artists and it was revealed last year that in the case of Michael Jackson's 1988 BAD tour, a copy of each night's pro-shot video (accompanied by audio from the soundboard) was given to the artist on professional U-Matic tape after the show. These were all put in storage by Michael Jackson - not given to Epic Records. I would guess it's the same with Madonna's tours.

In MJ's case, he occaisionally had VHS copies made of certain nights - and it was his own VHS copy of the Wembley Stadium show attended by Diana & Charles which ended up being released on DVD last year. They couldn't locate the U-Matic for that one (the U-Matic tapes weren't labelled properly apparently) but they specifically wanted to release that date because it was the only tour date for which they also had multi-track audio recordings.

[luckystar90]

Very interesting read!

Does this apply to other M tours as well? It seems that only BAT dates are being "unveiled" with time... Just live Virgin Tour, it seems very unlikely that the original Paris footage will be found and restored for an official release... oh well

[Kim]

Personally I live for finding new Blond Ambition content.

Most likely EVERY NIGHT of the tour in NTSC SD pro-shot format is in Madonna's possession. I have been trying to find out what (if any) of those are elsewhere, with little luck. It appears the record company have next to none of it.

The company who filmed each night of the tour, work for all the big artists and it was revealed last year that in the case of Michael Jackson's 1988 BAD tour, a copy of each night's pro-shot video (accompanied by audio from the soundboard) was given to the artist on professional U-Matic tape after the show. These were all put in storage by Michael Jackson - not given to Epic Records. I would guess it's the same with Madonna's tours.

In MJ's case, he occaisionally had VHS copies made of certain nights - and it was his own VHS copy of the Wembley Stadium show attended by Diana & Charles which ended up being released on DVD last year. They couldn't locate the U-Matic for that one (the U-Matic tapes weren't labelled properly apparently) but they specifically wanted to release that date because it was the only tour date for which they also had multi-track audio recordings.

I remember reading about the whole Bad remaster thing, it was very interesting and quite depressing about the way archival material was treated. The overall result was mediocre as expected.

Pop royalty like Madge needs some sort of official archiver to oversee her artistic legacy but I have absolutely no faith in that happening, at least not yet. When all those Melissa Crowe storage items started appearing on eBay I couldn't believe it. All that stuff stuck in some old storage unit that no-one paid the fees for! (assuming that story was true and she wasn't just trying to make a quick buck)

But I don't think her or her team seem that interested. Certainly Guy Oseary was quite dismissive about possible new releases of the old tours claiming no one knew where the footage is. Ask someone about the missing VT performances and they'd probably wonder what the hell we're talking about.

I'm sure all those u-matic tapes are stored somewhere. Are they stored properly to prevent degradation? Does anyone even know where they are? Probably not. It's all very depressing.

[Jamesy]

Very interesting read!

Does this apply to other M tours as well? It seems that only BAT dates are being "unveiled" with time..

Well - all her tours from 1987 onwards had pro-shot footage every night on big screens - all done by the same production company each time until S&S (not sure if they also did MDNA tour or if someone else did it).

It *is* intriguing that we have only really got BA dates from this stuff over the years so far.

In the case of Boston & New Jersey - they surfaced not from WB or Madonna - but from HBO. Both those shows had been given to HBO in 1990 in advance of their Nice broadcast - and they leaked out.

For the Houston BA show that leaked (2nd night of the USA tour) there is a story that this came from the concert venue who had kept a copy of the show. I don't know about that...

With regards HBO - it also seems that for GS they were given a full Toronto concert in advance of their broadcast and for DWT they were given a Barcelona concert. No sign yet of these appearing - but I live in hope.

In 2009 I asked someone working on the S&S tour about the pro-shot video from each night and whether it was kept and they told me categorically that it was all stored. This was on opening night in London's O2 arena and the guy said "only last week we pulled out some footage from last year for her to look at"...

Pop royalty like Madge needs some sort of official archiver to oversee her artistic legacy but I have absolutely no faith in that happening, at least not yet. When all those Melissa Crowe storage items started appearing on eBay I couldn't believe it. All that stuff stuck in some old storage unit that no-one paid the fees for! (assuming that story was true and she wasn't just trying to make a quick buck)

But I don't think her or her team seem that interested. Certainly Guy Oseary was quite dismissive about possible new releases of the old tours claiming no one knew where the footage is. Ask someone about the missing VT performances and they'd probably wonder what the hell we're talking about.

I'm sure all those u-matic tapes are stored somewhere. Are they stored properly to prevent degradation? Does anyone even know where they are? Probably not. It's all very depressing.

100% with you on that. My gut feeling would be that Madonna sees little point in preserving certain things like all those concert dates. She would likely never want them to be seen by anyone - so why put effort into archiving them.

And even if they are properly archived - I reckon they are in total lockdown - we're never gonna get our hands on them! I hope therefore that "other sources" got their hands on these kind of things over the years - like perhaps certain people working on the tours or (like HBO) maybe other broadcasters...

[acko]

The quality of the Nice show, was atrocious. Some of the worst lighting for a TV broadcast I have ever seen.

Unless they wanted to create a fog. Sorry but it's not even good enough 4 a VHS release.

[karbatal]

Can somebody please tell me what's the best BAT to download from torrent? I downloaded the Nice one, but there seems to be so many!

[Kim]

The quality of the Nice show, was atrocious. Some of the worst lighting for a TV broadcast I have ever seen.

Unless they wanted to create a fog. Sorry but it's not even good enough 4 a VHS release.

Agreed. I read an interview with lighting designer Peter Morse where he talked about lighting concerts for film and TV. How the original lighting was more or less untouched for Truth or Dare as the 35mm camera picked up every little lighting nuance whereas for the videotape filming of Nice they came in and added more lighting as the TV camera wouldn't register just the original properly but I think they dropped the ball on this one. It's overkill and far too overlit. The beginning of PDP for instance the stage is completely flooded in white light. He also talked about how he had no time to come in and relight for Ciao Italia and felt the lighting is the broadcast was too blue, but here he's gone completely in the opposite direction and added too much yellow light probably in an effort to counteract the blue. But all this could have been semi-rectified in post production.

I also had email correspondence with Peter in which he subtly lambasted the RIT lighting design but that's another story.

[Jamesy]

Can somebody please tell me what's the best BAT to download from torrent? I downloaded the Nice one, but there seems to be so many!

There's only really Nice, Barcelona and Yokohama that you should be interested in.

Those are the shows that had either official releases or TV broadcasts.

If you can be bothered, download them all. They're all interesting for different reasons!

Nice is good tho - it should do you! :-)

[Kilt]

... and for DWT they were given a Barcelona concert. No sign yet of these appearing - but I live in hope.

HBO also filmed the entire 1st show of the DWT Detroit stop. She looked much better during the 1st show

[karbatal]

^ oh, DEMONNA

[Jamesy]

HBO also filmed the entire 1st show of the DWT Detroit stop. She looked much better during the 1st show

Oh yeah - forgot about that!

[Kim]

Jamesy, what do you know about the origin of the leaked Lisbon RIT show?

[Jamesy]

Jamesy, what do you know about the origin of the leaked Lisbon RIT show?

Pretty much nothing.

Fascinates me how we got something like that.

What's for sure is that it's some version of what was planned for release - maybe a very early edit - maybe an edit from the night of the show - who knows. I'd love to find out.

Nocturne btw who did the venue screen footage each night of RiT - were still on 4:3 SD NTSC at that time - any of their footage from the tour (as seen in news reports etc.) can be seen as such.

The Lisbon shows though were shot in PAL HD 16:9 - and I was pleasantly surprised to see that leaked footage is still PAL (although not HD). Apparently at the concerts themselves, the 4:3 screens were fed footage from the 16:9 HDTV cameras stretched! The local news channels were given clips from Vogue and Frozen in 16:9 format the morning after the 1st concert. From those clips we can see that the leaked DVD is not just a rip of the screen footage. It's definitely a later edit!

[Kim]

The Lisbon shows though were shot in PAL HD 16:9 - and I was pleasantly surprised to see that leaked footage is still PAL (although not HD). Apparently at the concerts themselves, the 4:3 screens were fed footage from the 16:9 HDTV cameras stretched! The local news channels were given clips from Vogue and Frozen in 16:9 format the morning after the 1st concert. From those clips we can see that the leaked DVD is not just a rip of the screen footage. It's definitely a later edit!

That's interesting. A lot of people thought the leak was a rip of the screen footage. Wouldn't surprise me if it was some sort of deliberate leak to shut everyone up about an official version. It seems to have put a lot of fans off getting anything else. I love it myself and can see the potential there for a decent release.

[acko]

I also had email correspondence with Peter in which he subtly lambasted the RIT lighting design but that's another story.

I know, he talked about that in an interview. But I have 2 say I quite like it. I think the idea was that the

stage was sort of like a detached rectangular box in space , it's very straight forward & so was the lighting. Obviously they learned 4 future productions, but the thing with the screens is that it's not only a backdrop but a lighting source in its own right, so they have 2 work their way around it...which imo creates less depth on stage, & it loses dramatic appeal.

[VogueMusic]

What was Peter's issue with the RIT tour lighting design? I want to know.....

[ryan]

What was Peter's issue with the RIT tour lighting design? I want to know.....

Well this was the lighting done for DWT and GST (by Peter Morse)

This was the lighting for RIT

Not very impressive. But there's not much you can really do. The big screen in the background pretty much acted like a main lighting source.

When you compare RIT to some of M's recent tours, it's kind of like an early proto type with the way how the video screens and the lighting play against and with each other.

There are a few numbers in MDNA where the lighting isn't needed so much and relays solely on the video screens. Yet there are other performances like Revolver, I'm Addicted, and especially Like a Prayer where the lighting is on full blast and actually works with the video screen and even stands out more.

When I saw MDNA, I was in awe come Like a Prayer. The lighting actually reminded me of something Peter Morse would have done. It was gorgeous.

[VogueMusic]

^Ah ha. I see now. RIT was kind of the first of M's tours (and tours in general) that relied on soley video screens to carry the visuals of the show.

Either just bad lighting design...or they just didn't know how to light for new technology at the time.

It's funny how RIT is so washed out and bland....and yet I thought the CT was far too dark, and lacked dynamic lighting design (though perhaps the emphasis on the screens is what they wanted that time around).

Sticky and MDNA certainly show that they seem to have gotten proper lighting with video screens down.

[Kilt]

ART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jamesy]

That's interesting. A lot of people thought the leak was a rip of the screen footage. Wouldn't surprise me if it was some sort of deliberate leak to shut everyone up about an official version. It seems to have put a lot of fans off getting anything else. I love it myself and can see the potential there for a decent release.

I have thought the same thing Kim.

Out of all the leaks we've had - this one seems so crazy that part of me thinks it was possibly "deliberate".

And yes - it shut me up too! We've got it now and it's very good PAL DVD quality. I'd like the audio to be different but if they never release that tour now I'm not gonna lose any sleep! Previously I was fixated on when we might ever get that tour released.

The first thing I did btw when we got the leak was compare the news report footage I recorded from Portuguese TV to check that it wasn't the same. I'll see if I can dig those out tonight and re-upload. There was a lengthy Vogue clip shown on their breakfast show and then some of Frozen - and some of the angles were different.

Usually what's shown on the screens anyway are only close-up shots. Never any point in showing wide angles or big sweeping shots of the crowd since the purpose of the screens is purely to let people see the closeup action they can't see with their naked eye. Yet the RiT that leaked is full of the kind of wider shots that are typical of a TV broadcast / DVD and that you wouldn't expect to see on big screens at a concert.

[unruhe]

reading all this was so interesting! I have a question: jamesy, you mention BAT Boston and New Jersey as if they're leaked on a pro recording, has this happened? Did I miss something? I only knew of Nice, Yokohama, Barcelona and thought the Houston one was shot from the screens?

[Jamesy]

reading all this was so interesting! I have a question: jamesy, you mention BAT Boston and New Jersey as if they're leaked on a pro recording, has this happened? Did I miss something? I only knew of Nice, Yokohama, Barcelona and thought the Houston one was shot from the screens?

Yeah the Boston and NJ shows leaked years and years ago from pro-shot tapes - but so far not leaked fully online.

Houston also leaked from a pro-shot tape a long time ago and then ended up released as an unofficial DVD release with bootleg audio added.

The Houston one first surfaced as a poor NTSC 4.43 conversion, being sold on DVDR discs by someone from Eastern Europe who seemed to own the tape (I along with many fans bought this homemade DVD directly from him at the time!). But the unofficial DVD which came a few years later and was sold in stores, strangely seemed to be based on an even worse version (I think a VCD version).

[Guest SecretGarden]

The remaster in the OP looks way too oversaturated.

Besides the great Truth or Dare clips, the best BA recording to this day is still Yokahoma, from what I've seen.

[ryan]

I'm not a big fan of Yokohama, the picture may be a bit more sharper than the other TV broadcast, but the coloring looks monochromatic, in the sense that the taping didn't pick up much of the lighting. And for that, I prefer Nice the most.

[VogueMusic]

I cannot stand the Yokohama taping. The colors are all washed out...it practically looks grey (and green). The audio may be clear, but it's flat as hell. Sounds kind of hollow. And the band hasn't yet really added their own flair to the overall arrangements. You can tell the show and music is still finding its own feet. And as much as I love the Japanese...their culture is very different in how they react to live shows/concerts. I wouldn't say they're the best for filming live tour concerts. Plus, it was one of the first shows...tours take time for everything to sharpen up and for things to settle in.

And while I know it's sacrilege, as much as the ponytail is iconic...I much prefer the curls.