Interview with OTHELLO restoration producer Michael Dawson

[Wellesnet]

http://www.wellesnet.com/?p=6522

[Wellesnet]

FROM WOODSTOCK CELEBRATES FACEBOOK:

Here's some old video footage from the 1990 Welles fest in Woodstock where Michael Dawson and Beatrice Welles introduce a showing of CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT. Picture quality is not that good, but it's watchable:

https://vimeo.com/66408345

[Wellesnet]

And here are two commercials for the restoration. Again, picture and sound quality is not very good, but I don't know any where else where these can be seen:

https://vimeo.com/65963464

[RayKelly]

Great finds!

[Jay]

http://www.wellesnet.com/?p=6522

Excellent interview. The box set of Othello (on blu-ray, fingers crossed) would be fantastic--although it would make my Criterion LD copy plummet in value. I'm very much looking forward to reading part two.

[Le Chiffre]

Thanks Jay, glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully part 2 will be up in couple of weeks or so.

[A Sled in Flames]

Great interview but I must confess a bit of confusion towards the end. There is talk of the multiple home video releases of the Othello restoration. Previously I was under the impression that all the releases were inaccurate depictions of the restoration, being taken from a master pre-clean up; reading this, I guess I was wrong. That being said, which versions of the restoration are THE ones to get? Cinar VHS, Image DVD, other DVD?

[Le Chiffre]

I have the Image DVD and have always been pretty happy with it, but Michael Dawson told me that he thinks the Second Sight UK DVD release is the cleanest and best of the DVD releases; the one to get if you can. In America you would need a region-free player, but I think most computers nowadays come with region-free players.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Othello-DVD-Ors ... B0000DJ7G9



Here's a Korean Import that, according to Dawson, uses the same elements as the Second Sight DVD, and it's region-free:

http://www.amazon.com/Othello-The-Trage ... thello+dvd

[A Sled in Flames]

Thanks for the info. I've seen that Korean import around. I might just pick that one up if its an uncompressed duplicate.

[Le Chiffre]

I ordered one myself last week. Hopefully I can give you a review within the next few days. I've got a couple of Korean DVDs in my collection and have been impressed by the quality of the transfers.

[Le Chiffre]

Checked out the Korean Othello DVD. Picture looks very nice, but it has some emulsion chipping and other visual artifacts in some scenes, so I think Dawson may be mistaken in saying it comes from the same source as the Second Sight DVD. My guess is that it's source is the Image DVD.

[Jay]

Checked out the Korean Othello DVD. Picture looks very nice, but it has some emulsion chipping and other visual artifacts in some scenes, so I think Dawson may be mistaken in saying it comes from the same source as the Second Sight DVD. My guess is that it's source is the Image DVD.

The Korean DVD is definitely a dupe of the Image DVD. I have both, and they are the exact same transfer.

[Le Chiffre]

Thanks Jay. I have an old friend who teaches English in South Korea. With the Korean subs this'll make a good Christmas present.

Has anyone seen the Second Sight DVD?

[Wellesnet]

Part 2 of the 3-part interview with Michael Dawson is now up, focusing on the prospects for a possible restoration of CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT:

http://www.wellesnet.com/?p=7228

[Kane76]

Oh be still my heart. A restoration of Chimes at Midnight would be the best present a boy could have. I've seen a very nice print of this that I found online a few years ago and would love to have it on my shelf. Good luck with all your work, Michael Dawson.