ALOHA- New Splitscreen Edit & Bonus?

[Albert]

The reason you can get HD versions of ancient movies is because they were all filmed onto celluloid film. Celluloid film is even greater resolution than HD's 1080 x 720.

Aloha From Hawaii will never be HD because it was only recorded onto videotape.

Celluloid film= HD

Video cassette Tape= SD

Are you sure it was recorded on regular tape? I guess that would make sense, since it was recorded for tv broadcasting. So the same can be assumed for the NBC and CBS Specials?

[vivaelvis]

Something interesting concerning the tape source supposedly used for the show. Watch the Alternate Aloha show. If you notice that the footage has some vertical lines going north to south on the far left side of the tape which shows it was made by a regular video tape. However, this does not seem to be the case with the actual broadcasted show. So maybe the dress rehearsal was filmed with a different tape source?

[JRtherealJR]

Are you sure it was recorded on regular tape? I guess that would make sense, since it was recorded for tv broadcasting. So the same can be assumed for the NBC and CBS Specials?

Steve Orland, the Videotape Editor for Aloha for Hawaii has stated that for the live show, the crew rented a forty foot produce truck in Honolulu and created a videotape recording, playback and editing facility inside, complete with four quadruplex (2" tape) machines weighing several hundred pounds each, a time code generator and lots of monitoring and communication equipment.

He also says "Three smaller tape machines were located in another truck. All of the machines were used to record the entire event from all the different cameras".

So this makes 7 video machines in total, recording all of the footage from every single camera in the HIC stadium. But I notice that Steve Orland did not specify what type of video the 3 other smaller machines were.....Did these machines also record onto 2" Quadruplex tape or was it another type of medium?

If it was a different medium, was it better or worse quality thaan the 2" Quadruplex tape?

If there is so much extra material from Aloha, when will EPE release it? There is no better time than next year for the 40th anniversary of this historic concert!

This is 2" Quadruplex tape (note: not the actual Aloha tape)

[KPM]

I never read it. The producer, Marty said it on television years ago when he was interviewed. I believe it was on the US show Entertainment Tonight back in the 90's. He also produced some big time hit shows post the Aloha concert event.

I remember him mentioning that "the technology used to tape the special had never been used before that night". Now, he could have been referring to the satellite technology, so maybe that was what he meant and not cameras. Although by looking back at live TV events prior to Aloha there was no broadcasting that crystal clear. Look at the 68 Comeback footage restored, also taped by NBC cameras, and then look at Aloha restored. It's like comparing apples to oranges in difference among clearness.

But like I pointed out in my above post, the different angles vary in quality to where some look like they were in HD back then. Even though HD technology did not exist in 1973.

I also recall that interview and he indeed was speaking about the satellite technology.

[KPM]

If I recall correctly the promotion for the Aloha Deluxe DVD set by EPE I think they said all existing footage was included in the set.
So I am not sure what extra footage is supposed to be still in the vaults.
Same with the 68 Special all existing footage was suppose to be in that box set also.

[vivaelvis]

I find it funny that the producers and camera guys just all of a sudden ended the taping as soon as Elvis left the stage. Knowing it was such a historical night, you would think that the cameras would have scanned the audience to show their reaction and applauding. This is why I feel there's more left to see. Plus, there's the Japanese footage of the backstage footage pre-show where it shows the stage being prepped and constructed. EPE may not have that but they could always make arrangements to put it into a Making of Aloha type documentary with the Aloha show in its entirety remixed and reworked with all different camera angles. Mainly for the Burning Love shots. A straight shot would be nice, along with a full body shot.

[Erhan]

[JRtherealJR]

If I recall correctly the promotion for the Aloha Deluxe DVD set by EPE I think they said all existing footage was included in the set.
So I am not sure what extra footage is supposed to be still in the vaults.
Same with the 68 Special all existing footage was suppose to be in that box set also.

There is a ton of extra Aloha footage yet to be seen in it's entirety:

-As I mentioned earlier, we have the entire show recorded in 7 different angles from 7 different cameras- so that is 7 hours of footage right there. Last night I went to ELVIS IN CONCERT at the O2 and they actually used some of these alternate angles when they showed the Aloha footage.

-More footage of the dancers, performers, robots, bands etc. outside the HIC prior to the show

-Footage of the audience entering the HIC and taking their seats (note: the Japanese broadcast of ALoha showed more of this)

-Footage of Elvis' dressing room, backstage and the stage being setup which was seen in the Japanese version of Aloha (note: see the video Erhan has posted)

-More footage of the helicopter arrival scenes

-LOST FOOTAGE: The crane cam they had set up during the helicopter arrival- what has happened to all of the footage from this camera? Did it only film the audience or did it film Elvis walking to the jeep and driving off?

-After the show ended- audience interviews?

And of course, the Holy Grail for all Aloha enthusiasts- was Elvis' rehearsal at the HIC filmed???


So as you can see, there is still a lot of footage from Aloha which we have not seen & with the high capacity storage of Blu-ray disc, we could easily get all of this footage on a couple of discs as well as new interviews with the surviving cast / production team AND a definitive documentary IF EPE can be bothered to get their act together in time for next year....

[JRtherealJR]

Was Elvis pointing to Jack Lord, who was at attendance, when he touched his belt?

Your guess is as good as mine!

Nobody knows for sure exactly where Jack Lord was sitting- it was highly possible he was sitting in the "golden circle" for those who donated the most money. I've studied the Aloha audience many times over the years & he is nowhere to be seen- but he was obviously there because EP introduced him!

Jack Lord was a big star at the time, so it's strange that none of the cameramen apparently did not film him in his seat at all. If Roger Moore can be seen in the audience of That's The Way It Is- then why not Jack Lord at Aloha?

[JRtherealJR]

With the 40th anniversary of Aloha next year- can we expect anything special? I've never been completely satisfied with the different edits that we have been given over the years, in fact I prefer the Japanese broadcast version of Aloha because it has better camera angles and a longer opening- showing the stage being set up and the crowds entering the HIC etc.

ALOHA will never be HD because it was only videoed onto tape, but let's talk about the 4:3 Tv picture ratio. To fit this onto modern widescreen TV's, you wither have to chop off the top and bottom of the picture or alternatively show the whole 4:3 with black bars on either side of the picture.

I hate the thought of cutting off 2 thirds of the picture as you lose Elvis' belt in a lot of shots- so what could be done?

One way is to give ALOHA the On Tour split-screen treatment- use footage from other cameras and place them either side of the main presentation to fill up your 16:9 TV. So the centre box is the main version of the show which we know and love, and then either side have either alternate angles of Elvis or shots of the audience or band.

This would all look stunning on a 16:9 LED TV and we would be getting Maximum Elvis without having to distort the picture just to fill up the screen or worse still- cutting the top and bottom out.

I know that the split-screen used in EOT is unpopular with some fans, but I have always been very fond of it and in recent years this technique has had something of a resurgence which began with the "24" TV show.

I liked a lot of the audience shots from the original Aloha broadcast, but these were cut out of the 2004 Deluxe edition. And by the same rule, a lot of the new Elvis shots in the 2004 release were stunning but they cut out a lot of the audience. So the only way to have the best of both worlds is to have Aloha in wide multi-screen.

Where are the Japanese master tapes now? Is there any reason why EPE cannot access them and combine it with the already released material and make an "Ultimate Aloha" edition?

It would look something like this:
NEW ALOHA MULTI-SCREEN WITH ALTERNATE CAMERA ANGLES TO FIT 16:9 RATIO



Otherwise, all we would have is a cropped picture with dramatically less Elvis to fill the 16:9 screen:

I wrote the above post almost a year ago. It was an idea I had about how the old 4:3 presentation of Aloha could be expanded into a 6:9 letterbox ratio by adding 2 different camera angles on either side of the main picture.

This way, you do not lose any picture quality like you would if you simply zoomed the picture in to make it 16:9. You also get the added bonus of a new splitscreen edit of Aloha with different camera angles on screen at the same time.

Well it seems EPE must have read what I posted as they did exactly this for the 40th Anniversary Aloha event at in Hawaii in January.



So there now exists a lovely 16:9 brand new edit of Aloha which would look great on any modern TV.

I wonder if EPE will now use this new verison for a Blu-Ray release of Aloha?

[Tony Trout]

Doesn't look like it since they've released the CDs (and botched the main show).