NBC releasing Carrie Underwood SOM on DVD

[Dave516]

Posted: 11/23/13 at 11:29pm

NBC has just announced that they will be releasing the live broadcast of The Sound of Music on DVD on Dec. 17. While this is not totally unexpected, does anybody else question the turnaround time in production? This is supposed to be a live broadcast on December 5. The article states that the DVD will be released just 12 days after the initial broadcast. It will have to undergo editing, duplication and have to then be shipped to stores around the country within this 12 day timeframe? This just seems like an impossible turnaround.

They have pre-recorded a cast album to be released the same week that the show airs. This all just makes me wonder how "live" the telecast will actually be. Do you think they're pre-recording much of the show? Does anybody have any insight or thoughts on this?

[degrassifan]

Posted: 11/23/13 at 11:37pm

The broadcast will be live. All live. Nothing prerecorded. Although, in case anything goes wrong, the prerecorded songs are available. It's 2013. I'm sure they can do all the things you mentioned in 12 days. Heck, they are even turning in the production to the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild nominations committee right after the broadcast, so I'm sure DVD screeners will be ready by December 6.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/23/13 at 11:45pm

So this is NOT a concert, but it's also not just a filmed staging a revival or a film remake... what is this going to be like exactly?

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/23/13 at 11:47pm

I'm basically expecting a live production on a sound stage.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 11/23/13 at 11:49pm

It really isn't that difficult. Because it's a live production, they probably won't edit it too much. Maybe just clean some stuff up like the sound, though hopefully that won't really be needed. And making duplicates of dvds also doesn't take too long. Remember, this is a professional crew, so they have great equipment to do all of this stuff. Chances are, they probably will do a run through of stuff for the cameras and other crews so people will do everything right when it airs.

I think part of the reason for recording the music is to have something to put on commercials for the show. Like if I heard they were doing The Sound of Music and heard no music in their advertising, I would question that.

[Dave516]

Posted: 11/23/13 at 11:50pm

Yes, it's supposed to be the stage version of the show performed live on a sound stage. They're not using most of the songs that were added for the film version -- they will basically be using the original Broadway script and songs.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/23/13 at 11:52pm

Oh nice! I am looking forward to this even more now.

[degrassifan]

Posted: 11/23/13 at 11:53pm

It will look something similar to the link below. Basically a live production of the show but on sound stages, instead of a proscenium stage, and without a live audience.



Cinderella Updated On: 11/23/13 at 11:53 PM

[Marianne2]

Posted: 11/23/13 at 11:56pm

Here is an example for you,Broadwayphreak- It is a clip of Mary Martin in Peter Pan back in 1955. They actually did that one a few times in the 1950s and I think a last time in 1960, all were live on television. Another example I can think of is Amahl and the Night Visitors.
http://youtu.be/hcBsKLJgKOY

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 12:13am

WONDERFUL TOWN also did this in 1958, but they had a live audience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7z5jl8a6mc Updated On: 11/24/13 at 12:13 AM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 12:38am

The 1950s are filled with examples of this.

I really wish that Wonderful Town would be released by the company that released the 1950s live TV versions of Kiss Me Kate and Anything Goes. It's, IMHO, better than those, and all in all pretty great.

[JMPlayer6]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 5:55am

Quick turnarounds like this have been done before. It is not unprecedented.

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 6:36am

It's an insane turnaround.

They can put the rest of the disc together in advance, menus, trailers, FBI warnings extra features, etc. And those can all be QC'd ahead of time.

But after this airs, they will need to compress the master video and audio. There probably won't be multiple audio streams (like a 5.1 and a 2.0 mix) because there wouldn't be any time to mix them. As far as QC'ing the picture and sound? I doubt there will be much of that, if any. So if something is glitchy or goes wrong, forget it.

And subtitle streams? No time for that. A fast turnaround on creation, timecode, QC, etc. would be a week.

If they hire multiple vendors to help with the replication, they could probably have a few thousand ready to go by street date.

My guess is that it will either be "slightly" delayed or if enough people order it right away, it will go on "backorder" until they can make enough copies.

Also, if anything goes wrong during the broadcast, they won't have time to go back in and tweak it --- like a mic cutting out, or a bad camera shot, or a flubbed line. A lot of times, for later releases, they will tweak stuff like that. But not with a 12-day turnaround.

As far as check discs and QC time? Forget it.

I'm glad I'm not working on this project! I'll have to ask around and see if I know anybody who is.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 8:22am

best,
If I may agree and then offer a followup counterpoint, I would assume that this DVD release may be more in line with the Phantom of the Opera anniversary concert. If anyone recalls discussion, many people who went to the live movie theatre broadcast of the concert noted after the DVD release that the DVD seemed to be notably different than the live broadcast, so it is entirely possible that this DVD will be video taken from a dress rehearsal a few days prior... Not that it would give them THAT much extra time, but it is possible.
They could also easily have subtitles prepared ahead of time and have a digital release date of Dec 12 with a store release a week or so later, depending.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 8:39am

I'm sure they will perform the show LIVE on December 5th, but I suspect that what will be released on DVD will be pre-recorded.

Time will tell, if someone flubs a line or a lyric on the live broadcast and then it doesn't appear on the DVD version that will surely give it away.

[JD2]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 9:29am

The vocals will be live, but there will be no live orchestra on the telecast.

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 9:49am

At least on the websites, they're calling this The Sound of Music Live! Obviously no DVD is a "live" video broadcast, but that could be one reason why the sets and costumes are ready now (for the most part).

Still, I can tell you that even a one-month turnaround on something like this is scary and unwise. It comes down to compression, mastering, mixing, and QC.

If you don't allow enough time for those things, you end up with an inferior product.

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 9:54am

They're probably afraid everyone will just play it to death on their DVRs (assuming they like it), and then not buy the commercial release because they're sick of it.

I can't imagine any other reason to incur a bunch of rush fees on something like this. They must think it's worth it, even if they don't realize that the product may (and probably will) suffer, to some degree.

EDIT: And assuming they will use any of the actual live broadcast, even if it's mixed with prerecorded video and audio from dress rehearsals, means that editing on the final DVD/BD video can't begin until after it airs.

So you have an additional step of editing the entire piece first, before it can be mastered (video), mixed (audio), compressed (both) and QC'd.

Mixing in prerecorded source material with the live broadcast doesn't make the post-production work easier, it actually adds a step.



EDIT2: So the only way they could be getting a head start on the video/audio post-production work (mastering, compression, QC) for the DVD release is if the entire thing were pre-recorded and they used none of the live broadcast. If that's the case, it brings me back to my original point that the DVD is being sold as "The Sound of Music Live!"

Updated On: 11/24/13 at 09:54 AM

[degrassifan]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 10:54am

I read somewhere that the 1957 Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella DVD is actually from a dress rehearsal and not from the actual live broadcast. I don't know if it's true, but that's one heck of a dress rehearsal. Therefore, even if the DVD ends up not being the live broadcast, I'm sure it'll still be a really good dress rehearsal. I trust Zadan/Meron and NBC to present a superb product.

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 11:30am

The 1957 Cinderella was aired live in color (!), but the surviving kinescope (filmed footage of a TV monitor) was in B&W. So we only have the B&W kinescope now of the original, live, color broadcast. It aired only once.

This legendary television production shows the high-minded ideals that some TV efforts could boast in the late 1950s, when the three networks presented live plays as weekly specials. Responding to NBC's popular Peter Pan with Mary Martin, CBS commissioned none other than Rodgers and Hammerstein, then the tops on Broadway and cleaning up in Hollywood with spectacular roadshow adaptations of their work. Cinderella was produced in seven months expressly for the new star Julie Andrews, then playing in My Fair Lady; it was shown only once in color and recorded only with a B&W kinescope camera.


DVD Talk review of Cinderella

Updated On: 11/24/13 at 11:30 AM

[Joviedamian]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 4:36pm

best12bars, you beat me too it. That is what I was going to say.

AlbertoCarlos, who's your avatar?

[latitudex1]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 5:48pm

^That's Chester See, the YouTuber that did the Sound of Music Live "Do-Re-Mi" music video project.