Document of the Dead Definitive Version Release Date?

[Brianruns10]

I just learned about Frumkes' "definitive" version of "Document of the Dead," and he stated this version is sourced from the original negative, meaning the quality should be excellent, and it'll be in HD.

I have not been able to find info on a release date. Can anyone out there fill in the gaps?

BR

[DEAD BEAT]

wow! wonder if there is gonna be added footage as well! :confused:

[bassman]

HD? It's going to look horrible.

Never cared much for Document, really....

[Brianruns10]

Well, you'd be surprised. 16mm holds a ton of information, and many TV shows (Friday Night Lights being one) as well as movies (The Hurt Locker, The Wrestler) were shot on 16mm.

Why "Document" has looked rather cruddy in the past is that the transfer was taken from a print of the film, which is not the ideal source for a video translation...it's contrasty and several steps away from the original, like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy.

Which is why my ears perked when I heard he was going back to the original camera negative for the HD transfer. Believe me, it should look quite outstanding!

[DEAD BEAT]

Well kiss my grits! lol :D

[DubiousComforts]

Which is why my ears perked when I heard he was going back to the original camera negative for the HD transfer. Believe me, it should look quite outstanding!

What about the Two Evil Eyes segment which was shot using late 80s video technology? How good can that look in HD, or is it just going to be dropped?

[Neil]

I just learned about Frumkes' "definitive" version of "Document of the Dead," and he stated this version is sourced from the original negative, meaning the quality should be excellent, and it'll be in HD.

I have not been able to find info on a release date. Can anyone out there fill in the gaps?

BR

OK! I'm interested! Where do I queue?

[Boogiedowndead]

HD? It's going to look horrible.

Never cared much for Document, really....


I just watched it last night on the ultimate dawn set


It was ok, not something I would watch again

[MikePizzoff]

I love this documentary... but I don't love it enough to buy another copy of it, unless it's going to have additional interviews/whatnot.

[Brianruns10]

As I understand it, Frumkes has reedited quite a bit, even mentioning previewing it at several conventions, and then adjusting the pacing/timing based on the audience reaction. There's more footage from Romero's most recent efforts, though I don't anticipate there being terribly much new or different material for the Dawn sequences, since he was on a limited budget and only had so much raw stock to shoot.

However, since he's made a high def transfer of the camera negative, the quality of those scenes will blow away what we've seen prior (I'm a cinematographer, so I can attest to this from my own experience).

I contact Synapse films, who Frumkes said was handling distribution. Their reply was that this film was indeed one of their titles, and it was due for "future release," which doesn't say a whole lot.

BR

[axlish]

Frumkes filmed new footage for the tail end of the documentary and is taking his time in getting it together (what I was told). It should be a while before it is released but I will echo the thoughts of Brian and suggest that the remastered quality of the 16mm should blow away anything previous, and I am anxiously awaiting this release. Actually, I have an extensive audio interview with Roy from years back on my website (www.mallofthedead.net) where he talks about the amazing quality of the remastered version.

[bassman]

Frumkes filmed new footage for the tail end of the documentary and is taking his time in getting it together

I seem to remember hearing about this. Wasn't it filmed during Land? If so, I'm not so sure that's something you want to include with the original trilogy...

[krakenslayer]

I seem to remember hearing about this. Wasn't it filmed during Land? If so, I'm not so sure that's something you want to include with the original trilogy...

Yeah, I believe it was a short called Dream of the Dead that was scheduled, at one point, to be shown on IFC before Land's release, before falling off the face of the earth.

[axlish]

I'm not referring to Dream of the Dead, which was aired on IFC. I am referring to newly shot material consisting of new interviews from Romero cast and crew that was taken at a convention in 2006 (I forget which, may have been in Toronto).

[Griff]

I'm not referring to Dream of the Dead, which was aired on IFC. I am referring to newly shot material consisting of new interviews from Romero cast and crew that was taken at a convention in 2006 (I forget which, may have been in Toronto).

Yeah, he was still shooting footage at the 2007 Rue Morgue Festival of Horror in Toronto when I was there.

He also showed us a full, unedited, unaired version of Dream of the Dead which was fun. It'd be nice if he could put that out one day...