Antonia Ellis Interview DVD-R Now Available!

Hi all,

I'm back from my short trip -- thanks again to Bill Cotter
for looking after the list!

As I said last week, I've finished transferring the
Antonia Ellis interview video that Shawn Kelly filmed at
the San Diego Comic Con a month ago, and have edited
in the clips we showed during the interview and put it on
an NTSC, all-region DVD-R.

This took much longer to finish than I expected, as the
software I was using turned out to be buggy, plus my
computer decided to start mysteriously crashing,
so I ended up buying a brand new computer with a new
operating system (Mac OS 9 -> Windows XP) and new
software (!)

So, if anyone wants a copy, I'm charging US$6 for
shipment to the US/Canada/Mexico, or US$8 worldwide. This
is slightly higher than the costs of the materials and
postage, but unless a lot are sold, I won't probably won't
recover the costs it took to create the DVD in
the first place (which included a $75 camcorder rental
to transfer the footage to the computer, plus some new
software).

You can pay for this via PayPal or via major credit
card by going to this page:

http://ufoseries.com/ellis/dvd.html

Also, make sure to note the comments about compatibility --
although it is a region-free DVD, it is in the NTSC video
format, so folks in PAL countries will need some sort
of multi-standard player/TV, or computer to view it.
Also note the comments about not all DVD players are
compatible with recordable DVD's, and you should try
to learn if yours can play DVD-Rs before buying one!

Also, I sent a few freebies out to some folks on the
list almost a week ago, so perhaps we'll see a review
of one in the next few days?

Marc

Hi Marc!


Got my Disc the other day, Saturday but it arrived on Friday in case you were wondering (My PO Box) The disc played in my SAMPO DVD player, I havent tried it in my SONY yet and I also have an old Pioner DVD/Laser unit but I haven't had a chance to hook that up yet.

The disc froze a couple of times, these were not the freezes when you cut to a movie or TV clip, but overall played well. Antonia's voice sounded good, sometimes when she spoke quickly I lost what she was saying but mostly I understood everything. I did have trouble hearing you Marc but I got what you were saying most of the time. Was that your wife going up to you to get you to speak into the mic? I thought that was pretty funny!

I really enjoyed seeing you sitting there interviewing her, after all the years of mailing lists, web sites, fanzine work etc that you've done. I real pleasure to see someone who has such a pure love for the show have the opportunity to talk....sort of one on one....with one of the series stars.

I am halfway through the disc, I had to stop last night to watch Big Brother 5 (I admit it....I'm addicted and I'm pissed Karen got voted out....but I digress).

I really liked watching the various movie clips, especially watching her dance. I was impressed, she really dances well. (That was the clip with Vladek.) I also REALLY enjoyed the striptease. I thought, this is the early 1970's how good could this clip be and WOW! I think I have to buy Percy now!

Also the clips of all the TV and movies were crystal clear. Beautiful. Very nice to see the young Antonia and then to todays Antonia.

So far so good, I appreciate getting this, it really brightened my day as we had some stressful construction going on at home that morning, plus my kids were really off (Nasal spray it seems) and it was September 11th. Once things calmed down it was a good way to relax and enjoy Antonia. I'm surprised she hasn't done more conventions, she seems very relaxed and at ease in front of the crowd and speaks well of the show and has nice long answers to questions.

Let's get her out to the East Coast! : - )

Again, Many Thanks Marc, your efforts are appreciated and I owe you. Next time (Once I get my video camera fixed) you need to transfer video (8mm) maybe I could help and burn it onto a disc for you. You shouldn't have had to rent a camera for this. My camera broke during the worldcon but I hope to have it up and running by October when I'm off to another convention.


I'll write more when I see the rest of the disc.

Oh, I almost forgot, my wife who knows about this stuff because she's married to me, was in the kitchen listening to interview and ended up watching it with me because she enjoyed Antonia so much. (We have a small TV in the kitchen slaved to TV in the Den) She watched part of it in the kitchen and really got a kick out of the movie clips. We both agreed it was a real treat to see her in other roles and she loved the dancing and the strip tease scene too. She thought the premise of Percy sort of interesting. ; - )

Hi Phil,

> The disc froze a couple of times

Yes, that happened once or twice on my DVD player as well,
but since that player sometimes freezes on commercial DVD's,
I didn't think I could draw any conclusions from that.

My feeling is that I probably have the bitrate set a
bit too high, or the DVD players are having a hard time
playing DVD-Rs with their bluish surface, instead of
a commercial DVD with a silver surface.

> Was that your wife going up to you to get you to
> speak into the mic? I thought that was pretty funny!

Yes, that's exactly what she was doing!! Even if you
were in the audience in San Diego, you wouldn't have
been able to hear me! Unfortunately, there wasn't
any slack in the microphone cable, so I couldn't
get the mic much closer to me, but after the 2nd
time my wife came up, I just started to lean over
to ask the questions!

And I actually made it easier to understand me compared
to the original videotape, by running the audio through
a dynamic range limiter, but there's only so much I
could do to fix that.

> I really enjoyed seeing you sitting there interviewing her

I look really happy to be there, don't I? :-) I didn't
realize that I had this huge grin on my face throughout
the entire interview...

> I also REALLY enjoyed the striptease. I thought, this is
> the early 1970's how good could this clip be and WOW! I
> think I have to buy Percy now!

Heh, heh... and I cut the clip before it became R-rated... :-)
I think Antonia was worried that I was going to show
the whole scene, but I never intended to do that.

> I'm surprised she hasn't done more conventions, she seems
> very relaxed and at ease in front of the crowd and speaks
> well of the show and has nice long answers to questions.

Yes, it didn't really require all the preparation I did
for the interview, because she just kept talking and talking,
often answering my next question before I had a chance to
ask it! (and no, she didn't know what my questions were
going to be -- I wanted the interview to be spontaneous)

> Next time you need to transfer video (8mm) maybe I could help
> and burn it onto a disc for you. You shouldn't have had to
> rent a camera for this.

Shawn shot the interview on Hi-8, and I really wanted to
preserve the original quality as much as possible, so I
rented a Digital-8 camcorder and downloaded the video
to my computer via Firewire in DV format. In DV format,
the hour interview was 12 GB, so there wasn't any way to
put that on a single disc!

> Oh, I almost forgot, my wife who knows about this stuff
> because she's married to me, was in the kitchen listening
> to interview and ended up watching it with me because she
> enjoyed Antonia so much.

Yes, she was a delightful person to spend the weekend with,
that's for sure!

Marc

> Yes, that's exactly what she was doing!! Even if you
> were in the audience in San Diego, you wouldn't have
> been able to hear me! Unfortunately, there wasn't
> any slack in the microphone cable, so I couldn't
> get the mic much closer to me, but after the 2nd
> time my wife came up, I just started to lean over
> to ask the questions!

This sounds so typical of conventions. Yet, I'm impressed there was sound at all as many conventions I 've been too have no sound!

> I look really happy to be there, don't I? :-) I didn't
> realize that I had this huge grin on my face throughout
> the entire interview...

It's always good to actually see someone you've corresponded with on the net for about 10 years or so. Plus, and this is something I complain about all the time at my local SF convention, when you have a TV person on stage it's important to have someone who knows what they did, their career to direct the questions. Because many times the show we love was just a 6 month job to them and they remember it they way I remember working for Crown Gas in 1981! So someone who really knows the actor and the show really makes these things. Otherwise we get the, What was your favorite episode, what is the combination of the safe in the captains room type questions.

> Heh, heh... and I cut the clip before it became R-rated... :-)
> I think Antonia was worried that I was going to show
> the whole scene, but I never intended to do that.

There's MORE! This weekend just gets better and better! (Okay, I'm dropping this now so everyone won't think I'm a total Perv....Oh! Too late!)

> Yes, it didn't really require all the preparation I did
> for the interview, because she just kept talking and talking,
> often answering my next question before I had a chance to
> ask it! (and no, she didn't know what my questions were
> going to be -- I wanted the interview to be spontaneous)

She's a great guest, shes clearly enjoying the attention and she's treating everyone with respect. Very good. Probably some of the best conditions for this interview to take place. You must have good Karma Marc.

> Shawn shot the interview on Hi-8, and I really wanted to
> preserve the original quality as much as possible, so I
> rented a Digital-8 camcorder and downloaded the video
> to my computer via Firewire in DV format. In DV format,
> the hour interview was 12 GB, so there wasn't any way to
> put that on a single disc!

Sounds difficult. I guess I could have emailed it all to you if you could stand a 3 hour download! : - )

> > Oh, I almost forgot, my wife who knows about this stuff
> > because she's married to me, was in the kitchen listening
> > to interview and ended up watching it with me because she
> > enjoyed Antonia so much.
>
> Yes, she was a delightful person to spend the weekend with,
> that's for sure!

That really shows. Great stuff Marc! And thanks also to FABGEAR who sponsored her at the convention (I Think?) and the people who showed up and sent you the tapes. Excellent.

Marc, i dont trust paypal and I dont have a credit card. Would you accept a money order? bsl

Marc Martin <[hidden email]> wrote:Hi all,

I'm back from my short trip -- thanks again to Bill Cotter
for looking after the list!

As I said last week, I've finished transferring the
Antonia Ellis interview video that Shawn Kelly filmed at
the San Diego Comic Con a month ago, and have edited
in the clips we showed during the interview and put it on
an NTSC, all-region DVD-R.

This took much longer to finish than I expected, as the
software I was using turned out to be buggy, plus my
computer decided to start mysteriously crashing,
so I ended up buying a brand new computer with a new
operating system (Mac OS 9 -> Windows XP) and new
software (!)

So, if anyone wants a copy, I'm charging US$6 for
shipment to the US/Canada/Mexico, or US$8 worldwide. This
is slightly higher than the costs of the materials and
postage, but unless a lot are sold, I won't probably won't
recover the costs it took to create the DVD in
the first place (which included a $75 camcorder rental
to transfer the footage to the computer, plus some new
software).

You can pay for this via PayPal or via major credit
card by going to this page:

http://ufoseries.com/ellis/dvd.html

Also, make sure to note the comments about compatibility --
although it is a region-free DVD, it is in the NTSC video
format, so folks in PAL countries will need some sort
of multi-standard player/TV, or computer to view it.
Also note the comments about not all DVD players are
compatible with recordable DVD's, and you should try
to learn if yours can play DVD-Rs before buying one!

Also, I sent a few freebies out to some folks on the
list almost a week ago, so perhaps we'll see a review
of one in the next few days?

Marc



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--- In [hidden email], legg bryan <bslwrsf@y...> wrote:
> Marc, i dont trust paypal and I dont have a credit card. Would
you accept a money order? bsl





Yeah! Me too. I want the DVD-R but I can only pay with a personal
check (but not by Paypal) or a money order.
NAAN

legg bryan wrote:

> Marc, i dont trust paypal and I dont have a credit card.
> Would you accept a money order? bsl

Sure! Cash, too... :-)

Send it to:

Marc Martin
4419 Phinney Ave N
Seattle WA 98103
USA

Marc

Hi Marc,

first of all: the DVD-R is great! :-)
Thanks for making all these efforts!
The inlet has all the information which is needed, the menue looks
good, the DVD-R plays fine, I've got no problems so far.

The conversation is very interesting, Antonia is such a wonderful
person! I found the excerpts from the movies *very*... ahem,
attractive (saw them for the first time - except the UFO ones).

The Sylvia Anderson interview shows a blinking running time sign on
the upper left - is this from your DV camcorder?

The picture gallery is a nice supplement, maybe you should have
provide a musical accompainment for it (like the mellow SHADO theme
and other tracks from Barry Gray). It would liven up the gallery (is
this the right phrase?).

Finally, be careful with the disc labels! If they didn't stick to the
DVD properly they can give any troubles to your DVD-player and/or the
DVD (but your label seems to stick to the DVD very good)!

So a lot of thanks for an hour of pure enjoyment, Marc!

Christian

> first of all: the DVD-R is great! :-)

Great, glad to hear you like it!

> The Sylvia Anderson interview shows a blinking running time sign on
> the upper left - is this from your DV camcorder?

This clip is as I received it -- numbers and all... note that from
the photos on the ISOSHADO website, their copy of the clip has the
same numbers all over it.

> The picture gallery is a nice supplement, maybe you should have
> provide a musical accompainment for it

Heh, heh... with all the immense problems I was having with putting
together this DVD, I'm sure that trying to add something as simple
as some background music would have caused me another week of
bugs, program crashes, etc... :-)

Marc

> Heh, heh... with all the immense
> problems I was having with putting
> together this DVD, I'm sure that
> trying to add something as simple
> as some background music would have
> caused me another week of
> bugs, program crashes, etc... :-)

Heh, heh... long live MS Windows ;-)

Christian

Not to start a Mac Vs Windows debate but didn't you start making the DVD on a Mac Marc? Then moved onto a Mac/Windows machine?

I've been able to make slideshows with music on my Click to DVD software (Bundled with the SONY VAIO Systems last year) One problem was I had to custom make the MP3 or the program would just repeat one song over and over again (Some of my slideshows had 200 pictures on them, nice way to present a digital photo collection since the kids love to watch them over and over on the TV)

I since bought and installed NERO 6 which has gotten good reviews but I wasn't able to find a simple (as in the way Click to DVD does it) way to make slideshows on the NERO 6 program.

But my main reason to get the NERO was to start making some DVD's off 8mm tapes. Anyway, at some point I'll probably learn how to use NERO (If I live that long...I don't believe in RTFM....thought I probably should!)

Anyway, an excellent DVD Marc, worth the effort you put into it and the next one ought to be that much easier to do!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Christian J." <[hidden email]>
Date: Sunday, September 19, 2004 3:59 pm
Subject: [SHADO] Re: Antonia Ellis Interview DVD-R

[hidden email] wrote:
> Not to start a Mac Vs Windows debate but didn't you start
> making the DVD on a Mac Marc?

Yes, it was started on the Mac, but there were too many
problems to continue with that, so I bought a PC, but
of course there were a lot of problems with that too.
I could write a book on all the problems I had putting
that DVD together, but I think most people would consider
it implausible -- either you wouldn't believe that so
many things could possibly go wrong, or you wouldn't
believe that I didn't just give up!

> I since bought and installed NERO 6

Well, as part of my misadventures with this DVD project,
I bought NERO (based on its good reviews), but all it
did was burn DVD's unreadable by all my players! So
I ended up using the Freeware "DVD Decrypter", which
worked just fine...

Marc

Thanks mark. How much would I owe you including tax. bsl

Marc Martin <[hidden email]> wrote:legg bryan wrote:

> Marc, i dont trust paypal and I dont have a credit card.
> Would you accept a money order? bsl

Sure! Cash, too... :-)

Send it to:

Marc Martin
4419 Phinney Ave N
Seattle WA 98103
USA

Marc



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