posted 07-07-2009 01:53 PM               

"First Lunar Landing" is now available, exclusively in Barnes and Noble stores and on Barnesandnoble.com.

The set contains a multi-angle launch sequence with a surround sound audio track. The footage from the launch sequences were derived from a new HD transfer.

The lunar landing 16mm film is updated, derived from an HD transfer of the original film. It also contains a commentary track from the crew recorded during the post-flight debriefing sessions.

The centerpiece of the set is the complete EVA. This piece includes the TV, 16mm film, and still photos. It is constructed in widescreen. The TV is video-derived and has been given image processing and noise reduction yielding a much better result than the existing kinescope. The 16mm material is from an HD transfer, and the stills are from new scans.

A recovery section is also included, as well as an extensive selection of photos in a slideshow, including all of the mission still images. (Thanks to J.L. Pickering and Retro Space Images for some selections from their Apollo 11 still image set)

posted 07-07-2009 02:23 PM               

Mostly the difference is in formatting. Because "To The Moon" is a linear presentation of the whole mission, there is only one launch sequence, and the landing will not contain the additional commentary, nor will the stills involve material "surrounding" the mission... just those taken during the mission.

And since "To The Moon" is 4 DVDs and linear, it will contain all of the rest of the TV as it happens in the mission, etc.

posted 07-08-2009 03:48 PM               

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Originally posted by spacecraft films:
Well, it is reconstructed surround sound. It wasn't recorded through separate mics in discrete surround, obviously.

But it should rattle the timbers pretty well.

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posted 07-08-2009 04:29 PM            

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Originally posted by spacecraft films:
And it has been almost 5 years since we released an Apollo 11 edition (excluding the re-issue after Fox... I didn't think anyone had both!)...

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posted 07-08-2009 04:36 PM               

My youngest cat who naps on the sub WENT AIRBORNE!! I needed a major laugh... I wish I had a video of her! I replayed that section and both my cats poofed out there fur. Neighbor below heard it through the concrete floor.

posted 07-10-2009 03:55 AM               

The only (minor) complaints are that the footage of the lift-off from the Moon is missing, and I'd have preferred it if the presentation had switched to full screen after the still photos on the Moon had ended. And although this looked great on a widescreen HD TV, those with standard definition TVs may be disappointed.

posted 07-10-2009 08:02 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by cjh5801:
the footage of the lift-off from the Moon is missing...

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posted 07-10-2009 10:32 AM               

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Originally posted by ilbasso:
Mission Control loop... on Audio 2....

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This was not placed on the set due to space, but apparently it remained at the bottom of the menu... sorry about that.

In a few days a companion web site at firstlunarlanding.com will be up (it is not up yet) and I will place the landing with the flight director's loop on that site, as well as some additional material that did not make the set.

posted 07-16-2009 08:37 PM               

At the time this disc was produced and mastered (in order to make our deadline), the Lowry project was not even yet settled and begun. Therefore we made the decision to proceed with our own image processing and enhancement using most of the same source material as later used in the Lowry restoration. The result of this process is on the "First Lunar Landing" disc.

Personally I'm looking forward to comparing the Lowry result with our own result when I have a chance to get back to it. I'm very pleased with our end result. But most of all, even though the primary copies were erased, I am really, really hopeful that a slow-scan telemetry copy shows up some day. Then we would see a bigger improvement. Of course if that were to happen, it would make everyone's "restoration" obsolete.

Ultimately, and this may be the biggest positive result from the 40th anniversary, these processes are being applied to this material by multiple folks, and we're getting a better and better look at the data, and we will be applying the experience gained to the other Apollo missions. A great result for all of us interested in better quality material.

posted 07-21-2009 08:09 AM               

Well, over the past couple of nights I watched the DVD, culminating in watching the moonwalk and recovery tonight.

I suppose this set might be considered something of a preview of what is to come on the 4 disc DVD set from Spacecraft films. This particular set is only one disc, but it is packed with A LOT of stuff.

The launch is covered in a combination of film from the suit up room and pad prep, along with 16mm film of activities at the pad while the launch control public address callouts take place in the background. The launch itself is from the NASA television feed to the networks (mostly black and white, but some color in spots), but then you are treated to a multi-angle selectable view of the Saturn V launch in slow motion with the stereo audio that we've become accustomed to from the "Mighty Saturns" DVD releases.

The landing footage is from the 16mm film taken from the LMP station and it is synched to two tracks, one air to ground and the second one being the mission control audio loop. You get to hear all the S band communication problems in realtime. Afterwards, the footage is again used with audio from Armstrong and Aldrin's debriefing session about how well things worked during the approach and landing. I must say, it is a rare treat to hear Neil talking about stuff related to flying as he explains it quite well in understandable terms. He also talks fully about the decision to land long and his original hopes to try and land just short of the crater.

The EVA footage is the nice bit. For those that hate multiple views on one screen, you probably won't like this as the TV transmission occupies the left half of the screen while the 16mm sequential still film (one frame per second) occupies the right half and they are synched up to each other and the audio as best as possible. When either Neil or Buzz shoot a photo, it pops up in the center of the screen at about the time the photo was taken. When the 16mm footage runs out, the pictures occupy the right side in their place.

This put the whole moonwalk into sharp 3D perspective for me as it provided context for what they were doing and when. You get a nice sense of where each astronaut was and what they were doing. There is even a bit where it is called out when Neil went to explore a crater behind the LM (mentioned in Chaikin's book). You get to listen to the dialog as well with only some brief comments by Paul Haney in mission control and no reporter commentary. There are a couple of humorous bits in there as well (I won't spoil it).

The EVA footage has been enhanced, although it seems this isn't the current project that was announced this week. Mark can provide some insight into what the source material was that he used here. It did look better then I recall the original TV transmission footage looking like though, but indeed the multi-screen format does make the imagery smaller. In my case I didn't consider it a knock though as the total presentation offered advantages over just having the TV feed on the screen or a multi-angle feed that has to be called out by the user of the DVD.

The return and recovery footage includes the last TV transmission from Columbia to Earth on the way home. Reentry coverage itself begins with film footage of the event. There is film imagery of the SM reentry and breakup, along with CSM entry and it then cuts to the film taken from Columbia itself. There are no shots of the parachute deployment, but there is film footage of the capsule at stable 2 and stable 1 before the divers attach the floatation collar (how the astronauts kept from upchucking inside the CSM I will never know as it was pitching and rolling quite a bit!). Footage follows of the astronauts being winched aboard the recovery copter and their entry into the mobile quarantine facility, as well as Richard Nixon's speech. You also get mission control film footage of the celebrations at the end and on site preparation of the lunar samples for delivery to the lunar lab for analysis.

If that isn't enough, there is also an extensive photo gallery at the end. Even on high speed with my fast clicking of the skip button on the remote, it still took me over an hour to sort through all the photos. Some of the shots are repetitive, but there is some nice stuff in there, most of which I have never seen before.

posted 07-22-2009 02:42 PM               

I recently purchased the Barnes & Noble "First Lunar Landing" DVD and have a (possible) issue: When viewing the "Multi-Angle Launch Footage" section, I am able to view Angle 1 (from the service tower), but when this sequence ends, after the "Angle 1 Complete" graphic appears, the DVD returns to the "Departure" sub-menu. I cannot see how to access any other launch angles. Am I just thick (as in missing something obvious), or is this a possible fault?

posted 07-22-2009 07:36 PM               

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Originally posted by GoesTo11:
Any cSers who purchased the DVD have this issue?

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Select the track and then press the angle button. You'll then go to angle 2. Press it again and you'll go to angle 3, etc. Sometimes the "angle" button is a movie projector or camera icon on the remote control.

Let me know if you have trouble figuring that out and I will try and help further.