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Author Topic:   Spacecraft Films Apollo 15, Apollo 17 sets
Mike Dixon
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Posts: 1495
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003

posted 11-17-2020 07:20 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Mike Dixon   Click Here to Email Mike Dixon     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
In the opinions of cS'ers, which Spacecraft Films' DVD set — Apollo 15 or Apollo 17 — do you consider best?

Lasv3
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Posts: 440
From: Bratislava, Slovakia
Registered: Apr 2009

posted 11-18-2020 07:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lasv3   Click Here to Email Lasv3     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have to say that all Spacecraft Films space missions sets are excellent, it is the most complete collection of the missions related material in one place.

Choosing between the Apollo 15 and 17 I find the latter to be a slightly better one.

Blackarrow
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Posts: 3240
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 11-18-2020 09:03 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It's hard to reach a definitive conclusion on this, but these points might be considered:
  1. There were a number of unique TV moments on Apollo 15, such as the clearest Apollo TV of astronauts climbing down the LM ladder; the deployment of the lunar rover; the "hammer and feather" demonstration; and the first live LM launch footage.

  2. Apollo 15 provides surface movie footage showing the mountainous "terrain" and the first footage from a rover driving along. There was no lunar surface movie footage on Apollo 17.

  3. The quality of the Apollo 17 EVA television was higher because of the enhancement process introduced on Apollo 16.

  4. There is much better coverage (including movie footage) of the deep-space EVA on Apollo 17.

  5. The Apollo 15 splashdown coverage is more dramatic because of the collapsed parachute.

  6. On Apollo 15, the training footage is silent. The equivalent on Apollo 17 is accompanied by audio from various press-conferences, etc.
One point that is hard to quantify without a meticulous comparison is the quantity of lunar surface EVA TV during which all or most of the colour is missing or distorted (a feature, I believe, of video-tape deterioration over the decades). This is found on both sets.

Some EVA footage uses the original telecine recordings made on 16mm movie film off TV monitors. This often provides a better memory of the colour TV I remember watching live, with the lunar surface and mountains often a slightly golden-brown hue. The other tell-tale sign of colour deterioration in the actual video recordings is the red stripes on the suits of Dave Scott and Gene Cernan. Sometimes they are red, sometimes colourless, sometimes a weird greenish colour.

I don't think you could say one set is better than the other on accurate colour.

One isolated point which springs to mind is that the Apollo 15 sequence showing Scott and Irwin finding and sampling the Genesis Rock is presented in telecine, and for me this is quite satisfactory as it preserves the original colour of a key moment.

Mike Dixon
Member

Posts: 1495
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003

posted 11-18-2020 03:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Mike Dixon   Click Here to Email Mike Dixon     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Couldn't want for a better summary Geoffrey.

I have a pristine set of Apollo 15 but wanted an evaluation of the last flight. Thanks a lot.

Colin Anderton
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Posts: 209
From: Great Britain
Registered: Jan 2005

posted 11-19-2020 03:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Colin Anderton   Click Here to Email Colin Anderton     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have to say I think all the video tapes of the EVAs from Johnson Space Centre have been copied incorrectly; the gold foil on the LM, for example, looks pink.

I went through all the video from the Spacecraft Films sets — dubbing with the audio as broadcast live, including the PAO — and was able to adjust the colours back to the original hues.

BA002
Member

Posts: 194
From: Utrecht,NL
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 12-13-2020 03:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for BA002   Click Here to Email BA002     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Get them all!

When I first found out about these DVDs I was so excited that I bought the Apollo 17 set, it being my favourite mission, before I even owned a DVD player and thinking that that one set would completely satisfy my hunger for Apollo lunar surface footage. And then over the years I gradually bought them all and they all have their own unique addition to the complete story. As mentioned, you need Apollo 15 for the rover deployment. But Apollo 16 has the best DAC coverage on the surface.

Apollo 12 has the best scenes of the LM slowly drifting away from the CSM, Apollo 10 has frequent TV coverage of the trans lunar coast giving you an idea of that part of the journey, and so on. And in the end, each mission is a journey of discovery in itself and I have thoroughly enjoyed joining that journey through these DVDs.

Space Cadet Carl
Member

Posts: 252
From: Lake Orion, Michigan
Registered: Feb 2006

posted 12-15-2020 06:25 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Space Cadet Carl   Click Here to Email Space Cadet Carl     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As much as I absolutely love those Spacecraft Films sets, I'll admit I was slightly disappointed in the quality of some of the source tapes of the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 lunar EVAs. When CBS shows off a few seconds of videotape from those flights... the color and contrast really pops off the screen straight at you. I'd like to see those EVAs remastered using the latest 2020 computer enhancement tricks.

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