OTHER TECH

I'm also excited that they're releasing Spider-Man: The High-Definition Trilogy, which is really cool. I'm going to be able to see the movies with a level of crispness I haven't been able to before. Does high-def affect your "future eye" as a director? That is, are there things you may be able to do now that you may not have been able to before? It's more the opposite - I'm not sure we're going to be able to get away with things like blend shots with the makeup anymore! Because of Blu-ray, we'll have to go back to the makeup room and take more time blending that edge in. That said, ultimately, it's up to the filmmakers' imaginations and the talents of the actors and the writers to thrill the audience. What's your take on the film's surround-sound mix? The uncompressed surround sound is fantastic, better than what I've heard in some movie theaters. The dimensionality and the highs and the lows in the orchestral score are incredible. You get great definition and clarity, and the low end is excellent. And the surrounds were rumbling just as we'd mixed them. You must have a sense of great satisfaction after watching this disc. I'm sure you have to curtail your expectations going into projects like the Spider-Man trilogy, but thanks to the Blu-ray presentation, you're probably much closer to your original vision. You're absolutely right. That's the most breathtaking part of all this. All of a sudden, it's not about making choices like, "Well, we can't have it all, so what should we cut out? When we mix, how low will we really be able to go? What do we have to give back so we don't burn out the levels?" That always used to be the case when you were mixing music for optical sound, as it can only hold so much of the track. And now, with Blu-ray, the sound quality is so beautiful, uncompressed, and clear that it's a joy that the filmmaker can have the audience experience the movie just as it's supposed to be. Extras and commentaries: Are you a fan of them? Or are they giving away too much of the creative process? They're fine, because people don't have to deal with them if they don't want to. I probably wouldn't avail myself to them unless it was something like a Stanley Kubrick film, or John Ford, or John Huston. It's great that these things are provided for those people who are interested. They don't "ruin" anything because they're only for those people who want to know. And hopefully the "right" information is available there for you if you want to know. So you have to do commentaries for pretty much everything now - not to mention being filmed yourself while you're filming. Actually, I can't get used to that. I don't like being filmed while I'm making a movie. I don't want to be a show, I want to make a story. That's a little intrusive to me. So I try not to be self-conscious about it, but it's hard to do your job when you're being filmed. Plus, during the creative process, sometimes you need to be self-contained, but instead you're on display making decisions in the middle of a process that may not be to your liking. Right, right. I'd rather not deal with that, that's true. But I guess people want to see that stuff, so it's important to have a film crew there, filming constantly and filming everything.

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