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Got My TAM 2 DVDs

Jeff Wagg

Illuminator
Jeff Wagg
Joined
Sep 24, 2003
Messages
3,125
Location
Chicago
The TAM 2 DVDs are great! Much better production values than the TAM 1 set, and it seems like they got nearly all of the conference on the DVDs.

Quality is good except for some sound problems, which, for those of us there, were rampant that weekend.

They also fed a separate feed of the Powerpoint presentations onto the DVD, so you can actually see what people are talking about.

Notably absent is the magic performances of Penn and Teller, Jamy Ian Swiss and Ian Rowland. Penn and Teller are there for their post-magic discussion. I wonder if this has to do with management rights for the taping of tricks and such.

Despite these notable absences, it seems like just about everything else in on these DVDs.

And..during the Lance Burton segment, I am proud to say that you can see my back for a few frames! I'm famous!

:wink8:
 
How is the lighting in the video?

It seemed to me that there was low lighting for some of the presentations. Did that affect picture quality?
 
I haven't watched everything, but what I have seen has been perfect. Lighting hasn't been an issue.
 
Jeff Wagg said:
Notably absent is the magic performances of Penn and Teller, Jamy Ian Swiss and Ian Rowland. Penn and Teller are there for their post-magic discussion. I wonder if this has to do with management rights for the taping of tricks and such.
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I don't know the reasons, but I can understand why magicians don't like their perfomances viewed in slow motion and repeated over and over. That's what I do whenever I get some magic shows on tape. ;)
 
Re: Re: Got My TAM 2 DVDs

Patricio Elicer said:
I don't know the reasons, but I can understand why magicians don't like their perfomances viewed in slow motion and repeated over and over. That's what I do whenever I get some magic shows on tape. ;)
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Yes, that is a concern, but it didn't bother Lance Burton or Banachek. No matter, the DVDs are still well worth the price.
 
exarch said:
I just hope they're not region encoded :xgrin
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Though they are nicely done, they look like DVD-Rs to me, since they are purple. There are no regional coding markings anywhere on the case, so I think you are safe.

We'd need to hear from someone outside region one to verify that though.

[edit typo]
 
Re: Re: Got My TAM 2 DVDs

Patricio Elicer said:
I don't know the reasons, but I can understand why magicians don't like their perfomances viewed in slow motion and repeated over and over. That's what I do whenever I get some magic shows on tape. ;)
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The producer for Penn & Teller was a bit precious, so I wouldn't be surprised if he ruled that their stuff couldn't go on the DVD.

The reason that I had to work without a clip-on microphone is that the P&T man wanted an hour to get one set up. (True! I have been fitted with these things while walking across a TV studio just minutes before an interview, but this turkey needed an hour. :rolleyes: ) While he was organising to take the microphone I was about to use, I heard him tell whoever was working the video camera that they were to obey his instructions immediately if he ordered them to change shot or stop filming.

What's the word I'm looking for? I suppose "dickhead" will do.
 
Jeff Wagg said:
Though they are nicely done, they look like DVD-Rs to me, since they are purple. There are no regional coding markings anywhere on the case, so I think you are safe.

We'd need to hear from someone outside region one to verify that though.
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There were no region markings on the P&T ********! DVD when it made it into my place either, but it was very region 1 encoded. Luckily, LG had leaked the hack for my player to the world, so I don't think I will have a problem with this one once it has finished its swim across the Pacific.

.:confused: PS. When I previewed this message I saw that the name of that fine television show by Penn & Teller is not suitable reading material for JREF forum members. Would someone going to TAM3 please ask P&T to choose a nicer name for their next effort
 
PeterB said:
t fine television show by Penn & Teller is not suitable reading material for JREF forum members. Would someone going to TAM3 please ask P&T to choose a nicer name for their next effort
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Or we could stop pretending that profanity mattered. What a strange idea that some words can't be used except when someone is speaking guardedly.
 
I think Ian Rowland's bit wasn't on the disc because it didn't go particularly well. There is a DVD of a similar presentation he did to a lay audience that went much better and it is available at skeptic.com.

There is also a Jamy Ian Swiss DVD available at his site featuring a magic show he did in London.
 
Jeff Wagg said:
Or we could stop pretending that profanity mattered. What a strange idea that some words can't be used except when someone is speaking guardedly.
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I hope you don't think that it was me doing the censoring. I typed the name of the show, and it was the forum software which put in the asterisks.
 
PeterB said:
I hope you don't think that it was me doing the censoring. I typed the name of the show, and it was the forum software which put in the asterisks.
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Oh no, I got you. I was just expressing my annoyance that a concept such as profanity exists. Why I can say cow feces and not ********! is beyond me.

BTW, I went to Bowditch Junior High in Salem, Massachusetts, USA named after Nathaniel Bowditch. Any relation?
 
Jeff Wagg said:
BTW, I went to Bowditch Junior High in Salem, Massachusetts, USA named after Nathaniel Bowditch. Any relation?
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We probably share a common ancestor, but nobody later than the 18th century.

I was pleased to see that there is a street named after me in Berkeley, CA.

100bowditch_st.jpg
 
My DVD arrived today. I have only looked at two of the talks so far (Michael Shermer and, well, who did you think I was going to check out first?) and it looks like an excellent effort given the problems with light and sound in the room.

:clap: It has been given the Ratbags Seal of Approval. If you weren't at TAM2 you need the DVD to see what you missed. If you were there, you need a souvenir.
 
Hi all. New to the forums here. I am the one who put the DVDs together.

The stuff that was not on the DVDs was stuff that the presenters did not allow us to include - mostly the magic acts. This included Penn and Teller though they did allow the Q&A portion.

I was not at TAM2 so I was not involved with the production. When I got the tapes, it was obvious there were serious quality problems with them. I did my best to work around them and, I think, succeeded for the most part. I was able to hunt down the vast majority of the powerpoint slides from the presenters so that I could cut them in directly. Even then, I had to do considerable clean-up and, in some cases, completely redo the slides from scratch so that they worked well on video.

This year, I will be there along with some other very capable folks to raise the bar on the production values a notch or two. For one, we will have more than one camera. :)

The TAM3 DVDs should be even better - and be done sooner too!

Best.

--JK--
 
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