Wanaka 2006 DVD

[Dave Homewood]

When I was at Wanaka airshow at Easter I put my name down for a set of DVD's which for $59.95 or something similar, would provide a set with the 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and all new 2006 airshow DVD's all togetehr in a box set.

That's a really good deal I reckon, approx $12 each.

I was told by the dealer that there would be a wait, which I'm happy for as the 2006 show had to be edited, a massive job.

I see on my newest Mastercard bill that I have now been charged for the set (they were not going to charge till it was ready). The charge went onto the credit card on the 8th of June.

So, hopefully it won't be far away at all. I wondered, did anyone else go in for this deal too, and if so, have you received your set yet?

[xr6turbo1]

Yip, I went for that deal as well and it has been charged to my credit card already. It shouldnt be to far away

[corsair67]

Who put this package together?

I wonder if they're still taking orders for these sets?

[Dave Homewood]

I believe it was Blue Bicycle themselves (the film company that does the videos and DVDs for Wanaka). And the deal was, as far as I remember, only valid for people at the show. It was such a sweet price, only about $8 more than the Warehouse was selling the previous big set that didn't include the 2006 edition.

Fingers crossed that it arrives soon.

[Dave Homewood]

Waahoo!!

I just got home and found a package on the step containing the DVD's! ;D ;D ;D

Yes, I am very happy.

Included are the 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004 films in one set, and the new 2006 film in a seperate case.

Great stuff. Guess what I'll be watching tonihght.

A review of the 2006 show film will follow

[xr6turbo1]

Cool, I have just had a new house built and am not sure what address I gave the company so best I sort that out as I cant wait to see the 2006 DVD.

Look forward to your report

[Dave Homewood]

Warbirds Over Wanaka 2006 DVD Review

I have just watched the DVD, and the first comment I will make is it's really very good indeed.

It has some really beautiful shots in it, and captures the mood of the weekend wonderfully. Of particular note footage wise are the wonderful Spitfire and Hurricane, and some breathtakingly gorgeous footage of the F-111 over the lake and in the hills! Plus some incredible flying shots of both Jergis and Svetlana.

An odd thing I simply could not help noticing was that a good deal of the film looked a little fuzzy, or soft. Not sharp as you'd expect from a professional digital production. Not all of it is like this, most is fine, but there's enough to be really annoying. I will add that possibly it's just my copy, so I await remarks from others to see if they too notice this.

The natural lighting conditions over the weekend were not always helpful for filming or photography, as I'm sure all the photogaphers here will attest, and it looks as if this crew also found it difficult at times. But on the whole they have done a sterling job of capturing the action.

The editing is really good, but interestingly the director has chosen to mix up the chronology so it's not running in the same equence as the show actually ran. That's not a problem at all and it actually works well and flows nicely with all the many interviews with pilots and engineers. The interviewer and narrator is the excellent Jim Hickey, who's professionalism and experience, coupled with his familiar friendly nature plus his knowledge and enthusiasm for warbirds makes him the perfect man for the job.

There were some notable omissions I thought that should have been in the video. No mention of the Spitfire leaving NZ. I don't recall seeing the awesome pairing of the L-39 and LA-9 (unless I missed it?), no veteran interviews this time, not a sign of any of George Wallis's tractor display!! And worse still, NO THUNDER MUSTANG!!!

On the contrary, there did seem an excess of interviews with the crowd for their reaction, and also a little too much emphasis on the warhorses perhaps rather than the warbirds. But then, some people are into them bigtime. I like the re-enactors and they're great to see live or on DVD, but I'd prefer more aircraft.

The only other beef I have is they have labelled the Orion as an "RNZAF Andover"!! What is the world coming to?

Overall, a great film. I don't rate the production anywhere near as impressive as Blue Bicycle's previous effort with their stunningly good Wanaka 2004 DVD, but I truely doubt any airshow video will come close to that good anyway. I give this year's film an 8/10

Now onto the extras - there are three optioons:
One is you can switch the narration and music off and watch the film again with just the sounds of the aircraft and nothing over the top. Brilliant.

The second is a film of pilot's briefing before the show. I have not watched it all yet but it looks good.

The third, and most stunning extra is a really beautiful tribute to the late, great Ray Hanna, with memories from those people involved with the Wanaka airshows who knew him well, plus the opportunity to watch him flying in his beloved and favourite P-40E.
That short tribute alone warrants its own 10/10 rating.

The 77 minute (total) DVD is produced by
Blue Bicycle Films
email [e-mail]
Phone [phone]
Fax [phone]

[Allan Udy]

Interesting DVD review thanks -- I'm hoping my copy will be in the mail today.

>One is you can switch the narration and music off and watch the film again with just the sounds of the aircraft

Hmm - I wonder where that got that idea from

Given my position, I guess I should refrain from making further comments until I've had a look at the final production.

On a slightly related topic, how's your video project going Dave?

[Dave Homewood]

Slowly, but soon it'll be ready. Difficult when it's an unpaid job to find the time for so many hours of editing. It's a massive job as I'm sure you know full well. What we have edited though we're very happy with so far.

[Allan Udy]

Hi Folks,

Watched my copy of the Warbirds Over Wanaka 2006 DVD last night. Before I continue I have to preface this posting with the following caveats:

1. I am the editor/producer of all three Classic Fighters Marlborough video/DVDs.

2. I am therefore totally biased!

3. I am a warbird aviation enthusiast, whereas I suspect that the guys at Blue Bicycle (producers of the last five WoW DVDs) are not. At the end of the day IMHO this does make a difference to the final production.

4. All the following comments are my own personal (albeit biased) opinions, and do NOT represent the views of Classic Fighters Marlborough in any way.



My comments:

* As an aviation enthusiast, and someone who spent all three days at WoW 06, I was not satisfied with the DVD -- it was too light.

* This would make a good 60 minute segment on Inside New Zealand, or 20/20, or some other local documentary show on TV. That is, to me it's pretty much lowest common denominator documentary in nature (worse than WoW 2004 DVD in that respect). It's not for aviation enthusiasts unless you were at the show and want some form of summary record of the weekend.


* Apart from segments on Yuri & Svetlana, the F-111 and the Bleriot, it would be difficult for an aviation enthusiast to say 'I want to sit down and watch some video of the XXX at WoW 06 this evening', and do just that. Much of the aircraft footage was spread throughout the production in what seemed to be a relatively haphazard way, The narration held it all together, but it was still not that logical to my mind.


* Certainly some of the footage of Yuri, and the F-111 flying around in the Wanaka basin is very very nice -- the camera and helicopter work is good and the scenery is great as well. Unfortunately I'm not convinced that that makes up for the flaws in the production -- as Dave has previously mentioned, there are noticeable changes in the quality of the video footage at times. However as Dave also knows now, filming aircraft and airshows is a very difficult (and often thankless) task -- sometimes we just have to accept that the quality of some of the footage is not going to be that great as we don't all have huge budgets to work with (though Wanaka is in the habit of blowing on and on about how many cameras they're going to have etc....)

Quality of the footage is only one part of the overall package however -- content and editing are the other significant facets.


* 77 minutes in total? What is that about? I would say money -- do the minimum job they can get away with and get the DVD out there!

Six or seven minutes of pilot breifings might be OK as an extra on the DVD if it's a fully loaded disk, but when this is part of a 77 min production, my opinion as an enthusiast is that it's not great. There is a reason why the last Classic Fighters DVD (2005) has almost three hours worth of material on it -- as an enthusiast I want to get some value for my money, and that's what I try and deliver with my products. While you might find some of it boring or overcooked, there's enough material on the disk to keep most people engaged for well over 77 minutes....


* Tribute to Ray Hanna is good, and I appreciate it. But Dave, 'stunning' and '10/10'....? All the Ray material is from 2004 (not too surprisingly), with additional comments from the pilots etc that knew him. A nice touch and a worthy addition, but IMHO not stunning -- it might have been closer to 'stunning' if they had dug out some previously unpublished footage of Ray, and used that.


* I think Blue Bicycle's pinnacle was the WoW 2000 video/DVD. In my opinion there's been a gradual decline in the quality (general, not production) since then.


* For those of you that missed it, we pioneered the 'turn the narration off and just listen to the aircraft' feature on both the Classic Fighters 2003 and 2005 DVDs!

Unfortunately on the WoW 2006 disk, in many cases when you turn the audio off all you're hearing is the raw audio as recorded by the particular camera (try the main F-111 scenic sequence as an example). It requires quite a bit more work to actually replace this audio, with appropriate aircraft audio , and that's not been done in this case. Compare the CF03/05 and WoW 06 DVD's in this regard -- on WoW you'll hear lots of helicopter and PA noise. At CF you'll hears lots of engine and aircraft noise and almost nothing from the PA.


* I do hate DVDs (of any kind) which label the DVD Chapters with numbers, rather than some descriptive text. There's no need for it, and it smacks of low standards. I possibly have more of a problem with this than most as I am primarily a computer software developer, which means I have an eye and a passion for good user interface design. I guess part of the issue with numbered chapters in this particular DVD is that the footage is thoroughly mixed up, and it's not really very easy to say that this is the 'Spitfire Chapter', or the 'P-51 Chapter' etc.


* While I have no problem with Jim Hickey the man, his 'friendly and familiar' nature and they way in which he 'presents' this video (as noted by Dave) is not my cup of tea. Others will no doubt disagree with this one.


* By the way, in hindsight I think the Classic Fighters 2001 video/DVD isn't that great anymore either! However, given the budget we had to work with ($0), the experience we had at the time (zilch), and the equipment we had (two cameras and one iMac), the result was pretty stunning! The 2003 and 2005 efforts are much better!


OK, I'll leave my comments at that for the moment.

No doubt others will love this DVD, and as I prefaced this message, I am undoubtedly quite biased towards my own approach and productions. At the end of the day, in 10, 20, 30 years time, it will still be nice to have this DVD as a record of WoW 2006, but from my perspective it's a pity that it's not a bit better than it is (and could have been), especially when one considers that WoW is for aviation enthusiasts and not for people who enjoy short summary documentary style productions broadcast on TV on a Sunday night...

Dave, have you seen any of the Classic Fighters DVD's? I'd be interested in your comments if you were to compare the CF 2005 and WoW 2006 DVDs....


As above, these comments and opinions are my own personal ones, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the organising committee of Classic Fighters Marlborough.

Cheers,
Allan

[Allan Udy]

Hi again,

Certainly in 2001, 2003 and 2005, the Classic Fighters Marlborough video/DVD was designed first and foremost to be a comprehensive historical record of the show.

The success of the CF2005 Souvenir Edition book has shown us that there is the demand for such a print publication from Classic Fighters, and so it's now very likely that the post-show book will take over the 'comprehensive and complete historical record' role from the DVD.

What this means is that from 2007 we'll be less concerned with covering everything at the show on the DVD, and hopefully concentrating some more on other of the aspects that the enthusiasts want to see.

The question is, what DO you want to see in an airshow DVD?

Do you prefer the WoW DVD's, or the CF ones?

Why do you prefer one over the other?

What do the CF ones do/have that you think is good?

What do the CF ones do/have that you think could be improved upon?


All comments are welcome -- at the end of the day we want to provide DVDs that the airshow going enthusiast really wants, and we're prepared to listen to you.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts. Direct replies and comments can be sent to me at [e-mail].

Cheers,
Allan

[Dave Homewood]

Allan,

I have read and absorbed your thoughts on the DVD.

I think many of your points are valid here. Some of the things you wrote i was also thinking but decided not to write because I thought it may harm DVD sales, and I'd hate to see the NZFPM lose out.

I will adress some of your points with further of my own thoughts:

* As an aviation enthusiast, and someone who spent all three days at WoW 06, I was not satisfied with the DVD -- it was too light.

I agree it does seem light. I am not dissatisfied, but perhaps a little disappointed there wasn't more to it.

* This would make a good 60 minute segment on Inside New Zealand, or 20/20, or some other local documentary show on TV. That is, to me it's pretty much lowest common denominator documentary in nature (worse than WoW 2004 DVD in that respect). It's not for aviation enthusiasts unless you were at the show and want some form of summary record of the weekend.

I have to totally agree that it has the feel about it like a documentary for television, for the masses to tell them what the show is about. It feels like that ratherthan a record and memory of the show for those who went. That in itself isn't a bad thing. But for people like you and me who wanted to see the various displays at length rather than as bytes and clips, it is not up to standard. The older show videos like from the days of 1992 and 1994 covered the airshow, rather than the 'event'.


* Apart from segments on Yuri & Svetlana, the F-111 and the Bleriot, it would be difficult for an aviation enthusiast to say 'I want to sit down and watch some video of the XXX at WoW 06 this evening', and do just that. Much of the aircraft footage was spread throughout the production in what seemed to be a relatively haphazard way, The narration held it all together, but it was still not that logical to my mind.

Yes, this is what I was trying to get at in the original review so no arguments there. I believe the special guest aircraft deserved the attention they got, with longer slots, as they were indeed excellent guests. Jurgis in particular is a superstar and his flying for that special sequence in the DVD is superb. But yes, after these great pieces, the rest of the show is a little left behind sadly.


* Certainly some of the footage of Yuri, and the F-111 flying around in the Wanaka basin is very very nice -- the camera and helicopter work is good and the scenery is great as well. Unfortunately I'm not convinced that that makes up for the flaws in the production -- as Dave has previously mentioned, there are noticeable changes in the quality of the video footage at times.

In a way I am glad to hear it's not just my copy. In another way, I'm not.

However as Dave also knows now, filming aircraft and airshows is a very difficult (and often thankless) task -- sometimes we just have to accept that the quality of some of the footage is not going to be that great as we don't all have huge budgets to work with (though Wanaka is in the habit of blowing on and on about how many cameras they're going to have etc....)

Yes, filming anything is tricky, especially when relying upon natural light which was a problem at Wanaka over various points of the weekend. And aircraft can go out of range of the camera, sure. It does make me feel better about the quality of the footage we have taken for the Tauranga airshow DVD, when you consider we had no budget and basic cameras. I doubt Blue Bicycle was working on these bottom lines.

* 77 minutes in total? What is that about? I would say money -- do the minimum job they can get away with and get the DVD out there!

I'm afraid Allan that you and I are among a declinign few who want to see longer videos/DVD's. I have discussed at length with several people how long they want to see an airshow video and most say an hour. People are now so "time poor" they don't feel they can manage to sit for more than that. It's total crap as far as I'm concerned, but that's what other people think. No-one cares about more content, more quality time with longer sequences, more value for money. It's all bam, bam, bam these days. That's why this has been edited to a short film, and with so many quick, short sequences. Don't blame Blue Bicycle, blame the market audience.

Six or seven minutes of pilot breifings might be OK as an extra on the DVD if it's a fully loaded disk, but when this is part of a 77 min production, my opinion as an enthusiast is that it's not great. There is a reason why the last Classic Fighters DVD (2005) has almost three hours worth of material on it -- as an enthusiast I want to get some value for my money, and that's what I try and deliver with my products. While you might find some of it boring or overcooked, there's enough material on the disk to keep most people engaged for well over 77 minutes....

Again I agree, the market probably won't. Your airshow is well known among enthusiasts and so a longer DVD will be welcomed. WoW is internationally known and well known to general public non-enthusiasts. Those types would be more than happy to buy a 77 minute DVD in the Warehouse without another thought. Particularly at Father's Day, etc. This DVD is designed for mass market. I've never seen an Omaka DVD in the shops, it's specialist and in that very nature will be much better for the special interest enthusiasts like you and me.

* Tribute to Ray Hanna is good, and I appreciate it. But Dave, 'stunning' and '10/10'....?

Well, that's my opinion. I thought it was really good. I think I found it particularly important afetr reaching the end of the film and fuming that they never even mentioned Ray one bit, then realised there was a special film dedicated to him in the extras.


All the Ray material is from 2004 (not too surprisingly), with additional comments from the pilots etc that knew him. A nice touch and a worthy addition, but IMHO not stunning -- it might have been closer to 'stunning' if they had dug out some previously unpublished footage of Ray, and used that.

Possibly on the last comment, but I think it was great footage anyway and worth the second airing. Not every buyer will have the 2004 DVD too.


* I think Blue Bicycle's pinnacle was the WoW 2000 video/DVD. In my opinion there's been a gradual decline in the quality (general, not production) since then.

My own opinion is I have seen nothing that beats the 2004 WoW DVD yet, especially the Brietling Fighters footage.


* For those of you that missed it, we pioneered the 'turn the narration off and just listen to the aircraft' feature on both the Classic Fighters 2003 and 2005 DVDs!

Was that a NZ first, or World first, out of interest? It is a great idea if done right.

Unfortunately on the WoW 2006 disk, in many cases when you turn the audio off all you're hearing is the raw audio as recorded by the particular camera (try the main F-111 scenic sequence as an example). It requires quite a bit more work to actually replace this audio, with appropriate aircraft audio , and that's not been done in this case. Compare the CF03/05 and WoW 06 DVD's in this regard -- on WoW you'll hear lots of helicopter and PA noise. At CF you'll hears lots of engine and aircraft noise and almost nothing from the PA.

So do you set up seperate microphones for the same shoot, or simply dub in stock sound over these bits, out of interest?


* I do hate DVDs (of any kind) which label the DVD Chapters with numbers, rather than some descriptive text. There's no need for it, and it smacks of low standards.

I cannot agree more!

I possibly have more of a problem with this than most as I am primarily a computer software developer, which means I have an eye and a passion for good user interface design. I guess part of the issue with numbered chapters in this particular DVD is that the footage is thoroughly mixed up, and it's not really very easy to say that this is the 'Spitfire Chapter', or the 'P-51 Chapter' etc.

Yes, that last point is true. This DVD's chapters would be "Quick Clips" "More Quick Clips" "Boring Interviews with Aussie Punters" etc


* While I have no problem with Jim Hickey the man, his 'friendly and familiar' nature and they way in which he 'presents' this video (as noted by Dave) is not my cup of tea. Others will no doubt disagree with this one.

I like his style, especially on this DVD. And particularly as he is the voice of the airshow too when you're there. Come on, it could be much worse - find another veteran experienced broadcaster with enough interest in aviation - er... Paul Holmes


Dave, have you seen any of the Classic Fighters DVD's? I'd be interested in your comments if you were to compare the CF 2005 and WoW 2006 DVDs....

Sadly, no. I must try to track some down as I have heard they are top notch (hehe, and not just from your good self...)

I am looking forward to other people's thoughts on the film. Alan and I both have experience in making films and you see mistakes in films much more easily when you have such a vested interest. It may be that the average enthusiast will simply love the DVD, and I have no problem with anyone who does. I am glad I have it, to reflect on in future viewings.

[Dave Homewood]

I cannot answer the set of questions you posted about what punters want, because I have not yet seen any of the CF DVD's.

However it seems it would be a shame if the DVD content was to suffer in favour of a book.

One thing I loved about the earlier WoW DVD's was how the camera followed Sir Tim around (and others) and showed the preparation that actually goes into the show, right up to the day when they're sorting out traffic and briefings, etc. It'd be neat to see that sort of thing - do your videos cover that now?

The next one should cover something about the new Aviation Centre too, with interviews with the main people behind it and a look at exhibits, etc.

If the book is done, please have a bit more text than the Wanaka ones do. They have smashing photos but often are a little light on the history and current details of the displaying aircraft in my opinion.

One more thing I'll add on the subject of Wanaka DVD's, is there anything nicer to watch in the world than the opening of the 1994 video with Sir Tim flying in the mountains in TB863? That is a wonderful sequence.

[xr6turbo1]

My copy of WOW 2006 turned up tonight so will watch it soon.
I look forward to being able to turn off commentary and just listen to the aircraft.
Mind you the Classic Fighters DVDs from the last two airshows have had this facility and I like that option.

[xr6turbo1]

I just watched the DVD and will have to watch it again as I was a bit knackered but highlight for me was the tribute to Ray Hanna.
I am grateful that they gave him a tribute like that as he was an outstanding aviator and a real gentleman.

Great comments from all of the people spoken to but Ian Brodies words summed Ray up really well.

Big day so time for a snooze

Cheers

[Dave Homewood]

That's a smashing photo of Ray and his favourirte aircraft.

I have just finished watching the DVD of Empire of the Sun which i bought today. It had been years since I'd seen it. It's a superb film, and for me the highlight is still the scene where Ray flies his Mustang past waving. Simply superb.

[Damon]

Some interesting comments above .I'll have to buy the DVD and see what the fuss is all about...

xr6turbo1 any more pictures of Ray at all? WOW06 was not quite the same as previous years.Just missing a special ingrediant I think!!

Damon

[xr6turbo1]

Yip, sure do.

[Damon]

Some very nice pictures of Ray xr6turbo1.
Thanks very much .Anyone have pictures of Ray in Spitfire at all?

Damon