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‘The Art of Flight’ Represents State-of-the-Art Blu-ray
The Art of Flight utilizes the latest audio and video technology from Dolby Laboratories to highlight extreme snowboarders Travis Rice and his friends.
Joel Silver is president and founder of the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF), and a massive home theater enthusiast. So it’s not surprising when he says that custom installers have to know about a specific video because its quality is so good.
Silver’s latest video recommendation is The Art of Flight, and according to the industry’s leading video authority, this Blu-ray is the newest ISF reference disc for sound and picture quality in a home video release.
The Art of Flight is a documentary from Red Bull Media House and Brain Farm Digital Cinema that follows the exploits of extreme snowboarders Travis Rice and his friends as they tackle some of the most mountainous terrain in the world.
Silver notes that the video was edited in post production using Dolby Laboratories’ PRM-4200 Professional Reference Monitor that employs the company’s Dual-Modulation Display Technology. He adds that it was released with a dynamic Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack.
Silver says that Dolby’s new display and companion display technology is truly state-of-the-art, and that because of the monitor’s capabilities the post-production team was able to create one of the best-looking Blu-ray videos ever released. “Dolby flexed its muscle with this disc,” he says. “Dolby used the disc at CES [International Consumer Electronics Show] and I’m using it at my house. Right now if you visit me, you’ll get a glass of wine and this video on my screen.”
Narrowing down his choices of what scenes he suggests to use as demo content was not easy. Silver points out that everything about the video is good, but he mentions the fourth chapter is a good place to start. “Chapter four has a chopper and a plane that are dropping the extreme snowboarders onto a mountain peak,” he explains. “At this point, make sure you have enough light output on your video and a good audio system that can handle low-end content. It is a rare system that can handle these elements. Look at the contrast and listen to the sound … the color saturation.”
Emphatically, Silver summarizes The Art of Flight by saying, “there isn’t a bad part on this disc. This is a 7.1 production done on a state-of-the-art monitor with great camera work … this disc has it all. I don’t know of any Blu-ray discs that look this good; this is what Blu-ray discs are supposed to look and sound like.
"Dealers have to have this disc, I’m not even a snowboarder, but it makes me want to jump on a snowboard.”
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Blogs · Audio · Video · Blu-ray · Digital Media · Home Theater · Dolby Truehd · Isf · Imaging Science Foundation · Joel Silver · Dolby Laboratories · Dolby Laboratories -prm-4200 Professional Reference Monitor · Travis Rice ·About the Author
9 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
Hi Tuck, it’s available on Amazon for about $27.
Based on this article and Joel’s recommendation I’ve just ordered a copy and will be watching it this weekend. Thanks for the tip.
We (Kaleidescape) added this title to our Best of Blu-ray collection a few weeks ago:
http://kaleidescape.com/products/collections/kcoll.php?id=KCOLL-1600-B
We’ve actually marked more scenes in this movie than any other, since it’s such a great piece of demo content. There are 18 Kaleidescape Scenes, including some great content from the bonus features. The Kaleidescape Scene that Joel wrote about in chapter four is called Tordrillo Mountains, Alaska. As Joel wrote, the entire disc is fantastic. Another demo suggestion is the scene Snowmobiling in Jackson Hole, which has some great detail in the snow as it flies through the air.
I happened to be at the Meridian NYC offices the day after this was released and they had just opened the package from Amazon. To say it was amazing on their 4k reference 810 projector is a total understatement.
We have been using it ever since.
Thanks Robert. Will look right now and place order!
Robert and Joel are absolutely correct. Just watched my copy over the weekend and this is some of the best video I have ever seen. Regardless of whether you like snowboarding or not, this is a demo keeper.
What scene are you using for demos?.... it seems you cant cue up a good scene with the action moving. It seems that anytime the music flows and the scenes are going, it stops for one of the skiers to talk.
You’re right - there are frequent moments where dialog interjected into the scenes.
If you are interested in pure action moments, the Scenes that meet the criteria you describe best (and that I have used in demos):
1) “Big Runs at Revelstoke 2”(1:02:56-1:05::33): Mostly aerial shots of a series of exhilarating downhill runs
2) “Travis Rice: Helmetcam”: This is a pure POV shot from the extras whose soundtrack is just the wind ripping by Travis microphone.
I have often used several scenes that do contain the dialog insertions you describe because there is an image or series of images I believe will resonate with my audience:
1) “Introductions” (5:27-11:21): has the beautiful shot in the opening of the helicopter standing with its nose fully down and then a series of gorgeous runs.
2) “The Darwin Range, Patagonia” (30:29-33:42): An excerpt of the movies exploration of snowboarding on rugged terrain. Stunning rocky landscape shots and a series of POV intercuts that highlight the experience.
3) “Tree Snapping” (37:01-38:44): This is the one I go back to most often. It’s short and fun (while still visually pristine) but this is the clip that’s probably the most guilty of the things you take issue with.
Whats the best way for integrators to get this disc??