Bat Out Of Hell The Musical

[davidanthony]

I have seen the show twice and would love to have a DVD of it but can not find anywhere to avail it. Perhaps there isn’t one ?

[Buenchico]

Not many stage musicals make it onto DVD because of the complexities of filming involved. It either means having to make a full-scale film musical (possibly costing over a hundred million dollars) or trying to find ways to film on stage.

The latter isn't easy because, for example, the colour balance used in stage lighting is totally different to that used in film lighting, meaning that the original lighting has to be replaced (at great expense) by more suitable lighting.

Then there are problems with camera positions and angles. A single song in a full film musical might involve over a hundred different camera shots, as the image on screen switches between long shots, group shots, facial close-ups, over-the-shoulder shots, etc. To get something from a stage musical which will look equally good on a small screen means having lots of cameras crammed into a small space on the stage, all trying to stay out of each others shots, and dozens, or even hundreds, of retakes.

So it's unsurprising that nobody's yet come up with the money to pay for all that (plus, of course, the film rights, which won't come cheap), so it looks like you'll have to make do with the CD (or MP3) album for now.

Sorry!

[Old_Geezer]

You mean they don't yet have the tech to correct the colour balance automatically ? Automatically pick out the good close ups ? What century are we living in ?

[kvalidir]

Yes they have no problem with colour correction, and grader worth his salt can do that standing on his head.

[kvalidir]

Bits of it all over Youtube :)

[Buenchico]

^^^ possibly as long as he's working alongside a good make-up artist, Kvalidir, who appreciates the difference between stage make-up and film make-up, as well as a scenery artist who can make adjustments for the different lighting.

[kvalidir]

That's really not the way it works now Chris, not meaning to be contentious but it just isn't, so many live streamed shows now, so many improvements with colour correction and post production, crane shots make it unnecessary to have cameras all over the stage, digital zooms etc, colour and shot matching, it's no longer the major trial it was to make something from the stage to DVD, as you can see.

[Buenchico]

It's still ruddy expensive though, Kvaladir!

Crane cameras don't come cheap and the sound balance that seems fine in a theatre can be a nightmare to adjust for a DVD or streaming. It needs someone with a big budget to embark upon creating a DVD of a stage show, especially when they've got to buy the rights. It's a massive financial gamble and it seems that nobody has yet opted to take it for 'Bat Out of Hell'

[kvalidir]

It's very true that no-one appears to have taken up BOOH, but I imagine that more in terms of buying the rights to do so and looking at the lack of anything scenic to look at you'd lose the dynamism of actually being there after a bit and just be staring at screen, which would become irritating / boring after a while. It's really not unusual to stream live theatre and shows these days and the crane hire is just something people factor in to a budget and pretty standard kit for theatre or auditoria filming. Sound would be via a direct feed or to a video assist of some sort, not what you are hearing in the theatre itself as they are all miked with backing tracks, so tbh there isn't much keeping anyone from technically doing it except rights releases etc. Looking at it though tbh I don't think it would translate well to DVD anyway, it's strike me as one of those live shows best seen live :)