DTS-Phile | The sound film in High Definition | Blu-Ray, DVD, film

S YNOPSIS

Increasingly often, the little Sharon dream of a deserted town, Silent Hill. His mother, Rose, determined to understand the strange evil plaguing her child, decides to accompany him on the spot. When they enter this gloomy world, Sharon disappears. Rose starts in pursuit, but soon realizes that this strange place is like nothing normal. Shrouded in fog, inhabited by strange creatures, haunted by shadows that live literally eat everything they touch, this dimension will gradually hand over its terrifying secret ... With the help of Cybil, local police, Rose flows into a frantic quest to rescue his daughter into the world of Silent Hill. On the evidence in proof, it will discover all that Sharon risk and what it represents in a curse that exceeds all ...

PRESS

Silent Hill is the adaptation of the video game namesake, designed by Japanese Konami Akira Yamaoka. Released in 1999 on the PlayStation, the game was followed by three sequels sold more than 4 million copies worldwide. Thanks to a unique environment favoring the psychological action and staged already close film, the game has revolutionized the genre of survival horror as well as Resident Evil or Alone in the Dark. Two games have also seen a film adaptation.

The director Christophe Gans has surrounded himself with many French collaborators to complete the project. Boukhrief Nicolas (The Belt) is so come and support the director Roger Avary to write the screenplay. One of the most popular French of Hollywood, Patrick Tatopoulos has also participated in Silent Hill. After participating in the special effects of Hollywood blockbusters as Independence Day and Underworld, he directed the design of the creatures of the film. Finally, the assembly has been provided by Sebastian Prangère who had already worked with Christophe Gans on the Wolf.

The movie is based mainly on the background story of "Silent Hill 1 and Silent Hill 3". It borrows its aesthetics but Silent Hill 2 "and the camera moves to number 4:" Initially we wanted to adapt the second game of the series, the best general view, said Christophe Gans. But we also wanted explain why Silent Hill became this kind of Bermuda Triangle city where you can possibly penetrate but which can not be revealed. This is the first game that we finally inspired. We began by putting on paper the script of the first "Silent Hill". This has both enabled to have a clear idea of the potential of the game but also to reveal all that remained to be developed to make a film worthy of the name. For example, it has become clear that the central character of the game - a man named Harry Mason-behaved with the maternal instinct and the vulnerability of a woman. Rather than betray the character in the hardening, we preferred to make a woman. Akira Yamaoka has laughed when I told him my views, but he agreed. I think if her character was a man, it was primarily a matter of identification and because only a decent man can face the trials of the game but he had actually given a totally feminine nature! "

There were no men present in early versions of the script queChristophe Gans sent the production. It then asked to complete the scenario with a male character. Thus the role of Sean Bean was created.

Unlike the plot of the film which takes place in the U.S. in a town in West Virginia, the filming of Silent Hill was held in Canada in the city of Brantford, Ontario from April 25 to July 22, 2005.

In Silent Hill, several levels of reality co-exist. To present the various dimensions of environments, multiple versions of each scene had to be built. Five studios have been necessary to accommodate all. In the end, more than 106 sets were made.

CODEC VIDEO: VC-1
1080p
FORMAT: 2.35:1
BITRATE: n / a
Metropolitan (available since late October 2009 in limited quantities obviously ...)

This reissue Blu-Ray, fully supervised and approved by Christophe Gans, offers a vision of the film intact, and provides visual results staggering clarity, heat (in sequence "real"), and precision. Difficult to criticize anything in this transfer which gives pride of place with an exceptional dynamic video to highlight the work no less perfect DoP. Throughout the screening, the sharpness of the image is seen provided a superb record, putting clothing in the original value of the silver film, even if some sequences highly processed and recalibrated synthesis sanitize the report, provides pictures smooth and artful ... But overall, the proposed film is so toned and lively by this transfer that comes easily to manipulate shadows and darkness, using contrasts strikingly solid (the last part, at the revelation in the "chamber" of the hospital, is a prime example and stands out clearly from the rest of the film), although we observed some cyclical fluctuations in their report, which put forward a touch of inconsistency . The black level, as a whole, lacks any depth, because they dress elegantly image, providing an excellent level of density and matter. The multiple flashes of light dazzle the frame, and the exhibition shows formidable. Addition sequences and CGI special effects, the rest of the film was actually shot in 35mm, hence the somewhat grainy results which are in no displeasing to us. Add to that a palette of rich colors in the original sequence or reverse shot final, fading gradually as and when the plot to provide the dull grays and beautiful effect. Hard, intense, deep, depth of field can be very successful and to "3D effect", sometimes sharply, the image offered by any such transfer may lack vigor and cinematic realism, and manages to capture the essence of film images through dense and meaningful, that encoding VC-1, though less efficient than the stroke on such pressing to complex images, never betrays.

DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1: English, French
DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 French, English
16 bit, 48 kHz
OFFSET: n / a
BITRATE: n / a

On the side of her, the film we Gans is proposed by the editor-in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (VO, VF), but only under 16 bit (we will return). Come straight to the point: from the very first moments, it is easy to understand that what follows will be permanently marked. And this is indeed the case, with a holding literally surround anthology, which highlights the increased level of detail of lossless digital audio exhaustively and unmistakable. The management of the sound is terrifying and shows absolutely staggering multi subtlety: a relief basis, an incendiary dynamic capable of the greatest differences and aggression like no other. We have here a piece of choice, which stands out as an ultimate reference for lovers of the film, which also represents one of the best experiences for HD (and heard) recently, which scans the DVD editions, yet very good, referring to the rank of smples VHS. Rediscovering such a soundtrack in such conditions is rare and guilty pleasure. Not the movie appeared so bewildering field acoustic frequency response across the entire spectrum is breathtaking with admiration and nuances of sound to show prodigious wealth, exceptionally large. A surreal effect, a demonstration (nearly) absolute.

"Almost" because the publisher has not seen fit to give him a greater magnitude because of the encoding in 16 bits (instead of 24 which is capable lossless digital sound). No need to panic as much, but the sharpest ears will notice the slight lack of depth and definition sequences during the busiest in fact, whose intelligibility, not really undermined, would make full use of a nosedive further. Channel woofer (s) delivers deep attacks Dante, for his part, and every place visited is seen acoustically topped waves of sub-woofers dark and menacing, dull and delicate lining the bottom of the listening room , bringing the material and volume to the soundstage. This background noise created by the 0.1 LFE channel adds a surreal standing, itself exacerbated by the use of the rear stage, which at the grand finale, we had a little bit "disappointed." It should further be designed as a dissipative atmosphere, an "extender" atmosphere, rather than as a motor effect in the strict sense. Not that it appears in the background, but its very design, a real sense of purpose and an integral part of sound design, film, do not require constant pressure of the diffusion zone, the heart of the sound stage is focused on the scene before, which is full of micro-detail imagery, and has a basic expression of the most expansive (the final stake is literally flooding the front triphones). These are more or less regularly relayed on the back, which opens a new perspective on the place visited, he brought a touch of depth, and a delicate note of precision air, without watering the secondary or superfluous details . The soundstage extends well naturally, but some will be surprised by its lack of systematic construction on the rear of the facility. It should be borne in mind that this is not a failure, but one part conceptual integrity, which must be assessed at its fair value. Subtle and tense, behind the scene, without taking the soundtrack dramatically, finely dressed band-on, giving him the additional weather information who bring good sense in many sequences of Exploration (school, church , basements ...).

The soundtrack of the film gives full meaning to the term sound: "It appeals to wave phenomena and mechanical vibrations." By the same, the sound design of the film, Becker managed by Nicolas (which comes in the documentary Gans on disc two), is part of choice. Crafted from real sounds, and sometimes ordinary concrete, which have been distorted and have undergone many transformations, the soundtrack of the film sees clothing highlighted by the codec DTS-HD Master Audio, which restores the Energy and "crunchiness" impacts realistic unfathomable depth and weight to different layers of sound. These entangle and intertwine, suggesting a sound sneaky, dissolved at how manipulative, which quickly generates a disturbance in the perception of the atmosphere of the film. The disorder, located halfway between an abnormality increasing realism and immediacy of sounds, is then used for mixing and editing sound, which focuses on the different levels of sound, dressing the right ambiance loops (first and back -plane (s)). This production line produces a sound atmosphere soon pregnant and petrified, the power of suggestion diabolically dresses: the sounds keep a realistic texture that pleases the ear, while suggesting gradually acoustic distortions and manipulations that alter the perception of reality sound and moods. By the same token, this subtle development involved the deployment of dramatic film, staking its narrative construction.

The sound effects are responding across the spectrum, showing them on its different areas: high, mid and low and sub-woofers. The dynamics of the audio uncompressed rendering even more strength, releasing masses acoustic unleashed, presented here in high resolution with superb fidelity. Only music has appeared to suffer from fairly basic integration, with no significant acoustic foundations. Strong, deep, disturbing and a prodigious richness, this soundtrack is in itself a meaningful conceptual exercise, which is nonetheless a superb demonstration of expertise and requirement (s). A hit, we reward by a pitch for money, and that one dream, one day, could be discovered in 24 Bit.

• DISC ONE: Dual audio commentary, including, in VF, the filmmaker needed.
• Images in Picture mode astounding to see the film without special effects or visual, without calibration, in a small window that can enlarge to full screen. Unpublished, and absolutely stunning. Full screen mode is presented in SD, and the difference with the HD movie is somewhat striking.
• DISC TWO: a new documentary by half past one "Silent Hill: Between Two Worlds" (HD 1080p, Dolby Digital 2.0), made very recently and which proves to be endlessly rich. Anecdotes, decline, reflections ... it shows Gans devilishly masterful and relevant. A must
• Video game:
  - Interview with producer of the game, Akira Yamaoka
  - Excerpts from the meeting between director Christophe Gans and Akira Yamaoka
• Interview with Christophe Gans on the game Silent Hill 2
• Video Game Intros of Silent Hill 1 and 2
• Making Of:
  - The path of darkness
  - On the set
• Featurette
• Teaser (SD 2.0 ...)
• Trailer (SD and 2.0 ...)
• Poster Gallery
• Gallery

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