"Sweeney Todd" tour DVD question

[RuprechtJr.]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 8:03pm

This might be random, but does anyone else notice how terribly edited the sound is for the finale? It sounds as if they took two different night's performances and tried to overlap them for whatever reason causing some the vocals to be an eighth-beat behind the orchestra. I can't imagine that the conductor would have let it go on as long as it did without flailing his arms even more to get everyone back on track. It sounds terrible! Just curious if I'm crazy or if anyone else noticed that.

[sondhead]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 8:20pm

I don't think they were using sound from two performances. It sounds like the ensemble just got super off. The conductor wouldn't necessarily be able to get them back on. When a group that large gets that behind, it can be very difficult to fix it no matter how hard you wave your hands.

But yes, I have noticed it. It's very bothersome and my question is why didn't they fix it when they shot the additional footage without an audience??

[sparrman]

Posted: 8/10/10 at 9:18pm

I wonder if it wouldn't have been possible (or still be possible) to fix it in post. Assuming there's enough separation in the miking (Hearn, Lansbury, chorus, orchestra), I've wondered if they couldn't shift the various tracks around to fix it.

[Timmerbo]

Posted: 8/11/10 at 10:34am

I haven't watched the DVD in ages, but I probably noticed it at the time, cringed, and then reasoned that Sondheim must have meant for it to sound bad. I can only assume the folks putting the program together wrongly believed the same thing, in their massive 80's editing suite.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 8/11/10 at 3:00pm

Yes, I did notice, but it's so f*****g awesome, I don't care :P

[RuprechtJr.]

Posted: 8/11/10 at 3:08pm

If you listen closely you can hear the "echo" in the orchestra thru the xylophone. It hits once and echos a beat after. That's what makes me think that either they used two different tracks or the inputs for the orchestra and vocals tracks weren't lined up correctly. While when played correctly it should sound crazy, reckless and out of control, but I don't think Sondheim actually wanted it get out of control haha.