33 thoughts on “And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like “1984””

  1. its the same — except for that ipod. The scan is better on the new one — better detail. it looks like the shot was taken from another take of the same shot.

  2. Has anyone else noticed that the person giving speach looks scarily like Jack Straw? (Uk foreign secretary and generally scary bloke)

  3. Blues toned down and whites enhanced. Woman’s hair lightened, possibly to make her look older. Her shorts become orange instead of red. Logo beveled, though that might appear so because the high quality version available from Apple is better than the best I could find on the Internet. Of course, “We couldn’t help ourselves” — the iPod. I think the 1984 version is more ahead at the point of hammer release than by the time it hits the screen. (Also notable is that Apple’s new distribution is a few seconds longer overall than the original, at least among the versions I got my eyes on.)

    After several examinations, I see that in the old version, the hammer is upside down when first visible, after leaving her hands. In the new version, however, I see it as if it has just left her hands, still head on top. Looks to me that the new version makes the scene more believable and the old one puts more time into the hammer floating by.

    Am I missing other changes?

  4. Another thing: By the time the new one gets to the text, it is a few lines ahead in the scrolling. However, it also waits longer before fading to the logo.

  5. I wouldn’t pay too much attention to color differences, as the videos were obviously digitized using much different hardware, many years appart (the original 1984 video comes from one of those CDs Apple would send along with some ultra-cool-no-glue stickers in the times of Gil Amelio). Then I reencoded in a smaller size and MPEG4. This video runs at 24 fps, the new one at 30 fps so don’t pay too much attention to single frame differences. The Quicktime clip above uses the soundtrack for the new version. The Quicktime movie above has actually two different video tracks side by side and if you have QT Pro you can extract or disable either one.

  6. The point at which the hammer is released has been slowed down a bit on the newer version (the first half of the hammer’s rotation in the air is missed), presumably to better show of the iPod.

  7. Someone noted the date on the huge screen has been updated to 1/26/04 instead of 1/24/84 – a bit hard to tell from the original as it’s lower quality.

    Could this mean something will arrive on the 26th (Mon)?

  8. Can’t believe no one noticed this yet: in the 84 version she has an old mac logo on her shirt–in the new one it’s just white.

  9. Her sweat is so very much more obvious in the new version thank goodness. All that running and throwing is a real workout you know and should be emphasized.

  10. she’s carryin the new 3rd gen ipod on her waist….
    CANT YOU ALL SPOT THAT!!!
    the 1984 wouldn’t be like the “1984”

  11. As an earlier poster mentioned, the main shot where she releases the hammer (the last shot of the girl) has been slowed down, to better showcase the iPod on her hip. That shot now lasts a full second longer. The next shot — the hammer spinning thru the air — has been trimmed, so the two versions fall into sync again.

    Thanks for posting this. I’ve been looking for a good side-by-side comparison. While some have speculated that Chiat erased and replaced the entire girl, it’s now clear that it’s not true. This is definitely the same footage, and the iPod has been matchmoved in place. It’s beautiful work. Notice how naturally the iPod flops around, and how the headphone cord moves realistically. I can only surmise these were modeled and rendered in CGI (Pixar?) and deftly composited into the shot.

  12. It’s obvious that some kind of white-ish circle-sh logo was added underneath the “14” in the opening shot. This was not the result of encoding or color enhancements (which have been employed liberally throughout).

    Andrew

  13. I am currently doing a Media Studies project on the 1984 Ad’s I thank you very much for posting this as it will help me a lot. thanks

  14. The two videos are not synched up. Whilst playing it normally, this is easily noticed at the end, when there are a whole bunch of aspect changes one after another, but also at the start.

  15. That circle thing under the “14” in the opening shot? Yeah, it’s present in the new one only because of better video encoding. You’ll see it in the old one during the fade into the second shot.

    On both videos, the logo on her shirt is the old line art Macintosh drawing, not an Apple logo. I should recognize it — my dad, a newspaper reporter, brought home a press kit right when it was released.

    I can’t quite buy the idea that the new one has a beveled logo and the old one doesn’t. They look too similar, and the artifacts around the old one seem to behave like there’s a bit of a bevel.

    The date on the new one is indeed 1.26.04, but… wait, I take that back! Right below the date is the time, which is 09.13, and the 0 in the time box is not the computerized zero that we all remember from the eighties (you know, the one that looks like ). With the date, I mistakenly thought that the last two digits had that style of zero, when it actually has an eight — making the date 1.26.84.

    I tell ya what — it’s difficult for me to find ten differences, even if I count each shot with the iPod as a change.

    If I do that, then I actually I DO come up with ten: seven shots of the iPod; the last shot of the girl lasting a split second longer to show off the iPod better (that’s 8); the following shot of the hammer being shortened (nine); and the fade to the Apple logo at the end starts earlier (after the camera passes by six rows of drones instead of seven), and goes to white before the logo, in the new version. That’s ten, unless the logo is beveled, which would be eleven.

  16. Dear Sir,
    Where can I download the “1984” commercial, to show this in my lessons (…on a stand-alone XP….)

    Jac

  17. When she starts to throw the hammer, the two shots are completely different – she starts with her arm raised a lot higher in the new version.

  18. ** I took a “sllllloooow” look and the shirt was not edited. It actually contains an apple logo that is the computer and the mouse drawn out in just minimum bolored lines.. To show the border, but nothing more. You can find these online.. Go to:http://www.redlightrunner.com/… You can’t miss it, it’s currently on their front page.

    What I really saw that was different is the time given to the girl.. Each seems to be like an extra second or what not.. You can tell by her movement.. there is always a bit more in the new one..

    ANyway.. we are G33ks upon G33ks aren’t we?

    APPLE RULEZ!!! [lol]

  19. In the orignal the the first transition of the running girl is a dissolve through the marching clones. In the remake it’s a jump cut.

    Very cool to see them side by side. Thanks!

  20. …and on the 2nd transition to the running girl, the original is a jump cut and in the remake it’s a dissolve. 🙂

  21. yeah, you know I noticed that IPod when I first saw the new version, but it didn’t even hit me that she wouldn’t have had one in the original – lol – duh. But I will say that I think it’s kind of a silly addition considering that I don’t think she’d be listening to tunes while going to liberate the world Matrix style…oh wait, they dressed to the nines to liberate the world to the sound of techno – lol So what was she listening to? Eye of the Tiger? lmao

  22. yeah, you know I noticed that IPod when I first saw the new version, but it didn’t even hit me that she wouldn’t have had one in the original – lol – duh. But I will say that I think it’s kind of a silly addition considering that I don’t think she’d be listening to tunes while going to liberate the world Matrix style…oh wait, they dressed to the nines to liberate the world to the sound of techno – lol So what was she listening to? Eye of the Tiger? lmao

Leave a Reply to Ben RosenthalCancel reply