gxgnxamy - Ah. Yes. Good idea. I’ll send my screen name to you via a private message then.
I see. I take it that you’ll be the one to host a conference call, am I right?
Thanks again for your advice/assistance! 
– Mitch
Mitch - You’re welcome!
I can do it, sure. =)
I might be able to make the 13th, but I might not. It’s difficult with work- my hours change often- so I’ll say ‘maybe’ for now.
Also, I haven’t got Skype or a microphone yet, so I’ll need to sort these things out before the day. But first, I’ll check if I’m free.
Oh, well, thank you! I hope that I didn’t sound as if I was pushing you to do it or anything. 
– Mitch
Mitch - You certainly didn’t push me, I really wanted to host. Moreover, it could be that if the host goes down, everyone gets disconnected. My computer and internet connection are pretty stable so it’s a good match. 
Just a note to everyone planning on participating in the Ratatouille commentary:
Issue 1: If you live outside the US, there is a good chance that your DVD is the PAL version the movie. This will NOT be suitable for doing the commentary since PAL DVDs are about 4% faster than NTSC DVDs (the US, Canadian system of DVDs). This means that it would go out of synch very quickly with everyone else’s copies. You must check the back of your DVD to see if it is PAL or NTSC - since most of the others have the NTSC DVD, if you have PAL you must conform to the other system. This probably means “obtaining” the US version somehow. If you want to know how to do this, private message me.
Issue 2: Even if you have an NTSC version of the DVD (the Canadian version for example, which is what I have) you aren’t let off the hook just yet. Let me explain: when I was watching the Canadian version of Ratatouille (which runs at the same speed as the US version), I noticed a bit of an extended scene. During the part where Remy is looking for the key and he comes across Gusteau’s will, in some countries’ DVDs this part is extended by a few seconds and in others it is kept the same length as in the cinema. I don’t know he we are going to get around this unless we all know for sure that we are watching the same copy that is the exact same length.
I’m going to make a YouTube video to demonstrate what I mean.
qxgnxamy - Really? How interesting. Well, I’m glad that it all worked out then. Cheers!
Are you serious? You mean, there’s extra footage?! Dude, I’ve gotta see this…
Other than that, that really sucks. I wonder why the speed of PAL DVDs are increased by 4%? Is that just the standard of overseas/non-U.S. entertainment systems?
– Mitch
Interjection!
Yeah. If I remember correctly, in both the Canadian and Australian versions of Ratatouille, in that aforementioned scene there is more of a focus on the writing in the letter, and the pacing of the film is a bit slower (not talking about the 4% PAL difference, but the actual pacing of the scene.) Also, in those two versions, the text is changed from English to French, but in the US version of the DVD, it is changed to English. I wonder why… But I think the reason why that scene goes on for longer in the Australian and Canadian versions, is because they assume we wouldn’t be bothered by the French writing, but people in the US would? I’m just making assumptions here, though. And also, the music is slightly different to accommodate for the extra time that scene goes on for. Not too much of a drastic change, but still enough for me to notice. I’ll try to upload a comparison to YouTube so you can see for yourself. 
Yeah, it does stink. Especially because I have played a couple of NTSC DVDs in my player and it has absolutely no trouble playing them, I don’t even need to adjust my TV’s frame rate settings (how many frames come up on screen per second.) The only trouble is when your DVD player is programmed to reject any DVDs from any country that is outside of your region code, but this is easily solvable with a bit of tweaking. Just about every DVD player is region-free (it can play any DVD from any region in the world) but the region is set in the factory depending on which country the DVD player will be sold in. But this can be changed by using your remote to enter a special code so you can change the setting back again. You can look this code up in Google, using your DVD players make and model number to find the code.
It’s also a pain because the theatrical versions of films are exactly what the film maker intended and it isn’t sped up at all. I’m guessing this is because the cinema isn’t a TV screen, but it uses a projector which bypasses this problem. But when it released on DVD as a PAL DVD, for some reason they need to speed up the rate of the movie which cause it to go faster and raises the pitch of the whole film, so when you compare it to the film you saw in the cinema, it’s totally different. 
rachel - Huh. How interesting. I can’t imagine why us Americans would be bothered by the French text had they included it in the U.S. version of the Ratatouille DVD, unless they were simply worried about extremely picky viewers. I take it that the main reason why the message/letter was switched to English for us Americans is so as we could, well, read it so as to understand the plot-line/connection between Linguini and Gusteau better (and perhaps for those of us who are Pixar “geeks”, and who attempt to read every single word inserted within the film). That seems like the logical explanation. Heh.
But, yeah, that’s kinda cool! I would love to see the Canadian/Australian version of that particular scene. 
Gee, thank you very much, rachel!
Odd. I guess the PAL system is just designed to operate that way. Sounds a bit annoying to me. 
– Mitch
Later today, we’ll have the second YFTR commentary complete. I’d like to make a suggestion reagrding the next commenatry; let’s put it off until both Mitch and I have our computers back.
Sure i’ll wait what’s a commentary without both you guys ?
Awww thanks, Pixar.rocks, but without Mitch, it’s just no fun. 
Well, Cinema is 23.97FPS, PAL is 25FPS, and NTSC/ATSC is 30FPS
4% is hardly any difference, and you only notice it if you have perfect tome.
For NTSC they have 3:2 pulldown, which involves inserting fromes.
also, I would take part but 12:30 in the morning is a bit late.
We’ve come up with the idea that in-between the time that we do our Ratatouille commentary in November, we could do a Toy Story one. I suggest that we do (ideally) one practice commentary on Tin Toy, since it’s the short film that is most similar to TS. Hopefully we won’t have to reschedule practice commentaries again and again, especially as this will run into November which will affect the Ratatouille commentary.
I’ll be free in October except for the last weekend (24, 25, 26th). I’m pretty flexible with times, as I’m usually free on weekday afternoons from 3pm onwards until 10pm, but wouldn’t like it to go on longer than that time. Weekends I’m free all day usually, but if I’m busy I don’t mind scheduling the commentary around things.
Also, and I hope this doesn’t come across the wrong way, but maybe it would be a good idea to, uh, cap the number of participants? This is just so the session, doesn’t get too chaotic with a lot of members… But because the Ratatouille commentary hasn’t been recorded yet, it’s hard to know if 7+ members would work to our favour or not.
Anyone interested?
EDIT: If you type “fan commentaries” (with brackets) into Google, this thread is the 5th result to come up - cool! 
A practice commentary on Tin Toy and then a commentary on Toy Story is fine with me.
I’m going on a trip from October 10 to October 15 so I won’t have access to my computer during that time. That means I’ll be free during the last weekend in September and the other weekends in October.
I agree that once we reach a certain number of participants the session will start to get chaotic, but I don’t know what that number is. Perhaps it would help if we got organized before we recorded the commentary. For example, one could request a block of time at a certain point in the film. However we wouldn’t block out the entire film, I don’t think that would be necessary.
I am intrested. Count me in rachel.
As for working times for me, the first and second weekend of October is a big no-no for me, but I believe I can work out other days.
I’m very interested, but first, I’ll actually have to find Toy Story somewhere. I would normally rent it, but my family’s tight on money right now, and my Blockbuster NEVER has the DVDs I want. But, maybe I’ll be able to find it online or something. I’ll let you guys know if I do.
As for decent times for me…I’m homeschooled, so I’m free pretty much any time. However, Monday’s and Tuesday’s probably wouldn’t be good for me, since those are my dad’s day’s off. 6:30 to 8:00 p.m is not a good time for me any day, because that’s when I usually go to the barn to ride my horse.
My mother and I will also be going to the So You Think You Can Dance? tour on October 7th. I think we’re going in the evening, but I’m not completely sure yet. I’ll have to ask her.
And towards the end of October, my grandmother is coming and staying for nine days. (Untill the 30th, I believe) However, that shouldn’t matter too much. I’ll still be able to use the computer and everything, I just figured I’d let you guys know anyways.
As for the number of people…it’s kind of hard to say, since we haven’t even done a practice commentary yet with more then 7 people. I think as long as people are polite and restrain themselves from talking too much (AKA ME! xD), it would be okay. We’ll see, I guess.
Woooh… a little tight on the schedules, people. So let’s recap…
rachelcakes1985 - Anytime except last weekend of October
qxgnxamy - Anytime except Oct 10-15
The Star Swordsman - Anytime except first and second weekend of October
Lightning Eclispe - Anytime except the eve of October 7
When I say anytime, it’s just an oversimplification, I don’t really mean you’re available 24/7. As for me I’m available anytime except the third weekend of October, which I predict I will be busy like crazy to meet project deadlines for my classes. School vacation starts mid-late November for me, so I’ll be free as a lark then. But as of right now, I prefer weekends as my weekdays are packed trying to revise for the final exams and final assignments.
thedriveintheatre - Anytime except the last weekend of October. Prefers weekends.
So…
That leaves this weekend, 29 September to 2 October (that week is my mid-term break!), 6 October, 8-9 October, 27-31 October for a suitable date (we have effectively blocked out all weekends as a group! 
)
I’m in no rush to get these commentaries done. Seems like everyone’s waiting for the Ratatouille one (though I’m sure some are just as excited for the Toy Story one. I’m more interested on Cars and Wall-E! ). IMO, it’s okay if not everybody who’s interested in doing the TS or Rat commentary turn up for the upcoming third practice one, as long as he/she has had at least one practice. This final test-run should be the last chance for anyone who still wants to do the Toy Story commentary but has not had the chance to participate in the first two practices. After TS, we can schedule maybe one (or more) practice before Ratatouille!
That should be the requirement to do a feature commentary: Anyone who wants to participate in a feature commentary must go through at least one practice commentary. You’re free to do more if you wish. It’s hard as it is to coordinate people for ‘test-runs’, so I think this guideline is a reasonable standard to attain. If I’m merely reiterating what you guys have already subconsciously decided on, then I apologise.
I think of it as sorta like earning your license to comment, if you will.
Count me in, it will depend on when it is though because, i’m probably going on a trip to see my dad and brother but i guess my brother will lend me his computer… Hope so !
The trip will be from the 26/27th of October to the 3/4th November…