The Individual Guide

CD and DVD Replication

Replication is mostly a mechanical way of producing the disc. When you buy software , music or films from a shop this is the process they will have been produced. This method is best used for runs over a 1000 pieces and can run in to the millions.

The Process - First off the data is burnt by a laser onto a glass plate that is coated with a photosensitive material, you will often hear the phrase ‘glass master’ this is the first stage in the process. Once the glass master is finished a metal stamper is developed via electrolysis from the plate, it physically has a track with pits in that eventually the laser in the player will read when the disc is finished.

Once the stamper is made the glass plate is recycled for use in the making of different stampers. The stamper is then deposited into an injection moulding machine and the image is physically pressed into molten optical grade polycarbonate disc under a pressure of circa 30 tons. You could compare this to the way vinyl records are made but on a smaller disc. The disc then is taken out of the mould and allowed to cool in a controlled environment so that it will not deform. If you were to look at the disc now you would see a clear piece of plastic and you would just be able to make out the data that had been pressed into it. This is so along that if you were to rub your finger across the disc it would be entirely destroyed. The next stage is to construct a reflective layer that the laser in the player can use, this process is spluttering. The disc enters a vacuum chamber that has an aluminum plate at the top and a magnet at the bottom, a puff of argon gas is disbursed and an electrical charge is applied this transforms the surface of the aluminum to atomize and a plasma is formed. This is then drawn down onto the disc buy the magnet. The disc exits the chamber and is coated with a UV varnish to protect the disc and stopping the aluminum from oxidizing. The disc is then ready to be printed and packaged. The lead-time in producing a disc this way is normally 10 to 12 working days.

Nominated for four Academy Awards, and winner of Best Animated Feature Film of the Year, The Incredibles is one of the best animated films ever produced. A cross between Toy Story, Superman, and Office Space, it provides an endless array of action sequences, visual creativity, and well-delivered humor. Director Brad Bird (who’s directed a few episodes of The Simpsons) not only creates a memorable film, but also voices one of the star characters of The Incredibles, Edna Mode. And following in the rich tradition of animated classics such Bambi (1942), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and The Lion King (1994), Walt Disney Pictures teams up once again with Pixar Animation Studios (with whom it collaborated on Finding Nemo) to produce a film both children and adults will love with equal verve and passion…

The Incredibles is set in the fictional cartoon township of Metroville (a hybrid of Superman’s two homes, Metropolis and Smallville). Metroville is home to a number of miraculous superheroes who do everything from hunting down evil murderers to saving cats stuck in trees. Foremost among the superheroes is Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) who resembles Superman in both strength and style. Shortly after Mr. Incredible’s marriage to the vivacious Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), a surge in civil lawsuits and other unwarranted torts are brought against the superheroes by the people they save, who cite numerous damages to their person as a result of being saved. The rash of legal action, and the strain it places on the local governmental budget, turns the tide of public opinion against the superheroes and forces them underground.

Harbored by the government witness protection program, Mr. Incredible has assumed a new identity - that of Bob Parr, an ordinary middle-class suburbanite who works as an Insurance Claims Specialist. Cowering in his cubicle, Bob Parr must deal with the typical travails of a 9-to-5 job, a boss he hates, and regulations he feels are immoral and hurtful to the company’s clients. Meanwhile, Elastigirl is now known as Helen Parr, and she’s grown comfortable in her new role as a housewife rearing the couple’s three suppressed-superhero children - Violet (a shy girl with the ability to turn invisible), Dash (a cocky boy with the ability to run super fast), and Jack Jack (a baby with no as-of-yet-known super powers). All goes well until Mr. Incredible, anxious to return to life of helping people, is approached by a super secret government organization hoping to enlist his aid. When it turns out to be part of an elaborate conspiracy hatched by the evil Syndrome (Jason Lee), a former Mr. Incredible sycophant turned bad, Elastigirl and the entire Parr family must risk blowing their cover in order to save Mr. Incredible, and the world, from certain doom…

The Incredibles deserves a spot on anyone’s list of the Top 100 films ever made. It really is that good. The musical score, composed by Michael Giacchino (know for his work on Alias), sneers at today’s digital multi-track recording in favor of the old-school analog recordings of the 1960s in its effort to recreate the jazz-orchestra ambience often associated with the golden age of comic books. This attention to the form and detail of the story sets the tone for The Incredibles. And that’s why the film is an absolute must-see. Its meticulous blend of sound and visuals, coupled with an utterly hilarious - if not ingenious script - makes The Incredibles a solid contender for the best film of 2004…

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of The Incredibles (DVD).

The “Sweater Girl” of the ’40s and ’50s, Lana Turner will always live in our memories as an alluring leading woman who made the headlines not only with her successful films like The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) but her seven marriages and domestic misfortune as well.

Born in Wallace, Idaho, on February, 8 1921, Turner died of throat cancer in Century City, California, on June 29, 1995.

Among her 61 films are Rich Man, Poor Girl (1938), Ziegfeld Girl (1941), Portrait in Black (1960), Imitation of Life (1959) and The Lady Takes a Flyer (1958).

But my favorite is still that breath-taking The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) which was re-made in 1981 with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange playing Lana Turner’s part.

Despite her above-average acting ability, Lana Turner was nominated only once for the Academy Award — in 1958, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Peyton Place (1957).

Did you know these trivia facts about Lana Turner?

1) “Lana” in Spanish means “wool.” So perhaps it wasn’t a total coincidence that she was also know as “Sweater Girl.”

2) Her seventh husband was the famous band leader and clarinet virtuoso Artie Shaw.

3) She once said “a successful man is one who makes more money than a wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.”

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