Pilates-For Beginners (Gaiam) (2002) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Pilates |
Main Menu Animation Multiple Angles Interviews-Cast-Jillian Hessel |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2002 | ||
Running Time | 72:39 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Ted Landon |
Studio
Distributor |
Universal Pictures Home Video |
Starring |
Jillian Hessel Tara Russell Ney Fonseca |
Case | ? | ||
RPI | $24.95 | Music | Benjamin David |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | None | Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
With all the fuss in the media about overweight adults and even worse, overweight kids, it was quite obvious that a flood of health DVDs was inevitably on the way. Sure they have been around for a while and increased in number more recently but they are all much of the same, usually differing only in instructors and site locations.
Pilates dates back to 1880 when Joseph Humbertus Pilates was born in Germany. Around 1914, when Joseph was interned in England with other German nationals during World War I, he put his spare time to good use by developing a method of conditioning with specific exercises to strengthen the entire body. There is special emphasis on the abdominal and lower back regions while still promoting flexibility. In addition, he developed various pieces of equipment to support these exercises.
The instructor on this DVD, Jillian Hessel, was a professional dancer who turned to Pilates when she suffered a back injury 20 years ago. She saw the benefits right away and began apprenticing and later teaching Pilates. She is now a master trainer and certified fitness instructor through ACSM and ACE. Jillian uses her own modified style on this disc which is BEAM (Breathe, Energise, Align, and Move) and she goes into detail about this in one of the extra features.
This DVD is the first in what will most likely be a long series covering the art of Pilates. It provides a good introduction to the exercise method and uses interesting methods to ensure the DVD will last through several different levels of fitness as your body improves. They accomplish this by providing Jillian and two others (Ney Fonseca and Tara Russell) for each routine with the idea that each of the three performs either Beginner, Medium or Advanced routines. You simply pick your level and concentrate on their exercises and then switch to the next in order each time you watch it.
There are four main sections on this Pilates for Beginners DVD. They are;
You can use the "Title" menu on your remote to switch back and forth between the classic mat and workout and modified workout angles.
The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
The image is clear with soft edges and gets softer the further you look into the background which could be attributed to its original video source. Shadow detail is fine with plenty of sunshine during shooting. There is no film grain and no low level noise.
The colours were bright and not rendered realistically. Any bold colours such as on the workout mats and sky seemed brighter than they should have been, whilst darker colours such as the mountains, trees and even grass tended to be darker than when I look out the window.
There were no MPEG artefacts seen. Aliasing is also something that was not noticeable. There are no film artefacts.
This disc is an RSDL disc but contains no areas where a layer change can be detected. I can only assume that the material has been broken up so that it does not cross over any layer boundaries.
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There is only the one audio track on this DVD in the form of an English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded soundtrack.
The dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times. Jillian's counting does get mighty irritating after a while, though.
Audio sync was not a problem at all with this transfer, and was completely spot on.
The music was provided by Benjamin Davis and is tranquil and relaxing, which suits the style of this DVD.
The surround channels were used for the music and were well mixed.
The subwoofer was not used by this track, nor was it needed.
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Overall |
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
I have been unable to find releases of this DVD in any other regions.
The video quality of this DVD is typical of a video production transferred to DVD and only contains minimal problems.
The audio quality is similar to other health DVDs in the market and therefore made no lasting impression on me.
The extras are satisfactory but keep in mind one of the extras is really part 2 of one of the main features. The B.E.A.M. fundamentals tutorial is an impressive inclusion and will be the section where most will actually start out.
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Denon DVD-1600, using RGB output |
Display | Loewe Aconda 9381ZW. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
Amplification | Denon AVR-2802 Dolby EX/DTS ES Discrete |
Speakers | Whatmough Classic Series C31 (Mains); C06 (Centre); M10 (Rears); Magnat Vector Needle Sub25A Active SubWoofer |