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Author Topic: Non-digital restoration of pink prints Christopher Seo Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 530 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-30-2006 11:48 AM                     Leo, Is/was "Chinatown" in need of restoration, or was this just a demonstration? The newer Warner Bros. print I've seen is almost certainly from the camera negative and looks amazing.  |  IP: Logged Charles Greenlee Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 801 From: Savannah, Ga, U.S. Registered: Jun 2006 posted 07-30-2006 01:01 PM                        Ok. Well I'm glad to hear that I make sense, though a little disappoined I didn't start a revolution.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 07-31-2006 06:14 AM                        Christopher: what we were shown was in the context of a demo of the Sony 4k projector. A section of the interneg made by recombining the preservation seps and scanned 'as is' (i.e. with no attempt made to digitally correct the registration defects) was shown, followed by the same scene in which the cut camera negative had been scanned directly and the fading digitally corrected. The colour fringing was horrible on the former. There may have been an element of trying to flog d-restoration and d-cinema (after all, I'm sure it would have been possible to correct the registration issues digitally, as well), but it did make the point that you're only going to get the best result out of the preservation through seps route if you make a recombined neg to check the registration at the end of the process. There are some pretty good IB prints of Chinatown still around here, meaning that it's possible to see it fade-free: so how much the film 'needs' restoration is a bit difficult to say. AFAIK there's no issue with incomplete versions in circulation or anything like that. I am a bit worried if, as you say, they're striking release prints straight off the camera negative, though. Simply for physical issues (i.e. to minimise scratching, perforation damage and stuff like that), you want to be using that element as little as possible. Once you've made a f/g pos, you can then make as many subsequent copies as you like without disturbing the o-neg, or if you scan it, you can then make as many copies of the raw data as you need to work on. But there's only one camera negative, and personally I'd be cagey about using it to directly strike release prints, however good they're likely to look.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 07-31-2006 11:39 AM                        Kodak published a method of restoring faded prints photochemically: "Corrective Reproduction of Faded Motion-Picture Prints" by C. Bradley Hunt in the July 1981 SMPTE Journal, Volume 90. As mentioned, a pre-print element like the master positive, duplicate negative, or B&W separation positives is usually the best choice for making new prints or transfers. Digital color restoration is routinely done for video transfers, and as the cost of 2K and 4K Digital Intermediate comes down, is being used more frequently for feature film restorations.  |  IP: Logged Christopher Seo Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 530 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-01-2006 02:23 PM                     Leo, I don't believe "Chinatown" was labeled as an OCN print, but that I judged it as such due to lack of lab cues, as well as very high sharpness and low grain (as judged by binoculars out the port window). If it was a fourth-generation print I'd be really impressed.  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 08-04-2006 04:20 AM                       quote: John Pytlak Kodak published a method of restoring faded prints photochemically: "Corrective Reproduction of Faded Motion-Picture Prints" by C. Bradley Hunt in the July 1981 SMPTE Journal, Volume 90. What did that method involve, John? How well did it work?  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 08-04-2006 10:34 AM                        quote: Tim Reed What did that method involve, John? How well did it work? It involved making either a "Dupe Mask" or a "Flashed Dupe Mask" on a color reversal film, then bipack printing it with the faded print to make a new internegative. It worked well, but as noted, a color print is not normally considered to be a preservation element. Today, most would choose to make a corrected digital intermediate if only a faded print was available.  |  IP: Logged

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