Ultra-Resolution (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Or go here for additional information:

http://www.history.org/foundation/jo...04/patriot.cfm

 

[Kevin M]

Yes, I am aware of this but this is more than just a simple Datacine transfer and/or a purely automated digital correction/dirt removal.

Impressive Mr. Harris.....I hope your son liked the new print after everything you went through!

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Wow, great links, guys. Very useful information.

Are many VistaVision O-negs in bad shape?

 

[Patrick McCart]

North by Northwest apparently has serious yellow fading, not unlike most 1959/1960 Eastmancolor films. High Society was restored from separations by WB. The Court Jester is faded (See this post by Mr. Harris). To Catch a Thief was apparently restored well, from separations. Universal had The Man Who Knew Too Much '56 completely digitally restored by Cinesite (although, not likely used for the current DVD).

We can probably guess that White Christmas and Lil' Abner also have faded o-negs since elements used for the DVD's were from recombined separations (likely made into new interpositives, dupe negatives, whatever). The Searchers is being photochemically restored by Warner Bros for 2006. Richard III is apparently in bad condition on the negative, despite a great-looking "color reversal interpositive" being used for Criterion's HD transfer. The Ten Commandments was probably restored from separations.

Here's a full list of VV films from The American Widescreen Museum:

http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/vvlist.htm

Obviously, the B&W films (like The Space Children or The Tin Star) probably haven't suffered as much damage, at least not fading for obvious reasons.

 

[Kevin M]

Has there been any sort of physical restoration done for North by Northwest, or was the digital clean-up for the DVD the only aid this film has gotten?
If so then what the hell are they waiting for?

 

[Ken Horowitz]

Here's an article with some background on UltraResloution, from the TimeWarner employee magazine "Keywords", Nov/Dec 2004 issue:

AOL SISTERS, WARNER BROS. BRING NEW LIFE TO OLD FILMS

They finish each other’s sentencesand read each other’s minds. They both like pumpkin tortellini and dislike horror movies. They have adjacent offices, sing and compose music together and travel all over the world in tandem. Their names rhyme. Keren and Sharon Perlmutter would be just another pair of eerily identical twins except that they’re also scientific geniuses whose latest invention is helping give new life to classic films in the vast Warner Bros. library.With the DVD release this month ofWarner Home Video’s special edition of Gone With the Wind, “Frankly, my dear . . .” fanatics worldwide can take pleasure in the Perlmutters’ accomplishment.

Here too lies a true tale of collaboration at its finest: for the past few years, the sisters have been doing work at Warner Bros. Technical Operations in addition to their regular jobs at AOL, where for the past nine years they’ve been developing audio-, video- and image-compression systems that allow AOL users to call up pictures or sound at lightning speed. Both sisters have Ph.D.s in electrical engineering from Stanford and have won National Science Foundation fellowships. Not surprisingly, they come from engineering stock: their father, an aeronautical engineer, contributed to the design of a steadycam Dynalens optical image-motion compensation device for military and civilian photography applications, earning an Academy Award in 1969 for his company’s contribution to the movie industry.

“We knew early on that we wanted to be scientists,”says Keren.After graduate school they went to work for Johnson-Grace Co., developing video-compression technology and other applications for AOL. Impressed by their talents, AOL bought the company in 1996 and put the sisters to work developing advanced compression systems, instant voice messaging and image-recognition software. Following the AOL–Time Warner merger in 2001, Chris Cookson, President of Warner Bros. Technical Operations and Chief Technology Officer ofWarner Bros. Entertainment, arranged a meeting with AOL. “We were trying to see if there were opportunities for collaboration,” he recalls. “So we set up a day of show-and-tell and described some of the projects we were working on.”

One project loomed especially large: Warner Bros. was at work on an efficient, cost-effective way to restore its collection of classic Technicolor movies, all of which were on celluloid and deteriorating. Senior Systems Engineer Paul Klamer had “taken the software to first base,” says Rob Hummel, Senior V.P. of Production Technologies at Warner Bros.Entertainment.“The AOL group said, ‘Oh, we know about this,’ ” says Cookson. “They dove in and came up with a prototype of the software and evolved it into a workable model.” The Perlmutters and an AOL colleague worked alongside Klamer and a Warner Bros. colleague, Andy Chua, but according to Cookson,“the sisters’amazing and innovative contribution is the actual method of optimizing the registration of images.”

The new software has already restored and revitalized classics like Singin’ in the Rain, The Adventures of Robin Hood and Meet Me in St. Louis, all re-released on DVD during the past few years to rave reviews. “The difference,” says Cookson, “is breathtaking.And nobody else has this technology; it’s unique to our company.”

What’s next for the Perlmutters? “We’re developing new applications and improving the applications we’ve already developed,” says Sharon.

“The Perlmutters are very low key,” observes Hummel, “but they’re frighteningly smart. They’re who you want in your dorm to help you pass the math final.” Recalls Cookson: “Their old boss liked to say that either twin was as bright as any Ph.D. you could hope to hire, but that having the two of them together was like having three. They amplify their brain power by understanding what’s going on in each other’s head.”


Also included with article was a sidebar with a graphic of a film frame with an overlay of 64 numbered squares

The Perlmutters’ software divides each frame of film into blocks. Typically, either 16 blocks or 64 blocks provide a superior level of granular detail compared with the Technicolor original. The software then analyzes each block, starting from the center of the frame and moving outward in concentric squares, detecting the edges of each color original record and bringing them into alignment. Within a minute, the software can make millions of comparisons on an individual frame and adjust the color alignment accordingly.


And the other side bar showed before/after shots of a GWTW frame
RESTORATION 101
To fully grasp the revolution the Perlmutters have wrought in film restoration, it’s helpful to understand how Technicolor movies were made. During the 1930s and ’40s, before the advent of quality color film, filmmakers used special cameras—unwieldy beasts weighting 175 pounds—that actually shot three reels of black-and-white film. Each reel was then used to make special master reels that were immersed in one of three color dyes—yellow, cyan and magenta. Next, using what Warner Bros.’ Rob Hummel calls “another real Rube Goldberg contraption,” filmmakers married each reel onto a single 35-mm reel, creating a composite color image and thus “color” film. The process was imprecise by its nature, and over time, other factors, such as natural shrinkage of the celluloid, created more imperfections. Prior to the Perlmutters, restored films were uneven at best. The process—done manually—took many months and much skilled labor. Warner Bros. has branded the Perlmutters’ invention—a patentpending restoration technology—Ultra Resolution™. It begins with film being scanned into a computer as a digital file. The software then goes to work, frame by frame, producing sharper, more precisely colored and more detailed images. It can correct distortions owing to aging, find and remove dirt and even detect misalignments that occurred in the old three-strip cameras on the day a movie was shot. It fixes color misregistration and eliminates color fringing—that weird aura of color around images that one often sees when watching an old Technicolor movie. The restoration process now takes two weeks rather than 18 months, resulting in a more economical digital master that never wears out. The remastered movie is then transferred back onto film for theatrical showings or copied digitally onto a DVD for home sales.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Well, since North by Northwest is going to be one of Warner's first HD releases, I'd assume they've done something since the original 2000 Lowry Digital Images refurbishing.

Given how great High Society came out, using VistaVision color separations, I'd hope Warner could do the same thing for North by Northwest. Obviously, given the separations are worth using.

 

[DaveK]

I like Texas Carnival myself....lol

I'm crossing my fingers that Kismet (the 1944 version with Marlene Dietrich) receives the U-R treatment. The color is just breathtaking to me, just like Ziegfeld Follies.

 

[Paul Borges]

Agreed with Andrew.

National Velvet has to be chosen for UR treatment. It's a classic and I think likely a big seller. I have been thinking about this, and I can't think of many Warner owned 3 stip technicolor that's more famous that haven't been given the treatment already. Plus the old release needs an update.

Hope you're listening Warner!