A Few Words About 'While we wait for A few words about...™ Spartacus -- in Blu-ray' (1 Viewer)

[rayman1701]

I'm glad I resisted the temptation to pick up the old version just to be able to watch it sometime. But since it was so bad, I just waited and waited, now am eagerly awaiting the new blu-ray.......to paraphrase Flounder from another great classic period film, "this is gonna be great!"

 

[OliverK]

It sounds as if the restoration has preserved the original directionality and tackled the previous visual issues - going back to the original elements I am sure lead to stunning results! And on a personal note I hope that Mr. Scorsese will see the new Spartacus and feel a renewed interest to tackle El Cid for a second time with his film foundation!


May I ask about the color balance and how it was arrived at? I always was fond of the look of the better 70mm re-release prints I saw that were somewhere in between the color balance of the Criterion DVD and the Universal Blu-ray.

 

[Reed Grele]

October is going to be a busy "party" month. Book your seats early.

 

[Robert Harris]

It sounds as if the restoration has preserved the original directionality and tackled the previous visual issues - going back to the original elements I am sure lead to stunning results! And on a personal note I hope that Mr. Scorsese will see the new Spartacus and feel a renewed interest to tackle El Cid for a second time with his film foundation!

May I ask about the color balance and how it was arrived at? I always was fond of the look of the better 70mm re-release prints I saw that were somewhere in between the color balance of the Criterion DVD and the Universal Blu-ray.

Original 1961 dye transfer MULTIPLE reference.

 

[Dee Zee]

1. Did they start with your 70mm restoration, or go back to the original elements?

We returned to the original 8-perf negative, masters, and other surviving production elements.

2. A few scenes (e.g., in the forum) of the 70mm restoration had some color issues owing to problems with the seps. Has this been corrected?

Totally


3. What about the sound? Do we have 5.1 or something else?

7.1

Does it preserve the original front directionality, or is the dialogue now centered?

Full proscenium movement, based upon original 70mm mix, ie. L, LC, C, RC, R, S

4. What was your involvement? Supervision? Mentoring? Reviewing? Whatever it was, we are grateful.

All of the above, with full (and delightful) cooperation. Universal did Everything possible to create a stellar restoration. Everything that could be done to create the finest possible asset was done. As an example, we returned to the original stock footage of the ship from Son of Sinbad.

5. Will I be able get a UHD Blu-ray of this title for my new UHD Blu-ray player and 4K systems?

Not this week.

6. What will happen if/when 8K is available? Is Spartacus ready? Did they do 8K scans?

I cannot image 8k home theater. 4k is more than enough (although some folks don't believe it)
to replicate 70mm on a huge screen.

The scans were 4 x 6k, or approximately 24 megapixels per frame.

7. Do we get the voice commentaries that are on the Criterion LD?

Above my pay grade.


Thanks very much!

Wow, now I'm getting really interested. thanks Mr. Harris.
Bob Smith

 

[Dee Zee]

Sorry for the non-post above. I meant to add this discussion is really getting me excited about this title. Thank you Mr. Harris..

 

[Reed Grele]

Flog that scoundrel out of camp!

 

[John Hermes]

Mr. Harris, was Spartacus shot on ECN 5248 or 5250? How faded are the color and contrast on the OCN? Are there any other stock issues such as vinegar syndrome on the elements?

 

[Robert Harris]

Mr. Harris, was Spartacus shot on ECN 5248 or 5250? How faded are the color and contrast on the OCN? Are there any other stock issues such as vinegar syndrome on the elements?

Not aware of any vs problems.

5248. Yellow dye layer down about 80%, unusable. As you may know, Y controls contrast.

Magenta layer down about 20%

 

[DavidJ]

I am so very excited about this. It requires multiple emoticons and a rare dancing banana appearance.

 

[haineshisway]

I've never heard of this movie. Is it any good? I've seen the ballet by Khatchaturian - that's nice.


Seriously, I've been hearing about this work for several months and it's very exciting. Especially that there several dye transfer reference prints - so important in all this.

 

[Oblivion138]

Agreed with all the enthusiasm on display here. Couldn't be more excited for this release.

 

[Robert Harris]

I've never heard of this movie. Is it any good? I've seen the ballet by Khatchaturian - that's nice.

Seriously, I've been hearing about this work for several months and it's very exciting. Especially that there several dye transfer reference prints - so important in all this.

As well as a set of dye transfer color reference strips, reviewed over a carbon arc backlit lightbox.

To be serious, one color reference supplied by the Academy Archive was Mr. Bass' print, used as partial reference for the main title sequence. Other reference came from The Harvard Film Archive, a private collector, as well as a print kindly offered by MOMA.

RAH

 

[haineshisway]

As well as a set of dye transfer color reference strips, reviewed over a carbon arc backlit lightbox.

To be serious, one color reference supplied by the Academy Archive was Mr. Bass' print, used as partial reference for the main title sequence. Other reference came from The Harvard Film Archive, a private collector, as well as a print kindly offered by MOMA.

RAH

All great, especially the carbon arc lightbox!

 

[OliverK]

Original 1961 dye transfer MULTIPLE reference.

Thanks, excellent! And from your other post I see that they weren't just any prints plus you got the strips. That must have been a lot of work, but also a lot of fun!

 

[James 'Tiger' Lee]

I just hope the Anthony Hopkins re-dub is sent to the extras.

 

[Yorkshire]

Fascinating comments.


Firstly, I can't wait for this.


Secondly, to be clear, I'm getting a hint from your comments (and may be misunderstanding them, hence the questions) that:


- 4k is the max needed for 70mm (okay, that bit's clear), but implicitly 4k is unnecessary for standard 35mm.

- On a 4k projector the upcoming Spartacus 1080p Blu-ray will look as good as any future UHD release (might be mis-reading that)

- Some (most?) Blu-rays "...that either aren't prepared to the hilt for Blu-ray, or possibly shouldn't have been taken there to begin with..." won't look better, and might actually look less-good (not making it through the upscaling process 'intact').


In general, are you saying that 4K in the home (discs, displays) is only necessary for films shot in 4k, 70mm, IMAX, etc. and that 1080p will suffice for standard 35mm?


As I say, I definitely don't want to misinterpret your comments, hence the request for clarification.


Cheers.


Steve W

 

[Robert Harris]

Fascinating comments.

Firstly, I can't wait for this.

Secondly, to be clear, I'm getting a hint from your comments (and may be misunderstanding them, hence the questions) that:

- 4k is the max needed for 70mm (okay, that bit's clear), but implicitly 4k is unnecessary for standard 35mm.
- On a 4k projector the upcoming Spartacus 1080p Blu-ray will look as good as any future UHD release (might be mis-reading that)
- Some (most?) Blu-rays "...that either aren't prepared to the hilt for Blu-ray, or possibly shouldn't have been taken there to begin with..." won't look better, and might actually look less-good (not making it through the upscaling process 'intact').

In general, are you saying that 4K in the home (discs, displays) is only necessary for films shot in 4k, 70mm, IMAX, etc. and that 1080p will suffice for standard 35mm?

As I say, I definitely don't want to misinterpret your comments, hence the request for clarification.

Cheers.

Steve W

Difficult to interlineate properly on a pad.

35mm definitely needs 4k for theatrical projection on large screens. On smaller screens, especially with the audience seated at a reasonable distance, 2k may be fine.

4k projection for home theater will be great for 4k data, and can generally make HD data of a certain quality appear more cohesive, and 4k-like.

As always, the further away one is seated, the less the need for a more highly resolved image.

All of these wonderful, new 4k panels are very slick and sexy, but there isn't all that much to be gained by the average viewer, who may be unable to see the differences in the image other than the size of the pixels, especially when not siting close.

Same thing with the larger, ie 80" plus panels. Unless one really appreciates the intricacies of the color signal, it may be a waste of technology.

But with prices of 4k coming down even further...

As to Spartacus, because of the quality of the new HD imagery, it had the capability to mimic a 4k signal, until you put a full UHD next to it. Same thing for any well-produced HD image, mastered in 4k, from an original 65mm or 35/8 film element.

My Fair Lady, Oklahoma!, El Aurens should look extraordinary.

 

[Konstantinos]

Dear Mr. Harris, I just saw this:

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2015/08/spartacus-captures/?utm_content=buffer4b740&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer


i wanted to ask, is this last comparison accurate?

If it is, could you explain please the reason for the different framing/zooming of the image?


edit: Oh, never mind. I'm sorry.

I think the author of that article, just zoomed in or cropped all images at will, to show the differences better.

The colors are surely much better, and the detail too, as much as I can see from those small images.

 

[Yorkshire]

Cheers, Mr Harris.


Your post raises a question - what's a reasonable distance?


There appear to be two sorts of viewers.


1 - Those I think of as 'immersion junkies' (not meant to be rude). They want to sit as close as possible and be completely immersed, so that the edges of the screen (particularly for 2.40:1 & co.) are in the periphery of their vision - almost a sort of IMAX effect).

2 - Those who want to be able to see the whole picture clearly.


I know that's a pretty large over-simplification, I was just wondering where you stand (or should I say sit)? Have you heard any directors comment on this (that people sit too close or too far away)?


Nailing my colours to the mast, I sit around 2.5-to-3 screen heights away - any closer and I struggle to take everything in, and I fear I'm not seeing the film the director made.


Cheers, and thanks for taking the time to respond.


Steve W