THE WIZARD OF OZ to get Ultra Resolution Treatment (1 Viewer)

[Mark Anthony]

I have read, and I can't remember where, that 4K more than holds all the detail and resolution of a 35mm colour source, especially one on film stock this old.

I very much doubt Warner, seeing how knowledgable their Preservation team is, would be spending the considerable extra sum on a 4K transfer versus a standard 2K - unless they felt it were of archival value, as the difference in picture quality this 4k digital master would make to a high-definition TV or DVD sub-master would be negligable over 2K.

Therefore the 4K master is a way to make theatrical prints that look as good as if they've come directly from a first generation source (the 4K master acting effectively as a duplicate negative that never wears out, no matter how many prints are produced from it) thus saving wear and tear on the ancient master elements which otherwise would be needed to make a satisfactory print. And because it reproduces the original negative so perfectly (with the colour-corrections and clean-up of course) it's by default perfect for archival use.

As an aside Fritz Lang's Metropolis, whose digital restoration was recently completed, was done totally in 2K as it was felt that was sufficient to contain all the detail of a 1930's, albeit black and white, film.

Who know's in 10 years time there may be some other, even greater, method of digital preservation, and maybe they will re-transfer it again then.

I wonder what resolution the master files of Toy Story, Ice Age, The Incredibles et al are stored at, as they all have a digital negative instead of a camera negative that was printed from to produce theatrical prints and dvd masters...

M

 

[ScottR]

Andy, I asked John too. He has the original special effects pages for the tornado scene and there is nothing to indicate this. In fact, he said that the decision was also made to not have the opening titles in color. I don't see coloring the tornado as being very effective; quite the opposite....they were going for realism with the twister and spent a lot of time getting it right...to add any type of color to it would have destroyed the effect.

 

[Jack Theakston]

The special effect sheet or continuity would not carry it because it was a post-printing and a one-time only effect for the first run prints. You're searching in the wrong place. You are more likely to find it in daily reports, contemporary reviews, or later press.

 

[ScottR]

Contemporary reviews are hardly hard evidence. I have read many of the reviews for Oz and some of them contain misinformation. The same can be said for pressbooks. Some of the publicists had wild imaginations.A blue horse of a Different Color and a cast of thousands anyone?

 

[Stephen Brooks]

Any time there is any digital effect in a film whatsoever, whether it's a CGI dinosaur or just color grading, the film has to be scanned into a computer, manipulated, and scanned back out to film. When I'm in a theater, I don't notice any kind of drop in the quality of an image when a digital character or effect comes onscreen. Most current digital intermediate work is actually still done at 2K rather than 4K (Lord of the Rings was done at 2K, never heard anyone call those films anything but beautiful), so a 4K scan of a movie as old as Oz should be more than plenty.

 

[Jack Theakston]

Scott, you're overlooking the fact that MGM themself had a print vaulted up until 1956 (this is in fact documented, according to a historian at the Library of Congress). I've no interest in reinvestigating the topic, but feel free to make a few phone calls or emails to people that have documents and you will have your answer. It's not a technical impossibility, and given the context and fact that more than one source stated that it happened independant of each other, I tend to think it's true.

Anyway, this digression has strayed too far from my original point: there was no stencil coloring for the sepia to Technicolor transition at the reel change! It was done as said, in color, with sepia lighting and costuming.

 

[Will Krupp]

Then my quote is vindicated....woohoo

 

[ScottR]

There is no evidence to indicate whether or not the stencil printing was used, regardless of the lighting when the scene was shot. It could have been that the filmmakers thought that the stencil printing allowed for a better transition to color. Also, the difference between the stencil printing and tornado claims is that there is documentation in Mervyn LeRoy documents that the stencil printing was an option. No such documents exist in the MGM archives on the other subject.

 

[Jack Theakston]

It was most likely not a decision on LeRoy's part, and certainly an option that MGM execs thought of last minute. The fact that they only did it on the first run of major prints points to the idea that they were aiming at critics and not the audience. Their idea to drop it shows that it did not work, as first week reviews were not kind to the film at all.

The fact is that the shot at the reel change was NEVER done in a stencil process. MGM printed up and sepia toned the first and last reel, and left the rest up to Technicolor labs, which promptly printed the film on an "as is" basis (hence the jarring sepia toning on subsiquent prints that did not tone the black and white portions).

 

[Michel_Hafner]

I was at the event that opened this thread. They screened
some minutes of the restored Oz from a D5 tape on a 2K DLP
projector. It was still a work in progress. It looked pretty good but not as good as the best clips of "Robin Hood" or the complete GWTW, which is a 2K restoration, by the way.

 

[Adam_R]

A fully restored/remastered Wizard will be a sight to behold. I still think it's the best tornado scene ever filmed. Twister who?

Anyway, I was also amazed by this:

"Judy Garland online discussion group"

For some reason, I just get a chuckle from that.

The internet rules.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Looks like a Triple Dipper....

 

[Phil Dally]

Okay, now that the excitement has died down about this, does anyone know approximately when this will be out?