Chuck Pennington
Screenwriter
- Joined
- May 11, 2001
- Messages
- 1,048
Hey everyone! This post has to do with a region 2 DVD release, but I wanted to post it here because (A) it might be coming out in region 1 with this same faulty master, and (B) to get some opinions/diagnosis on what the problem is from Robert Harris, film restorationist extraordinaire. 
I just received the Spanish R2 PAL release of Douglas Sirk's MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION in 2:1 anamorphic widescreen (the original aspect ratio has been hotly debated here: http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/...r=asc&start=0), the same transfer released earlier this year as part of a Douglas Sirk box set in the UK.
It appears that the element used for this new transfer is one created from separation masters that have differential shrinkage. Some scenes look just fine as far as focus goes, but sometimes entire reels are quite soft with foggy details and colored halos. Further down are some screen captures from this DVD, but right here is a frame enlargement that makes the problem easier to see. I'm sure in a cinema it would be VERY apparent.
What concerns me is that we have technology to improve/correct this problem, but is Universal not interested in preserving/restoring their library, especially such a high profile title as this? It would be a shame if all future versions had this heavy differential shrinkage problem, which will only get worse over time. It makes me wonder if the original negative exists, or if it is faded/worn beyond being viable.
As an experiment, I opened a few pictures in Photoshop and moved the color channels around to put the colors more into alignment. Not perfect, but an improvement, I'd say. Why couldn't Universal have done even just that?!?!
I look forward to comments from other classic cinema fans, especially Robert Harris. I'm not expert or authority, but having seen so many Technicolor films suffering on video for the past 20 years... So sad that now non-Technicolor films are suffering from this anomaly using masters that were created to PROTECT the color and the film...
FROM THE DVD:
Here are three I worked on a bit to put them into closer alignment:
I just received the Spanish R2 PAL release of Douglas Sirk's MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION in 2:1 anamorphic widescreen (the original aspect ratio has been hotly debated here: http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/...r=asc&start=0), the same transfer released earlier this year as part of a Douglas Sirk box set in the UK.
It appears that the element used for this new transfer is one created from separation masters that have differential shrinkage. Some scenes look just fine as far as focus goes, but sometimes entire reels are quite soft with foggy details and colored halos. Further down are some screen captures from this DVD, but right here is a frame enlargement that makes the problem easier to see. I'm sure in a cinema it would be VERY apparent.
What concerns me is that we have technology to improve/correct this problem, but is Universal not interested in preserving/restoring their library, especially such a high profile title as this? It would be a shame if all future versions had this heavy differential shrinkage problem, which will only get worse over time. It makes me wonder if the original negative exists, or if it is faded/worn beyond being viable.
As an experiment, I opened a few pictures in Photoshop and moved the color channels around to put the colors more into alignment. Not perfect, but an improvement, I'd say. Why couldn't Universal have done even just that?!?!
I look forward to comments from other classic cinema fans, especially Robert Harris. I'm not expert or authority, but having seen so many Technicolor films suffering on video for the past 20 years... So sad that now non-Technicolor films are suffering from this anomaly using masters that were created to PROTECT the color and the film...
FROM THE DVD:
Here are three I worked on a bit to put them into closer alignment:
