This is a very rough approximation, and is definitely not an accurate color reference, but the Mike Verta scans look something like this:
…whereas the print itself looks something like this:
On my main monitor the top image looks too red and the bottom image looks too blue, you can see it in the highlights on C3PO. There’s a very noticable difference in colour between those two frames, at least to my eyes. Both are oversaturated as well IMHO.
For those interested in comparing, here’s roughly that frame from the new Star Wars Semi-Specialised Edition V2.6 I just uploaded to tehparadox:
It will be interesting to compare your regrade (and others) to the calibrated frame scans, once I’ve digitized them. I have a number of frames of this exact shot. I will also be getting a number of shots of the entry to Mos Eisley scene next week. I’m very interested what that scene looks like. Particulary the color of R5-A2 (orange or yellow?). Once I’ve started the scanning process I will create a separate thread for color references.
I have around 100-200 Star Wars technicolor print frames as well from different parts of the film, I bought them from an ebayer a while back when I was researching the colours for the Star Wars Semi-Specialised Edition V2.5, perhaps from the same person you did. They’re lovely to look at but as NeverarGreat said before, the colours can often be inconsistant from shot to shot, meaning every frame can’t be taken as exact colour references unless you plan to replicate those shot by shot colour inconsistancies. I have a feeling that every Star Wars technicolor print also looked a little different from each other colourwise as well.
I’m curious, are you planning to catalog these print scans just as a reference for everybody here to get a better feel for the colours of a Star Wars technicolor print or do you plan on creating a Star Wars release graded to a technicolor print similar to what NeverarGreat has been working on?
It is true that technicolor prints vary in color. However, the original grading itself also suffers from inconsistencies, as poita also noted in the past. I personally feel these need to be replicated for a print restoration project. Of course in color grading a semi-specialised edition the goals are somewhat different, and I would go with what’s aesthetically appealing. I plan to catalogue them as a reference for everybody, but I’m also working on another project, which involves golor grading a print scan. However, to know more about that I advice you to contact williarob.
If I was doing such a print restoration project I would choose the technicolor frame with the best colour that I had from a certain scene and regrade the whole scene to be consistant with that frame. I know that the original Star Wars prints were supposed to be notoriously inconsistant colourwise from shot to shot but I think people watching films now have certain expectations when it comes to consistant colours in a scene on home releases. It’s an option that I think you and williarob should consider.
In my view that would be going into special edition teritory. The color inconsistencies are part of the original viewing experience, just like matte lines, the orange blob, etc. So, for a print restoration I would not try to improve the original presentation. I believe, the goal of a print restoration should be to restore the print to it’s original state.
I thought so too for a long time, and graded the first half of the film to mirror the inconsistency. At some point I realized that the effect was too distracting and revised it to be consistent from scene to scene.
The problem with changing the color from shot to shot within a scene is that you’re no longer trying to sustain the illusion of a world within the film, but rather you are destroying the illusion of a world in order to create the illusion of a film. Yet the intent of the film is to create the illusion of a world, and the film was never intended to be inconsistent. Theoretically, each scene could have been consistent in terms of color, and this makes it different than matte lines, which couldn’t have been eliminated with 70’s technology.
Granted, my project is ‘the Special Edition in the best possible light’, so I have had to make peace with these sorts of interpretive changes.
I agree with you to a large extend, but when I look at the technicolor frames, I don’t see the level of inconsistency that would destroy the illusion of another world. I would agree with respect to the Mike Verta scans, which are all over the place, but the actual frames I have, don’t show this level of inconsistency. In fact I was surprised how balanced the frames look.