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The theatrical colors of the Star Wars trilogy — Page 12

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Too much contrast IMO but the colors look good.

And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the Son of the Suns.

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Contrast is one hard thing to get right when scanning film. You want the darks properly dark and the lights properly bright, but if you go too far it is too much and if you don’t go far enough it gets dull. As our number of sources increases I have noticed that the theatrical prints tend to have more contrast than what we are used to in scans and telecines from the negative and interpositives (the blu-ray and GOUT). I think the garbage mattes are a good key. If you see them, the contrast isn’t high enough and the darks are not dark enough. I think this amount of contrast is pretty close. I can’t wait to see the calibrated scans to see if they are any different.

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yotsuya said:

Contrast is one hard thing to get right when scanning film. You want the darks properly dark and the lights properly bright, but if you go too far it is too much and if you don’t go far enough it gets dull. As our number of sources increases I have noticed that the theatrical prints tend to have more contrast than what we are used to in scans and telecines from the negative and interpositives (the blu-ray and GOUT). I think the garbage mattes are a good key. If you see them, the contrast isn’t high enough and the darks are not dark enough. I think this amount of contrast is pretty close. I can’t wait to see the calibrated scans to see if they are any different.

Using the color calibration slide the contrast and saturation should match the print, so I’m also curious how it will turn out. 😃

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The Tarkin scenes have been of much contention in this thread, so I figured I would share this little tidbit: the restored archival footage shown at Celebration had its own unique grading for the alternate shots of some of these scenes, and when balanced they yield aesthetically pleasing results:

Celebration recording:

Color Balanced:

I then did a rough transcription of the grading onto a corresponding Blu-ray shot:

Seeking only the most natural looking colors for Star Wars '77

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Swazzy said:

The Tarkin scenes have been of much contention in this thread, so I figured I would share this little tidbit: the restored archival footage shown at Celebration had its own unique grading for the alternate shots of some of these scenes, and when balanced they yield aesthetically pleasing results:

Celebration recording:

Color Balanced:

I then did a rough transcription of the grading onto a corresponding Blu-ray shot:

Nice Swazzy…I like that the uniforms here are still, that near Olive Drab Green color, instead of a more brownish/green coloring. Can you post a picture of what Peter Cushing looks like in this picture, using your transcript/settings?

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Beautiful, I love how the colours of the rank plaque look just right, whereas the yellow looked a bit brown in the previous one.

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Swazzy said:

Thank you all 😃

dlvh said:
Can you post a picture of what Peter Cushing looks like in this picture, using your transcript/settings?

Here’s what I was able to come up with:

Nice!

“It’s a lot of fun… it’s a lot of fun to watch Star Wars.” – Bill Moyers

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 (Edited)

I know a collector who owns one of the few Technicolor prints in existence. He recently had it cleaned, and they did a test screening using the cleaner’s setup. He sent me some photos made with his iphone, which although they appear to have been white balanced look absolutely gorgeous:

His print is missing the correct end credits. They have been replaced with the ones from TESB. He would very much like to get his hands on the original end credits, even if they come from a faded Eastman print, so if anybody has one for sale, please contact me?

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DrDre said:

I know a collector who owns one of the few Technicolor prints in existence. He recently had it cleaned, and they did a test screening using the cleaner’s setup. He sent me some photos made with his iphone, which although they appear to have been white balanced look absolutely gorgeous:

His print is missing the correct end credits. They have been replaced with the ones from TESB. He would very much like to get his hands on the original end credits, even if they come from a faded Eastman print, so if anybody has one for sale, please contact me?

Gorgeous. Love those colors, especially the last two.

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Regardless of how correct they are, I really dig those colors Swazzy, with the exception of the really vibrant blue of the walls in a couple shots.

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Swazzy said:

DrDre said:

Love these colors in paticular. Tried my hand at the usual…

Blu:

Regrade:

Compare

LUT

Lo and behold, Threepio’s gold!!

I’m just here because I’m driving tonight.