VERSION I IS AVAILABLE NOW
After a long and painful journey over the span of 6 months, I am proud to say with the support of everyone who has subscribed to this chain and has given me sources and moral support, I have finished my first edit of the Star Wars Holiday Special! I will never forget all the help you all have given me through this brain destroying process of watching the film over and over again, and I hope that we can continue making this more and more preserved!
Completed on November 17th, 2018 on the 40th Anniversary of this TV Special, I present Version One of the Holiday Special!
Link: Due to the ToS, please message me if you want to view the link š.
Key: TLu2uqT8XunPhC-FZBEAEY16kBaw0WmGgHAPo5O8T0w
Happy Life Day Everyone!
MISSION STATEMENT
Fans of Star Wars know of the low budget flop known as The Star Wars Holiday Special and recognize it for itās heavy impact on Star Wars culture. There exists many low resolution captures of the TV film, but at this point there exist no film reels, upscales, cleanups, or any format that is fit for average flatscreen TV viewing- if you are willing to indulge into the film, that is.
Well, like many avid Original Trilogy members, Iām going to attempt a restoration of The Holiday Special into 720p.
At the moment, I only have the Blu-Ray Boba Fett animation, and one crusty copy of the dreaded film itself. Any sources and pieces of media would help me with this time consuming project, and I shall keep you all updated.
Happy Life Day - Sishyo512
UPDATE LOG
Update March 31
I have found several sources that I have in mind for using in my upscale.
1 - The 2011 Blu-Ray Star Wars Saga set - I shall take the Boba Fett upscaled animation & space shots taken from A New Hope.
2 - Tasjo 2013 WHIO - The highest quality tape without over edge & base for editing
3 - Zion Hybrid - The absolute highest quality I could find, with heavy edge
4 - Angrysun 2005 KCCI - Has the most genuine coloring that I have found so far
It would help if someone could help me find the Broadcast Master as I am having a few issues finding it. But for now those will be the sources I can use. Iāll manually cleanup all the tapes and keep the project as a Work In Progress.
Keep you all updated soon - Sishyo
Updates in the month of April
April 5th: I have received information about the actual Broadcast Master, along with HD versions of the trailers during the program. I have also started playing around with AviSynth which should come in handy when I get into editing.
April 27th: I have successfully combined HD elements of ANH with the Special. I successfully made the color pallet significantly better using the color bar screen in Avisynth, and I am now looking for programs to use for my editing. I am always open to any suggestions you may have, and this will most likely be the last post in the month of April.
Updates in the months of May and June
June 20th: The first few minutes have been significantly improved with color correction and as mentioned before, HD elements from the Blu Ray release of ANH throughout the month of May. I went through a few crisisās in real life regarding family and education, but for now I got my life back on track. Iām probably going to do the same ol dissapearance for a few weeks, however progress should start to get gud during the summer.
June 26th: I got a new program to do some framing and editing of the Holiday Special called HitFillm express. I also got a new computer to do editing on, as my old on was being unresponsive and very slow. Below will be a comparison of some components I will now be using, and what their purpose is.
Below is The WHIO 1st Generation, and I use it for its color pallet
Below is the NTSC Broadcast Master, and I use it for frame timing and filling in empty frames
Below is the Blu Ray release of Star Wars: A New Hope, and I use this for whatever HD bits I can take from it since some scenes were reused in the Holiday Special.
Sorry if the the framing isnāt accurate, however these images should give you a sense of what these components serve. If I have any massive breakthrough with my progress I will certainly let you all know, but for now Iāll see you guys later
Thank you - Sid
Updates in the month of August
August 26: Hello everyone, quick update for today. I have finalized a lot of the framing of the Blu Ray segments into the Holiday Special. The deinterlace into 1080p60pfs was rough, so I may have to redo that. I have tried my best to color correct the Special, but that will take a lot more time. The only major thing left that I havenāt touched on is the score, and I have found a man who specializes in that department, so that shouldnāt be a problem. I will try to post my progress on November 17th if everything keeps progressing like it is right now.
Thanks everyone - Sishyo
Updates in the month of November
November 14. It is 3 days away from expected release, however I am not sure if I would be able to do a render of the final project within 3 days. All major edits and cleanup is done, but this old PC wont give me an easy time saving and exporting in time for the 40th anniversary.
Thanks for bearing with me - Sishyo