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4K83 reel by reel color grading (a WIP)

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Following the completion of my work on 4K77, I decided to give 4K83 the same treatment. Here’s reel 1:

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Looks like the vibrance has been turned down quite a bit compared to the shot by shot correction. Looking forward to your releases.

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I’ve always thought attempting to grade this correctly (even with the quality of the 4k83 scan being as high as it is) would be difficult for no other reason than Return of the Jedi is sort of a flat looking movie. There have got to be moments where you’re looking at a shot and thinking “this seems sort of bland and washed out” and the truth is… it IS bland and washed out! Because Jedi very often looked like that! So do you fix it and make it a little more vibrant, make the image seem to have more depth - or do you leave it as is because Jedi just didn’t consistently look very good?

Thank you so much for your efforts. I know it can’t be easy.

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Sweet work, Dre - very nicely done 😃

A little patience goes a long way on this old-school Rebel base. If you are having issues finding what you are looking for, these will be of some help…

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How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com; some info & answers + FAQs - includes info on how to search for projects and threads on the OT•com

A Project Index for Star Wars Preservations (Harmy’s Despecialized & 4K77/80/83 etc) : A Project Index for Star Wars Fan Edits (adywan & Hal 9000 etc)

… and take your time to look around this site before posting - to get a feel for this place. Don’t just lazily make yet another thread asking for projects.

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Good stuff, though I’m seeing a bit of a green cast in the shadows for reels 3 and 5 that could be more blue.

“The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.” - DV

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Nice! No DNR please! How about 4K80 too?

Tanks.

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Here’s an update for reels 3 and 5, that removes the green in the shadows:

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Thanks everyone! 😃 I’m not entirely happy with reels 3-5, so I will be re-doing those.

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NeverarGreat said:

I’m not at all sure how ROTJ is ‘supposed’ to look, but to my eyes it’s very low on the red/warm tones to the point that the skin tones appear ghostly. Obi-wan looks good though 😉

Yeah, I’m getting that vibe too. Maybe it’s because places like Jabba’s palace are already quite red, and pumping in more red to the skintones turns Jabba’s palace into a volcano? Not sure, just didn’t seem to be a problem with 4K83 V1.0.

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I’ve warmed up reel 2 a bit:

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I’m not sure what you did to reel 3, and my pre-emptive “I’m not a pro, I don’t really know what I’m talking about” caveat always applies but: That’s pretty much how I remember seeing Jedi the two or three times I’ve seen it theatrically projected. Reels 2 & 3 especially: Even when it’s good (and this is good!) it never truly pops. Whether that’s due to the lighting, or the stock, or the cameras being used (there’s an interesting discussion in the Original Trilogy forum specifically about Lucas’ decision to use different cameras for multiple setups to get it done faster and with more footage to play with in post), Jedi’s always seemed a little duller and flatter than the other two.

I think there’s a ceiling as to how “good” ROTJ can actually look, and this is a hard nut to crack, getting it to look good without veering into “revisionism,” if you will. Thanks again so much for the work and the effort.

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Reel 2 is looking great! Reel 3 greatly improved on the color maybe it could be brighter like the last one but with the new color? Agreed Jedi is the most flat but the worst of it is on Endor and at Jabba’s, there’s another thread discussing use of Arriflex vs Panavision cameras which might make a difference to some. Still, the composited space stuff and the Imperial sets should look nice and shiny as they can be, those were old hat by then a lot of good work is in there, some beautiful well lit stages.

“The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.” - DV

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For this color grading I quite deliberately didn’t want the colors to “pop”, since most like Broom Kid, who have seen Jedi on the bog screen have stated, that it always seemed a little duller and flatter than the other two films in the trilogy. Consequently I’ve attempted to go for a film like color grading with the extra caveat, that Jedi wasn’t that vibrant to begin with. I’ve done another pass on reels 2 and 3

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Oh wow, yeah, that shot of Luke on the Skiff with Chewie and the weequay is STRAIGHT out of my memories. I’m a little startled by the flashback I just had, haha.

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DrDre said:

For this color grading I quite deliberately didn’t want the colors to “pop”, since most like Broom Kid, who have seen Jedi on the big screen have stated, that it always seemed a little duller and flatter than the other two films in the trilogy. Consequently I’ve attempted to go for a film like color grading with the extra caveat, that Jedi wasn’t that vibrant to begin with.

That’s fair. I guess I’m just used to all home video versions where Jedi was roughly as colorful as Star Wars or Empire, and just expected it as such. Probably not the only one. I’ll take someone like Broom Kid’s word over mine, since he’s actually seen it on the big screen back in the day.

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That shot of Han in the sunlight, just perfect!

“The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.” - DV

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It was always dull, but I’d bump saturation slightly across the board here on reel 4. You’re not going for pop in general, but the pop here doesn’t match reels 2 and 3 which are perfect. 😃

Preferred Saga:
1/2: Hal9000
3: L8wrtr
4/5: Adywan
6-9: Hal9000