RogueLeader said:
This might not be the right place for this, but I wanted to have a discussion with you guys regarding some thoughts I’ve had that could potentially be used for fan edits.
Something I love about the OT films, especially the very first Star Wars film, is the texture you get from 35mm film and analog music recording from that era that no longer see very much in modern cinema. With Star Wars being a used, lived-in universe, I think the imperfections of film grain and analog saturation really added to that aesthetic. When you go back and watch the films, especially the Project 4K or Puggo Grande versions, it makes the films feel almost like an artifact or a treasure from some bygone era.
It probably makes more sense to simply modernize the OT to fit a more contemporary level of quality, but I think there is something special to that old school look that I think would help make the newer films feel more like Star Wars, strangely enough.
I would really love to explore ways to “age” the other Star Wars films to be more in-line with the Original Trilogy. I could see how a film like Rogue One could benefit from this treatment, with it’s narrative proximity to Star Wars 77. But I’d also be interested in seeing how this would work with the other Saga films.
I believe Nev has made some LUTs that has some film grained added. I might be wrong. I also know snooker had made some tests with some of her prequel trilogy edits that gave them a more grainy film look, plus remixing the audio to sound more analog. She even redid some effects shots to feel more in-line FX wise with the OT. It’s kind of ironic, but I find an appeal to actually making some of the effects worse. Perhaps trying to “age” the newer films would feel inauthentic, but on the other hand, it could be a clever way to make all the films, new and old, feel more cohesive. Would love to get some thoughts on this.
You’re not alone, Rogue. I do a lot of color grading on my own fanedits to reach that angelic 35mm film aesthetic, although sadly, I do not have the ability to throw film grain on the movies (unless I manage to save up $300 on my editing software). I’ve even looked up some 35mm movie trailers on YouTube, got Puggo Grande’s 16mm edits of the OT, and even bought a few film trailers on eBay myself so that I could study and research what a “film look” is supposed to be. It’s been a frustrating experience at times, but if you want to see where my research has gone lately, I posted my latest color grading screencaps on my Episode VII fanedit thread.
https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Star-Wars-Episode-VII-The-Eyepainter-Fanedit-A-WIPChanges-announcedWorkprint-released/id/90298/page/2
I should comment that I only just yesterday found a way to combine both the orange and blue film looks using a parallel mixer in Resolve. I’m not sure the results will be perfect, but I do plan to get some screencaps in when I’ve finished unpacking everything at my new place. So, if this interests you enough, stay tuned for that as well.