THE RESTORATION
Before Lucas' vision could become a reality, however, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox had to address a significant and unexpected problem: the original Star Wars negative, from which pristine 35 mm prints would be struck, was in such bad condition that it would be impossible to use. The once vibrant colors had faded by 10% to 15% overall and dirt embedded in the six reels of the negative could produce scratches and pit marks that would loom large on the big screen.
Precautions had been taken. In 1977, the original Star Wars negative was carefully stored in a subterranean vault in Kansas, at an optimum temperature of 50 to 53 degrees. But due to unforeseeable circumstances, such as a now-discontinued color stock that proved susceptible to fading, the filmmakers were faced with the daunting challenge of first restoring the negative before any changes could be made.
The restoration was spearheaded by Lucasfilm/ILM and Twentieth Century Fox, and the team included Pacific Title (for recompositing of opticals), YCM Labs (to provide the color timings) and restoration consultant Leon Biggs, who helped supervise the overall process.
The biggest production challenge for the Special Edition was the restoration, says McCallum. "It has been the most difficult and collaborative portion of the whole process, and was the major accomplishment," he adds. "There is a group of about 30 people who worked for three years cleaning the negative with a sponge, frame by frame. These are really the unsung heroes, because the restoration is what this was all about in the first place."
A major part of the restoration was that meticulous cleaning of the negative, utilizing a special chemical bath heated to 100 degrees. After the cleaning, sections of the original negative, which were needed for Special Edition work, were sent to ILM visual effects producer Tom Kennedy. That footage was digitally scanned into a computer and matched to new footage. Then, after intermediary processes, a final negative and print were made.
In a few situations, however, portions of the original negative that were too faded just couldn't be used. In those cases, the restoration team turned to such master elements as the YCM (yellow-cyan-magenta) separation masters. The negative that was subsequently made off the YCMs looked just as good as the original negative. Additional challenges were presented by the four different film stocks and numerous photographic styles-from location and soundstage work to complex motion-control shots-used during the original production of the film.
A basically discontinued process proved to be a surprising resource for the all-important color "timing," which controls the intensity of colors on the screen. Twenty years ago, two Star Wars prints had been struck in the three-strip Technicolor process, which since its inception in 1932, has been considered the finest printing process available; it is now almost a lost art. George Lucas himself provided one of those original Technicolor prints, which had been in storage in his home. "That's the Star Wars I made," Lucas says.
Before Lucas' vision could become a reality, however, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox had to address a significant and unexpected problem: the original Star Wars negative, from which pristine 35 mm prints would be struck, was in such bad condition that it would be impossible to use. The once vibrant colors had faded by 10% to 15% overall and dirt embedded in the six reels of the negative could produce scratches and pit marks that would loom large on the big screen.
Precautions had been taken. In 1977, the original Star Wars negative was carefully stored in a subterranean vault in Kansas, at an optimum temperature of 50 to 53 degrees. But due to unforeseeable circumstances, such as a now-discontinued color stock that proved susceptible to fading, the filmmakers were faced with the daunting challenge of first restoring the negative before any changes could be made.
The restoration was spearheaded by Lucasfilm/ILM and Twentieth Century Fox, and the team included Pacific Title (for recompositing of opticals), YCM Labs (to provide the color timings) and restoration consultant Leon Biggs, who helped supervise the overall process.
The biggest production challenge for the Special Edition was the restoration, says McCallum. "It has been the most difficult and collaborative portion of the whole process, and was the major accomplishment," he adds. "There is a group of about 30 people who worked for three years cleaning the negative with a sponge, frame by frame. These are really the unsung heroes, because the restoration is what this was all about in the first place."
A major part of the restoration was that meticulous cleaning of the negative, utilizing a special chemical bath heated to 100 degrees. After the cleaning, sections of the original negative, which were needed for Special Edition work, were sent to ILM visual effects producer Tom Kennedy. That footage was digitally scanned into a computer and matched to new footage. Then, after intermediary processes, a final negative and print were made.
In a few situations, however, portions of the original negative that were too faded just couldn't be used. In those cases, the restoration team turned to such master elements as the YCM (yellow-cyan-magenta) separation masters. The negative that was subsequently made off the YCMs looked just as good as the original negative. Additional challenges were presented by the four different film stocks and numerous photographic styles-from location and soundstage work to complex motion-control shots-used during the original production of the film.
A basically discontinued process proved to be a surprising resource for the all-important color "timing," which controls the intensity of colors on the screen. Twenty years ago, two Star Wars prints had been struck in the three-strip Technicolor process, which since its inception in 1932, has been considered the finest printing process available; it is now almost a lost art. George Lucas himself provided one of those original Technicolor prints, which had been in storage in his home. "That's the Star Wars I made," Lucas says.
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