Post #557910

Hey there Harmy, I just finished watching the 2nd workprint and I think you've done a fantastic job!

The colours

One of the problems I felt the first Despecialized version suffered from was colour timing and contrast/black level issues.  I consider myself a nitpicker when it comes to colour, and personally I think the colours and contrast in this latest version look spectacular.  From the whites of the Blockade Runner's hallways to 3PO's golden exterior, everything looks just right to my eyes.  I was especially happy to see the binary sunset scene receive a little extra love :)  It now looks absolutely gorgeous with its brightened sky and orange sun.

There are only two scenes where I thought colour might still be an issue.  One, as others have pointed out, is the scene between Luke and Ben following the Sand People attack, which may lean a bit too much to the monochromatic/sepia tones -- Luke's skin, in particular, reminds me of what Leia's previously looked like during her conversation with Vader in the Blockade Runner's hallway (too brown/tan).  I'm undecided as to whether Jaitea's sample is a little too warm, but I think it's an indication of what might still be done with this scene.

The other possible colour issue pertains to the last few blaster flashes we see in the initial Blockade Runner hallway shootout (occurring between 00:04:18 and 00:04:20).  These seem to possibly be still too pink (as opposed to being more desaturated/white), but I'm not sure if I'm just unused to seeing a more correctly colour-timed version of the film.

One last question regarding a colour-related issue: what was the problem again with recolouring the sky in the background in the scene where Luke sells his speeder?  Originally it appeared to be a purplish-blue on top which faded into white at the bottom, but since the SEs it now appears as white on top and light blue on the bottom.  Was creating a mask for the portion of sky visible through the archway problematic?  I can't remember.

The stars

Regarding the stars during the opening crawl, although I appreciate their improved visibility as compared to such sources as the GOUT or the SEs, when comparing them to subsequent outer space scenes, the stars appear to be noticeably "fatter" (for lack of a better word).  In the crawl, they are uniformly quite large whereas in other shots they are more varied in their size and none appearing as more than pinpricks of light.  I'm still curious as to how theatrically accurate this latest starfield is.

Anyway, let me conclude by saying that, at the outset of this project, I was very skeptical as to how theatrically accurate one could make the SE of A New Hope.  I truly believed the only way to achieve an authentic viewing experience lay in restoring the GOUT.  However, following this latest workprint, I must say that you've made a believer out of me.  I can't wait to sit back some night in the future and watch a pristine version of the Star Wars I grew up with.  I'm also eagerly looking forward to giving my nephew a copy of this, who's only version of Star Wars is still the old Dr. Gonzo LD rip from years ago... I'm sure seeing Star Wars at this level of clarity would blow his socks off :)

Thanks for all your hard work Harmy... it's greatly appreciated.

Edit:

Yes.