TServo2049 said:
The orange marks in the binary sunset scene on the Technidisc don't show up on any other version, including the various 35mm and 16mm telecines and preservations. They seem to be unique to that print.
Yes, you're right. Forgot to mention that, those seem to be unique to the IP used for the NTSC THX LD's (GOUT) and the Technidisc pressing of the SWE LD.
TServo2049 said:
The Tantive shake is so grainy because it was an optical effect. Various frames were optically smeared and repositioned to make it look like the camera was shaking more than it was in the production footage. (I have a theory that the less severe shake we see in the SE is the original on-set shake effect - they had to go back to the production footage, likely not because of any burn marks, but rather because the optically-enhanced version was either too grainy, or had CRI fading problems like some of the other opticals.)
Ah, so the shake is an optical effect after all, interesting.
It all sounds like a good theory.
TServo2049 said:
I don't think the orange marks were burned in during the optical process, because the 80s video releases don't have them. Either these marks were not on the scene in the original negative, or if they were, then Lucas/ILM/whoever must have gone back and found the original master footage of the shake optical and cut that in to replace the "burned" dupe version.
The interpositive used for the 80s video transfers is really a mystery to me - it doesn't have the '77 color timing, so it could must come from the O-neg or some element earlier than the timed answer print, yet it has its own weird damage (like the strange blobs when Luke turns on his saber after putting on the helmet). If that damage was actually on the original negative by '82, then it's no wonder that they had to go back and recomposite these scenes in '97...
That weird damage you describe appear from time to time throughout that entire reel. The IP used for Empire seems to perfectly match the release prints in terms of splices - glue marks, and seems to be the same source for all NTSC releases of the original film, but if you look at the early source '82 - 92 used for Star Wars, you often have big glue marks at every cut, something I cannot rember seeing on any theatrical references we have. That's another unique thing about it.