Private Screening of Star Wars 1977 35mm spanish LPP - USA oct 2012

Indeed. Too bad that I wasn't able to join the screening since I live in Europe.

Wow! More pictures please!

Wow! That's excellent.

Pictures and videos to come...nice!

Many thanks to everyone involved, from those who made the movie, to this prints saving / preservation, to projection, to the facility and the popcorn people, a great time was had by all.

I didn't know what to expect, details were limited.  Was prepared to go in with a few ice breakers.  Had a pair of the SW 3D glasses from the recent TPM3D.  And was wearing the t-shirt of the independent film, 'die Lucas die', which has a big Lucas head with the phrase 'Is this your God' satanically represented.  But once I got there, was shown the equipment, the print, part of the preservation; I was transported somewhere else, there was no reason to pull out the shenanigans.   (plus it was around 50 degrees, wasn't taking off the jacket, too chilly)

There's a reason film has been a viable format for storytelling for over one hundred years, it is a resilient medium.  And this print of Star Wars in this setting showed off those abilities.  To take something that's just over an inch square and thru mechanical projection end up, in this case, six stories high is pretty remarkable.  The film held up and looked glorious.  If you've been following the other threads then you've seen the condition of this print, so even though it's red in places and has green scratches and other inevitabilities of wear, when projected it's largely forgotten.  (we did spot some anomalies, something odd wiped in and out from the right side at one point.) 

Was a chill night, and a loose atmosphere.  Kids ran around before the screen lit up, might have been like the old days, didn't see any of them were pretend lightsabering.  The friends of the theater would stop by the projection booth to say their thanks and chat for a bit.  What's really nice about a local community theater and a event of this type is the projection booth is open.  Those interested could stop by and watch the film unspool.

And as boring as that sounds it turned into a significant distraction.  Stopped in a few times during the showing to see how far along the spliced together film was on the 4 to 5 foot platters.  When you walk around the projector from the right point you get that nice lens flair of the bulb's light breaking through seams of the doors of the machinery, a staple of film documentaries.  There was just enough ambient light to spot dark/light scene changes as the film marched through the multiple exposed reels on it's way to and from the projector.  This film stock has a heavier gauge then what is reproduced today.

Spoke with the preservation and projection folks about the resolution which could be squeezed out of a print like the one shown.  The projected film has a different feel then the monitors/HDTV were used to watching these films on.  Will be interesting the day one of the preservations gets converted back to film.  This print they said would realistically be resolved in the 2K range.  Some tests done at 4K resulted with 10 pixel detail blocks.  Before the screening saw a file of the two 35mm sourced crawls and the work progressed so far.  Some of this work was about improving the capture.  One looked more consistent as the star field didn't fluctuate, while a second parts of the blackness of space would flare up blue.  The joy of digital processing is they said all this could be computed into a more uniform presentation.

Had a mental note of things to pay attention to, missed many of them.  Ran like a fool out of a projection booth conversation to catch the Leia hologram scenes.  Couldn't make them out in this condition.  But seeing the digital scan of the crawl, with the dirt and scratches there, the projection was inconclusive.  The fine lines may have been defined enough back in the day, in prime conditions to show up on screen.  There definitely are lines in old tv monitors, but if they made it to final projection, this was not the day for an answer.  Moments like this are probably what drove Lucas towards digital.  The loss of detail in the Leia holograms scenes could be one of those factors which led to the Theater Alignment Program. 

The main thing which would have drove the Theater Alignment People crazy was that tonights showing's audio was coming from a different source.  Which lead to a few lips moving - sound later moments.  Which lead to a conversation on how in the different mixes certain lines/FX are shifted forward or back in time.  Believe it's Belbucus's comparison file where these can be listened too.  Not sure they've been written down.  

Should be interesting as additional film prints are preserved.  Refined debate about the colors of the Death Star, skin tones, etc.  Influenced by projection equipment and settings.  Other debates like Print Preservation verses Intent of the Filmmakers will occupy us for the next few years.  And the continued debate of what and how was the movie seen when it's popularity expanded.

Was also a time to reflect on the history of film and how society spends much time on the popular titles.  The projectionist had some choice words on the state of film preservation.  How many people clean out an attic and throw away a piece of history, not out of malice but just not understanding what they have.  Partly due to the evolution of technology.  I would hope that the Maker community could team up with the remaining non-digital theaters to spur the film preservation movement.  3D printing could be used to make homemade scanners and hobbyist with a little assistance could help digitize the worlds home and other movies.  Star Wars could be a catalyst for that kind of effort.

Tangents like this are inevitable when you get OTcom like minded folks together.  *swerving widely*  Remember finding usenet in the 90s and read posts about how people remembered seeing the crew reflected in 3po and R2.  This was one of the things I had wanted to verify, but it escaped me.  Did chat about it and the preservationist mentioned how in Empire, Luke's goggles in the Wampa attack is another example.  Speaking of Empire, after the screening some of the crowd asked if an Empire print might be found.  Also ran up to the screen once during the movie and during the end credits.  Looked well detailed, but there's nothing like a side by side comparison.

At the end of the night, watched as the print was returned to it's individual reels.  Little somber as who knows when or if it'll be projected again. 

Wish I could remember more.  Was overwhelmed by giddy kiddie excitement the whole time.  Problem with a reviewer like me is I don't have the past viewing experience.  Know, in the 70s, i'd seen Star Wars in the black and white Library 8mm 20 minute version, but not sure if i'd seen the movie in the theater...  Would have been the re-release around Empire, but i've got better recollections of the Holiday Special in the memory banks.  As a kid, Star Wars for me was linked to Space, NASA and aliens.

This print (thanks to its history of ownership) is doing a good job of holding back the wages of time.  I hope others will be able to experience it in an equally fun communal atmosphere.

Brilliant write up none thanks for that, I love the sound of the ambiance ie: the kids running round before the movie started and the community feel,  wish I could of been their.

Just need some one in England to do it now.

lpd said:

Just need some one in England to do it now.

 Yes, that would be awesome !

I'd love to have a chance to watch the unaltered Star Wars movies in a theater. I would've certainly enjoyed coming to your screening.

Who knows, maybe there will be one in Vienna or in that little theater in Klosterneuburg one day.

negative1 said:

well, as a heads up.

 

the print will be for sale on the 35mm forum.

 

 

Wow! Would you take an IOU? :-)