PS78: Pre-ANH Star Wars Bootleg VHS from 1978 ***"RAW" DVD RELEASED*** — Page 17

A new transfer of this is coming soon.

I've learned a lot over the past year. It's now time to do it right.

I'm currently working on synchronizing my latest capture to a 3:2-pulldowned GOUT, reel-by-reel.

I'm working with a 3:2-pulldowned GOUT because PS78 can't be IVTC'd.

PS78 is technically widescreen since it was transferred from an anamorphic print without using an anamorphic lens. Due to cropping, it's not 2.35:1, but closer to 2.75:1.

I intend on releasing it in its "original" form, however. Ya'll can try to stretch it out if you'd like, but the fisheye (or barrel?) distortion makes attempts at registering it to a reference very difficult.

The release resolution will be 352x240. This is DVD-compliant (the actual resolution when considering the PAR will be 320x240). My tests have demonstrated that this will help to cut down on the noise considerably.

The original capture resolution is 704x480 at a 10:11 PAR. I intend on using a gamma-aware resizer (ResampleHQ) to bring it down to 352x240 without compromising the accuracy of its color-timing.

pittrek said:

Well, 240p is one of the reasons why I hate youtube. Just sayin' :-(

I'll post some comparison images later, possibly this evening.

The truth is that, when resized back to 704x480, the 352x240 image looks better than the original in a side-by-side comparison.

The resolution simply isn't there and the noise is the original is painful to look at.

Thanks for all your hard work

Nick66 said:

SpilkaBilka said:

I agree, I think people were influenced by the Story of Star Wars LPs and stuff like that.  But I *want* to believe!

Someone on this board, I forget who, has memories of seeing the movie in theaters a few times, and there was no scene of Vader flying away at the end.  The story sounded credible to me.

Anyway, it would be cool to see *some* kind of variation between prints, no matter how small of a difference.

 

FWIW,I just have to say, I saw Star Wars multiple times in '77-'78 with my Dad.  I have very, very distinct memories of both the missed grappling hook scene and Vader spinning off without regaining control of his ship.  I have no memories of the Biggs scene.  But yeah, I absolutely remember look tossing the hook, pulling it back almost into the belt, and cueing it up again.

I'm pretty confident of these memories because many years later when I saw Star Wars for the first time on home video (I believe it was HBO) I remember being very surprised at the grappling hook scene in particular (i.e. only one throw).  I also remember being surprised at seeing Vader get control of his ship, but in that case I thought my memories might just be playing tricks on me.  My Dad thought the same thing at the time, and we've since discussed it. To this day, as many times as I've seen the film, I'm always surprised when Luke gets that grappling hook to catch on the first try.

This was long before the internet, and long before I would have been exposed to any chatter about this to create a false memory.

I don't know about the Biggs scene, and I'm frankly skeptical about that, but I'm about as certain as I can be about seeing the other two scenes.

I screened Star Wars literally hundreds of times from 77-79, and there was never a grappling hook miss.

Think about how much longer that scene would go if there was a miss. Try and story-board it out as you remember it. Also listen to the musical cues during that scene. It would be a major job to re-work the audio to incorporate the throw, miss, reeling back in of the hook, another throw etc.

I really am sure this was never in the film, and it is created memory from it being in the novelisation and the comics etc. Remember, most people only saw the film in 77 a few times, then not again for a few *years*, inbetween that time there would have been much discussion, reading, acting out scenes etc. that would distort the memory.

Memory is notoriously unreliable. I have seen 17 different prints of Star Wars on film, from different labs, have heard bootleg audio recordings from 77, seen bootleg video tape from 77, and as mentioned screened it countless times in its initial few years, not one sign of the grappling hook miss, and nothing in the audio of the released versions to show it has been removed. I'm putting this one down to recreated memories, like Bugs Bunny at Disneyland.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98195

I also find that people's 'clear vivid' memories get a little hazy when put to the test.

I get people to try and storyboard the scene they remember so vividly, just stick figures showing the framing and angles etc. Usually the memory becomes a lot less clear at that point, and there is a lot of umming and ahhing when trying to make the memory concrete.

You know, I saw the re-release of Star Wars at the late 100 Twin Drive-In in Minnesota. 

It was in 78' because of Young Frankenein playing in front of it.

Anyhow, I remember that like it was yesterday. I had just went to KMart prior to sitting in the back of the old Duster and got 3PO and Chewbacca Kenner toys. Anyhow, I remember that grappling scene as well cause my dad said OOPS!!!

Just saying!!!

I have no doubt that you remember it, researchers have shown people to have amazingly detailed memories that quite literally couldn't be true.

Storyboard the sequence out for me, I'd be interested to hear if it feels as clear when you sit down to do it.

Of course, it is possible that it may have been in the film, but I am 99.9999% sure now it was never there. So many sources have turned up, and it hasn't been in any of them, and it just doesn't fit.

I've had three people so far storyboard it, and each was radically different :)

Done and done. Let's see if I get a reply.