4K77 reel by reel color grading (a WIP)

I was looking at 4K77 v1.0, and wondered whether there’s a possibility to significantly improve the colors, and color consistency without doing a shot by shot regrade. A shot by shot regrade destroys the color relationships between shots, and thus cannot really be seen as an accurate representation of what was seen in theatres in 1977. A reel by reel correction with a superior LUT would preserve these relationships. This small project aims to do just that. I’ve thusfar completed the first three reels. Here’s how they look:

These results are very close to the colors of the 1997 SE, a technicolor color grading minus the green cast.

Looks very promising!

Here’s reel 4:

DrDre said:

A shot by shot regrade destroys the color relationships between shots, and thus cannot really be seen as an accurate representation of what was seen in theatres in 1977.

If the shots in the reference print differ from each other, but individual LUTs accurately match each shot from the target (4k77, the BD, whatever) to each shot from the reference, then surely the color relationships should be preserved? By “color relationships between shots”, I assume that you mean the inconsistencies in color that occur from shot to shot.

Chewtobacca said:

DrDre said:

A shot by shot regrade destroys the color relationships between shots, and thus cannot really be seen as an accurate representation of what was seen in theatres in 1977.

If the shots in the reference print differ from each other, but individual LUTs accurately match each shot from the target (4k77, the BD, whatever) to each shot from the reference, then surely the color relationships should be preserved? By “color relationships between shots”, I assume that you mean the inconsistencies in color that occur from shot to shot.

I mean a shot by shot regrade, that aims to improve consistency without the use of a reference. Additionally, if an accurate reference was available, a target like 4K77 would not need a shot by shot regrade, because the accurate relationships between shots are already preserved. Color matching a a number of representative shots of the target to the reference would be enough to get the entire target to closely match the reference.

DrDre said:
I mean a shot by shot regrade that aims to improve consistency without the use of a reference.

Oh, I see. That being so, the rest logically follows. 😃

Here’s reel 5:

I’m loving these. Keep it up!

Here’s the final reel:

A new release of 4K77 is in the works, that will feature these colors. Our esteemed williarob will provide updates in the future, but an exact release date is not yet available.

That looks really great!

Is there any merit in this color for this shot?

It’s something I just can’t help feel there is something to it. From techni-disc I think…

It is a re-comp with extra clouds but color wise I personally think it might be more accurate to what the shot should look like perhaps…

It matches the sky and trees in later shots and the cyan sort of color on the horizon.

Ronster said:

That looks really great!

Is there any merit in this color for this shot?

It’s something I just can’t help feel there is something to it. From techni-disc I think…

It is a re-comp with extra clouds but color wise I personally think it might be more accurate to what the shot should look like perhaps…

It matches the sky and trees in later shots and the cyan sort of color on the horizon.

This is the May 1977 version of the shot. It is only found in the pre Definitive Collection US and UK releases. It was redone for the late 1977 wider release and the international releases. All the 35 mm prints that have turned up are later prints and don’t have this or the three other differences the early prints have (two other FX shots and end credits). Is is rather odd that the Technidisc had this. That version appears to be an odd hybrid with the opening crawl and end credits swapped out, but not the three FX shots in the film. The Moth3r widescreen bootleg and Puggo Grand feature the original May 1977 cut of the film (with a mono version of the original stereo soundtrack, different from the later mono soundtrack that Ben Burt edited for the wider release).

So this is the original first release?

On the special edition video about creating it this shot is shown in this color and is labelled original version.

But it has extra clouds so are they missing from later prints?

I always thought this was a re-done shot.

I think it looks better that way personally but it certainly is a bit too diffetent to be the whole reel should be that color.

Special effects often end up the wrong color compared to live footage anyway.

Wow! This is going to look amazing. I’m really looking forward to the next 4K77 release now. It will probably be the definitive way to watch the movie after this incredible color work.

These colors look fantastic DrDre! Proud to see you doing such good work for the community.

Thanks everyone! 😃

Any updates on this Dr.? Thanks

This will be used for an update of 4K77 that williarob is currently working on. It will be a big upgrade on top of the color - no more upscaled Blu-Ray frames, no-DNR and DNR will be brought into the same “fork” so updates to one can be applied to the other easily, some redone/additional cleanup, etc.

I don’t know if there will be zero frames from the new 4K UHD Blu-Ray, but since the team now has a 4K scan of a 1997 SE print, that is possible. But at minimum there will be no more 1080p upscaled frames.

Great color work Dre. This a great 😃

Wow these look fantastic! Can’t wait to get them and watch one day! Can’t imagine how much work this takes. Thanks for your efforts everyone involved!

eat5hams said:

Wow these look fantastic! Can’t wait to get them and watch one day! Can’t imagine how much work this takes. Thanks for your efforts everyone involved!

Will there be something to download?

I’ve been looking for something and so far I’ve only found 4K77 V1 in 2160p DNR. I wanted to finally watch some good movies in 4K and heard something about this project years ago, but my internet was too slow for it.

Does anyone have any tips on where to look for what I need to watch and appreciate this hard work?

Best regards

poet